“I’m not prying. I’m asking a strategic question. If we’re out here because of something that was done or said—”

“I wouldn’t risk your life like that,” Amber said. “I certainly wouldn’t risk mine. We need to find a door like the one in the motel – something that stands out, that I can latch on to, but that doesn’t mean we have to go into town.”

“You’ve seen many doors like that around here?”

“That’s what I’m trying to—” It came to her then. “Got it!” she said, whacking her hand off his arm. “I know where we can go!”

Milo frowned at her. “You know, you’re pretty violent when you’re a demon.”

“You noticed that too, huh?”

A chain-link fence surrounded the summer carnival site, so they parked and went walking. Amber’s shoulder was feeling a whole lot better by the time they found a gap and squeezed through. Whether this was down to her higher pain threshold as a demon or her rapid healing, or maybe just Kelly’s newly applied bandage, she didn’t know and she didn’t care. She was feeling better and that’s all that mattered.

They walked through long grass at the edge of the site to the slightly shorter grass on the site itself, where it grew up round the covered rides and shuttered booths. Milo touched her arm lightly and she saw the cautious look on his face a moment before she heard the voices.

They ducked low and crept forward. Three boys sat on the carousel – two on the railing surrounding it and the third on one of the wooden horses. They looked Amber’s age, maybe slightly older, and they were drinking beers and the one on the horse, the one with long hair and ripped jeans, had a cigarette dangling from his lips. The smoke wafted on the breeze.

“I thought he hated my guts,” the long-haired guy said. “Remember all those times he said he was gonna beat the crap outta me?”

“I remember all the times you shat yourself about it,” the bigger of his friends said, grinning.

“Whatever,” said the long-haired guy, stubbing out his cigarette, “I always thought Cunningham hated me, that’s my point. That’s the point I’m making.”

“But if he hated you then why would he want us to spend tonight with him and his friends?”

“Jesus Christ, Marco, would you please pay attention? That’s what I’m saying! I’m saying he must not hate me because he wants to party with us tonight. I swear, you better not be this dumb later on. I don’t want you embarrassing me.”

“I’m not gonna embarrass you,” Marco said, frowning. “Why would I embarrass you?”

“Well, I mean, let’s face it, okay? You’re not exactly scholarship material, now, are you?”

“What?”

“You’re not smart.”