“How would that have made any more sense than what I did?”

“At least you wouldn’t have traded away your goddamn soul.”

“No,” said Amber. “No, I’d still have that, I guess. And I could have watched him flay it in front of me. I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry for disappointing you, but really, what the hell did you expect? I don’t travel the country to help people. I’m not like you. I don’t get into trouble on purpose. I’m doing this, all this, to save my own life. Did you forget that part? I’m not a hero. I’m not going to throw my life away over a principle. Yeah, I’m Astaroth’s representative, but so what? It’s not like I’ll be hurting any of the good people of the world. That’s not who I’ll be sent after. I’ll be sent after the demons, the people who’ve already made their deals, who’ve already killed. I’ll be punishing the guilty.”

“You don’t know who you’ll be punishing.”

Amber looked into Kelly’s eyes, saw the anger in there, the defiance, and she shook her head. “This is exactly what I needed right now, Kelly. This is just perfect. Thank you so much for your patience and understanding.”

“Hey, this was your decision,” Kelly responded. “Don’t you dare try to make out like I’m the one being unreasonable here. There’s a right way to do things and a wrong way and you’ve obviously made your choice.”

“I guess I have,” Amber said, and she shifted. Kelly stepped back at the sight of the horns, and Amber moved past her. She walked out of the house, heading for the Charger. The others followed.

“You running away now, is that it?” Kelly asked. “Well, why the hell not? You’ve got your new job to start, after all, and a boss you wanna impress.”

Milo watched Amber approach, and started the engine. The passenger door clicked, and swung open. He was with her. She knew that, just by the roar of the Charger. She got in, slammed the door.

Kelly walked up to the open window. “If you drive away now, the next time we meet we might be enemies. Have you thought about that? Does that even mean anything to you?”

“Sure,” said Amber. “It means you better watch yourself.”

She met Kelly’s eyes, saw the hurt in them, and willed herself not to cry as Kelly leaned over.

“The more you do it, the more you’ll be prepared to do,” Kelly said, her voice soft. “You’re a good person, Amber, I know you are. I knew it from the first moment we met. But, for all your good intentions, you can’t say for certain who you’ll end up hunting in the future.”