“Were you there the whole time?” she whispered.

He nodded. “It’s called hiding. You should try it.”

“I hid just then, didn’t I?”

“That was lucky. Red skin isn’t the best camouflage in grass.”

“Whatever.” She looked back to the Hounds. “What the hell are they doing?”

“Not much,” said Milo. “Every now and then, they … here, look.”

Amber looked. One of the Hounds got off his bike and walked forward a few steps until he was standing right beside the sign. He sniffed the air.

“Can he smell us?” Amber whispered.

Milo didn’t answer for a moment. Then he said, “I don’t think they can get in.”

Amber frowned. “Get in where?”

“Here.”

Her frown deepened. “What do you …? Wait – you mean they can’t get into the town? Why not? There’s nothing …” She stopped, watching the Hound. “Uh, Milo, are we being chased by mimes?”

The Hound had put his hand out, but it seemed to meet resistance in mid-air, like there was a sheet of glass directly in front of him.

“That’s the town line,” Milo said softly. “Whatever’s in here, whatever made us shift, is keeping them out. Looks like it’s also screwed up their radar. This close, they should have already zeroed in on your position, but they’re not even looking this way.”

“Are you sure?” Amber asked. “How can you be sure?”

“Good point,” Milo said, and he shifted into his demon-self and stood up.

“What the hell are you doing?” She tried grabbing his hand to pull him back down, but he was already stepping out on to the road.

The Hounds observed him as he approached. Amber stayed where she was.

To a chorus of revving bikes, Milo walked right up to the Hound and stood before him. When the Hound didn’t do anything, Milo hit him. The punch whipped the Hound’s head back, and it was enough to provoke him into making a move. But when his hands tried to close around Milo’s throat, they bounced off whatever invisible barrier separated them.

Amber stood up. She could see the other Hounds now. Dressed in denim or leather, bearded or not, they all wore sunglasses and all rode different kinds of bikes. She saw a Harley, and that was the only one she recognised. None of them had any expression on their face. Aside from the sunglasses, that was the one thing they all shared.

The others turned off their bikes, and the sudden silence rushed in to fill the vacuum. They got off and approached, but remained on their side of the town line. Amber felt their eyes on her as she joined Milo. He reverted to normal.

“This is interesting,” she said, unease running down her spine. “You think it runs around the whole town?”

“We’d better hope so,” said Milo.