Ranks of monsters surround us, stretching far into the distance. This must be the world from which the Demonata are plotting their invasion of Earth, the base from which they send troops when they open windows to our world. We knew an army was massing but we never dared confront it. Beranabus was a reckless fighter but he wasn't crazy. He knew we couldn't hope to face this many demons and walk away alive.

The demons have backed off from the disintegrating mammoth of the Shadow. They're watching it with alarm, chittering and bellowing, not sure what's going on. It's their leader. Death drew them together, promising them control of the universe and eternal life. Now it's falling to pieces like a punctured zeppelin. They don't know what to do.

"There!" shrieks an all-too-recognizable voice. Pushing myself to my feet, I spy her near the fore of the demons to my left-Nadia Moore, AKA Juni Swan. She's by the side of her eight-armed master, Lord Loss. Both are staring at us with a mix of hatred and uncertainty.

I look around slowly, showing no signs of panic in case I incite the Demonata. Grubbs and Bec are nearby. Grubbs has also seen Juni and Lord Loss. He's taking deep breaths, preparing for battle. Bec is fixing her arm and doesn't seem to be aware of the trouble we're in. Dervish is using magic to revive Meera, glancing around anxiously as he fans her back to life. The ten surviving werewolves have gathered in a circle behind Grubbs, growling softly as they eyeball the demons. And a little further over, hopping around, unaware that we've escaped the stomach of the Shadow, is Kirilli Kovacs.

"Grubbs," I hiss. "Any ideas?"

"Can you open a window?" he mutters, cracking his knuckles.

"I've already started," I whisper, nudging patches of light into place with deft flicks of my fingers, not wanting to alert our enemies to the fact that I'm at work. "It'll take a few minutes. Can you cover me?"

"I'll give it a good shot," he growls, then bellows at Lord Loss. "Where's your mighty leader now? Death offered you the universe and immortality. Hah!"

Bec finishes setting her arm and calmly walks over to Grubbs. She stands behind him, back to back. Dervish and a woozy Meera shuffle up beside them. When Kirilli hears Grubbs, he stops dancing and stares around. The werewolves haven't moved, awaiting Grubbs's command.

"Very commendable, Grubitsch," Lord Loss says. His voice silences the mutterings and snarls of the other demons. He drifts to the front of the army, Juni by his side. When he's in the open, he looks at each of us in turn and smiles. "But Death cannot be destroyed. You have merely inconvenienced it. A valiant victory, but you have only won a battle, not the war. You know that. We all know that." He addresses the last cry to the army of demons, raising his voice, and they roar back encouragingly.

"This feels like a reunion," Lord Loss says, smiling sadly, the snakes writhing in the hole where his heart should be, blood oozing from the many cracks in his pale red flesh. "So many familiar faces. Grubitsch, Dervish, Cornelius, even little Bec, back from the dead and as tenacious as ever."

"Master," Juni murmurs, nodding sharply at me.

"I am aware of Cornelius's efforts," Lord Loss chuckles. "Don't worry, sweet Swan, he will not have time to open a window. I let him get this far in order to fan the flames of hope in their hearts. Now that those flames are flickering nicely"-his red eyes flash dangerously-"it is time to quench them." He shouts at the millions of demons, "Attack!"

With a volley of deafening screams and howls, the army surges forward and smashes to the ground around us, a living wave of chaos, barbarism, and death.

We'd perish in seconds without the power of the Kah-Gash. But as soon as Lord Loss roars, Grubbs grabs Bec, leaps to my side, and wraps an arm around me. Unifying our magic, he draws from the power in the air and erects a hasty but sturdy barrier around us. Instead of driving us to the floor and ripping us to shreds, the demons deflect off the shield.

I work on the window as the demons lash and claw at the barrier. It covers all of us except Kirilli, who was too far away and has been cut off, swamped by the army of demonic warriors. It's a powerful shield, impervious to physical assault. If the demons continue to hurl themselves at it, they won't inflict any damage and we'll be out of here in another couple of-

"Stand aside!" Lord Loss yells, blasting his way through a pack of gibbering beasts. He studies the barrier and sneers, then howls a phrase of magic. Energy crackles in all eight of his hands. He lets it build, then directs it at the barrier, a stream of sizzling, purple power. Lord Loss is a demon master, far superior to any human in the ways of magic. Nothing should be able to stand against him. But we're the Kah-Gash and I sense within seconds that we're stronger than our foe. I laugh confidently. We're going to walk out of this without even a scratch. I can't wait to see the look on his face when...

Juni lays a hand on Lord Loss's lumpy flesh. She's changed a lot since I last saw her and has become a mutated, flesh-dripping, impossibly ugly beast. Her eyes flare with shocking madness and naked hate. I remember when, as Nadia Moore, she saved my life. She'd committed herself to Lord Loss by that stage, but there was still room in her heart for human feelings.

Not anymore. She's become that which she once fought, every bit as heartless as a true child of the Demonata. She screeches vilely and unleashes a burst of magic at the barrier. At her cry, demons huddle around the pair and link with them, adding their energy to hers and Lord Loss's, focusing their combined forces on the shield.

"Grubbs!" Bec pants, feeling the barrier give. "We need more power."

"I can't," he gasps, sweating as we all are, buckling under the strain. "This is as far... as I dare unleash it. If I give it more freedom... I won't be able to control it. Anything could... happen."

I don't understand what he's saying. He must be insane. The barrier will break and they'll be on us in seconds. We have to throw everything we have at them or else we're doomed.

Then I remember when we last gave the Kah-Gash absolute freedom. It drove the universes back in time. If we could count on it working in our favor again, there'd be no need to worry. But we don't know what it will do if we set it loose a second time. Maybe it would give us the strength to defeat the demons-or maybe it would wipe out our universe and hand victory to the Demonata. We dare not play that card unless all else is lost. Our situation is desperate but not hopeless, and until that changes, Grubbs is right to hold back.

"We have to fight," he roars. "Are you ready?" I nod weakly. "Bec?"

"Go for it," she growls.

With a battle-hungry cry, Grubbs explodes the barrier. A wall of energy spreads like a ripple from a nuclear explosion, flattening the demons closest to us. For a few seconds we're standing at the center of a clear circle, confusion reigning all around. Then the demons farther back recover, bellow brutally, and push forward, clambering over the bodies of the fallen, to surround and enclose us.

The real fight begins.

It's wilder than any battle I've ever been involved in. I've laughed in the face of overwhelming odds before, but nobody's laughing now. There are too many of them, demons of every rank, from familiars up to masters like Lord Loss. All they share is a total hatred of us and a determination to strip our flesh from our bones.

We strike without pause, using bolts and fireballs of magic. Hundreds perish within seconds, but still they press on, thousands of fresh monsters to replace each that falls.

I try to stay in touch with Bec and Grubbs, but we're forced apart. Grubbs is dragged away by several demons at least five times his size. A winged beast snatches Bec from the ground and shoots into the air with her.

I go down under the feet of dozens of hard-shelled demons. Claws slash, fangs and pincers snap. I feel cuts open down my legs and arms, across my stomach and chest. I ignore the pain, use magic to numb the worst of it, and with a great effort thrust off the demons. Yelling, I stagger to my feet, then collapse again beneath a dinosaur-shaped beast.

Fangs lock around my throat and tighten. I turn the flesh of my neck to steel but the fangs continue to grind together. This is the end. There's nothing I can do. Some wounds are fatal, no matter how magical you are. Once my throat's been crushed, I'm as dead as-

A silver, purple-tipped spike pokes sharply through the center of the dinosaur's head. It squeals, then falls aside. A panting Dervish pulls me to my feet. The spikes on his head have tripled in length and writhe like snakes, independent of one another, jabbing at the demons around us, driving them back.

"How much longer will it take you to open that freakin' window?" he roars.

I look for the patches of light. They're twenty feet away, drifting apart. With a curse, I summon them, pat the stray patches into place, and start adding new lights to the pack.

"How long?" Dervish screams again, blood flowing from a chunk that's been bitten out of the left side of his chest-I see snapped white bones poking through the streams of red.

"Maybe a minute," I gasp, hands blurring.

I glance around as I'm putting the window together. Grubbs is back on his feet, supported by his retinue of werewolves, who've torn into the demons around him, attacking rabidly, tearing strips out of their foes. Bec is still fighting with the winged demon and has forced it towards the ground. Meera's close by, doggedly working her way back to us. Her left arm's been severed at the shoulder. Half her face is a clawed-up, blood-soaked mess-her beauty's been spoiled forever. But more worrying than that are the guts dangling from a hole in her stomach, and the small demon wrapped around her waist, tugging at the intestines, reeling them out like a cat unraveling a ball of string.

"Meera!" I scream, desperate to help but needing to stay focused on the window. It's our only hope of escape. If I abandon it, we're all doomed.

Dervish has spotted Meera too. He begins to dart to her rescue, then swears and drives back a multi-eyed monster that was about to snap off my hands. He has to stand guard. I can't protect myself while I'm working on the window. He's tied to his post, as I am. He weeps with frustration as he fights off the hordes clustered around us, muttering Meera's name over and over.

The demon working on Meera's guts stick its head into the hole in her stomach. It's giggling sickeningly, like a child tucking into a box of treats. But then its head explodes and it topples to the ground. A figure breaks through the demons around Meera and hauls her forward, towards us. I think my eyes are playing tricks, but when I blink and see the same thing, I realize I'm not dreaming.

Kirilli Kovacs is plowing through the ranks of demons. One of his hands has turned into a steel scythe and he's mowing down all who come too close. He's the one who rescued Meera.

"Kovacs, you lunatic!" Dervish yells with delight. "You're supposed to be a coward!"

"I am!" Kirilli screeches.

"Then what the hell are you doing?"

"I don't know! I think I'm saving the day! It feels-"

A demon sweeps Kirilli's legs from under him. He flies into the air with a yelp, then is knocked sideways by a bellowing, half-human beast intent on getting her hands on us before any of the others finish us off. Juni Swan is back in the thick of the action.

She angles for Dervish, dripping flesh as she charges, swiping demons out of her way, teeth bared, eyes rolling madly. With a welcoming grunt, Dervish sets his feet firmly and snarls, losing interest in all the other monsters, forgetting his duty to protect me. As Juni rushes him, he grabs hold of her arms and swings her around like an adult whirling a baby. Juni spits acid into his face. He neutralizes it swiftly but not before a wide swathe of his flesh bubbles away. The pair fall to the ground, wrestling savagely, stabbing, biting, punching, and spitting, each hellbent on murdering the other.

The window's almost fully formed, but there's no one to watch my back now. Several hound-like demons press tight around me, snapping at my face, digging channels in my flesh with their jagged claws. "Grubbs! Bec!" I scream, turning from the window to drive back the demons. "I need help!"

Grubbs roars at his werewolves. Slipping free of the giants, they struggle towards me, blasting and chewing a path through the packed ranks of monsters.

In the air, Bec's seen off the challenge of the winged demon, but Lord Loss has hit the scene. The pair tumble and roll around overhead. Half his arms are holding her rigidly against his rancid flesh. The other half are lashing her, pulling her hair, trying to gouge out her eyes, digging into her soft flesh.

Meera's in bad shape, but she shoves fistfuls of guts back into the hole in her stomach and dives to Dervish's rescue, pulls Juni Swan off of him, and scratches at the traitor's eyes. Juni screeches and tries to knock her away but Meera's stronger than she looks, and she loves Dervish as much as Juni hates him. Grabbing hold of Juni's bloated, rotten head, she jerks her hard and they spin away. Dervish tries to follow but gets tangled up with another demon.

Grubbs and the few surviving werewolves make it to my side. They're all badly wounded but they fight as viciously as ever. As they form a half-wall around me, Grubbs yells at me to finish the window and I hurry to obey. The fingers of my left hand have been crushed but I can still manipulate the patches. Sobbing with pain and fear, I slot one after another into place, praying for the lights to gel and the window to open before it's too late.

Juni's laughing. She's got both hands inside the hole in Meera's stomach and is forcing them up through the layers of guts that still remain, seeking to crush lungs, the heart... whatever she can find.

"Meera!" Dervish howls, trying to force his way through to her but failing.

Meera smiles painfully. She's got her arms wrapped around Juni, holding tight. As Juni tears at Meera's insides, the Disciple catches our gaze and winks wearily. "No... Shadow," she wheezes.

"What's that?" Juni roars.

"No... Shadow," Meera repeats. "When I die... I'm finished... and so... are you."

Juni's face freezes. She catches on to Meera's plan a second too late. Her eyes widen with alarm as she tries to detach herself and dart to safety. But before she can, Meera explodes. She must have been working on the ball of energy since she realized she was beyond help. It bursts from her in a blazing flash of light, shatters her bones, incinerates her flesh-and rips through the mutated, twisted form that Juni built for herself when Death restored her soul to life.

Juni's final howl is lost in the noise of the explosion. She's torn to shreds along with Meera, and both women fall to the ground in ragged, bloody, lifeless chunks, their souls freed or lost, however you choose to look at it. Meera has gone to the great beyond, which is a sickening blow. But I experience a burst of joy as well as sorrow, because Juni Swan has perished too, and this time no power in the universe can bring the vindictive harpy back. We're rid of her at last!

It sounds like the entire universe is screaming. Dervish and Grubbs wail for Meera. In the air, Lord Loss bellows Juni's name and reaches out to her with a couple of his arms, offering Bec a brief respite. The demon hordes screech with delight, the scent of human death like a red rag to a bull. They press even tighter around us, each wanting to be next to claim a soul.

I drown out the screams and focus on the window. It's all that matters now. We have seconds to get the hell out of here, or we'll wind up like Meera. No time for misery or joy. Just focus, work fast, and pray.

A werewolf is slaughtered and collides with me as it thrashes in its death throes, opening a new, deep cut down the side of my head, just behind my left ear. I shrug it off and concentrate.

Kirilli leaps high into the air, raining handfuls of bones down upon the demons. He must have picked them up from the floor of the battlefield. They strike like shrapnel, blinding, wounding, killing. He roars with delight-then shrieks as a demon's jaws flash and his right foot is bitten off at the ankle. Kirilli collapses. His foot drops on top of me and I head it away like a football, never pausing, right hand moving mechanically, fending off demons with my damaged left hand.

Grubbs head-butts a demon and smashes its skull to pieces. His forehead comes out drenched in brains and foul-smelling fluid. Extending his tongue, he licks his eyes clean and fights on, laughing through his tears.

Lord Loss and Bec crash to earth, then rise again. They're still struggling with each other, but he doesn't seem to be inflicting as much damage. His hands move lazily, more like they're caressing Bec than savaging her. And she doesn't react as violently as before. She wriggles less frantically in his embrace, almost as if...

Before I can complete the thought, a window of pale blue light blinks into existence. I stare at it stupidly. Then exhilaration sweeps through me and I yell at the top of my voice. "The window is open!"

The Demonata scream hatefully and lash at us frantically. The smarter beasts try to crowd around the window, to block our path, but they're hampered by the mass of demons. There are too many of the monsters. They get in one another's way.

Kirilli hops to the window, grabs Dervish's right arm-he's still staring at the spot where Meera fell-and topples through, dragging Dervish after him.

A bloodied, panting Grubbs draws up beside me. He casually repels a handful of demons with one swipe of a massive arm. We're both looking to the sky overhead where Bec is locked in the embrace of Lord Loss.

"Go!" she yells. "Leave me!"

"We can't," Grubbs croaks.

"We must," I mutter as more demons bear down on us, snarling, spitting, claws and fangs at full stretch.

"But-" Grubbs begins.

"We're demon fodder if we stay," I snap, then throw myself through the window and out of the demonic universe of death.

I hit a hard floor and I'm on my feet a split second later. This is the cave where Beranabus and I were based before our quest to find the Shadow began. It was the first place that popped into my mind when I started putting a window together.

I rip at the fabric of the window, dismantling it, not waiting for Grubbs. If he crosses within the next few seconds, fine. If not, he's a fool and he'll deserve all he gets.

As my hands move within the panel of light, tearing at the individual patches, a werewolf stumbles through, wrapped in the arms of a giant insect-shaped demon. They crash past me and continue their fight on the floor. As Kirilli yelps and slips out of their way, Grubbs backs through the window, bolts of magic flying from his fists, roaring a challenge at those he's leaving behind.

Two more werewolves follow their leader into the cave. The head and shoulders of a third appear, but something clutches its legs and hauls it back. It howls and kicks at whatever has hold. Grubbs grabs the creature and pulls. But then the window comes undone. The patches of light pulse and snap free of each other. The panel vanishes and the werewolf's cut neatly in half, its lower body stranded in the universe of the Demonata, its head and upper arms dropping to the floor here. Its death roar catches in its throat.

It's over.

Well... almost. The insect demon gibbers and breaks free. It darts at the place where the window was, pauses when it realizes it's trapped, then turns on me. Before it can strike, all three werewolves pounce. They rip it to pieces and feast on the brittle remains, instantly forgetting about the trauma of the battle, fully focused on their meal, ignoring the rest of us as we sink to the floor and stare silently at each other with shock, bewilderment, and dismay.

Grubbs is the first to move. Rising slowly, groaning painfully, he hobbles over to check on Dervish. His uncle's in bad shape, the worst of any of us. Blood is pumping from the hole in his chest and I don't think any amount of magic will stop it. Grubbs starts arguing with him. He wants to open a window back to the demon universe, where Dervish will stand a chance of recovery, but the battered Disciple is having none of it. He told Grubbs a while ago that he wanted to die on Earth when his time came. It looks like he'll soon be granted his wish.

"How's the foot?" I ask Kirilli, who's sitting nearby, staring at the place where his right foot used to be. He's crying softly.

"It's gone," Kirilli moans, then looks up. "I don't feel any pain."

"You will soon," I tell him. "But I can work some magic here. I'll bandage it up and help numb the pain. Then I'll open a window and drop you off at a hospital before I leave."

Kirilli doesn't ask where I'm going. Instead he grins weakly. "I did good, didn't I?" he asks hopefully.

"You did great." I smile.

"I never thought I'd be a hero," he whispers. "I dreamed of it many times but I never believed..." He falls silent, reliving the highlights, conveniently ignoring the part where he danced like a fool in the stomach of the Shadow. I don't remind him of that, but fetch bandages from behind the spot where I used to sleep. He's earned the right to be proud. It's not stumbling along the way that matters, but how you finish.

Grubbs limps over as I'm bandaging Kirilli's ankle and healing it with magic, closing off the veins and arteries. He watches silently until I'm done, then nods at me. Leaving Kirilli, we squat near the place where we once kept a fire burning. Grubbs's face has altered. He looks more human than he did when he was fighting. He also looks like he's in a lot of pain, but he says nothing of it.

"Meera's dead," he mumbles.

"I know."

"She took Juni with her. I'd have rather killed that traitor myself, but as long as she's gone..." He sighs, then says quietly, "Dervish is dying. He asked me to take him up top, so he can die outside. I need you to open the trapdoor."

We're deep beneath the ground. A rope ladder leads to the surface, but a stone slab blocks the way out. It's operated by magic. Focusing, I mutter the correct phrase and set it sliding free. "Done."

"Thanks," Grubbs says and starts to rise.

"I could take him to a hospital with Kirilli," I suggest.

Grubbs shakes his head. "No point. They couldn't do anything for him. What a moron, letting the demons bite a chunk out of his chest. He should have kept his guard up. The old fool deserves..." He shudders, fighting hard to hold back tears.

"I'll wait for you to return," I tell him.

"That's OK. Take care of Kirilli. You can come back for me."

"I'm not coming back."

Grubbs had made it to his feet, but now he pauses, stares at me, and squats again. "What are you talking about?" he asks gruffly.

"It's over. I'm going to the ark."

"You can't. We need you. This isn't finished."

"Of course it is." I wipe blood and sweat from my forehead. I feel so weary. It will be a relief to leave this world and the fighting behind. "We gave it our best shot. We tore the Shadow to pieces. But you heard Beranabus. Death will return, and it'll be even stronger next time. We can't defeat it."

"We have to try," Grubbs growls. "We got the better of it once-we can beat it again. I'll unleash more of the power of the Kah-Gash next time."

"How?" I snort. "We don't have Bec. It's just you and me now."

"We'll rescue her," Grubbs says, as if it's the simplest thing in the world. "Lord Loss won't kill her. He'll want to torment her first. I'm guessing he'll return to his kingdom to wait for the Shadow, and he'll take her with him."

"What if he does?" I sigh. "We can't fight him there. We'd stand no chance of defeating a demon master on his home turf."

"Maybe not," Grubbs agrees curtly, "but we have to try. Everyone's depending on us. Meera died for this. Dervish will be dead soon too. Beranabus and Bill-E. All the others who've given their lives. They can't have died for nothing. We fight on until the demons kill us all. Only then do we stop."

I shake my head. "If I stay here and perish, the demons will conquer the universe completely. I shouldn't have come back at all, but I did, for one last stab at success. We tried and failed. The ark is all that's left."

I reach out and squeeze Grubbs's arm. "Come with me. They'll welcome you. You can help us keep the ark safe from demons, ensure it never falls to Lord Loss and his stinking kind. It's the best we can do. Staying here is pointless. The fight has moved on. We have to move with it."

"Abandon our world?" Grubbs sneers. "Leave Bec in the clutches of Lord Loss? Run while the demons are weak? Never! They've lost their master. The army will split. They'll fight with each other and return to their own realms. We can harry them, hit hard, drive the fear of the Kah-Gash into them. This isn't the end-it's the beginning. We have the advantage. Now's the time to press it home and make sure that even if Death does return, it has no army to support it."

"That won't work," I say impatiently. "Death's stronger than us, and it's eternal. No matter what we do, it will rise again, recruit new followers, and lead them to victory. It's over."

I stand and roll my neck. I want to sleep so badly. But I'll wait until I find Raz, then sleep as we travel to the ark. Forcing off the waves of pain and weariness, I focus on the lights in the air around me and think about Raz in the chamber on Atlantis. As patches blink, I start the long, laborious job of piecing them together.

"That's it?" Grubbs grunts. "You're just going to leave us?"

"It will take several hours to open the window. I'll be here when you get back. You can decide then if you want to come with me or-"

"What about Kirilli?"

I wince. "Damn. I forgot." The stage magician is resting, eyes closed, breathing heavily. I let thoughts of Raz slip from my head and think about a hospital instead. It only takes a few minutes to open this window. When it's ready, I ask Grubbs if he'll help me carry Kirilli through.

"Leave it to me," he says, then picks up the wounded Disciple, slings him over his shoulder like a slab of meat, and steps through before the groggy Kirilli has a chance to say goodbye.

While Grubbs is gone, I think about what I'm going to say when he returns. I have to warn him about Bec, tell him what the Old Creatures cautioned. I recall the way Lord Loss eased up on her and I realize why I felt so troubled. It looked like they were going to stop fighting, as if she'd said something to make peace with him. Could she have betrayed us like Nadia did? I need to alert Grubbs to the threat before he races after her. Maybe she doesn't want to be rescued. Maybe she's on their side now.

As I'm trying to decide where Bec's loyalties lie, Grubbs steps back through the window. I prepare myself to argue with him again, but he smiles and waves my protests away before I can voice them.

"You're right," he chuckles. "You have to go. I wasn't thinking straight."

I sigh with relief. "Will you come with me?" I'm hoping he says yes. Accepting my role on the ark will be hard. It would be a lot easier if I didn't have to face it alone.

"My place is here," he says. "Dervish, Bec, Shark... those are the people I care about. I don't care about other worlds. I'll fight and I'll die, and if that's not enough, at least I'll have done all that I could. That's what matters most, isn't it, doing all you can, regardless of the consequences?"

"Yes." I smile and extend a hand. "No hard feelings?"

"None," Grubbs says, taking my hand in one of his huge, hairy paws. His smile fades. "But you might have some."

I frown curiously. Grubbs is gripping my hand tightly. "What do you-"

Before I can complete the question, Grubbs slashes at my face with his other hand. The sharp, bloody, jagged nails that he was gutting demons with just minutes earlier carve my left eye open. As it pops and I howl with shock and agony, he sweeps his hand back in the opposite direction and rips my right eye out. Then he lets me go.

I fall to the floor screaming, and blindly try to scoop the contents of my ruined eyes back into their sockets.

"I didn't enjoy that," Grubbs says, his words only barely penetrating my veil of screams. "But you agreed-regardless of the consequences. I need you, Kernel. I can't fight on without you. So you're staying. End of story."

"My eyes!" I bellow, lashing out furiously, hoping to strike him dead. "Give me back my eyes, you son of a-"

"Can't," Grubbs says calmly. "But what I will do, once I'm done with Dervish and we've had time to patch up our wounds, get our breath back, and link up with support troops, is open a window back to the universe of the Demonata. You'll be able to build another pair of eyes there. And then you'll use them to find Bec and help me rescue her."

"You're insane!" I holler, swinging for him again. "Come here so I can kill you!"

"There'll be plenty of time for killing," Grubbs says, backing away. "Forget your crazy ark. I'm your keeper now. All other bets are off."

"Come back!" I yell, stumbling after him and falling. "You don't know what you're doing. You're handing victory to them. We can't trust Bec. She'll betray us. Lord Loss will be waiting. Death will..."

I stop. I've been shouting to myself. I can hear Grubbs scrabbling up the rope ladder with Dervish, ignorant of my cries. Apart from the werewolves, which are still snacking on the insect demon's remains, I'm alone.

Abandoned and blind, I strike the floor pitifully, then moan softly and lower my face into the blood and dust, wishing the roof would cave in and finish me off. If I still had eyes, I'd weep, not for myself, but for the multitudes of creatures who'll have nowhere to hide when their worlds burn.

"What the hell have we done?" I sob.

All that you could, I imagine the voice of Beranabus whispering. And then, after a short, bitter pause, he adds with a sarcastic chuckle, But it wasn't enough. This universe is finished. Goodnight, Vienna!