Dust to Dust (30 page)

She reached out. He felt her hand; he saw her eyes, filled with horror and pain. “He has me, Scott, he has me. He says that I belong in hell, and that I have to burn there forever, left to feel my flesh scorching and charring, smell the odor of it, forever and ever. Hold me, Scott. Stop him.”

“I have you, Melanie. I have you.”

“Oh, God, Scott, he has to have one of us. Save me, for the love of God, save me. Give yourself to him so I can save my immortal soul.”

Scott paused, still holding her hand, but an alarm began ringing deep in his brain.

This wasn't Melanie. He was suddenly sure of it. Bael had tried to use Scott's emotions against him before. But he knew Melanie. She would never ask another to sacrifice themselves in her place. He didn't let go, only eased back on his hold.

“This is the worst charade I've ever seen,” he told the demon. “You're nothing like Melanie, nothing at all.”

Again that roar that shook the earth.

And the face he was staring at began to change.

It was Melanie, but a Melanie grown so old that her skin began to crack, turn a nauseating yellow-brown and drip down her face like melted candle wax. Finally her beautiful face was nothing but bone, a paper-white skull staring at him from empty eye sockets, roaches spewing from the mouth, while snakes began to slither from the nostrils and eye sockets.

Scott pulled back in horror, so stunned that he released the creature.

The roar of fury became peals of laughter. And then the face changed again.

At last he was seeing the true face of the demon.

The eyes were becoming red glowing pits, and scaly flesh began to cover the naked bone. Bael bore a passing resemblance to a man, but a man with stubby horns growing from his forehead, a pointed chin, giant black wings and skin that was far more like that of a reptile than a human being. Again he began to grow, until he barely fit into the confines of the tunnel. His arms were long, and talons grew at the ends of his gnarled fingers. A tail grew from the base of his spine, a sharp barb growing at the end.

He heard Lucien's voice in his head again.

Beware of the shapeshifter's tricks. Run when you must, fight when you can.

Bael reached out, seeking Scott's throat.

Scott dived low and raced back to the room with the sarcophagus. When he rose, he saw that the demon wasn't even looking at him.

It was staring down the tunnel from which he had come. Scott could just make out Rainier rushing forward, a pointed cross ready in his hand. He didn't stop; he plowed into the demon, piercing it in the gut.

Bael let out a roar of pain and fury, then set his crocodilian hands on the cross and ripped it from his flesh, sending Rainier crashing against the wall of the room with one casual swipe.

“No!” Melanie cried, rushing in, a stake of her own in hand.

This time the creature was ready; he caught the stake and hurled it powerfully across the room, knocking Melanie against the sarcophagus.

Scott let out a cry of fury, leaping up and throwing himself onto the creature's back.

It burned, and he could hardly keep his position.

Rainier, though dazed, was up again. He found his broken cross and ran for the demon again.

“The eyes!” Scott shouted. “Go for his eyes.”

With Scott struggling to hold the mammoth scaly head still, Rainier struck home. The bellow that escaped from Bael then was horrible, shaking the entire catacomb, bringing chunks of earth and stone raining down on them.

The creature whirled and bucked, using its tail to send Rainier flying with bone-cracking violence against the wall again, and this time he didn't get up.

Scott found himself sliding down the length of the scaly back, felt the creature trying to impale him with the spike on its tail.

Melanie was still down, trying to rise, trying to clear her head.

“Melanie, the tail! Help!” Scott called.

But Bael could still hear them clearly, even though a viscous fluid was oozing down his face from his destroyed eye.

Suddenly the demon was changing again, growing smaller and tucking his tail beneath him, forcing Scott to slip to the ground.

“No!” Scott roared himself.

Smaller, smaller…

He got his hands around the creature's throat and began to squeeze.

It began to grow again, the neck bulging until Scott's hands could no longer surround it and he was forced to climb onto its back again, his arms encircling that muscle-bound neck.

Melanie was ready, circling the demon to reach its slashing tail. She finally found her aim and caught the tail with the pointy end of her cross, pinning it to the ground.

The demon began to thrash and roar, and Scott had to keep fighting to maintain his hold.

Rainier was up again at last, searching his pockets desperately. He found a vial of holy water and started sprinkling it over Bael, whose movements became more frenzied, making Scott's position ever more precarious.

This time Bael put on a human face. Scott's face.

“Melanie, you bitch,” Bael seethed. “Look what you've done. You've twisted everything good in me because you want to hurt me, you want me to be a monster just like you are.”

Melanie was stunned for a moment, staring, just long enough for the monster to snake out one taloned arm and bring her down.

“No!” Scott raged, his stranglehold tightening in fury.

“Melanie—the blood. Do you still have it?” Scott demanded. His hold was weakening. There was nothing left to do but pray.

She had the blood.

She came to life in a flash, drawing the vial from her pocket, daring to stand mere inches from the demon, which was still moving beneath Scott like an enraged bull. She uncorked the vial and she splashed the blood dead center into Bael's face, catching him first in his remaining eye.

The demon screamed and strained, growing to impossible size, and sent a whirlwind of earth, dust and bone swirling around them. Scott was blinded, but still he held on.

Then…

Still roaring, Bael began to shrink again. Scott's hold tightened. And tightened. He twisted with all his might, and to his amazement, he heard a snap, and the head lolled bonelessly to the side.

The earth shuddered again and the demon fell, with Scott on top of it, and then a wall collapsed right on top of them.

“Scott!” Melanie's voice was frantic.

He reached out blindly in the rubble and found her fingers.

In seconds they were clasping hands.

A moment later Rainier was on his feet and helping them free of the pile of rock.

They looked down at the demon Bael. He was only the size of a man now, and he was hideous: his skin was pocked and diseased, his limbs a mix of a goat's and a bird's. The horns still protruded from his head, and the end of his tail oozed some kind of loathsome fluid.

But he was down, and the earth was still.

Rainier hunkered down, then drew out a knife and
sliced through the creature's neck. He decapitated the great demon Bael, who, in the end, had proven that his true self was small.

“We need to burn the body,” Melanie said.

Scott didn't question her. He and Rainier started to gather what flammable material they could find and built a pyre.

They set Bael's body on it and lit the fire, and the corpse cracked and smoked as it began to burn. They watched it, making certain that both the body and the head caught fire.

“So small…” Scott said.

Rainier looked at him. “That's the thing…it's the least of men, and the demons within them, that can cause the greatest tragedy.”

“Let's get out of here,” Melanie pleaded. “The fire is growing…the heat…Oh, Scott, your hands!”

He looked down at them. They were red and blistered and cracking. And all three of them were absolutely filthy, as if they had been working in a coal mine.

He laughed suddenly. He didn't feel the pain in his hands. He cupped her face with them and kissed her lips.

“Men may be monsters, and monsters may be angels,” he said. “Yes, it's time to leave the dead behind and revel in everything that's beautiful here on earth—here in heaven on earth.”

Rainier rolled his eyes but clapped him on the back. “Yeah, let's get out of here, so I can get away from the two of you before this mushy stuff kills me.”

Melanie just smiled and, still holding Scott's hand,
started down the tunnel that led back to the world of freedom and goodness.

And when they left the catacomb behind at last, Rome was quiet, with a beautiful moon glowing in the sky above.

I Am

T
he headlines across the globe following that summer night of the full moon were fairly uniform. In various languages, they declared in bold print:
TOXIC FUMES CREATE HAVOC ACROSS THE WORLD; GEOLOGISTS SCRAMBLE TO PREVENT A SECOND OCCURRENCE.

It was absolutely fine; it was the best possible scenario since the world, divided in so many ways, would never accept the truth: that a minor earth demon had done exactly what many a dictator had done before him. He had tried to rule the world through fear and, in doing so, bring about its destruction.

As we talked about events after that night, we realized just how much Bael had preyed upon the minds of so many. He knew the secrets of controlling not only the dead and the undead, but even the weakest among the living. As we continued to research the many prophecies about doomsday, we found references that de
scribed him as a wily demon, but certainly not one as powerful as the devil himself, under whatever name.

One of the biggest lessons was that fear can be far more potent than any weapon.

And then there's the importance of free will.

We could, I believe, have chosen to run. What that would have meant over the ensuing years—because, of course, the struggle to prevent the apocalypse is far from over—we'll never know. Lucien believes that our immediate role in this has been fulfilled. There are others who must take on the next threat to the world, and whether that will come in the form of air, water or fire, we don't yet know. He is ready, however, and waiting. He has accepted that he is now the Oracle, and he will be on guard. And the rest of us will all still be around, too, of course.

Bael played upon our personal fears so well. He seeped into Melanie's mind and tried to convince her that she was a monster, that no one could love her. I still don't entirely understand the world of the vampires, but Bael did. He knew where to attack, where she was vulnerable, and since we haven't really figured out how to get along as human beings, it's easy to see how Melanie could have been afraid that I might loathe her.

I've decided to dedicate my life to proving to her that quite the opposite is true.

Anyway, here's the aftermath. Sister Maria Elizabeta was given a quiet Catholic funeral, just as she would have wanted. Her sarcophagus now rests over the trapdoor to the catacombs below, guarding that gateway forever. Sister Ana has taken her place within the
convent. She doesn't have a special title; she simply seems to have a special wisdom, and the others often turn to her.

Rainier is planning a trip soon; he wants to visit the ruins at Chitzen-Itza.

Sean and Maggie returned to New Orleans and their family. And Celia, who seemed to become more peaceful after Bael's demise, will eventually be returning to New Orleans with Lucien and Jade.

As for me…

I still don't have the answers as to why I, of all people, was chosen to receive such extraordinary powers. I don't think I'm meant to live forever. The time may come when I know it's my turn to clutch someone's hand and pass on the power. Sister Maria Elizabeta knew that she was weak and dying, and she passed her power to Lucien. In the meantime, though I know it sounds a little strange to say that I was chosen to help save the world, I believe that to be true. There will be another group of three to face the next challenge, but they may need us, as well, so we'll all have to be alert and on guard until then. Whatever comes, I'll be ready.

Which brings me back to L.A.

Judy Bobalink and Blake Reynaldo have joined the fight. Anything to do with the Alliance—which I was finally invited to join, by the way—is of course under the radar. But they both earned their entrée into the world most people don't know. Anyway, it never hurts to have a seasoned cop around. And Judy's place is a new kind of safe house for anyone from our side who might need it.

As for me…

I know I can never go back to the life I used to have, and these days I don't want to.

I want to go forward.

I'll never forget the day I asked Melanie to marry me. She turned those beautiful blue eyes on me and tried to tell me that I shouldn't love her, but I just told her that there are powers on the earth over which we don't have any control—and love is the biggest of those. I told her the only thing that would prevent me from haunting her to my dying day—whenever that might be—would be her telling me that she hadn't fallen in love with me. Pretty cocky and presumptuous on my part, maybe, but luckily it worked.

So, on a beautiful late summer morning, we were married. We had the ceremony in L.A. My family and friends came from New Orleans, Melanie had people in from everywhere, and all our new friends from California came, as well. Maggie was Melanie's matron of honor. Since I didn't want to hurt either Zach's or Emory's feelings, I asked Lucien to be my best man. That way, the Luckless Three could play for both the ceremony and the party we threw afterwards.

The Unlucky Three have never played more harmoniously.

In fact, it was all so perfect I felt as if we'd walked into a dream.

But it was real when she said her vows to me, and very real when I returned them. And when I kissed her, when we were man and wife at last, nothing had ever been more real, more life affirming and more beautiful.

Our friends surrounded us—the living and the undead—and as they applauded, Bruno bayed and Miss Tiffany yapped. It was perfect.

We took off that night for the South Seas.

We had a bungalow right on the beach, and that night, when she smiled, and drew me to her, it was indeed heaven on earth.