The afternoon was a blur of raw, bleeding vocal cords and endless repetition. Malakai pushed me until the sun began to dip below the tree line, his eyes tracking my every blink, ensuring I didn't miss a single inflection. By the time he finally signaled for the lesson to end, my throat felt like it was coated in cracked glass.
Zack didn't waste any time. He grabbed me roughly by the iron chains, hauling me out of the armchair and dragging me back toward the cellar door. He pushed me down the wooden stairs, laughing under his breath as I stumbled in the dark, before unlocking the heavy gate and shoving me hard into our cell.
The iron door slammed shut, the lock clicking into place with a definitive, hopeless sound.
"Rachel!" Toby’s small voice cried out through the shadows.
I scrambled
