“Hell Night’s not going to happen.”

“I have faith,” said Benjamin. “Chief Novak’s a good man. He’ll make sure it continues, now that the mayor’s dead.”

“So we’re going to wait until you shift, and then what? Then you’ll kill me?”

Benjamin shook his head. “It won’t be me. It’ll be him. The demon.”

“It’ll be you,” Amber said angrily. “It’ll still be you, Benjamin.”

“No, you’re wrong. I can’t control him when he takes over.”

“You’ll kill me,” she said. “If you change, you’ll kill me.”

“He’ll kill you.”

“You’re the one who’ll be pulling that trigger, just like you’re the one keeping me here right now. This is murder, Benjamin. You will be murdering me.”

“No. It’s not like that.”

“Don’t do this. Let me go.”

“I can’t.”

Every fibre of her being wanted to shift, but she stayed as she was. “Then shoot me,” said Amber. “If you’re going to do it, do it. I’d rather be murdered by a human being than a demon.”

“I’m not a killer.”

“That’s exactly what you’ll be, Benjamin. Why waste time? You have the gun, so do it.”

“No,” said Benjamin. “No, we’ll just wait. We’ll wait here.”

“I’m not waiting,” she told him, her lip curling into a snarl. “If you’re going to kill me, be a man and kill me. Otherwise, I’m walking out that door.”

“Don’t move, Amber, please.”

“I’m walking out that goddamn door.”

“Please don’t make me do this.”

“You don’t have to do anything, Benjamin. You can put down the gun and let me walk out of here. You can let me take my chances outside. This doesn’t have to end with you and me. We’re not enemies.”

“I’m warning you …”

“You’re not going to shoot me, Benjamin,” Amber said, and stepped forward.

The blast filled the room and Amber felt a tug in her belly, and all at once her legs didn’t work and she was on her back, gasping.

Numb fingers scrabbled at her jacket, pulling it open. Blood was already pouring from the wound above her navel, soaking through her shirt. She tried pressing her hands against it. The blood kept coming.

“Just wait here,” she heard Benjamin mumble. “We’ll just wait here and it’ll all be over soon.”

The bullet must have gone straight through because there was more blood leaking from her back. She was lying in an ever-growing pool of her own blood and now the pain was coming. It flared suddenly and Amber cried out.

“Hush,” said Benjamin. “Just hush now. It’ll be all right. You shouldn’t have done that. I told you not to move and you moved. Why did you do that? Why did you make me shoot you?”