Novak nodded. “That’s what I was thinking. We like to mind our own business here. I trust you will do the same.”

“Naturally,” said Milo.

“Of course,” said Amber.

Novak adjusted his gun belt, and nodded to them. “Very nice to meet you, and welcome to Desolation Hill.”

“Thanks,” said Milo.

Novak walked to his car, went to get in, but paused. “One of my officers alerted me to some bikers on the edge of town,” he said. “They have anything to do with you?”

“No, sir.”

“Well, okay then. Have a nice day.” He nodded again, got in his car, and they watched him drive away.

“So what do you think of the place?” Milo asked.

“I haven’t decided,” said Amber. “People here are weird. They’re downright rude to me and they’re overly polite with each other. That Novak guy is a little creepy, and I don’t have a clue what this festival is about, but already it’s annoying the crap out of me. Plus, every second that goes by I just want to shift. It’s actually uncomfortable to stay normal.”

“It’s worth it, though,” said Milo.

“Yeah,” she said, a little grudgingly. “I really like this whole barrier thing they’ve got going on. What are we going to do on Wednesday? We can’t leave town – the Hounds will be on us the moment we try.”

“I thought they didn’t intimidate you.”

“Are you nuts? Of course they do. I just said that because they were freaking me out.”

“We’re not leaving,” said Milo. “We can’t be escorted out, either – that’d be like delivering ourselves straight to them. We’ll check out early, find an out-of-the-way place to park that’s still within the town limits, and camp out till Saturday. We keep our heads down, ignore anything to do with their festival, and we’ll be fine.”

“And in the meantime,” said Amber, “we find out who put up that barrier. It’s got to be someone like us, right? Someone hiding from a demon?”

“Maybe.”

“If we can talk to whoever’s behind it, maybe we can make a barrier of our own. You’d be able to do something like that, wouldn’t you?”

Milo frowned. “Me? I know nothing about this kind of thing.”

“Well, yeah, but you know the basics.”

“What basics, Amber? I know the lore. I know some of the traditions. I don’t know how to do anything. Buxton knows, not me, and he’s too busy setting up a new life for himself to come up here and give us advice.”

“Well … maybe we won’t need him. Maybe whoever put up the barrier will show us what we have to do.”

“I guess it’s possible.”

She gave him a disapproving frown. “You don’t sound convinced.”

“I hate to break it to you, Amber, but neither do you.”

Chapter 9

AUSTIN COOKE RAN.