OLIVIA POV
I was trying with my whole being to keep myself together. Not for me. For them. For the other little souls locked in here with me. Mostly for Lily.
The cell was dark, damp, and reeked of mildew and iron, the kind of stench that clung to your skin and hair no matter how much you rubbed at it. The stone walls sweated. The floor was nothing but packed dirt, cold under our bare feet. But the worst of it wasn’t the cell itself—it was the eyes that stared at me, wide, terrified, expecting me to be something I wasn’t. Strong. Unshakable.
I was the oldest here. The one with a voice that didn’t tremble, at least not when they were watching. The one who had to keep hope alive, because if I faltered, what chance did the others have?
Lily was curled against me now, her bony knees pulled
