“Could you just chill?” Warrick asked. “He’s riding away, isn’t he? He has no idea you’re here, Amber. None.”

Then the bike got louder again. The Hound had swung round.

“Oh, for God’s sake,” said Warrick.

Then the sound of the bike cut off.

In the distance, gunfire and car alarms.

Linda crawled to the window, peeked out.

“See anything?” Ronnie asked.

“The bike,” she whispered. “Ah shit. He’s on foot.”

The tension in the house twisted up another few notches. Only Milo seemed unperturbed.

Virgil beckoned to Austin and Austin came over. Virgil clamped his hands on the boy’s shoulders. “No matter what happens,” he said, “you stay by my side, you understand? You do not run off. The only time you run off is when I either tell you to or I’m too dead to tell you. You got that?”

“Yes, sir,” said Austin.

Two began to growl.

Milo put his finger to his lips, and walked slowly to the front door, his gun held in a two-handed grip. He stopped before it, stood there, then reached out to open it.

The door flew off its hinges and crashed into him, he went down, the gun went flying, and the Hound stepped over him as casually as a man steps over a dog sleeping on his porch.

Amber became a demon again and she let out a roar and ran at him, and the Hound caught her by the throat and took her off her feet, slamming her into the wall. He took a step back and swung her into the opposite wall. The others ran to help, but Virgil backed away, keeping Austin behind him. His heart beat a dangerous rhythm that sent darts of pain shooting along his left arm. His knees buckled and he would have fallen if it wasn’t for Austin, keeping him upright.

He shook his head, unable to speak, and clutched Austin’s shoulder. He could see through to the kitchen. Kelly crouched there, holding out her arm. Virgil nodded, pushed Austin in her direction. Austin hesitated, but the shouts and the crashes spurred him on.

While the heroes fought the Hound, Virgil struggled to draw breath. He saw Milo charging the Hound from behind. Saw Warrick go down and Linda getting back to her feet. Saw Javier in the corner, looking startled at all the violence.

It was clear that the Hound wasn’t going to be beaten. Ronnie was already unconscious, or worse, and now Milo joined him.

“Hey!” Amber shouted.

The carnage paused.

“You’re after me, aren’t you?” Amber continued. She had claws for hands. Virgil didn’t know how he hadn’t noticed that before. “Then come on. One last chase, asshole.”

And she turned and jumped straight through the window.