Читать книгу The Demon Road Trilogy: The Complete Collection: Demon Road; Desolation; American Monsters - Derek Landy - Страница 25

THEY SET OFF EARLY the next morning. Milo looked healthy and strong again, and he must have been up for a while because the Charger was gleaming when they got in. Glen told them all about his night. It wasn’t very interesting.

When he realised nobody was answering him, Glen dozed for an hour in the back seat before checking on their location on his phone. “Ooh!” he said. “We’re going to be passing Nashville! Can we stop?”

“No,” Amber and Milo both said.

Glen looked hurt. “But … but this might be my last chance to see it. I’m dying, remember?”

“You haven’t mentioned it,” Milo said, making it the second joke he’d told since Amber had met him.

“Can’t we even just drive through?” Glen asked. “You don’t even have to go slow. Come on, please? Elvis started out in Nashville – it’s where he recorded his first record. Elvis!”

“He did that in Memphis,” Milo said.

Glen frowned. “Isn’t Nashville in Memphis?”

“Nashville and Memphis are both in Tennessee. Which is where we are.”

“Oh. Are we going to be passing through Memphis?”

“No.”

“But I’m dying. Why are you in such a rush, anyway? Isn’t it time you told me what’s really going on? We’re friends. We’re on this trip together. That bonds people, y’know. We’re bonded now. We’re inseparable. We should have no secrets from each other. I’ve got no secrets from you. I told you all about the monster who attacked me and gave me the Deathmark and my quest to find The Dark Stair. What’s your quest?”

“Don’t call it a quest.”

“But what is it?”

Amber turned to him. “We’re dropping you off in Wisconsin. That’s as far as you’re going with us. Believe me, it’s safer for you not to know anything beyond that.”

He blinked at her. “But … but we’re inseparable.”

Amber turned back. “Not nearly as inseparable as you think.”

Glen went quiet. A few minutes later, he was tapping away at his phone again.

He chuckled. “They have a Toledo in Ohio,” he said. “Hey, do you think that’s where the phrase Holy Toledo comes from? Do you? Hello?”

“There’s also a Toledo in Spain,” said Milo with dull exasperation. “It’s a holy city.”

“So that’s where it came from?”

“I don’t know, Glen.”

“Makes you wonder, though, doesn’t it?”

“I guess.”

Glen nodded, went back to tapping.

They found a Walmart in Knoxville and pulled in.

“What’re we doing here?” Glen asked.

“Need to buy some clothes,” said Amber.

“Need help?”

She frowned at him. “No.”

She ignored his look of disappointment, and got out. She pulled her cap down lower and turned her face from the security cameras on her approach. Once inside, she scanned the signs for the clothing section, and picked up a few toiletries on the way over. She added some fresh underwear to her basket and followed that with a pair of jeans a little longer than she usually wore. She grabbed a belt, a new top, a few cheap bracelets, and went looking for a light jacket. When she had everything she wanted, she took them to the dressing rooms.

Once inside the cubicle, she tried on the clothes, looped the belt through the jeans, and turned to the mirror. The jeans were comfortable around her waist but gathered at the ankles. She looked like a girl wearing her big sister’s pants. Then she shifted, and her glorious red-skinned reflection grinned back at her. She tightened the belt, noting how the jeans were now the perfect length, how her T-shirt was now flatter around the belly and fuller around the bust. She added the jacket, turned and admired herself, imagining for a moment strolling back through Walmart like this, and wondering if the cries of alarm would dent her confidence. She doubted it.

But discretion, as ever, was called for, and she unbuckled her belt and reverted, and the jeans gathered at her ankles and her belly swelled to its usual proportions. Sighing, she changed back into her own clothes, put everything else into the basket, and left the cubicle, the cap once again pulled low.

She waited in line behind a woman who smelled really bad, and when she was gone the Hispanic boy at the till gave her a smile.

“Hi there,” he said.

“Hi,” she responded.

He started passing her items over the scanner – one at a time, slowly. “I like your eyes,” he said.

Amber blinked at him. “What?”

“Your eyes,” he repeated. “I like them.”

She blinked. “These?”

He laughed. “You have any others I should know about?”

“No,” she said, and blushed. He wasn’t the best-looking boy in the world, but he wasn’t bad, and he had a confidence that she could only manage when she was demonified. It was attractive. Hugely so. His name tag identified him as Eugenio.

“This is the part where you tell me you like my eyes, too,” he said, in a mock whisper.

“Oh, sorry,” said Amber. “I like your eyes, too.” She did. She really did. They were brown like chocolate.

“How nice of you to say so,” he said, giving her another smile. “So does a nice girl like you have a boyfriend? I only ask because if you say yes I will spiral into a bottomless pit of despair and loneliness, and you wouldn’t want that, would you?”

“No, I wouldn’t,” she said. “And I don’t have a, you know … a boyfriend.”

“That seems highly unlikely. Are you sure?”

Before she knew what she was doing, she giggled. Dear Lord, she giggled.

“I’m sure,” she said.

“Well then, how about we meet up later, if you’re free? Do you live around here?”

“Ah, sorry, I don’t. I’m just passing through.”

“Oh no,” Eugenio said, losing his smile and widening his eyes. If anything, that made him even cuter. “So I’ll never see you again? Is that what you’re saying?”

“Probably.”

The last item to scan was a pair of socks. He held them to his chest. “So the moment I put these through and you pay, you’re going to just walk out of here, walk out of my life, and never look back? But what if I don’t scan these socks? Will you stay?”

“I’m afraid not,” said Amber, packing the other stuff into flimsy plastic bags. “I’ll just have to do without the socks.”

He gasped. “But how can you do without socks? They are an integral part of any civilised society. A sockless person is no kind of person, that’s what my father always says.”

“He always says that?”

“He’s not a very good conversationalist.”

Amber laughed.

“Hey, Juan,” said an unshaven guy standing behind Amber, “would you stop flirting with ugly chicks and do your damn job?”

Amber went cold with mortification even as her face flushed bright red. Eugenio lost his good humour in an instant.

“My name is not Juan,” he said, “and be careful what you say about ladies, sir. You don’t want to be rude.”

The unshaven man had incredibly soft-looking curly hair, entirely at odds with the hardness of his face. “You wanna know what’s rude, Pedro? Making paying customers stand in line while you try to get into this girl’s pants.”

Eugenio’s jaw clenched. He dragged his eyes away from the man only when Amber held out her money. “I apologise,” he said to her.

“It’s okay,” she said quietly.

He handed over her change. The rude man was now ignoring her as he dumped the last of his stuff on to the conveyor belt. Amber gathered up her things and walked away, eyes that were filling with tears firmly fixed on the floor.

By the time she reached the Charger, she was back in control again. She slipped the bracelets on over the numbers on her wrist, concealing them, then put the bags in the trunk and got in.

“I’m hungry,” she announced, keeping her words curt, afraid that anything else might result in the others hearing her voice tremble. The topic of food set Glen off on some random tangent. Amber didn’t listen. She replayed the scene in her head, only this time as she stood in the checkout lane she shifted, horns bursting from her forehead, fingernails turning to talons, and in her mind she watched herself tear the rude man’s face off.

They passed into Kentucky, and by the time they stopped at a roadside diner with a startling view of the Daniel Boone National Forest, her embarrassment had been replaced with anger. And anger faded faster than embarrassment. She got out of the Charger and closed her eyes to the breeze. It was still hot, but the air was better out here. It moved through the great slabs of lush forest on either side of the road, brought with it all manner of freshness.

“Big trees,” said Glen, and she had to agree with him. They were indeed big trees.

Inside the diner, the freshness was replaced by the smell of hamburger fat. There was a broken jukebox in the corner that played ‘Here I Go Again’ by Whitesnake on a loop. They sat at a plastic-covered table, and Amber ran her finger along the top, expecting to leave a trail in grease. The fact that it was perfectly clean disappointed her slightly.

They ate their burgers without speaking a whole lot. She could tell this was driving Glen insane, and it provided her with a glimmer of quiet amusement. He took some pamphlets from the stack beside the register and perused them while they ate.

“Did you know that the forest has one of the world’s largest concentration of caves?” he asked.

“Yes,” Amber answered, even though she knew no such thing, and cared even less.

Glen put that pamphlet aside, picked up another. “Hey, this is where Kentucky Fried Chicken was invented! Corbin, that is, not this diner. We should get some KFC! You want some?”

Amber loved KFC. “I hate KFC,” she said.

Glen looked glum. Amber beamed inside.

Amber and Milo shared the bill, and Glen looked embarrassed. She actually had some sympathy for him, the way he sat there, all pathetic and grateful. She was about to say something nice to him when he shrugged, looked up and said brightly, “Well, I’m off for a wee!”

He practically skipped to the restroom.

“Curious boy,” Milo muttered.

He led the way out of the diner, humming the Whitesnake song which was now firmly lodged in Amber’s head, too. She was not looking forward to another half a day on the road. She wouldn’t have minded staying here for a while, looking at the forest, enjoying the air. Apart from anything else, she liked the fact that Kentucky had mountains. Florida suddenly seemed way too flat for her liking.

A car pulled up, parking on the other side of a battered truck, and Amber glimpsed the occupants.

Terror stabbed her heart and she dived behind the Charger.

Milo stiffened. All at once his gun was out of its holster and held down by his leg.

Amber heard the car doors open and close. The beep as it locked. Footsteps on loose gravel.

And then her mother’s voice. “Excuse me, we’re looking for our daughter. Have you seen this girl?”

The driver of the truck. She could picture him in her head. Hispanic. Short. Wearing jeans and a T-shirt. He’d been eating at the counter when they’d ordered. Had he looked up? Had he noticed her?

“Sorry,” she heard him say. “Can’t help you.”

The truck started, reversed all the way round the back of the Charger, and the driver happened to glance her way. She shook her head, mouthing the words please, no.

He hesitated, then pulled out on to the road and drove off.

“Hi,” she heard her dad say, from the other side of the car.

“Hi there,” Milo answered. He holstered his gun.

“We’re looking for this girl,” Bill said. “Would you have seen her, by any chance?”

His voice moved round the car. Milo opened the door, shielding Amber from view, keeping his feet planted to hide her own. He took off his jacket and threw it in.

She heard Bill and Betty stop walking suddenly. For a moment, she thought she’d been spotted.

“That’s a nice weapon,” said Bill. “What is it, a Glock?”

“Glock 21,” said Milo. “You cops? I’ve got a concealed carry permit.”

Betty had a smile in her voice. “No, we’re not police. We’re just looking for our daughter. Have you seen her?”

There was a moment while they showed Milo a photograph.

“Sorry,” Milo said. “Don’t think I’ve—”

The door to the diner opened and Glen came out. His eyes flickered over Amber and rested on her parents.

“Hi,” he said, puncturing the silence. “Did we do something wrong?”

Betty laughed politely, with just the right amount of sadness. “No, we’re not police officers. We’re just looking for this girl. Have you seen her?”

Glen walked out of Amber’s view. She shrank back against the Charger. If she had to trust in Glen’s acting prowess, she wouldn’t be hiding for very much longer. She got ready to shift. If she shifted before they did, maybe she could outrun them in the forest.

“Yeah,” said Glen, “I’ve seen her.”

Amber screwed her eyes shut. No, you idiot.

“You have?” said Betty, excited.

“You have?” said Milo. “Are you sure?”

“Sure I’m sure,” Glen said. “They were at the table behind us when we got here. You’ll have to excuse Milo – he doesn’t notice a whole lot when Whitesnake is playing. I’m the brains of the operation. Name’s Glen. How do you do.”

“Hello, Glen,” said Betty. “I’m Betty, and this is Bill. You’ve seen our daughter? You’re sure it was her?”

“I think so,” said Glen. “I didn’t get a good look at her face, but I’m pretty sure. She was with a woman, a small woman with grey hair. They had a map out.”

“When was this?”

“Milo?” said Glen. “When did we get here?”

“About an hour ago,” said Milo, clearly resenting his role in this.

“Did they say where they were going?” Bill asked.

Glen hesitated. “Uh, listen, I’m sure you’re good people, but if your daughter’s run away, she probably has her reasons. No offence, but for all I know you might lock her in the cellar or something.”

“We love our daughter,” Betty said. “All we want is for her to be safe. That woman she’s with, she’s part of a cult. We have to get her back before we lose her for good.”

“A cult?” Glen echoed. “Oh wow. Yeah, absolutely. My cousin went off and joined a cult years ago, so I know what that’s like. It was a UFO cult. I hope your daughter’s not in a UFO cult – they’re the worst. I heard the woman say they were going to Toledo. I’m usually terrible with place names, but I remember that because, y’know, the phrase ‘Holy Toledo’. Hey, you think that’s where the phrase comes from?”

“Either that or the holy city of Toledo in Spain,” said Bill. “Did you happen to see what they were driving?”

“A white van,” said Glen, “in dire need of a wash. I didn’t notice any UFO bumper stickers or anything, so you might be in luck. Like I said, they left about an hour ago.”

“Thank you, Glen,” Betty said, and Amber listened to their retreating footsteps.

“Hope you find her,” Glen called.

Their car beeped and they got in, and Amber crawled on her hands and knees to the front of the Charger as her parents’ car pulled out on to the road and accelerated fast.

She stood.

“So,” Glen said, “your parents, huh?”