Pieces of Autumn Read Online Free PDF

you don't know anything about me."
    "I know one thing," he said, stopping to look at me. My heart skipped another beat as his eyes fixed on me. Reading. Evaluating. A cold, calculating gaze that stripped me bare. "I know the only thing that matters."
    "Have you ever been on a hayride?" I blurted out, making him stop and stare at me.
    "Excuse me?" he said, his mouth twisting again.
    "A hayride," I repeated. "You know. Farms have them sometimes. They take you around on a wagon, and you sit on bales of hay. I used to love them when I was a kid, but thinking back, I can't imagine why. It sounds boring, doesn't it?" I managed a giggle, and it sounded terrifying , but human.
    He just kept looking at me, still betraying nothing. The intensity of his gaze made my stomach twist.
    "I thought about that just now," I said. "Because of the hay. There was something called a hay-jump, too. You could climb up this ladder and just jump right into a huge pile of hay. It was great. That one, honestly, I can still see the appeal. If I had a barn I'd basically do it every day."
    Grimacing a little, he spoke again. "I know you sold yourself to them."
    But he spoke with a little less conviction, this time.
    "I didn't," I replied, anger rising up in my chest. "I signed a contract. I don't belong to anybody."
    "Well, that's where you're wrong," he said, the grimace turning into a cold smile. "For all intents and purposes, you belong to me now."
    My heart fluttered in my chest, and the man from my nightmares prowled in the back of my mind.
    You belong to me now.
    "Just let me go," I said. "I heard you say you don't want me. So let me go."
    A short, quiet, closed-mouth laugh. "It doesn't work that way," he said. "Did you read your contract?" A moment later: "Of course you didn't. They never do."
    "I was starving," I snapped at him, wriggling against my bonds one more time. "Do you have any idea what it's like? Of course I didn't read it. It didn't matter. You can't legally sign away your rights as a person. It's not possible."
    "It is if you own the courts," he said. "It is if you own the police and the judges and the people who write the laws."
    On some level I knew he was right. On some level, I'd always known. Stoker didn't skate by on some technicality. They were being allowed to do what they did.
    Unless he was talking about himself.
    I was going down the wrong path. Quickly, I backtracked.
    "It doesn't matter," I said. "The police have never been a friend to me, anyway. I'd never go to them for help. If you set me free, I won't talk."
    "You're right," he said. " They won't give you a chance."
    I froze, staring at him.
    "How did you know?" I whispered, a black fear crawling from the back of my brain and clutching at my chest.
    His brow furrowed slightly. "That's not important," he said. "The point is, I know Stoker better than you could ever hope to."
    "Oh!" It came out in a rush of breath. I realized he was still talking about Stoker. Of course he was. Who else would he be talking about?
    He didn't know a thing about me.
    He didn't know I was hunted.
    "You seem relieved," he said, coming close to me again. "You shouldn't be."
    "Sorry," I said, irritably. "Anyway, I'm not afraid of Stoker."
    "You should be." He reached his hand into his pocket and pulled something out. Small. It fit in his palm, and he turned it over and over, without letting me see. His fingers were mesmerizing in their movements, nimble and strong, long enough to wrap around my throat. "If you run from me, they'll reclaim you, by any means necessary. They retain that right. It doesn't matter if you leave by my 'permission' or not." He smiled, wanly. "They don't care."
    "So don't tell them," I challenged.
    His smile didn't waver. "I won't have to."
    I considered this for a moment. If what he was saying about Stoker was true - and it certainly held up under mild scrutiny - then I was well and truly fucked. No matter where I turned, there would be no safety for me.
    Unless.
    Unless