Page 6

Chapter

Six

Erin

R egaining consciousness is kinda painful.

No one tells you that part.

My body aches as feeling returns to my limbs, pain throbbing steadily in my temples, and for a moment I wonder if the Grim has already started gnawing on me in my sleep. Pins and needles prick at my nerve endings.

But when I’m finally able to pry my eyes open and they adjust to the dim light of the room around me, I find that’s not the case. I’m intact and seemingly unharmed, aside from the ache in every one of my muscles, but I know that’s from my out of shape ass hightailing it through the woods trying to escape.

Where am I?

I’m not entirely sure what happened when we went through the portal. That part is a little fuzzy, and when I try to recapture the memories, they dart just out of reach and leave a massive blank space behind.

I dare to shift my eyes around the room and my heart skips a painful beat, nausea turning my stomach and my head filling with an angry buzzing drone.

My wrists are bound together, as are my ankles, and I’m lying in a nest of pelts on the floor. It’s not entirely uncomfortable, but I can feel the hard floor pressing up against my spine, and I wish I could move into a different position, but I’m hopelessly stuck in the mountain of fur.

Fighting against the restraints is useless. They’re tied tight. I’m not going anywhere .

My limbs ache from my frantic sprint and the adrenaline still adding fire to my veins.

I struggle to remember exactly what happened before the Grim stepped through the ring of light with me tossed over his shoulder, a swirl of hazy memories blooming in my mind, along with the dull pain of a headache. I was too in shock as it was happening, too busy running for my life for the panic to creep up, but now reality slaps me across the face.

I’ve been taken by the Grim.

While I’m alive, I’m not on earth anymore. He’s brought me back to whatever realm or dimension he lives in, and I have no idea how I’m going to get out of here.

The Grim took me through a portal .

My eyes frantically shift to my surroundings, not sure what to expect. I’m in a small hovel of a space, staring up at a ceiling that twists to a point in the center. The walls are imperfectly carved stone, almost bell-shaped, and there are all sorts of things decorating them.

Brows narrowed, I scan the various items hung up on the more jagged parts of the stone.

Each one is topped with familiar trinkets like watches, bandanas, and random pots and pans—things the Grim must have picked up on earth during his trips through the portal—and various skulls hanging from short pieces of rope. My eyes linger on one of the skulls, one of them obviously human with his jaw hung open in a silent scream, and I cringe.

Does the Grim plan to add my cranium to his collection?

No doubt he does.

My stomach pitches toward the floor beneath me. This slow march to death is so much worse than I thought. Better for him to get it over with. Why hadn’t he just killed me in the woods? It almost seemed like he’d enjoyed the chase and capture more than anything else.

I tug on the restraints but nothing changes.

Crude light fixtures are also mounted on the walls, all flickering an eerie gray color, and there’s an entrance cut into the far wall. A thick, tattered curtain fills the arched hole.

It’s simple and much cleaner than I’d expect a blood-thirsty monster’s home to be.

Outside of the skulls. Those are entirely expected.

My breathing comes quicker, despite my efforts to keep it under control, as I search for any sign of the Grim. Aside from the nest and the items on the walls, there are a few crude benches and a large stone basin filling the area. No table, no chairs, and no windows.

Finally, he steps into view, shifting out of my peripheral vision. His bright eyes glare at me unblinkingly, drinking in every part of me, and I catch my breath.

How the fuck did I not know he was there?

The dark pit in my stomach widens, shooting through my spine and down to the floor and I freeze, not sure what to do.

There’s nothing I can do but lay here at his mercy, and as he slowly approaches, an animalistic rumble forms in his throat. I clench my eyes closed with a squeak, wishing I could wake up from this terrible dream.

No, not a dream , I remind myself as I clamp my hands together to keep them from trembling. This is all very real.

And I’m very much screwed.

I attempt to scramble backward, kicking at the furs and finding no purchase.

His footsteps continue to pad across the floor, growing louder, and I raise my bound hands to cover my face. Can the monsters still get you with your eyes closed?

I’m not sure why that’s the first thing I think to do, instead of, you know, begging for him to let me go, but I’m panicking. Spiraling. Lost to the fear as it consumes me, and fighting the prickling feeling at the corner of my eyes.

Please . I don’t want to cry in front of him. I’m already so much weaker than he is.

The footsteps stop right next to me, making my chest seize.

“If you’re going to kill me, just do it,” I whimper through my hands. “I can’t keep playing cat and mouse. Just do it.”

I wait, refusing to uncover my eyes, for something to happen.

I wait for the feel of his claws or his hands on me, trembling as my fearful anticipation mounts, but the touch doesn’t come. Neither does a response, even though I know he understands me.

After an agonizing minute of nothing, he shifts beside me, and the sudden movement makes me flinch. I decide to peek through my fingers, but instantly realize my mistake when I find him crouched low next to me, his face hovering a foot or so above mine.

I whimper, starting to quiver from the crushing amount of fear and adrenaline in my veins, and I scream when he grabs my hands and drags them away from my face.

“ Silence .”

His voice is like a shockwave through my limbs, and I snap my lips together obediently, even though I’m still shaking and too afraid to look him directly in the eyes.

I look anywhere else to avoid those glowing, menacing hollows that flicker like there’s a fire burning inside him, eager to escape. From his thick, fur-covered neck that stretches up to meet an elongated skull to his moon-colored jaw with sharp, curling fangs. I trace the curls of his horns that wind out in opposite directions.

He’s taller than he appeared in the woods. There, he’d been a part of the shadows, as mighty as any of the tree trunks and just as terrifying.

Just like Tyler warned—I’ve been taken.

“You will do as I say, or I have no issue slicing you in half,” the Grim rumbles, running a singular claw from the waistband of my pants up to my sternum, dragging the shirt along with it.

My teeth chatter together, although my lips are still pressed firmly together, terrified of the thought of him fileting me with those six-inch claws. If I scream, he’ll follow through. I have no doubt.

I try to move away from his touch and squirm in any direction to distance myself, but it’s no use. The nest of furs is too thick and plush for me to get any leverage, and I just slip further into them.

“Do not scream,” he commands, his icy voice slicing through the air. “Or something far more terrifying than me will find you; I promise you that’s not a fate you want. You will swallow your tongue and be silent, girl.”

Oh, sure, like he wants to protect me? Yeah, right.

This is a nightmare. I’m trapped in a nightmare. I’d said I was willing to do anything to find proof of the Grim’s existence? I was an idiot.

He stands again, causing me to breathe the tiniest sigh of relief despite my racing pulse. His eyes linger on me again like he’s studying me, trying to figure something out.

“I’m going to make sure we weren’t followed,” he says, his gravelly voice low. “If you make any noise or try to run away, your skin will be the next pelt I add to this pile.”

He runs his hand along the edge of the nest before standing to tower over me again. Then, he turns and stalks across the room with my eyes trailing him as much as I don’t want them to.

For such a big fucker, his strides are nimble, like he’s moving through water and hardly affected by gravity. Maybe the gravity is less intense in this realm? I’ll really be able to tell if I can get out of these restraints and on my feet.

Or are his movements really just that refined?

The Grim swipes the heavy fabric covering the doorway aside with his massive hand and pauses, staring intently out into the darkness. I catch the briefest glimpse of a gloomy world outside, but beyond what looks like a tree branch or two, I can’t make out anything else. Nothing to give me an idea of what exists outside the walls of my prison.

Without a backwards glance, the Grim slips through the opening, and the fabric rustles as it settles back into place.

He’s gone.

I’m alone, and while that should bring me a tiny bit of comfort, it doesn’t.

The space is empty without his presence crowding me, and the last thing I want is to be here with only my terror for company.

I’ve got to get out.

My heart gallops into overdrive as my mind starts spiraling with escape plans. There’s only one door leading into the house, so if I’m going to make a run for it, I’ll just be following right behind the Grim.

What’s to stop him from catching me again and dragging me back here? I’d rather keep my skin where it is than risk him peeling it off and adding it to the pile .

Adrenaline shoots through my system, and I swallow over the huge lump in my throat.

If I’m going to make a run for it, now is the time. I don’t know how many precious seconds I have before he returns, or how mad he’ll be when he sees I’m gone, but I don’t plan to be here to find out.

I bring my hands to my face again, tugging at the rope with my teeth. It’s tight, and damn near impossible for me to move, but the knot finally slips the slightest bit, enough for me to maneuver and stretch my fingers to untie the rest.

I don’t take time to massage my aching wrists before sitting up and attacking the binding around my ankles, fingers trembling as I try to move quickly.

My gaze flashes toward the door, and I strain to hear over the thunder of my frantic breaths.

It would make sense to come up with a plan first before blindly running into an unknown world, but I only have a few seconds I’m willing to spare. The Grim could be gone for several hours, or he might be waiting for me just outside the door. Either way, I have to get out of here.

I have to try.

I’ll take my chances with whatever is outside these walls, but I’m not staying here a second longer than I have to. It’s a matter of survival.

I have to get back to the portal and go home.