Page 54 of Unnatural (Men and Monsters #2)

The beautiful vacation home was situated on the edge of an inlet, the water only separated from the house by a small, sloped lawn.

Sam and Autumn stepped onto the deck, looking out at the bare trees and the icy water.

There’d been a deck overlooking water at the cottage where they’d stayed for weeks, but this one felt world’s different, and not only because this one was expensive and multilevel.

Because everything’s changed , Autumn thought, glancing at Sam.

He hadn’t said much on the journey there, and he was still silent.

Sullen. They’d stopped once after Mark had asked them if he could test a small vial of each of their blood.

It could wait, he had told them. If they were averse to being poked by even one needle, he would let them choose, but it would help to provide some answers.

So they’d both agreed and stopped at a clinic where they’d had blood drawn, two vials that Mark had sent to a lab he trusted.

Autumn hadn’t asked what precisely he was looking for, but she welcomed any answers he might be able to give.

She’d been looking for answers for a long, long time.

She’d called Bill and told him they were leaving the cottage and why, but not the details of where they were headed. Then she’d called Sheriff Monroe as well, who sounded relieved, which made her glad of their decision to trust Agent Gallagher.

When they’d pulled up to the house, her lungs had expanded slightly. Perhaps in the back of her mind, she’d held out in giving Agent Gallagher her complete trust until the moment he delivered them to the place he’d described.

She sensed in her gut he was a good and decent man, but she was also in a situation she’d never expected to be in, one that was changing and morphing into something different by the moment.

She was struggling to keep up, having trouble categorizing her thoughts and feelings, so she simply held tight to Sam’s hand.

Her anchor. She vowed to be one for him as well.

“I put your bags in the room right there,” Agent Gallagher—Mark as he’d asked them to call him—said, pointing to the room that overlooked the river.

“Thank you, Mark.” Autumn gave him a small smile.

They hadn’t had much. Just the things Bill had brought for them, Sam’s duffel bag, which looked practically empty, and the few medical supplies Sam still required.

Although required wasn’t the right word, at least not as it related to Sam.

He would heal on his own now. The supplies were her way of continuing to care for him in a tangible way.

There was the sound of a vehicle arriving at the front of the house, and Mark headed in that direction. “That’ll be Jak and Harper,” he murmured. “I’ll be back.”

Autumn walked to where Sam was standing at the edge of the deck, looking out over the lawn and the few barren trees.

The water beyond was gray, reflecting the bruised sky overhead.

She leaned against him. “You okay?” She wanted to talk about so much with him.

About the program, about what he was thinking regarding what Mark had told them about the others, about the fact that they were involved in an ongoing investigation but shockingly not the one they thought they were.

“Yes,” he said simply, even if there were a thousand other words in his eyes. Later. We’ll be alone later.

As voices and footsteps approached, they turned to see a man Autumn could only describe as…

well, strapping was the first word that came to mind when he stepped through the door.

He was built like Sam, tall and broad, though not quite as muscular.

The woman behind him was petite and pretty and very pregnant.

She stepped through the sliding glass doors onto the deck, Mark behind her, a little boy in his arms. The boy was midsentence, something about a frog or a dog or a hog?

“Shush for a minute, Eddie,” the woman said, moving in front of the strapping man. “We’re going to completely overwhelm them.”

Sam stepped closer to Autumn and just slightly in front of her, positioning himself as a guard dog might.

The brunette woman smiled warmly at Autumn and then at Sam as she approached. “I’m Harper,” she said. Her gaze moved from Autumn to where Sam stood, her eyes softening as she took them both in before turning. “And this is my husband, Jak.”

The man named Jak studied them carefully too, his gaze lingering on Sam.

“And this sweet little terror is Eddie,” she said as Mark set the little boy on his feet.

Eddie went immediately to his mother’s side, leaned against her leg, and peered up at Sam. His eyes were wide, his mouth opened slightly. Sam peered down at him, one eyebrow raised.

“Are you a wizard ?” Eddie asked, his expression utterly awestruck.

“No,” Sam answered, regarding the child warily as though he too was unsure exactly what this strange creature was.

“An alien ?”

“Eddie!” Harper said, bringing her hand down and then patting his cheek in an attempt to quiet the boy.

Autumn had the urge to laugh, and the sensation made something ease inside her. If her sense of humor was still intact, she was going to be okay. The child’s honest innocence was just the balm she’d needed, even if Sam was still staring suspiciously at him.

“No,” he answered again, though with less certainty.

“Well, I—” Harper began.

“A superhero!” Eddie exclaimed, taking a step closer to Sam, the awe in his gaze increasing.

“Er—”

“I can run fast!” Eddie said, turning and racing as fast as his little legs could carry him to the edge of the deck and then back to where they all stood. “See?”

“You’re not fast at all,” Sam noted, causing Autumn to stifle what was sure to emerge as the mixture of a laugh and a groan. Clearly, Sam had rarely if ever encountered a young child.

“Am too!” Eddie declared, the honest insult obviously not fazing him one bit.

“Your legs are too short to be fast.”

Eddie appeared to consider that, his eyes moving from Sam’s feet to his white hair. “My dad says I’m going to be a giant like him someday,” he finally said.

Sam opened his mouth to respond.

“Giants live at the top of beanstalks and eat kids for dinner!” Eddie declared.

“Uh—”

“Why don’t I show you where you’ll be sleeping tonight, giant-to-be?” Mark said, taking Eddie’s hand. “It’s a loft bed, taller than me. You have to use a ladder to get into it.”

Eddie’s eyes widened, but he looked torn, his gaze moving between the unusual superhero and the man who had just promised a bed with a ladder. “I’ll be back!” he told Sam, taking Mark’s hand.

Judging by Sam’s expression, he considered that a threat.

“Autumn,” Harper said, shooting a quick look at her husband, “I’d love to stretch my legs a bit after traveling all day. Would you like to join me for a walk?”

“Um.” Autumn caught Sam’s eyes, and he gave her a nod that told her he’d be okay. “Sure,” she said.

When she looked back at Harper, she noticed that the woman was watching them, a gentle smile on her lips. Autumn followed her to the set of steps off the deck that led to the yard. They crossed through the winter grass and went out the gate that led to a path that traveled along the shore.

“When are you due?” Autumn asked.

“Eight more weeks.” Harper smiled. “It feels like a lifetime at this point. And like I should savor the time before I’m juggling two.” But she smiled again, bringing her hand to her swollen stomach. She obviously loved motherhood.

A longing rose up in Autumn, the hope that someday she’d have a family as beautiful as Harper’s. Harper and Jak had obviously found a way to make it work, even though she had to assume Jak had faced many of the same emotional and mental challenges that Sam did.

You’re getting ahead of yourself, thinking of a potential future with Sam when you haven’t figured out the present.

“It hasn’t all been smooth sailing,” Harper said, “Jak’s adjustment.”

Autumn was surprised that Harper had seemingly read her mind.

Harper offered a knowing smile. “I was once right where you are. Or…close enough anyway.” She paused.

“They’re very much like wounded warriors.

The adjustment to a more normal life is almost the easy part,” she said.

“It’s the grief and the anger, the fear…

those things are the real battles. But if Sam has come this far and retained his sanity and a heart that holds any amount of kindness, then there’s great hope that he’ll recover. ”

Sanity. Kindness. Yes, he possessed both of those. And his heart didn’t just hold a small amount of kindness, it overflowed with it, whether he knew that or not. Whether he wanted that or not.

He’s a walking miracle, Autumn was constantly reminded. And so was this woman’s husband. She suddenly felt an overwhelming wave of gratitude for having been brought together with Harper. I’m not alone.

“Will you tell me about your husband?”

Another smile tilted Harper’s lips, this one almost dreamy. But then it faded, a small crease forming between her brows. “He grew up alone, in the woods. He was forced to survive starvation and cold, things no human, much less a child, should endure. He was studied, watched, but never helped.”

Autumn’s blood chilled at the mere idea of a small child braving winter alone in a forest. “Oh God,” she whispered. What kind of evil had to run through a person’s veins to watch something like that and not be compelled to help?