Jesper fell to his knees. Probably the first time those pants had ever come into contact with anything resembling dirt. “Please! I’ve hidden from him for all this time – he will torture me for eternity!”

“You kinda deserve it, though,” said Amber.

“But how will that help you? How will any of this help you? He’ll still be after you when the barrier comes down. He’ll still be after you once I’m dead.”

“You won’t have to worry about any of that,” Milo said.

“I can help!”

“You’re a child-killer,” said Amber. “We don’t want your help.”

She hauled him up off the ground and they turned back towards the Charger. There was somebody leaning through the passenger window.

“Hey!” Amber shouted.

The boy with the birthmark, the one they’d seen with his friends on the carousel, jerked up out of the car, something in his hand. Phil Daggett’s gun, still with its silencer attached. He bolted, disappearing through the gap in the fence.

Milo tore after him, leaving Amber alone with Jesper.

“You and me,” Jesper whispered, “we can make a deal, can’t we?”

“Shut the hell up,” Amber said, dragging him to the trunk and throwing him in.

“Please!” he shouted as she slammed it shut.

“I’d keep quiet if I were you,” she warned. “Last person we threw in there, the car started to eat him. You don’t want to draw attention to yourself, you really don’t.”

Jesper quieted.

A few minutes later, she saw Milo walking back. His hands were empty and he looked pissed.

Well, this day was just getting better and better.

Chapter 39

IT HAD JUST PASSED 9pm, and they took a road that skimmed the town boundary for a short way. At Amber’s request, Milo stopped, and they got out. A minute later, they heard a motorcycle. The Hound drew up before them. Calmly, he dismounted, and took the few steps to the barrier. He pressed his hand against empty space and pushed, and empty space resisted.

But not without showing signs of weakness. That hand, that hairy-knuckled hand with the oil stains deep in the grooves of the palm, pressed upon the invisible barrier and for a moment Amber thought it would yield, break, and the Hound would be on her before she even knew what was happening.

But the barrier stayed intact. Barely.

“Won’t be long now,” said Milo.

Amber bared her fangs at the Hound, who didn’t change his expression, and followed Milo back to the Charger. They got in. Jesper was quiet in the trunk.

They pulled back on to the road and drove on, leaving the boundary behind them. No other cars on the road. Everyone in town was preparing for Hell Night.