“You think Naberius’s influence is weakening?”

“I do,” Amber replied. “I think each sacrifice releases a blast of power that recharges everything for exactly one year. We’re in the last few hours of last year’s sacrifice, and I think that if we can stop tonight’s sacrifice from going ahead, the barrier will get so weak that the Hounds can break through. Maybe. Hopefully.”

Milo looked at her. “Letting the Hounds in? That’s your plan?”

“The first part of it, yes.”

“The second part has a lot to make up for, just to warn you.”

“We want the Hounds to ride in, because, once they’re through, we give Naberius his sacrifice.”

“Are … are you proposing we kill the kid?”

“It doesn’t have to be Austin, does it? It doesn’t have to be a kid. It can be anyone. In fact … I think it should be Jesper himself.”

“And how does that help us?”

“Once Naberius gets his sacrifice, Hell Night begins, and everyone over the age of eighteen in this town will turn into a bloodthirsty monster. The Hounds come rolling in, and suddenly we won’t be outnumbered. We’ll have a whole army around us.”

“Who would want to kill us as much as they’d want to kill the Hounds.”

“Sure. But if we can – and I mean all of us – if we can find a safe place to wait it out, the Hounds – and my parents – will be the only targets available.”

Milo scratched the stubble on his chin. “That’s … that’s a pretty good plan.”

“Are you being sarcastic?”

“No, Amber.”

She beamed.

“But that means that not only do we have to find the kid, but we’re also going to have to snatch Jesper before tonight. Any bright ideas on how we do either of those things?”

“Snatching Jesper is easy. We still have Dacre Shanks’s key, right? We’re just going to stroll into Jesper’s office, take him by the spindly arm, and stroll right back out again. As for finding Austin, Kelly and the others think that he’s being hidden in the hardware store. Everything closes early today, at lunchtime, so that’s when they’re going to break in, and I think we should help them.”

“They’re going to break into a hardware store? In broad daylight?”

Amber faltered. “Well, I think … I think they’re planning on going in the back door.”

“They’d want to.”

“So what do you think? Should we help them?”

Milo hesitated. He reached into the car, opened the glove box, put in Daggett’s gun and took out his own holstered weapon, then straightened and clipped it on to his belt. “It might be dangerous,” he said, “but it’s not like I almost died last night. So why the hell not?”

Chapter 30