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“Please sit down.”
“I don’t think so!”
“Fine,” Imelda said, sounding tired.
“So go on! Tell me what you did to my brother.”
“We killed him and we ate him, and he made us stronger,” Imelda said. “We each gave a pint of our blood, which was practically sizzling with power by that stage, and by then Kirsty and Grant were expecting.”
“No,” Amber said. “No, you can’t. None of that happened. That’s sick.”
Imelda didn’t meet her eyes. “Once their son reached his sixteenth year, once we’d eaten him, it was my turn, with Alastair, and we ate my child when she turned sixteen, and then it was back to Bill and Betty.”
“You took turns? What was it this time? Another brother? Maybe a sister?”
“It was a girl.”
Tears rolled down Amber’s cheeks. “I had a sister. I had a sister and you killed her.”
“Yes, we did,” Imelda said, pulling at a tiny loose thread on her sleeve. “Every sixteen years, the seventh’s power was recycled through us, making us stronger, and then the surplus was available again for the next child.”
“So that’s what you’ve been doing?” Amber asked. “For, what, the last hundred years?”
“We make it a point not to grow too attached to our children. It’s the only way to stay sane.”
Amber laughed. “Sane? You think this is sane? This is the most insane thing I have ever heard! This is nuts! It’s sick and it’s wrong! It’s evil! You’re saying my parents are—”
“Psychopaths,” said Imelda, looking up at her. “Yes. Pure psychopaths. The others, they became psychopaths. They let the power corrupt them, eat away at their consciences. But Bill and Betty, they were born that way. They just hid it until they didn’t need to any longer.”
“So everyone’s a psycho except you,” said Amber. Her fingernails – still ordinary fingernails, thank God – were digging into her palms. “That’s what you want me to believe now?”
“If I’m a psychopath,” said Imelda. “why haven’t I killed you? The others aren’t around. If I killed you now … ate you … I’d absorb all of your power. I wouldn’t have to share it with anyone. So, if you really do think I’m the same as your parents, why are you still alive?”
“I don’t know,” Amber said. “Maybe you’re trying to talk me to death. Or maybe, because the Shining Demon demands a jar of blood from each of you, having me all to yourself would break the terms of your deal.”
Imelda smiled. “I’m breaking the terms already by keeping you alive. But I admire your logic. You’re always thinking, aren’t you? That’s what I’ve always loved about you, Amber.”
“You’ve never loved anything about me,” Amber said. “Before this, you barely spoke to me.”
“I couldn’t do it anymore,” said Imelda. “I couldn’t pretend anymore. Not like the others.”
“So how come you’re different?”
Imelda hesitated. “The last time I had a child, something went wrong. I’d tried to remain detached from her, but I couldn’t. The moment I held my newborn baby in my arms I knew … I knew I wasn’t supposed to feel this way.”
“You loved her.”
“Yes.”
“But you still killed her.”
“Alastair killed her. I tried to run. I tried to take my daughter and escape, but Alastair knew what I was planning. He promised me that if I returned he wouldn’t tell the others. I was scared. Confused. Weak.”
“So you brought your daughter back to be killed.”
“Yes.”
“And let me guess – you felt bad about it.”
Imelda looked up. “This stops here. With you. I’ve spent the last ten years building up my courage. I’m sorry I was never kind to you, but it was too risky. I was afraid the others would see what I was planning. Alastair, especially. He knows me the best. But now I’m going to break the cycle. You’re going to leave with Milo. Tonight. I’ll be joining you as soon as I can, but you have one chance to get out of this alive, and Milo knows where to start.”
“You’re sending me away? But you can’t. This is my home.”
“Is it? What exactly do you have here, Amber? Friends? Really? Are you going to stay because of school? Because of your job at the diner? These things are enough to make you stay?”
Amber swallowed. “Then where am I going?”
“Milo knows. I don’t.”
“Why wouldn’t you know where I’m going?”
“Because if your parents figure out that I’m helping you,” said Imelda, “they will torture me until I tell them everything. If I don’t know where you are, I can’t betray you.”
Amber stared. “But … but then what’ll happen to you?”
Imelda hesitated. “Your parents are very ruthless people, sweetie, and they’re not going to pass up the opportunity to absorb more power.”
“They’d eat you?”
“And if I’m very, very lucky? They’d kill me first.”
(#ulink_067bacda-2d04-520c-a136-0739236bd0d8)
MILO CAME IN AND Imelda talked to him at the far side of the apartment in a low voice Amber couldn’t make out. He nodded occasionally and replied, and barely even glanced Amber’s way.
She busied herself with looking through the bag Imelda had given her. A few items of clothing and underwear, everything in her size. She dug a little deeper, found a bag of toiletries. Dug deeper. Found a bag of money.
Tens, twenties and fifties in tightly packed rolls. Her eyes widened. There must have been thousands in there. Tens of thousands. A hundred thousand?
All the essentials that anyone would need to go on the run.
Milo and Imelda came over, and Amber stood to face them.
“It’s time to go,” Imelda said.
“I don’t want to,” Amber announced.
“I understand that,” said Imelda, “but it really is for the best. Milo will keep you as safe as he can and keep you out of sight as much as possible. We’re paying him for this – ten thousand a week. Take it from the money I gave you.”
“You’re not listening to me. I don’t want to go.”
“I am listening to you, but you’ve got to listen to me, too. I know what your parents are capable of.”
“You can hide me here.”
“They’ll check here,” Imelda said. “Alastair is already looking at me strangely. He’s got his suspicions. It’s only a matter of time before he stops by for an unannounced visit.”
“Maybe he doesn’t want to hurt me, either. Have you thought of that? Maybe he’s like you. Maybe he’s sick of it.”
Imelda shook her head. “I wish that were true.”
“Ask him!” Amber said. “Talk to him! Talk to my parents! Maybe they’d change their minds if you talk to them!”
“Sweetie, no …”
“Have you tried?”
“I haven’t,” Imelda admitted.
“Then you don’t know, do you? You want to send me away when I might not even have to go. I know my parents, too, all right? I know what they’re like. Talk to them. They’re weird, but they’re practical. All you need to do is reason with them.”
“Amber, Bill and Betty aren’t going to change their minds,” said Imelda. “They’re furious. They’re desperate. They haven’t slept. They haven’t stopped searching.”
“They’re worried about me.”
“They’re worried you’ve escaped. Sweetie, you saw them. You heard what they said. If they find you, they will kill you. You have to trust me on this.”
“So that’s it? You think you can hand me a bag of clothes and a bag of money and send me off somewhere? I don’t even know where you’re sending me. I’m not going, you understand? I am not going and you can’t make me!”
Imelda glanced at Milo. “She’s not usually like this.”
“And who the hell is he?” Amber almost shouted. “You’re sending me off with a strange man I don’t even know? How is that a good idea?”
“I trust him.”
“He was going to shoot me earlier! And you want me to get in a car with this guy? For how long? How long will all this take?”
Imelda hesitated. “I don’t know. Maybe … two weeks?”
“Two weeks?”
“Or three.”
“What?”
“It’s the only safe way. You’ll have to get yourself some more clothes and things, but that bag will do for now.”
“We really need to get going,” said Milo. “I want to be on the road before dark.”
Amber held up her hands. “Okay, okay, listen to me. Just listen, all right? That’s your idea. That’s the plan you came up with. So now I have a plan. Milo here goes home. He goes home and he plays with his guns and he’s happy. And, while he’s being happy, you and me get in a car and we drive somewhere nice and we never look back.”
Imelda shook her head. “I told you, I can’t go with you.”
“Why? Why can’t you come with me? Jesus Christ, you’re the only person I know who isn’t trying to kill me.”
“It’s better for you if I stay, honey. I can keep an eye on what they’re doing. If they’re close to finding you, I can steer them away.”
“You just don’t want to be around me.”
“That’s not true.”
“Of course it is. The only reason you’re helping me is because you feel guilty. You don’t give a crap about me – if you did, you wouldn’t be handing me over to him.”
Imelda shook her head. “That’s not true.”
“Well, there we have it – we have two plans. Your stupid plan where I go with some lunatic called Milo, and my good plan, where you and me go somewhere far away, with mountains and trees and maybe a log cabin. We’ll go to Montana. It’s cool in Montana. We won’t have to live in this constant heat.”
“Let’s have a vote,” said Milo. “I vote for the stupid plan and so does Imelda.”
Amber glared at him, then redirected the glare at Imelda. “Why him? Who is he? What does he have to do with all this?”
“I have my own history with Demons,” Milo said. “I’m as qualified for this job as anyone possibly could be.”
“So you’ve made a deal, just like my parents did? Bad people make deals with Demons – bad people who like to eat their children. Have you ever murdered anyone, Milo?”
“Amber, that’s enough,” said Imelda.
“You want me to get in a car with this guy—”
“Yes,” Imelda snapped. “I do. Because I can’t be there and he’s the only one I know who’ll be able to protect you. He’s also the only one I know who’d be willing to protect you. Amber, this is messed up. Don’t you think I know that? And don’t you think this is breaking my heart, sending you away? I’ve finally been able to tell you the truth, after years of being too afraid, and instead of showing you all of the love I have for you, love that I’ve had for you since the day you were born, I have to send you away and pretend to be just like the others. I have to pretend to care nothing for you, Amber. I have to pretend to see you as nothing more than our next power boost. This is breaking me, sweetheart. This is ripping me up inside and I don’t know how the hell I’m not falling to the floor in tears, but I’m not. Because I have to be strong. For you. And you have to be strong for me. Because you’re the only person in this world that I love, and if anything happens to you I’ll … I’ll …”
“I’m sorry,” Amber said quietly.
“Oh, honey,” Imelda said, pulling her into an embrace. Amber didn’t know what to do for a moment. This wasn’t the quick hug of Grant or Kirsty, or the picked-up-off-the-ground hug of Alastair. This was something else. This was genuine, and Amber found herself lost as to how to respond.
But she gradually wrapped her arms round Imelda and hugged her back, and she didn’t even notice the tears that were spilling off her cheeks and soaking through Imelda’s blouse. She felt Imelda cry, and realised she was crying herself. This one hug was the warmest, most sincere physical contact she had ever experienced, and she didn’t want it to ever end.
(#ulink_0489d9f7-d283-5a31-85a8-92ec55fb12bc)
RAIN MINGLED WITH THE tears on her face as Amber got into the SUV.
Milo had parked it round the back of Imelda’s apartment building. They didn’t want Amber in plain view. They didn’t want her walking across the sidewalk for a few seconds because that was a risk they couldn’t afford to take. Their paranoia was affecting Amber. She waited until Milo had the back door open, and then she ran through the heat and the rain, practically dived in. Milo threw a blanket over her and closed the door.
He got in the front, started the engine, and as the SUV was pulling out on to the street Amber realised she hadn’t said goodbye to Imelda, and a sliver of anguish pierced her heart.
She made sure she wasn’t about to cry, and then pulled the blanket back.
The SUV’s exterior may have needed a wash, but the interior was clean and smelled of polish. Milo struck her as the type to maintain his vehicle in perfect running order, and she realised that she wouldn’t have been surprised to learn that the dirt and the dust on the outside were nothing more than camouflage.
