Page 105 of Grim

Sophia closed her eyes.

For the first time since she’d been taken, she let herself truly lean into him; she knew he’d catch her.

Chapter 35

Sophia

The rest of the morning blurred.

After the coffee broke her open, Sophia drifted through the house like she was moving underwater, slow, heavy, every sound too sharp, every shadow too deep. Grim stayed close, always within reach but never touching unless she reached first. He moved through her space like he’d memorized every creak in the floor, every corner that made her flinch, every breath she struggled to take.

By early afternoon, exhaustion dragged at her bones.

Her body felt too heavy to hold up. Her mind felt too loud to quiet. Her chest felt too tight to breathe.

Grim noticed. Of course he did.

“You need to lie down,” he said softly.

She didn’t argue. She didn’t have the strength.

He followed her to the bedroom, slow and careful steps, giving her space but never letting her drift too far. The room felt different now. Smaller. Dimmer. The air thicker. But Grim was there, and that made it bearable.

Sophia crawled into the bed, pulling the blanket up to her chin. Her muscles trembled with the effort. Grim hesitated at the edge of the mattress, watching her with that quiet, steady intensity that made her feel both exposed and held.

“You want me here?” he asked.

She nodded before she could think. “Please.”

Grim exhaled a soft, shaky sound and lay beside her, leaving space between them at first. But when she shifted closer, he moved with her, his arm sliding around her waist, his chest pressing gently against her back.

Warm. Solid. Safe.

Sophia closed her eyes.

She didn’t mean to fall asleep.

But she did.

It started the same way it always did.

Silence.

Not peaceful silence, the kind that felt like the world holding its breath. The kind that lived in the concrete walls of that room. The kind that made her skin crawl.

Then came the footsteps.

Slow. Measured. Echoing.

Her breath hitched. Her heart pounded. Her hands curled into fists.

She tried to move, but her body wouldn’t listen. The air thickened, pressing against her chest, squeezing until she couldn’t breathe.

Then—

SLAM.

The cage door. The sound she would never forget. The sound that lived in her bones now.