Page 64 of Unnatural (Men and Monsters #2)

Autumn stood at the window, staring dispassionately—and mostly unseeing—out at the bleak, gray sky. Her mood reflected the weather. I miss you. Where are you?

Jak and Harper had taken Eddie for a walk on the shore to hunt sea creatures (per Eddie), and they’d be gone for a while. She had a feeling they’d left as much to hunt for the elusive Loch Ness Monster as to give Autumn some time alone, and she appreciated it.

She’d failed to convince Sam to stay and let her—and Jak, Harper, and Mark—help him.

She’d tripped all over her words, grown desperate, gotten ahead of herself, pressured instead of relieved.

She clenched her eyes shut, wishing she could go back in time and do better, say the things that would have brought him comfort, hope, instead of making him flee.

She pulled in a big breath and let it out slowly.

Regardless of whether Mark was able to find Sam or if he appeared on his own, it was time for Autumn to figure out her own life and whether she could return to it.

Which brought both happy anticipation and immense pain. Because she’d likely be returning without him.

He thinks he’s a monster. But he wasn’t a monster. Far from it. What had been done to him was monstrous.

He was a human being. Deserving of the same love, the same respect, the same personal liberty as anyone else, regardless of whether he had someone there to advocate for him when he was born and immediately cast aside.

And he’d been treated as no more than a thing.

She didn’t know how to help him accept that level of betrayal.

She was still attempting to accept her own.

And she had love, family, and community.

He’d never had anyone. Not a single soul.

You have me, Sam. Please remember you have me.

She saw movement at the sliding glass door, a massive figure, and for the whisper of a moment, the thought that he had returned made her gasp with joy, taking a step in that direction.

But it wasn’t Sam. The beefy man who stood there smiled, his flat face breaking into a menacing grin.

A flood of adrenaline made her body jerk.

Autumn screamed, turning again and running through the house, grabbing Jak’s keys from the kitchen counter.

She headed for the front door just as the window next to it shattered, a hand reaching in to turn the lock.

The alarm. Why is the alarm not sounding?

She’d set it herself after Jak and Harper left. They’d disabled it, but how?

She skidded to a stop, letting out another scream as she pivoted and then ran to the back room. She heard more glass shatter as another window broke. Oh God, oh God. Sobs rose in her chest.

She slammed the door to the bedroom she and Sam had shared and rushed to the half-open window.

Another man was approaching, and she let out a yelp as she flung herself forward, attempting to shut it before he could grab the edge.

But she wasn’t fast enough, and his meaty arms shot out, and though the window slammed down on his hands, he simply grinned, pushing and opening it once more.

Autumn stumbled backward. She heard heavy footsteps in the hall, her head whipping back and forth between the locked door and the window where the man’s head was now coming through.

She sobbed, backing up, plastering herself against the wall as the door handle jiggled.

The man’s shoulders appeared in the open window as he gripped the sill, ready to hoist himself through.

Please don’t kill me. Please don’t kill me. But she had a feeling that was a given.

She thought of Sam and Bill and Ralph, Veronica, and Caitlin and all the people she loved so much, the ones that had brightened her life in ways big and small.

She opened her eyes, staring at the large man who was going to kill her, her vision blurring, but she blinked the tears away.

I’ll fight with my fists and my teeth. But like once before, either way, she vowed to go with her eyes wide open.

But suddenly, the man was pulled backward, a grunt falling from his mouth as his chest hit the sill. His eyes widened, face registering shock, as he fell out the window. She jerked with surprise, panting as she leaned forward to see what had—

“ Sam. ” The word was a breath and a sob, mingled as one, and she ran forward just as the door behind her splintered, rattling in its frame.

She ducked, and Sam grabbed her under her arms and pulled her forward.

The man who had been coming in the window lay on the ground, a spray of blood around him.

“Sam, Sam,” she sobbed. “You came back for me.”

He took no time to greet her, simply grabbed her hand and led her around the side of the house where another man’s body lay on the ground, blood pooled around his head.

Vomit moved up Autumn’s throat, but she swallowed it down, taking Jak’s keys from her pocket and handing them to Sam. “Jak’s car,” she said. He pulled her in that direction, both of them ducking as they ran behind a row of hedges to the street and then to Jak’s vehicle.

Please don’t come back, Jak and Harper. Stay gone.

They’re not interested in them though.

But she had thought they weren’t interested in her either, only Sam.

Behind them, down the hill, a man emerged through the front door of the house, shouting at someone behind him as he headed their way.

Sam pressed the unlock button, and they both jumped inside. Autumn strapped on her seat belt as Sam fired up the engine and then peeled away from the curb. She turned her body to see three brutish men coming out of the house.

“You’re here,” she said, the last word ending on a sob. She could hardly believe it. She’d been preparing to die. She’d be dead. If not for him, she’d be dead.

“Of course,” he said, gripping the wheel. His hands were cut, knuckles bruised, and she stared at them for a moment. She wanted to ask him where he’d gone, what he’d done, and who had sent killers after them, but they were in a race for their lives, and she’d hear all the details of why later.

“Head toward the town limit,” she said. “Sheriff Monroe will help us.” God, she didn’t even have her phone. But she had her life. They both did. At least for now.

He glanced at her and gave a short nod before turning onto the road that curved around the water, a steep drop on one side, a wall of rock on the other.

She looked over her shoulder at the winding road behind them, spotting a black truck, advancing quickly. “It’s them,” she breathed.

Sam’s eyes went quickly to the rearview mirror and then back to the road. His knuckles were bloodless where he gripped the wheel, bruises standing out in sharp contrast.

The roar of the truck grew louder, and Autumn held back a scream, grabbing the handle above the door and holding on for dear life. She wanted to cry with terror, but she didn’t dare distract or startle Sam.

The truck hit their car with a screeching jolt and then fell immediately back.

Sam lost momentary control of the car, and it skidded precariously close to the edge of the cliff.

Adrenaline poured through Autumn’s system, her breath coming in pants.

She gripped the handle, crying silently as Sam got control of the car, punching on the gas and speeding around a bend.

They turned onto a straighter portion of road, and the truck advanced on them again, jolting their car, a sickening crunch of metal as the steering wheel shook and Sam worked to keep the car on the road.

Again, Autumn looked over her shoulder to see the truck advancing on them. Not again. Please not again. It was so much bigger and more powerful. There was no way to outrun it, and they still had miles to go. OhGodohGodohGod.

One of these hits was going to drive them over the edge of the road to the river below. A moan burst from Autumn’s lips. She braced for another impact as the truck came right up to their bumper, but instead of hitting them, it made a sudden swerve, coming up next to Sam’s window.

“Duck!” he yelled, and she did as he said, putting her head on her knees, more tears tracking down her face as she quaked with fear. Sam took his foot off the accelerator, immediately dropping back, and Autumn sat up, her eyes wild as she looked for the truck.

The truck slammed on its brakes, and Sam swerved by them, punching the accelerator again as they came to another bend in the road. Again, Autumn gripped the handle and squeezed her eyes shut, just waiting for their car to tip. But it didn’t. It raced around the curve just as the truck did too.

“Fuck,” Sam hissed, and when she looked up, she saw why. There was another black truck, stopped, blocking both lanes just up ahead. The truck behind was slowing down. She and Sam were trapped. There was nowhere to go unless they went over the edge.

Two men stepped from the truck ahead, and Sam slowed to a crawl. “There are too many of them. I can’t fight them all off, not for long anyway. We’re going to have to run. When I come to a stop, jump out and follow me down the bluff.”

“Okay, okay, okay,” she sobbed. She was trembling violently with terror, but she knew as well as he did that they had no other choice.

The truck behind them was coming toward them slowly. They knew they had them boxed in. Sam slammed the brakes, the car coming to an abrupt stop, and pulled the emergency brake. “Now,” he said, and they both jumped from the car.

Autumn ran around the front to where Sam was holding out his hand for her. Another shot of adrenaline gave her the strength she needed to race beside him, hand in hand, as they heard shouts from either direction.

“Here!” Sam yelled as he ducked into the foliage at the edge of the road, Autumn directly in his wake.

The slope here was steep, but there was plenty of brush to hide behind, and Sam led her, more quickly than carefully. She heard shouts from above over her staggered breath and the blood whooshing in her ears.

Sam stopped, crouched, and pulled her with him. She went to her knees in the dirt, holding on to the trunk of a skinny tree. Their eyes met and held, chests rising and falling as they took a moment to catch their breath.

They’d been here before, hadn’t they? Hiding behind trees from monsters. Only then, she’d thought him one of them. Now, she knew he was anything but.

She brought his abraded knuckles to her lips and kissed them, murmuring his name. “I love you,” she said. “I love you, Sam.”

“Autumn,” he said, his voice filled with gravel. He brought his hand to the back of her neck and laid his forehead against hers. “I love you too. I’ve loved you all my life. I’m sorry—”

Before he could finish that sentence, the sound of sliding gravel met their ears, the brush shaking at the very top of the incline directly above where they hid.

Oh God. They’d found them. Sam yanked her to her feet as she let out a tiny gasp.

He craned his neck, looking up, and she followed his gaze, seeing that foliage shook in each direction.

They’d spread out and were moving downward simultaneously.

They jumped to the rock-covered ground, now fully exposed, Sam’s head whipping in both directions.

“Fuck,” he swore under his breath. The slope where the monsters descended was behind them, the choppy river in front.

There was one outlet that appeared to have access to another bluff, but it was far away, across the slippery rocks.

“You have to run,” Sam said.

“Run? Without you? No!”

“Yes. Go while you still can. I’ll hold them off as long as possible. Run. Get help.”

“Sam, no, I—”

“Run!” he hissed, baring his teeth and startling her.

On a small, choked sob, she backed up, their eyes holding.

A goodbye. His were fierce, but within the fierceness, she saw the love.

And the grief. She reached out, and he reached back, their fingers brushing, just as the first man broke through the brush and began heading toward them. Oh God. Oh no. Sam, Sam, Sam.

Autumn turned and began making her way as fast as she dared across the slippery rocks toward the exit beyond while, behind her, Sam faced down an army of monsters.