Desolation (24 page)

B
ETTY
L
AMONT PUNCHED HER
daughter so hard that Amber wasn’t even aware she’d hit the ground until after she’d stopped rolling.

She heard a muffled cry of pain, looked up in time to see Kelly being hurled into the wall and collapsing.

“We’ve never been apart for as long as this,” Betty said, strolling after Amber. “There was that week you spent at camp when you were, what, eleven? But nothing like this.”

Amber forced herself to her feet and shifted, holding out her hands to keep Betty at bay until she’d had time to recover.

Betty batted down her arms and grabbed her throat. “You’re a mess. Are you aware that the seat of your pants is missing? I don’t know what you’ve been getting up to, but I hope it’s been fun.”

And then Amber’s feet left the ground and the world spun as her mother hurled her, head over heels, against a dumpster. Amber’s spine hit the corner and she cried out as she crumpled.

“Your father and I have been having a great time,” said Betty. “Grant and Kirsty, too, of course. First of all, we couldn’t go home. I mean, that’s to be expected, right? If your daughter sabotages the offering you’re supposed to provide, you probably want to avoid places where the Shining Demon could easily find you.”

Betty lashed a kick into her side that took all the breath from Amber’s lungs despite the black scales that had formed.

“But it’s not like we don’t have friends, am I right? Acquaintances we’ve made along the way. And it’s not like these friends would abandon us in our hour of need. Oh no, not them. They would take any opportunity to hold our fate in their hands. To lord it over us. So we’ve been scurrying from place to place, like rats. And it’s all thanks to you.”

Amber tried getting up. Betty’s knee shot into her chin and she sprawled backwards. Betty paused.

“What
was
that camp you went to? Eager Beavers, or something like that? Between you and me, Amber, that week you were gone was absolute heaven. You have no idea how stifling you were, you really don’t. We would have sent you to all kinds of camps after that if only you hadn’t been such a baby.
Wah, wah, the other kids are horrible
.
Wah, wah, the other kids hate me
. Well, they weren’t the only ones, sweetheart.”

Betty took another step and Amber tried to kick her leg from under her, but Betty saw it coming and stomped hard on Amber’s ankle.

“And now here we are in Alaska,” Betty continued, grinding her heel down. “
Alaska
. I like the sun, Amber. You know that. I like the heat. I had no intention, ever, of venturing this far north. Yet here I am, in the cold, because of you.”

Betty stepped off her ankle and Amber scrambled up, limping and unsteady.

“Mom, wait—”

“
Mom?
” Betty laughed. “You’re really going to
mom
me, after everything you’ve done? After everything you said to us in New York?”

“I didn’t say anything—”

“You said ‘screw you’ to your father,” Betty interrupted. “Disrespecting one of us is disrespecting both of us. That’s what marriage means, Amber.”

“What does family mean, then?” Amber fired back. “Do you have any cosy definitions for that? How about infanticide?”

“Actually, it would be filicide,” Betty corrected. “Infanticide is when a parent kills an
infant
child. Honestly, just saying those words fills me with such regret. If only we’d killed you in your crib, it would have saved us so much trouble.”

“Jesus
Christ
. How can you be so …
evil
?”

“You are such a hypocrite,” her mother said, her eyes clear and bright as she advanced.

Amber stumbled back. “What? What are you talking about?”

“You went to the rallies, Amber. You signed the petitions, chanted the chants, showed your support for a woman’s right to choose. You’re pro-choice, aren’t you?”

Amber frowned. “So are you.”

“Of course I am,” Betty said. “I’m all for terminating unwanted pregnancies.”

“I’m not a
pregnancy
.”

“You’re still developing, though, into the person you one day hope to become.”

“Is that how you’ve been justifying this to yourself?”

“I don’t have to justify anything, Amber. We made you. You belong to us. We have every right to eat you.”

“Yeah? Take a bite.”

“The time for that has passed, as you well know.”

“Then why are you here? The Hounds aren’t chasing you, they’re chasing me. Why aren’t you hiding under a rock somewhere?”

“Because we are Lamonts,” said her father from behind her. An involuntary groan escaped Amber’s lips. “We do not hide for long,” Bill continued, walking up to join them. “We do not cower. We’re always looking for the next opportunity.”

Amber looked at her parents, and she just
knew
. “You’re working with the Hounds.”

Betty fixed her hair, then traced her fingers over her horns. “The Shining Demon reached out to us. Who were we to say no to Astaroth, Duke of Hell?”

“What’d he offer you? A new deal?”

“The absolution of old debts,” said Bill.

“Providing you hand me over.”

He shrugged. “Naturally.”

Amber’s hands were still sticky with Milo’s blood. If she allowed herself to be taken away, he was a dead man. “How about something more?”

“No bargaining,” said Bill. “You’ve got nothing to offer us that we’d be interested in.”

“How about power? Would you be interested in power?”

Bill’s smile revealed his fangs. “What do you know about power, Amber?”

“The Shining Demon has a brother, did you know that? Naberius. He tried to betray Astaroth, but Astaroth turned the tables, and now Naberius is in chains. Didn’t you even ask why this town makes you shift, or how they’ve constructed the barrier?”

Betty frowned. “The brother’s power is being tapped.”

Amber nodded. “Naberius, yes. I can take you to him.”

“Revert. I can’t tell if you’re lying when you look like this.”

Amber hesitated, then reverted. She moaned as the pain swept in, but resisted the urge to curl into a ball.

“You’ve seen him?” Betty asked. “This Naberius?”

“No,” Amber said, her voice quieter. She hated how meek she was, wearing her ugly old face. “But I know where he is and I know how to get there.”

“Tell us.”

She shook her head. “I’ll show you.”

“Tell us or we’ll kill your little friend,” Betty said.

Amber glanced at Kelly’s unconscious form. “He’s in an underground cell,” she said, “but you need a special key to get in. I have one – I took it from Dacre Shanks.”

“Hand it over.”

“It’s in Milo’s car,” said Amber. “In the impound lot. I’ll take you to it, I’ll give you the key, and you let us go. When you release Naberius, I’m sure he’ll grant you whatever you ask.”

“Don’t presume to speak for other people,” said Betty. She looked at her husband. “She’s right, though. We’d have his eternal gratitude. A Demon on our side.”

“And another one wanting us dead,” Bill replied. “Astaroth has just given us a second chance – if we do this, he’ll pour his every resource into finding and punishing us.”

“He will,” Betty said. “But isn’t this just the kind of thing we’d do?”

Bill looked at her, and surprised Amber by bursting out laughing.

“Indeed it is, my love,” he said. “Indeed it is.”

H
ER PARENTS REVERTED WHILE
they waited for the Van der Valks to join them on Maple Street. Unlike Amber, their transformation did not rob them of their confidence or cruelty, and it only made them marginally less beautiful. They chatted to each other like they were the only people in the world. Amber was used to it.

Grant and Kirsty pulled up beside them, across the road from the impound lot. Amber, with Kelly’s dead weight dragging on the arm slung round her neck, watched them get out of the car, but they barely glanced at her.

“Why are you standing around?” Grant asked Bill. “Do you really like the cold weather that much? We’ve got a life of freedom ahead of us. Dump her in the trunk and let’s get to it.”

“We’re not handing her over,” said Bill.

“What are you talking about?” Kirsty asked. “Why not?”

“There’s another Shining Demon, Naberius, trapped underground. Amber here is about to get us the key to release him.”

“And then what?”

“Then … anything. Everything. The possibilities are endless.”

“You want to make a deal with this new Shining Demon? While the old Shining Demon is looking on? Astaroth will kill us all.”

“One of our demands will be that Naberius protect us from Astaroth’s anger.”

“His anger?” Grant said. “His
anger
? Is that what you’re calling it? You face someone’s anger if you cut them off in traffic. This is something more. This is biblical. We’re talking
fury
. We’re talking
wrath
. You want to betray Astaroth for, what, a better deal with a Demon we don’t even know? We don’t need a better deal. Astaroth will wipe the slate clean the moment we give Amber to the Hounds. No more debt. Do you understand what that means? One day, once we’re satisfied with the power we’ve accumulated, we could have children that we didn’t have to
kill
.”

Bill looked at his friend like he was something he’d stepped in. “Satisfied? When we’re
satisfied
? We’re never going to be
satisfied
, Grant. We’re always going to want more.”

“Grant and I want to start a real family,” Kirsty said.

Betty stared at them. “When did you decide this?” she asked, stepping forward. “In the last few days?”

“Last few weeks, actually.”

“And were you planning on discussing it with us? We have no idea what will happen to our power levels if we let children live.”

“And yet, for this key, you’re going to let your daughter walk away alive, aren’t you?”

“It’s a one-time thing,” Betty said. “And it’s worth the risk.”

“But if it in any way diminishes us in the future, we’re going to hunt her down,” said Bill, and glanced at Amber. “This could just be a stay of execution. She knows that.”

“So you get to have a child grow up and we don’t?” Grant said. “You think we’re just going to accept that?”

“This isn’t about what’s fair,” Bill responded. “This is about what’s in front of us. You think Amber is the kid we would have chosen to keep? It’s just the way it’s happened, that’s all.”

“This is bullshit, Bill.”

“Which is why we’re going to vote on it. You know which way Betty and I are voting. What about you? We were scared of Astaroth. When he offered us this chance, we gratefully accepted. Out of fear. I don’t know about you, but that rankled us. He held all the power and we were just so eager to please him. Is that us? Is that you, Grant? Is that you, Kirsty? Have we got this far by being grateful to people more powerful than us? Or have we defied the odds, time and again, to forge our own path through the last hundred years? If any part of you, any part, thinks that this is worth the risk, that the gains may vastly outweigh the losses, then vote with us.”

The Van der Valks glanced at each other.

“How do you know Naberius will even agree to our terms?” Kirsty asked.

“Of course he will,” said Bill. “But if he doesn’t, we’ll leave him there, and hand over Amber as planned.”

“No,” said Amber. “You let us go when I give you the key, that was the deal.”

“Circumstances have changed,” said Bill. “Roll with it or get rolled over. Grant? Kirsty? Are you onboard?”

The Van der Valks looked at each other. Something passed between them, some flicker of expression.

“We are,” said Grant eventually, but the reluctance was unmistakable in his tone.

“Excellent. Apparently, the key we want is in Mr Sebastian’s delightful car, and the car is in this impound lot.”

“I’ll take care of it,” said Kirsty, and crossed the road. She disappeared into the small outbuilding beside the fence. Amber glimpsed someone in there, a civilian. She heard a raised voice and breaking glass.

A minute later, the gate started to trundle open, and Kirsty emerged, the Charger’s key in her blood-splattered hand.

“We should kill her now,” said Grant, his eyes on Amber.

She was ready for this. “How do you know I’m telling the truth?” she asked. “How do you know the key really is where I say it is?”

“Our daughter is too smart for you, Grant,” Betty chuckled.

Grant said nothing in response, but he didn’t look happy. Kelly gave Amber’s arm a squeeze, but apart from that she showed no signs of consciousness. Amber didn’t respond to the squeeze, and continued to huff and struggle as they crossed the street.

The lot had three vehicles in it. There was a tow truck parked beside the gate, a rusted heap of crap slowly dissolving in the corner, and the Charger in the middle. It sat in its space like a big cat on its haunches, ready to spring. They stopped before they got too close, and Kirsty held the key out to Bill. He raised an eyebrow.

“If you think I’m going near that thing, you can forget it,” Kirsty said.