Chapter 20

All around Autumn, gunfire exploded. She didn't even have time to scream before someone tackled her to the ground, covering her body. Terror ripped through her, a rabid animal stronger than the screaming agony of her shoulder. No, no. Not again. Not now.

Judd.

She needed up, needed to see, needed to breathe.

In the booming silence, she struggled against the man shielding her. "Judd," she gasped. The weight above her shifted, and she sucked in a breath. "Judd!"

"I'm all right!"

At the sound of his voice from behind her, somewhere closer to the house, she went limp with relief, pressing her face against the ground as her chest loosened for the first time in hours. He was safe. She hadn't lost him.

"Ethan, keep her over there."

"Got it."

The man - Ethan - sat up, keeping himself solidly between her and whatever was behind him. Death. She knew that much. Could smell the blood in the air. Her stomach roiled from it.