Pieces of Autumn Read Online Free PDF Page A

did?" The voice was even closer now. It almost sounded like he might be crouching on the ground, close to my face.  
    "More or less," I said, swallowing hard. "I mean, he - looked at me. Held me back when the doctor branded me."
    There was no sense in being anything but frank with this man, I thought - but I heard his sharp intake of breath as I spoke.  
    "And nothing else," the man said. He was definitely very close now.
    "Nothing else," I confirmed. "Not really. After I was branded, they..." I exhaled. "They put me in a cell for the night. And then I saw one of their guests, but he didn't pick me. So they brought me here. I guess that was - today. Or yesterday. I'm not really sure how long it's been."
    And just like that, something was yanked off of my head. I shut my eyes against the sudden onslaught of light, gasping in my first un-muffled breath since I'd woken up.
    That smell.
    Hay.
    I was in a barn.
    So, this had to be a positive step, right? Something about my story evidently intrigued the man. I opened my eyes again, carefully, and realized the light was actually quite dim. There were just a few utility bulbs hanging from the corners of the room.  
    I twisted my head around to look at the man beside me.
    He was, in fact, crouched very nearby. Frowning at me slightly, like I was a broken-winged bird and he was considering whether to smash my head with a rock.  
    His features were sharp and handsome, chillingly so - or maybe that was just his dark gray eyes, looking at me so dispassionately, that made the goosebumps rise all over. Even if it weren't for the fact that I was tied up on the floor of a barn, he would have cut an imposing figure.  
    Long and lean, he was dressed in a dark suit and tie that didn't look like they belonged on a farm. Peeking out from under the cuffs of his pants, I saw something incongruous - boots, big black ones, the kind that police and soldiers used to wear, back when they were first trying to restore order.
    My heart beat faster when I looked at him. So this was the man that Lambert thought it prudent to warn me about.  
    The kind of predator that the other predators were afraid of.
    My mouth was dry, but I was determined to show him that I wasn't a victim. Whatever he planned to do to me, I would fight.  
    I was searching his eyes for emotion. Some sign of humanity. But he was well-guarded, his eyes showing nothing but a faint flicker of curiosity.  
    Well, curiosity was something.
    "Do tell me," he said, and now I could see the sardonic twist of his mouth as he spoke. "Do tell me, after a few hours in the company of the fine men at Stoker, what top secret information do you suppose you've collected?"
    I glared at him. "It was worth a shot," I said. "You shouldn't even need a bribe to let me go. Any decent human being -"
    He cut me off with another chilling laugh. "That's right," he said, standing abruptly and straightening the jacket of his well-fitted suit. "Any decent human being would have untied you by now. So where does that leave us?" He started pacing the room. Prowling, rather - he was certainly at the top of the food chain. My whole body was taut, waiting for his next move.
    What was he hiding?
    I couldn't consciously explain why, but I knew his disinterest was calculated. A careful mask. There was something he didn't want me to see, and that meant he actually cared what I thought of him. Didn't he? He must. He couldn't be as cold and dangerous as Lambert had implied.
    I was fighting a rising tide of panic inside. Scattered memories were coming back in a rush. The last time I'd smelled hay, felt it, going to harvest festivals as a young girl, my mother saying to me one day - if anyone ever tries to kidnap you, tell them about yourself. It's important that they see you as a person just like them.  
    It might as well have been a thousand years ago, but I clung to her advice all the same.
    "I don't know," I answered him, finally. "I don't know anything about you, just like