“You killed Cole?” Mabb asked in a small voice.

Austin swallowed, and nodded.

“You?” Hillock said, stepping forward. “You killed Cole Blancard?”

“Stop walking,” said Austin. “Stop walking or I’ll shoot you.”

Hillock didn’t seem to even move, and yet suddenly he was close enough to smack the gun from Austin’s hands.

“You killed Cole Blancard?” Hillock said again, lifting Austin off his feet by his shirt. “You murdered our friend?”

“Jamie,” Mabb whimpered, “I think I’m dying.”

“Shut up,” Hillock snapped.

“He shot me in the belly, man.”

“Shut the hell up, dickhead! The little man here just confessed to the murder of our friend, didn’t you hear him?”

“I think he killed me, too, Jamie.”

Hillock threw Austin down and stalked back to Mabb, who was bent over and moaning. “What?” he demanded. “What the hell is wrong with you, Marco?”

Mabb pointed at Austin. “He shot me. You saw him.”

“So?”

“So I think I’m gonna die, man.”

“What do you expect me to do about it?”

Mabb dropped to his knees. “I don’t know, Jamie, I’m scared.”

“Don’t be a pussy.”

“It’s not being a pussy to be scared of dying.”

“Yeah, it is, and you’re being one right now. Man up, for Christ’s sake.”

“I’m so cold …”

“Of course you’re cold,” Hillock said. “It’s Alaska. Stop exaggerating.”

“I really am dying, though.”

“Then die! Jesus, Marco, just die already and get it over with!”

Mabb’s demonic face told Austin all he needed to know – that Hillock’s indifference to his fate hurt him more than any bullet ever could.

“You dick,” said Mabb, and reared up, grabbing Hillock and slugging him right across the jaw. Hillock wobbled but didn’t fall, and slammed his fist into Mabb’s wound. Mabb screamed and stumbled and fell to his knees, and Hillock’s shadow danced as red headlights lit him up.

Milo’s black car hit Jamie Hillock so fast he was thrown ten feet into the air. He landed as a jumble of broken bones wrapped in demon skin, howling in pain.

The car swerved round and came rolling to a stop beside Austin.

“Climb in,” Milo said. “Let’s get you to something approaching safety.”

Marco Mabb looked up. “Excuse me, sir,” he said. “Could you take us to a hospital? I’ve been shot. And you ran into my friend.”

Milo ignored him, so Austin did, too. He got in the car.

Chapter 51

THE TOWN WAS TWISTED.