Page 86 of Grim

Grim stood slowly, his voice low, feral, shaking with emotion he could barely contain.

“I’m coming for you,” he whispered, not to the room but to her. “Hold on for me, Sophia.”

His voice cracked, raw enough to silence the entire room. Havoc bowed his head. Rook’s jaw clenched. Even Stone’s eyes darkened with something like grief. Stone placed a hand on Grim’s shoulder — not as his president, but as his brother.

And the Saints rose as one.

War wasn’t coming. It was already here, and the Saints were ready to burn the world down to get her back.

Chapter 28

Sophia

Sophia didn’t know how long she’d been in the cage.

Time didn’t move normally here. It stretched. Warped. Folded in on itself.

The only rhythm came from the dripping water, a slow and relentless drip… drip… drip… echoing through the concrete corridor like a countdown she could not see.

Her body ached. Her wrists throbbed. Her cheek pulsed with every heartbeat. The cold from the floor seeped into her bones until she couldn’t tell where she ended and the concrete began.

She curled tighter, trying to stay warm, trying to stay awake, trying not to think about Switchblade.

But the memory kept replaying.

The gunshot. The way he’d jerked. The way his voice had broken when he told her to run.

Her breath hitched. She pressed her forehead to her knees, fighting the rising panic.

She wasn’t weak. She wasn’t helpless. But she was terrified.

Her pulse hammered so hard it hurt.

A metallic clang echoed down the corridor.

Sophia’s head snapped up.

But the footsteps that followed weren’t Viper’s.

These were lighter and faster and sharper, a predator’s stride rather than a commander’s.

Her pulse hammered.

The lock clicked. The door creaked open.

A man stepped inside.

Not Viper.

Tall. Lean. A black bandana over his face. And on his right hand, the hand he used to grab her arm, a tattoo.

A spiderweb.

Her stomach dropped.

Switchblade’s killer.

He didn’t speak. Didn’t look at her face. He yanked a black hood over her head, the fabric swallowing the light, the air, the world.