“Fair enough,” Betty said. “I’m sorry, Kirsty. I didn’t mean to do that. We just need your trust for another few hours. Give us until midnight. I swear to you, we will find Amber, we’ll get the key, and we will help Naberius tear Astaroth to shreds.”

“Midnight,” Kirsty said.

“So where do we start?” asked Grant.

“We start by having a backup plan,” said Bill. “You’re absolutely right, the both of you. We need to protect ourselves. Astaroth wants us to bring him either Amber or Jesper. We don’t know where Amber is, but everyone knows where the mayor resides.”

“He’ll have guards,” said Kirsty. “Maybe even more of those cops.”

“We can handle it,” Bill said. “We can handle anything. After you, ladies.”

Betty walked out first. Kirsty followed, with Grant trailing after her. Bill took a look around and Amber ducked back.

When she looked again, he was gone.

Chapter 33

SHE CALLED MILO, and Virgil came out to pick her up. Amber didn’t say much on the ride back, just sat and bled all over his seat. Virgil assured her he didn’t mind.

When she got back to the house, Linda did her best to patch her up. Amber took a few painkillers. She was crashing hard after all that adrenaline, so she went to lie down and feel sorry for herself while Milo headed back out with Virgil to visit the town’s nuclear bunker. Two came with her, and she snuggled him and fell asleep, shivering despite the heavy blankets.

When she woke, the shivers had stopped and the painkillers had worn off and Two was kicking out in his sleep. Groaning, and moving slowly, she tipped herself out of bed and shuffled from the room. She smelled food. Javier was cooking for the house, and there was a plate set aside for her. Ronnie and the others had been over the morning’s events again and again, she could see it in their faces – the triumph after finding Austin, and the wariness after their encounter with the Narrow Man. By the time she sat beside Warrick and involved herself in the conversation, they’d moved on to cheerier fare. They told her and Austin stories about their previous last-minute escapes. The way they told it, it was all chases and scares and running down mineshafts and through old hotels. They left out the murder and horror and death. Amber appreciated that. It was nice, this, being part of a group. She’d never experienced it before. It was comforting.

Milo and Virgil got back a little before four.