32

ASTRID

As I slowly come to, my ears are ringing and my head is pounding. I’m somewhere cold and damp, and a quiet groan slips from my mouth as I force my eyes open. I’m lying on a concrete floor… but where am I? What happened? My whole body feels impossibly heavy, my head throbbing in pain.

I try to shuffle to an upright position, but my body is so weak. My limbs feel like they’re made of lead. I try to draw on my wolf for strength, but I can’t sense her at all. I reach for her in the recesses of my mind, but it’s just dark; vacant. My hands and feet are tied together with heavy ropes. It takes a great deal of effort to shift my body upwards, using the cold concrete wall at my back for leverage.

My head hurts so bad. I reach behind it to identify the source of my pain and find that my hair is coated in something sticky, though it seems to be mostly dried. I pull my bound hands back in front of me, looking down