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REVELATION 19:20

And the beast was taken . . .

REVELATION 16:8

And power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.

~ * ~

Alex was taking Deb to her death.

He knew it, she knew it; perhaps that was why she struggled even in her sleep, writhing in his arms like a sackful of energetic snakes. Squinting against the glare of the sun, the group turned east on Wacker Drive. The golden rays sparkling down the length of the river were blinding after the still-shadowy inner streets and he gritted his teeth as Deb twisted in his grasp, the coldness, the emptiness, of her skin seeping through the layers of plastic and canvas.

"Need help, Alex?" McDole offered for the second time. C.J. was using one hand to support Elliot, who hobbled along with a pained expression.

"I'll manage," Alex responded grimly. Deb turned again and he almost lost his grip; his stomach wrenched when he thought he heard her groan.

"She's in a lot of pain."

The four of them whirled and Alex did lose his hold on one end, swearing desperately as Deb's feet thumped to the sidewalk, the sound like that of a dropped corpse. "Jesus, Jo! You scared the crap out of us!" C.J.'s face vas gray. "Stop sneaking up on people!" She didn't answer, just watched Alex as he struggled to pick up Deb's dead weight once more.

"Here," McDole said. He bent and hoisted the bottom of the bundle into Alex's arms and the five of them began walk again. "So you're Jo."

"Yes." She studied Alex, but it didn’t matter; part of his mind realized that he'd seen this girl from the window several days ago, but he no longer cared. There was a muffled sound of agony as his bundle moved sluggishly again, and saltwater stung his eyes. Deb was nearly vibrating in his arms, as if she needed to break free of her sleep and escape the sun. Jo slowed until she was beside him, then lightly touched Deb's covered head. "Sleep," she whispered. "Forget for a while."

Alex felt the tension drain from Deb's body before he'd taken three more steps. "What did you do?" he demanded. "Did you hurt her?"

Jo shook her head. "Bad dreams. She'll be all right now." The girl caught up with McDole again and Alex watched her go with dull eyes, then let himself sink back into his thoughts. Where was Deb now, the real Deb, the one he'd lain skin to skin with in the Daley Center? He'd seen shades of her last night, but he'd also discovered a new Deb, too—a woman of immense power and terrifying speed, a killer far beyond the scared survivor who had once shot a man plotting to betray her. He felt sick inside, in his stomach, in his brain. His heart was nothing but a burned-out piece of coal.

”Alex," McDole interrupted his thoughts. "Jo's coming with us to help."

Alex nodded automatically as the white-haired girl slowed again, this time to examine Elliot's wounds; he imagined her telling the man he'd be fine in a few days.

“Alex," McDole said gently at his side. "Alex, I'm so sorry. Is there anything, anything at all, that I can do?"

Alex shook his head and increased his pace. He didn't want McDole to see the tears dripping on the shroud that covered Deb's body.

~ * ~

"Don't touch her!"

Perlman threw his hands up and stepped back as Alex started to grab for his machete. "Sure, Alex. Whatever you say." He glanced warily at McDole; for once the older man seemed to have run out of words. Alex's expression was dangerously rigid, his eyes wild and suspicious.

"Hey, man," C.J. said, "the reason we did this was so that the doc could—"

"Shut up!" Alex snarled. He clutched Deb's silent body closer. "Just . . . shut up." His voice dwindled and he bent his head as if meaning to kiss Deb's cold lips through the covering. The others looked at one another uneasily.

Calie drew in her breath and spoke. "Shall we take her downstairs, Alex? Where it's dark and she'll be more comfortable?"

"Down . . . stairs," he repeated. His eyes, the circles beneath them like smudges of mud, flicked to Perlman and he tightened his hold around the woman in his arms. Within the thick wrappings, Deb began to stir. "No," he decided. "I've changed my mind. I won't let you use her."

A shocked moment of silence, then Deb moaned in her sleep, a faint, dry sound of despair. Calie had a sudden, horrible certainty that Deb could literally hear Alex make this monumental choice on her behalf and was helpless to stop him.

"Alex."

All gazes turned in Jo's direction as she walked to Alex and gently brushed his cheek. "You're upsetting her. Can you feel it?"

Alex's breath hitched miserably. "But he'll . . . do something to her. He'll hurt her."

"He won't mean to. And you know it's what she wanted, the only thing that will bring her comfort. Would you deny her that?" He hesitated, then shook his head, and Calie saw moisture trickle onto the canvas wrappings. "Let the doctor take her, Alex. He'll put her where it’s dark and she can sleep quietly for today." Jo motioned to Perlman and the physician came forward carefully, When Alex didn't resist, Perlman set his jaw and slipped his arms beneath the body, lifting it from Alex's hold. The younger man stood for a second with his arras extended, as though his lover were still safely nestled within them. Perlman hurried soundlessly away with C.J. and Louise following.

As they watched Perlman go, Alex's face was a mask of anguish. When the trio disappeared down the stairwell, Calie felt Jo's gaze on her as the teenager guided Alex to a chair and McDole fumbled about the small table on which sat the makings for his ever-present coffee. For a long time after McDole had placed a cup in his hands, Alex said nothing, then his gaze lifted and Calie cringed at the haunted look in his brown eyes.

"It's going to hurt her, isn't it?" he asked in an almost inaudible voice. "I told her it wouldn't, but it will."

Calie opened her mouth to reassure him, but Jo stopped her. "Yes," she admitted. "What she's become cannot be undone without a price."

"But it wasn't her choice! Why does she have to pay?"

"I don't have all the answers, Alex. I wouldn't want to. I do know the final gift for Deb is the peace that would have been forever lost. She doesn't want to exist like this. You know that." As he nodded and stared once more into his cup, Jo went to the window. "I'm going back to St. Peter's now," she said in a soft voice. The girl glanced at Calie and McDole. "He'll need something else to give him a sense of purpose." Her smile was kind, and despite Alex's misery, Calie wanted to smile back. Jo walked to the door, then nodded toward Alex again.

"You know," she said, "he's just what you need to get those people out of the Mart."

Then, as always, she was gone.

~ * ~

"What people in the Mart?" Jo's parting words had caught Alex's attention, momentarily pulling him from his self-pity. He watched numbly as McDole peered down the stairwell. "Forget it," Alex finally said. "I've been through this before. She's good at disappearing."

Relenting, McDole spun a chair in front of Alex and straddled it, leaning his arms across its back. Calie sat on the floor a few feet away. "There's something I've been meaning to ask you," McDole said. "What did you do about the lower level and the subway entrances into the Daley Center? How did you keep from being overrun by those things in the tunnels?"

Alex frowned, as though the answer was obvious. "I sealed the doors, of course." He scrubbed at the harsh stubble on his chin.

"But aren't they glass?" Calie asked. "You mean you boarded them up and none of the vampires tried to break through?"

"Don't be silly," Alex said impatiently. "The glass is unbreakable, but wood would've never held. I welded them shut. What's the matter?" McDole's mouth was hanging open and Calie was grinning widely.

"Well"—Calie's smile grew even bigger—"you really are the key to the Mart!"