“I just need it, that’s all. I could do it myself, but …”

Kelly smiled. “Are you kidding? You are an intrigue. I’m not letting you out of my sight.”

“Thanks,” said Amber, and started walking.

“Besides,” Kelly said, eyes flicking down, “your ass is hanging out.”

Amber spun, hands behind her, and Kelly laughed and jogged to catch up. They walked side by side until they came to an old movie theatre, the kind with one or two screens that hadn’t yet been taken over and refitted as a multiplex. A showing must just have ended, because a trickle of people was emerging into the night.

“That’s more people on one street than I’ve seen since we arrived,” Kelly whispered.

They circumnavigated the theatre, diving into shadows again further up. Kelly glanced back, but there was no one behind them. They walked on and she glanced back again, frowning.

“You okay?” Amber asked.

“Not really,” said Kelly. “I don’t think we’re alone …”

“At least someone’s paying attention,” said a woman from in front, and Kelly glimpsed an outline, the shape of horns, and then reflected light shifted over red skin and she saw the most beautiful woman she’d ever seen standing there, fangs gleaming wickedly.

“Hello, sweetie,” said the demon.

“Mom,” was all Amber had time to say.

Chapter 26

BETTY LAMONT PUNCHED HER daughter so hard that Amber wasn’t even aware she’d hit the ground until after she’d stopped rolling.

She heard a muffled cry of pain, looked up in time to see Kelly being hurled into the wall and collapsing.

“We’ve never been apart for as long as this,” Betty said, strolling after Amber. “There was that week you spent at camp when you were, what, eleven? But nothing like this.”

Amber forced herself to her feet and shifted, holding out her hands to keep Betty at bay until she’d had time to recover.

Betty batted down her arms and grabbed her throat. “You’re a mess. Are you aware that the seat of your pants is missing? I don’t know what you’ve been getting up to, but I hope it’s been fun.”

And then Amber’s feet left the ground and the world spun as her mother hurled her, head over heels, against a dumpster. Amber’s spine hit the corner and she cried out as she crumpled.

“Your father and I have been having a great time,” said Betty. “Grant and Kirsty, too, of course. First of all, we couldn’t go home. I mean, that’s to be expected, right? If your daughter sabotages the offering you’re supposed to provide, you probably want to avoid places where the Shining Demon could easily find you.”

Betty lashed a kick into her side that took all the breath from Amber’s lungs despite the black scales that had formed.