All These Monsters, page 34
Julian was gaining on me, and I ran faster, speeding into the darkness beside the barn. A hand seized the back of my shirt, yanking it so violently that I was airborne for a moment before I hit the ground, hard. My weapons pack flew off and skittered across the ground.
I rolled over, cradling the tablet to my chest. I stumbled as I tried to get up. He reached for me again, and I smacked his hand away as I shot to my feet.
He swung. I saw it coming a half second before his fist landed on my cheek.
It knocked me on my ass, stars dancing in my vision.
“Oh god,” Julian’s voice was a strangled sob. “I didn’t mean to do that. Oh my god, I didn’t mean to do that, Clara. You know I didn’t mean to do that, right?”
I looked up at him, baffled. He had both hands in his hair, eyes wild, cheeks wet with tears.
Why was he crying?
I should get up. I knew this, and yet my legs wouldn’t move. My cheek stung. It felt like something had come loose in my brain.
“Why did you do this?” Julian was screaming and crying at the same time. It was truly a sight, watching a man who had just killed several people feel sorry for himself. “Why did you make me do this?”
In the distance, someone screamed.
I still had the tablet.
My brain clicked back into place. I jumped to my feet, repeatedly pressing the red button. I had no idea if it did anything. I ran back toward the field.
“Why are you running away from me?” Julian screamed. He was following me. “All I ever did was try to help you. I was going to give you everything, and you spit it back in my face! Do you want to get yourself killed, Clara? Because that’s what’s going to happen! You’re going to fucking die!”
He grabbed me around the waist so suddenly that I gasped. He yanked me against him.
I rammed my elbow into his side. He cursed. His grip on me loosened.
I pulled free of him and spun around. He had his fists raised again.
But I saw it coming this time. I ducked and let his arm sail over my head. I smashed my fist into his chin. He hit the ground.
I gasped for breath. “Still alive, asshole.”
43
I took off, leaving Julian in the dirt.
My knuckles throbbed, and I almost dropped the tablet twice as I ran back to the field. I was on the verge of total panic, too terrified to look over my shoulder to see if Julian was following me.
Dead scrabs littered the ground. Patrick and Dorsey were fighting one off. Laila and Priya sprinted to help.
“Clara.” Madison came to a stop beside me. “Thank god you’re OK. Have you seen Noah? We were in the trees, but—”
Her face paled. She raced to where Edan was sitting next to a motionless Grayson. I pressed my hand to my mouth, tears welling in my eyes.
“I’m sorry,” Edan said, roughly wiping tears from his cheeks. “He jumped in front of me when Julian shot at me.”
Madison laughed. She clapped a hand to her mouth, a second hysterical laugh escaping before she dissolved into tears.
Edan’s eyes caught on something behind me, and he closed them, looking away. I turned.
Noah was dragging Archer’s body out from beneath a dead scrab. I gasped, the tears I’d been holding back streaming down my cheeks. Noah pulled until Archer was completely free, and then stepped back and glanced at us. A single claw had ripped a huge gash down the right side of his face, and the entire area was covered in blood.
“Jesus, Noah.” Dorsey rushed forward, ripping open his weapons pack. He produced his first aid kit.
Sirens wailed in the distance, and Noah shook his head, putting his hand on Dorsey’s.
“It’s all right. They’ll . . .” He gestured vaguely in the direction of the sirens, apparently unable to finish the sentence. His shoulders sagged heavily. Dorsey pressed white gauze into his hand anyway.
I wanted to sink down beside Madison and sob, but I was still clutching the tablet in my hand, and I needed to make sure there weren’t scrabs waiting to pounce. I wiped my eyes and walked to the barn door.
There were several rows of scrabs still in cages. One snarled.
Priya stepped inside. Her eyes were red, and dirt and blood was smeared down her arms, but her expression was all relief as she looked at the scrabs.
“MDG didn’t get any of them out,” she said, leaning back against the wall with a sigh. “All the containers and trucks are still here, except for the one you saw leave earlier. Team thirteen is going after that one.”
“That’s good,” I said quietly. Had we won? This didn’t feel like winning.
Priya wiped her cheeks with a sniffle. “Where is Julian?”
“Oh. I—I left him on the other side of the barn.” I stepped toward the door. “I should go—”
She put a soft hand on my arm, shaking her head. “Don’t worry about it. The police will grab him if he’s still nearby.” She managed to almost smile. “I hope you punched him a few times.”
Dorsey, Patrick, and Laila walked through the barn door. Laila wrapped an arm around Priya. Patrick reached for my hand and gave it a squeeze. Noah followed close behind them, holding a bloody white bandage to his face.
“Madison wanted a minute alone with Grayson,” Noah said quietly.
I glanced at the door. Where was Edan?
“He’s around back,” Patrick whispered, even though I hadn’t asked.
I squeezed his hand again before slipping out the door. Madison was sitting cross-legged next to Grayson’s body, and she didn’t look up as I edged around the barn and then walked quickly to the back. Tears welled in my eyes again. I took a shuddering breath.
Edan was crouched on the ground beneath a soft yellow spotlight, arms wrapped around his legs, head lowered to his knees.
He shot up at the sound of my footsteps, hand fumbling for his machete. His eyes focused on me, and he let out a sigh, shoulders slumping as he dropped his hand.
“Sorry,” I whispered.
“No, it’s fine.” He wiped both palms across his cheeks. “I just didn’t want to fall apart in front of Maddie. I think she needs everyone to stay calm for a minute. Or she just wants be alone so she can have a breakdown in private. I don’t know.”
“Do you want me to go so you can have a breakdown in private?” I asked. I wondered if he could hear that I wanted the answer to be no.
He pressed his lips together for a moment, hands on his hips. When he spoke, the words were wobbly. “I really don’t.”
I was shaking as I stepped forward and pulled him into a hug. He wrapped his arms around my waist and lowered his head onto my shoulder. He held me tightly.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I’m so sorry.”
It took a moment before he responded, his voice quavering. “Julian’s the only one who should be apologizing.”
“I don’t think that’s ever going to happen.” I closed my eyes as I pressed my hands to his back. The full horror of what had just happened was starting to settle in, and I was worried that I might collapse if I let go.
We stood in silence for a long time before I found words again. “I’m so glad you’re OK,” I whispered.
He put one hand on the back of my head, his lips close to my ear. “I’m so glad you’re OK too.”
* * *
Julian was gone by the time the police showed up. I gave them a statement about everything, from MDG’s plan to build a scrab army to Julian shooting Grayson and trying to kill Edan as well.
Grayson had booked the teams’ hotel rooms earlier in the day, and all eight of us crowded into one. I’d taken a shower and changed, which had only momentarily made me feel better. The image of Grayson’s body jerking as he was shot was on replay in my mind. Noah dragging Archer’s body. The scrab snatching Zoe. I closed my eyes, blinking back tears.
Noah and Madison sat on the ground near the window, laptops in front of them. They were searching the team’s uniform camera footage, trying to find proof of anything that had happened tonight. The right side of Noah’s face was bandaged. He’d keep the eye, but he was going to have a scar. An impressive scar, the doctor had said, obviously trying to put a positive spin on it.
I was sitting on the ground against one of the beds between Patrick and Edan. Laila and Dorsey were on the bed behind us, Priya on her stomach on the other one. The news played on the television. So far, nothing about MDG or what had happened tonight.
“Anything?” Priya asked Noah and Madison softly.
“Not yet,” Noah said. “It’s too dark. I’m about to check Patrick’s camera, though.”
“The New York Times just broke the news of Grayson’s death,” Laila said, eyes on her phone.
Madison’s eyes snapped up. “What does it say?”
“It just says that he died in London this evening, more details to come.”
Noah’s phone rang. “It’s Saira,” he said, and swiped at the screen. “Hey, Saira? You’re on speaker with the team.”
“No, it’s Connor,” the voice on the other end said. “Saira’s getting Thomas checked out of hospital, and she asked me to call.”
“Is the rest of team thirteen OK?” Priya asked. “Harry, I mean?” She winced. UK team thirteen was down to four members.
“Yeah, he’s fine, thanks. But I’ve got bad news. That truck that Clara saw leave before anyone got there? The one we followed? It was empty.”
“Empty?” I repeated.
“Yeah, we lost track of it, so we called it in to the police. Don’t know if it was always empty or if they unloaded it after hearing about what happened. But it was totally empty by the time the police stopped them.”
“Does it really matter, though?” Noah asked. “There were shipping containers full of scrabs. They were locked in a barn. The police saw all of that.”
“Yeah, they did, but Saira’s just heard that there’s nothing tying MDG to any of it. There’s one dead MDG employee there—uh, Webb, I think was his name—and apparently they’re denying any knowledge of what he was doing. Everyone else took off.”
“There must be something there that leads back to MDG,” Madison said, frowning. “The equipment, the vans, something.”
“Maybe,” Connor said. “I imagine it will be days before they sort through it all. But that’s not the worst part.”
Noah’s eyes flicked from his laptop to the phone. “What’s the worst part?”
“We just heard that Julian gave the police a statement. He said that Webb killed Grayson. He completely denied everything Clara told them. Said she was just trying to get back at him for breaking up with her.”
“Seriously?” Priya practically yelled.
“The American news stations are picking it up,” Dorsey said, staring at his phone. “Are you seeing Twitter?”
Edan glanced at his phone. “Julian leaked his statement. TMZ is saying Grayson was killed by a rogue MDG agent, that Webb guy. And—” He cut himself off, leaning his head back and closing his eyes.
“What?” I asked.
“There’s also a story about you,” Priya said. “But no reputable news site has it,” she added in a rush. “It’s mostly just on Twitter.”
“What story?” I tried to grab for Edan’s phone, but he moved it away, giving me a pained look.
“It says you cheated on Julian, got really mad when he broke up with you, and stalked him.” Madison said the words furiously, reading them from her phone. “Apparently there’s a source who said you showed up at a friend’s house and made a scene in front of his mom.”
“He’s just trying to discredit you,” Noah said. “Get his story out there first.”
“The crazy-bitch defense,” Madison said bitterly. “A classic.”
I pressed both hands to my forehead, a humorless laugh escaping my mouth. I’d take a scrab or a SAC or whatever you wanted to call them any day over Julian. All these monsters couldn’t compare to him.
“Did you get any proof from your uniform cameras?” Connor asked. “You were wearing them, weren’t you?”
“Still looking,” Noah said. “Let me call you back when we know, OK?”
“Yeah. Talk to you later.”
No one spoke for several minutes as Noah and Madison combed through video footage. I pressed my arms to my chest and said a silent prayer that we captured something that would incriminate Julian. I desperately wanted him to pay for killing Grayson, and Zoe, and Gage, and Archer. He may not have shot them, but he released the scrabs that killed them.
“It was too fucking dark.” Madison pushed her computer off her lap and gripped her hair with both hands. I got the feeling that searching the camera footage had been the only thing keeping her from bursting into tears. “He shot Grayson, and there’s absolutely no proof of it.”
“Noah?” Edan asked.
Noah shook his head sadly. “I’ve got nothing. These cameras aren’t good in low light, and they don’t have audio. We’ve got some footage of scrabs in the barn from Edan’s phone, but not when Julian is in there with them. Everything else is just total darkness or jumpy footage where you can’t see what’s happening.”
“So we have nothing.” Priya moaned in frustration.
“Not exactly,” Edan said quietly. He looked at me. “We have Clara.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“You could tell the truth,” Edan said. “Julian’s out there lying because he’s scared you’ll tell the truth. He told you everything, and he’s terrified.”
“Why would anyone believe me?” I asked.
“Why wouldn’t they believe you?” Dorsey asked.
“Because it’s just my word against Julian’s. And apparently everyone is already listening to him.”
“Some people won’t believe you,” Edan conceded. “But some will.”
“Dorsey, hand me my camera,” Noah said. Dorsey grabbed it from the side of the bed. “We could film a video right now. I can get it up immediately.”
I hesitated. Could I even be coherent talking about what had happened? Where would I even start? MDG’s plan to build a scrab army was so wild that I still had trouble believing it.
“You don’t have to,” Madison said quietly. She swallowed hard, blinking back tears. “You already talked to the cops. You told them the truth. And I’m sure American law enforcement will be talking to you soon.”
“But Julian’s lying about her!” Priya said. “Everyone’s going to think she’s making it all up. I think it’s a good idea to tell the whole story before Julian twists everything around. And the Montgomery family hires an army of lawyers.”
“Is it worth the risk?” Patrick asked. “Putting yourself out there when you know people are just going to hurl abuse at you?”
I let out a short laugh. Madison looked startled. The rest of team looked at me worriedly, except for Edan, who gave me a tragic smile that mirrored my own.
“Men keep hurling abuse at me, no matter what I do, so I might as well put it to good use. Let’s do it,” I said.
“Well, that’s depressing,” Noah said, getting to his feet. “After we’re done, I’m going to go have a nice long cry. Who’s in?”
“I am definitely in,” Madison said. She leaned her head back against the wall, her eyes meeting mine. Thank you, she mouthed. I nodded.
I smoothed down my hair. It was still wet from my shower. A bruise was blooming on my cheek from where Julian had punched me, but I didn’t want to put on makeup. It felt like protecting him, to cover it up.
“Do you want us to leave while you do this?” Edan asked.
“No, stay.” I smiled at him. “It’ll be easier with friends nearby.”
Noah perched the camera on a chair. “Ready when you are.”
I let out a long breath. I looked straight at the camera.
“Hi. I’m Clara Pratt. And I’m here to tell you the truth.”
Acknowledgments
It took five years for All These Monsters to go from idea to published book, and I couldn’t have done it without the help of so many people. Thank you to:
My editor, Emilia Rhodes, for believing in this book not once, but twice, and for helping me make it so much better.
My agent, Emmanuelle Morgen, for working hard to make sure this book (and all the others!) ended up in the right hands.
The entire team at HMH for giving this book a beautiful package and working hard to get it into reader’s hands.
Shannon Messenger for the notes on early pages of this book, and for being an all-around great friend. I’m so glad I awkwardly introduced myself to you at a book festival back when we were both newbie authors.
Kate Johnston for organizing a writing retreat that helped keep me sane at just the right time.
Maurene Goo for recommending I watch Coffee Prince, a Korean drama, which, in a roundabout way, partially inspired this book.
Chelsea Moore and all the instructors at Ro Fitness for giving me a place to row out my writing frustrations.
My family, especially my mom, for putting up with my writer mood swings and always being so supportive.
My sister, Laura, for reading several drafts of this book and never getting tired of it. Thank you for never getting tired of reading my books.
And to all the readers who picked up this book or any of my others—thank you so much.
hmhteen.com
About the Author
Author photo by David Heisler
AMY TINTERA is the New York Times best-selling author of the Reboot and Ruined series. She earned degrees in journalism and film and worked in Hollywood before becoming an author. She lives in Austin, Texas, where she can usually be found staring into space, dreaming up ways to make her characters run for their lives.
Connect with HMH on Social Media
Follow us for book news, reviews, author updates, exclusive content, giveaways, and more.
