The Demon Road Trilogy: The Complete Collection: Demon Road; Desolation; American Monsters. Derek Landy
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Milo looked at her.
She glared. “Don’t you dare say I imagined it all.”
“I wasn’t about to,” he murmured. He went to the bed, pulled his bag out from underneath, and removed his gun and holster from a side pocket. He clipped the holster to his belt and slid it out of sight. Then he put his jacket on over it.
He led the way out, and over to Glen’s room. He listened at the door for a moment, then pushed it open. Glen’s gentle snoring was the first thing to greet them.
Milo parted the curtains and Glen woke, turned over, gazing at them both blearily.
“What are you doing in my room?” he asked, his voice thick.
“What happened?” Amber asked.
“Sorry?”
“Last night,” said Milo. “Amber, start from the beginning.”
“I couldn’t sleep,” she said, “so I opened the window. I saw Varga and maybe five or six others climbing down the wall. No ropes, no gear, they were sticking to the bricks. Then they … then they let go and they flew.”
Glen frowned. “They flew?”
“Yes,” she snapped, then ignored him and turned back to Milo. “Then I went to get you, but you were gone. Glen came out, and we went outside to look for the car.”
“That was gone, too,” said Glen unhelpfully.
“But there were people out there with us,” Amber said, “and I could hear more of them flying overhead. They almost got Glen, but we got back inside, went to my room … I’d closed the window before I left, but it was open, and Glen went over to it and he was pulled out.”
Glen frowned. “I was?”
She whirled. “You were pulled out the window, Glen.”
He processed the information. “Ohhh,” he said. “That’s what happened.”
Amber was ready to kill him. “What?”
“I woke up on the ground,” said Glen. “I must have fallen out.”
“You didn’t fall. You were pulled! If you had fallen, half your bones would be broken!”
He shook his head. “Not necessarily. If my body had been completely limp on the way down, I’d stand a good chance of—”
“Shut up, Glen! How can you not remember?”
“I must have blacked out. I remember everything you said, except the bits I didn’t see, like, and I remember getting to your room and then waking up outside. I went back in, knocked on your door, but you were asleep—”
“I was not asleep.”
“Well, then you didn’t hear me, so I just went back to bed.”
“And, if that was you, you did not knock. You scraped.”
Glen’s frown deepened. “Why would I do that?”
“Amber,” said Milo, “you saw Varga, right? You’re sure it was him?”
“Positive.”
“Then we’ll go have a talk with our gracious host.”
She nodded. “Right. Good. Yeah.”
“I have a question,” said Glen. “What kind of a world is it we live in when a man will step between another man and the woman he obviously shares a deep connection and intense physical attraction with?”
“Are you talking about Veronica?” Milo asked, sounding genuinely puzzled.
“Yes, Milo, yes, I am.”
“She doesn’t like you, Glen.”
“That is a lie.”
“She said you reminded her of a startled meerkat.”
Glen went quiet for a moment. Then he responded with, “That makes very little sense.”
“Get up and get dressed,” said Amber, leaving the room. “And bring your bag down with you. We’re not staying here tonight.”
Glen grumbled, but when he was dressed Amber led the way downstairs.
“Well, hello there,” Ingrid said brightly when she saw them. Her eyes dipped to their bags. “Are you leaving us so soon? Did you have a good night?”
“Some of us had a better night than others,” said Glen, strolling over.
Ingrid looked concerned. “Oh, that’s a shame for some of you, then. Anything I can do to persuade you to stay?”
“Dunno,” said Glen. “Do you have a younger sister?”
Milo stepped sharply in front of him. “Could we speak with Mr Varga, please?”
Ingrid gave another one of her smiles. “I’m sorry, Mr Varga is out on business for the day. We’re expecting him back tonight, though, if that’s any use to you?”
“Sure,” said Milo. “We’ll talk to him then.”
“Wonderful,” said Ingrid. “Is there anything else I can help you with?”
“No, thank you,” said Milo, handing over his key.
Amber and Glen did the same, and they walked out to the Charger without saying another word. They got in.
“I don’t like this town,” Amber said. “We’re leaving as soon as we get Gregory Buxton’s location.”
Glen nodded. “So we interrogate his mum. Force her to tell us where he is.”
She turned to him. “What?”
He blinked. “We … we don’t interrogate his mum?”
“She’s, like, a hundred!”
“She’s religious,” said Milo, starting the car. “Today’s Sunday. She’ll most likely be going to church. Which means she’ll be out of the house.”
“We break in!” said Glen. “We’re good at breaking into places! Although technically we didn’t break into the Springton Library, we just hid in the toilets, but the end result is the same.”
“Shut up,” Milo said calmly. “I’ll break in, search through her stuff. There has to be a postcard or a letter or an address book or something.”
“What’ll we do?” Glen asked.
“We’ll follow her,” said Amber. “Make sure she doesn’t come back early. If she does, we’ll delay her.”
“How?”
“You said that older women find you irresistible, right?”
Glen blanched. “You want me to … seduce her?”
Amber shrugged. “Only if you have to.”
They parked a few streets away from Althea Buxton’s house, and went walking. On their third time passing her street, they saw her emerging. Milo disappeared behind her house, and Amber and Glen followed her on the five-minute walk to the church.
Right before Amber stepped through the door, she wondered if she’d burst into flames the moment her foot touched the ground.
Thankfully, she didn’t.
They chose a space on a pew near the back, where they could keep an eye on Althea. Amber tried to remember the last time she’d been in a church. Had she ever been in one? Her parents had never bothered with it – surprise, surprise – and her school was pretty secular. Maybe all she’d seen of the inside of churches had been from movies and TV. She looked up at a statue of Christ on the cross, noting how