Amber waited for the worst of the pain to pass, then straightened, and moved slowly to the door. “Who is it?” she called.

“Me,” said Milo.

“Anyone else with you?”

“No.”

She gripped the key between her palms and turned it, and the lock clicked and she stepped back as Milo opened the door.

He saw the look on her face and frowned. “Hurting?”

“A little. I’ll take the painkillers.”

“You shift when you were sleeping?”

“Yeah. You?”

He nodded. He was clean-shaven and his eyes were calm – the benefits of a good night’s rest. “I’m going to head out to the edge of town,” he said, “keep watch for the Hounds.”

“Let me get dressed.”

“No need. I’m just going to be sitting there. You take a look around, see what’s what. If we can hide out here, it’d be nice to know what the town has to offer.”

Amber frowned. “You mean … we’re going to be apart? During the daytime?”

“Is that okay with you?”

“Sure. It’s just … I haven’t been alone in the daytime for … a while.”

“You’ll adjust.”

“What do I do?”

“Whatever you want. Go for a walk. Have some breakfast. Relax. It’ll come back to you. Oh, and …” He pointed to her face.

“What?”

“You can’t go out horned up.”

“Oh yeah. Sure.”

He nodded, and walked off, and Amber closed the door behind him and locked it again. Then she looked around and wondered what the hell she was going to do.

She swallowed some painkillers and brushed her teeth and peed, and as she was peeing she looked at the tub and tried to remember the last time she’d had a real bath. She filled the tub and added in all kinds of crazy liquids until the bubbles nearly spilled out on to the floor. Then she took off her clothes and climbed in, one long red leg at a time. Bracing her bandaged palms on the tub’s edge, she lowered herself into the water, gasping, until her ass touched the bottom. She laughed, then, and sank further, until the hot water was up to her chin.

“Oh, this is nice,” she muttered to the room.

She closed her eyes, breathing in the steam, letting it clear her head of any residual sleepiness. It had been so long since she’d been able to relax, to think of anything other than the chase. Even now, there was a part of her that was still on edge – but it was a small part, and she could have easily drowned it out if she’d been so inclined.