#Chapter 144: Connections Between Us All

Alexander The stone prison was colder than it had any right to be—an unforgiving, bone-deep chill that seemed to seep straight through skin and settle in the marrow. The walls dripped with condensation, and every slow, echoing footstep sent a ripple of sound through the hollow silence. Torches lined the corridor, but their flames sputtered low, casting more shadow than light, as though they too had grown weary of this godforsaken place. The glow they gave off was a sickly orange, dancing weakly across damp stone, barely holding the dark at bay. The air was thick with the stench of wet iron and dried blood—old, crusted, long-absorbed into the stone. It clung to me like a second skin, slick and metallic, crawling across my senses no matter how shallow I breathed. It was the kind of place that didn’t forget pain. The kind of place that had seen too much of it. And he was waiting for me. GrimMaw sat shackled to the floor, unmoving. The silver-lined cuffs locked around his wrists