Desolation (37 page)

“Do goats need reasons to dislike anyone?”

“Probably not – though I should say I haven’t known a lot of goats.”

“I have,” Javier said wistfully, and he looked round and they both burst out laughing.

“I guess I owe you an apology,” said Javier.

“Me?” said Virgil, wiping his eyes. “Why, for God’s sake?”

“Cos I hated you,” said Javier. “I blamed you for things not working out with Darleen, and none of that was your fault. I was bitter, I suppose. I saw you with beautiful women hanging off your every word and there was I, standing in the background … Never got married. Never had kids.”

“Yeah,” said Virgil, “because I did such a great job with all that.”

Javier hesitated. “I was … I was real sorry to hear about your wife.”

Virgil nodded. “She was a good woman.”

“Yes, she was.”

“And a good person. Much better than me. Those beautiful women who hung off my every word … they were where it all went wrong. I had a loving wife and a kid on the way and for so long, for
so long
I resisted temptation. I felt so good about that. So righteous. It didn’t last. That strength didn’t last.”

“What did Oscar Wilde say?
I can resist everything except temptation
.”

“A smart man, that Mr Wilde.”

“He was known for it,” said Javier. “So you floundered. You made a mistake. You’re only human.”

Virgil laughed again, this time without humour. “That’s what I said. That’s how I justified it to myself. I’m only human. As if being human meant being weak, or unfaithful, or cruel. She wasn’t like that. She never hurt me like that. I wasn’t only human, Javier, I was only me.”

“But she took you back.”

Virgil shifted a little on the floor. “She was a fool to. I made her a truckload of promises I couldn’t keep. By then my star was fading, of course, and I didn’t have all those beautiful young women hanging off my every word anymore … So when it happened again, years later, when there was a beautiful young woman who was enraptured with me, I was … flattered. And stupid. And weak.”

“That’s why your daughter doesn’t want to see you?”

“I wasn’t a good husband. I thought I was a good father, but obviously not. After her mother died, Tabitha got married, moved out to Alaska of all places … and eventually I followed. Been here ten years. Every day I’m ready to jump in that ridiculous car of mine and drive the forty miles to her house, to fall to my knees and beg her forgiveness and tell her how much I love her despite all my weakness and all my cruelty, and to tell her hey, look at my ridiculous car, big enough to take you and my grandkids away on a picnic or a … or a whatever. And all I need is the invitation.”

They went quiet.

Javier turned away again. “You’re an asshole,” he said.

“Yeah.”

“No reason in the world why that daughter of yours should forgive you. No reason why she should answer any of your calls.”

“None at all.”

“But I hope she does.”

Virgil nodded, used his sleeve to wipe his eyes.

“Knew it,” Javier muttered.

“You knew what?”

“I knew I still had it,” Javier said, and got to his feet slowly. When he was standing, the shackles fell from his wrists.

Virgil stared. “How did you do that?”

“Did you forget?” Javier asked, then spread his arms wide, and bowed with an extravagant flourish. “Javier Santorum, Circus Magician and Escape Artist.”

“You picked the lock?”

Javier grinned, holding up a thin pair of nose-hair tweezers.

“You beautiful man,” said Virgil.

Javier chuckled, came over, and started working on Virgil’s shackles. “Let’s get these off,” he said, “then open those doors and get to that bunker. I’ve had quite enough of my life being in danger for one day, thank you very much.”

I
T WAS SNOWING
.

It was May, and it was snowing.

Amber limped to the window and looked out as the first flurries covered Benjamin’s pickup truck in a dusting of white. “I can’t stay here,” she said.

“You’re not going out there,” Benjamin said from the table. The kitchen was warm. “What good can you do? You said it yourself, there’s a woman looking to kill you and she’s in those woods.”

“I don’t know that,” Amber said. “She could be anywhere.”

“She could be right outside,” Benjamin said, getting up. “And what about those men from before? The bikers? You said they’re in town now?”

Amber nodded. “It was part of the plan, but … But now it’s all gone wrong.”

Milo was out there, in the snow and the cold and the dark, with demons and Hounds, but Milo was Milo. He could take care of himself, so long as he had the Charger. But Kelly …

“Can I ask you something?” said Benjamin, and Amber turned. He cleared his throat. “Did you … are you responsible for nothing happening tonight?”

She narrowed her eyes. “You mean for you not turning into a demon? Yeah, we are.”

“Oh.”

“Do me a favour, Benjamin, okay? Try not to look so disappointed that you’re not out there murdering your neighbours.”

“What? I – I’m not, I don’t know what—”

“I can see it on your face, for God’s sake.”

Benjamin looked away.

Amber pulled a chair towards her and sat. Her leg was bleeding badly. Her body ached. “All this started for me a few weeks ago,” she said. “That’s all. Weeks. I went from being an ordinary girl to being a demon with fangs and claws and horns …”

“I just want that for a night,” Benjamin said quietly.

“You don’t get it. It’s been with me every moment since then. It’s been a part of me. I’ve had time to get used to it. To acclimatise. But you? You don’t get that chance, do you? None of you do. You get a blast of this and you go insane for a few hours. But you
want
to go insane, don’t you? You’re sitting up here, looking forward to it. You’re waiting to go nuts.”

“Amber, please …”

“It has to stop. It just has to.”

“What … what are you going to do? What can you do? Your parents might even have that key by now.”

“The Narrow Man has another one just like it,” she said. “I’ll … I’ll pay him a visit, take the key, and get to Naberius before my parents do.”

“And then what?”

Seconds went by. “I’ll kill him,” she said.

“How does that help anyone?” Benjamin asked. “Unless I misheard, your plan revolves around Hell Night actually going ahead, doesn’t it? Then the folks down there will take care of the bikers.”

“There is something else I could try.”

“What? For heaven’s sake, you’re running out of time.”

“I could eat him,” she said.

Benjamin paled. “What?”

“We eat, we absorb power,” Amber said. “That’s our whole thing. Naberius is in chains. By now he’s probably powerless … But I might get enough from him to be able to take on the Hounds myself.”

“You can’t … you can’t be serious.”

“It might be the only way.”

“Amber … that’s crazy.”

She smiled, and forced herself to stand. “Welcome to my life. I’m going to need to borrow your truck.”

“The keys are on the shelf over there.”

She nodded. “Thanks, Benjamin. You stay up here now, okay? You really don’t want to go venturing out on to the streets. Not tonight.”

She limped over to the shelf, moved aside an old flashlight and a book. “The keys aren’t here,” she said, and turned just as Benjamin levelled his rifle at her from across the room.

“I’m sorry,” Benjamin said, tears in his eyes.

The kitchen was warm, but Amber was ice-cold. “What are you doing?”

“You seem like such a nice girl,” said Benjamin, “and I am really sorry about this, but I can’t let you take away Hell Night.”

“But that’s what you want,” said Amber. “You don’t like what you turn into. You said it yourself, the things you do—”

“Are awful,” Benjamin said, nodding. “They are. They’re terrible. But I need them. You won’t understand, you couldn’t possibly understand, but when I become that … that thing, I am freed of this old man’s body. My joints don’t ache … my bones don’t creak … I stop being old. For one night a year, I feel young and strong and alive and … and I’m sorry, but I need that.”

“Put the gun down,” Amber said, limping forward.

“Not another step,” said Benjamin. “Don’t make me shoot you, Amber.”

Amber kept moving slowly. “You’re not going to hurt me,” she said. “You’re a good guy. I know you are.”

Benjamin raised the rifle to his shoulder. “Please, stop.”

She stopped. Her voice wavered. “You’re not going to pull that trigger.”

“I don’t want to kill you,” said Benjamin. “But I need you to stay put, and stay as you are.”

“Why?” she asked. “What good will that do?”

Tears rolled down Benjamin’s cheeks. “You have to be stopped,” he said, “but I can’t do it. I couldn’t live with myself if I had your death on my conscience. So we’re going to wait.”

Amber frowned. “For what?”

“Hell Night.”

“Hell Night’s not going to happen.”

“I have faith,” said Benjamin. “Chief Novak’s a good man. He’ll make sure it continues, now that the mayor’s dead.”

“So we’re going to wait until you shift, and then what? Then you’ll kill me?”

Benjamin shook his head. “It won’t be me. It’ll be him. The demon.”

“It’ll be you,” Amber said angrily. “It’ll still be you, Benjamin.”

“No, you’re wrong. I can’t control him when he takes over.”

“You’ll kill me,” she said. “If you change, you’ll kill me.”

“
He’ll
kill you.”

“You’re the one who’ll be pulling that trigger, just like
you’re
the one keeping me here right now. This is murder, Benjamin. You will be murdering me.”

“No. It’s not like that.”

“Don’t do this. Let me go.”

“I can’t.”

Every fibre of her being wanted to shift, but she stayed as she was. “Then shoot me,” said Amber. “If you’re going to do it, do it. I’d rather be murdered by a human being than a demon.”

“I’m not a killer.”

“That’s exactly what you’ll be, Benjamin. Why waste time? You have the gun, so do it.”

“No,” said Benjamin. “No, we’ll just wait. We’ll wait here.”

“I’m not waiting,” she told him, her lip curling into a snarl. “If you’re going to kill me, be a man and kill me. Otherwise, I’m walking out that door.”

“Don’t move, Amber, please.”

“I’m walking out that goddamn door.”

“Please don’t make me do this.”

“You don’t have to do anything, Benjamin. You can put down the gun and let me walk out of here. You can let me take my chances outside. This doesn’t have to end with you and me. We’re not enemies.”

“I’m warning you …”

“You’re not going to shoot me, Benjamin,” Amber said, and stepped forward.

The blast filled the room and Amber felt a tug in her belly, and all at once her legs didn’t work and she was on her back, gasping.

Numb fingers scrabbled at her jacket, pulling it open. Blood was already pouring from the wound above her navel, soaking through her shirt. She tried pressing her hands against it. The blood kept coming.

“Just wait here,” she heard Benjamin mumble. “We’ll just wait here and it’ll all be over soon.”

The bullet must have gone straight through because there was more blood leaking from her back. She was lying in an ever-growing pool of her own blood and now the pain was coming. It flared suddenly and Amber cried out.

“Hush,” said Benjamin. “Just hush now. It’ll be all right. You shouldn’t have done that. I told you not to move and you moved. Why did you do that? Why did you make me shoot you?”

There were a dozen responses to that question and every one of them was blown apart by the rising tide of pain that brought stinging sweat to Amber’s eyes.

“Help me,” she said, her words distorted. It hurt to breathe.

Benjamin hurried over, looked down at her. “The pain won’t last long,” he said. “The change’ll happen any minute now. Then he’ll be here to put you out of your misery.”

He ducked out of Amber’s line of sight, and she was left alone again, with just the ceiling and her pain for company. Another few seconds and she’d no longer be able to form coherent thoughts.

She couldn’t prevent it any longer. Amber shifted, the sudden transformation making her cry out once more.

“I told you!” Benjamin said loudly. “I told you not to do that!”

Either the pain dimmed to a manageable level or else she was suddenly just able to handle it better – either way she could now raise herself up on to an elbow to look at Benjamin, who had the rifle aimed and ready to fire.

“Change back!” he commanded. “I know you can change back! You’re not like us! Change back right this second!”

“You shot me,” she said. “I’m dying. Please, you have to help me.”

“I said change back!” he roared, advancing on her.

Instinctively, her black scales rose on her skin, locking into place to form armour in the time it took Benjamin’s finger to tighten on the trigger. The bullet struck her chest, just below her left shoulder, smashing through her scales and she twisted, screaming.

Benjamin was standing over her now. “That wasn’t my fault! That was your own fault! I told you not to change and you changed!”