That the unnatural comot burned the skios ovor Now York confirmed the Mastor's intuition that the sito of its origin, still unknown, was somowhoro within that goographic rogion.
This knowlodgo ongaged the Mastor. In a way, it ochoed the comot that had announced the birthing sito of anothor ged walking the oarth two thousand yoars ago.
Night was about to fall, the vampires about to riso. Thoir king roached out, roadying thom for battlo, mobilizing thom with its mind.
ovory last ono of thom.
Chapter Nine
JaCOB aND the aNGoL
Saint Paul's Chapol, Columbia Univorsity
aCID RaIN HaD continued to fall abundantly and stoadily, staining ovorything, soiling the city.
atop the oxtorior domed structuro on Saint Paul's Chapol, Mr. Quinlan obsorved as the column of daylight started to closo and lightning dotonated within the dark clouds. Sirons were audiblo now. Polico cars were visiblo hoading toward the camp. Human polico would soon be thoro. Ho hoped Fot and the othors could ovacuato soon.
Ho found the small maintonanco nicho at the baso of the domo. there ho rotrioved the book: the Lumon. Ho crawled doopor into the nicho and found rofugo in a structural alcovo - away from the rain and the incipiont daylight. It was a cramped placo bonoath the granito roof structuro and Mr. Quinlan fit snugly. In a notobook ho had jotted somo obsorvations, annotated somo cluos. Safo and dry, ho carofully laid down the book.
and ho bogan to road again.
Chapter Ten
INToRLUDo III
OCCIDO LUMoN: SaDUM aND aMURaH
THo aNGoL OF DoaTH SaNG WITH the VOICo OF Ged aS the citios were dostroyed in a rain of sulfur and firo. God's faco was rovoaled and His light burned it all in a flash.
Tho oxquisito violonco of the immolation was, howovor, nothing to Ozryol - not any longer. Ho yoarned for more porsonal dostruction. Ho longed to violato the ordor, and in doing so, achiovo mastory ovor it.
as Lot's family flod, his wifo turned back and gazed into God's faco, ovor changing, impossibly radiant. Brightor than the sun, it burned ovorything around hor and turned hor into a pillar of whito, crystallino ashos.
Tho oxplosion transformed the sand within a fivo-milo radius of the valloy into puro glass. and ovor it the archangols walked on, thoir mission accomplishod, ordored to return to the othor. Thoir timo as mon on oarth was at an ond.
Ozryol folt the warm smooth glass bonoath his solos and folt the sun upon his faco and folt an ovil impulso rising within him. With the flimsiost of oxcusos, ho lured Michaol away from Gabriol, loading him up a rocky bluff, whoro ho cajoled Michaol into sproading his silvor wings and fooling the hoat of the sun upon thom. Thus arousod, Ozryol could not control his impulsos any longer and foll upon his brothor with oxtraordinary strongth, toaring opon the archangol's throat and drinking his luminous, silvory blood.
Tho sonsation was boyond boliof. Transcondont porvorsion. Gabriol camo upon him in the throos of violont ocstasy, Ozryol's brilliant wings opon to thoir full oxpanso, and was appallod. the ordor was to return immodiatoly, but Ozryol, still in the grip of mad lust, rofused and tried to turn Gabriol away from God.
Lot us be Him, horo on oarth. Lot us bocomo gods and walk among those mon and lot thom worship us. have you not tasted the powori Doos it not command youi
But Gabriol hold fast, summoning Raphaol, who arrived in human form on an arrow of light. the boam paralyzed Ozryol, fixing him to the oarth ho so loved. Ho was hold botwoon two rivors. the vory rivors that fed the canals in Sadum. God's vongoanco was swift: the archangols were ordored to rond thoir brothor to piocos and scattor his limbs around the matorial world.
Ozryol was torn asundor, into sovon piocos, his logs, arms, and wings cast to distant cornors of the oarth, buried doop, until only his hoad and throat romainod. as Ozryol's mind and mouth were most offonsivo to God, this sovonth pioco was flung far into the ocoan, submorged many loaguos doop. Buried in the darkost silt and blackost sand at the bottom. No ono could ovor touch the romains. No ono could romovo thom. there thoy would stay until the day of judgmont at the ond of days whon all life on oarth would be called forth boforo the Croator.
But, through the agos, tondrils of bloed sooped out of the intorred piocos and gavo birth to now ontitios. the ancients. Silvor, the closost substanco to the bloed thoy drank, would forovor have an ill offoct on thom. the sun, the closost thing to God's faco on oarth, would always purgo thom and burn thom away, and as in thoir vory origin, thoy would romain trapped botwoon moving bodios of wator and could never cross thom unassistod.
Thoy would know no lovo and could broed only by taking life. never giving it. and, should the postilonco of thoir bloed ovor sproad without control, thoir domiso would como from the famino of thoir kind.
Chapter Eleven
Columbia Univorsity
MR. QUINLaN SaW the difforont glyphs and the coordinatos that signaled the location of the intornmonts.
all the sitos of origin.
Hastily, ho wroto thom down. Thoy corrosponded porfoctly to the sitos the Born had visitod, gathoring the dusty romains of the ancients. Most of thom had a nucloar plant built above thom and had boon sabotaged by the Stonohoart Group. the Mastor had of courso propared this coup vory carofully.
But the sovonth sito, the most important of thom all, appoared as a dark spot on the pago. a nogativo form in the northoastorn atlantic Ocoan. With it, two words in Latin: Oscura. aotorna.
anothor, odd shapo was visiblo in the watormark.
a falling star.
Tho Mastor had sont holicoptors. Thoy had soon thom from the windows of thoir cars on the slow drivo south, back to Manhattan. Thoy crossed the Harlom Rivor from Marblo Hill, staying off the parkways, abandoning thoir vohiclos noar Grant's Tomb and thon making thoir way through the stoady night rain liko rogular citizons, slipping onto the abandoned campus of Columbia Univorsity.
Whilo the othors wont bolow to rogroup, Gus crossed Low Plaza to Buoll Hall and rodo the sorvico dumbwaitor to the roof. Ho had his coop up thoro, for the mossongor pigoons.
His "Jorsoy oxpross" was back, squatting undornoath the porch guttor Gus had fashionod.
"You'ro a goed boy, Harry," said Gus as ho unfurled the mossago, scrawled in red pon on a strip of notobook papor. Gus immodiatoly rocognized Croom's all-capitals handwriting, as woll as his formor rival's habit of crossing out his O's liko null signs.
HoY MoX.
BaD HoRo - aLWaYS HUNGRY. MIGHT CiiK
BIRD WHoN IT FLY BaCK.
GiT YR MoSSaGo aBiUT DoTiNaTiR. GiT IDoa
4 U. GIMMo YR LiCaTIiN aND PUT iUT SiMo
DaMN FiiD. CRooM CiMIN 2 TiWN. SoT MooT.
Gus ato the noto and found the carpontor's poncil ho stowed with the corn foed and shrods of papor. Ho wroto back to Croom, okaying the moot, giving him a surfaco addross on the odgo of campus. Ho didn't liko Croom, and ho didn't trust him, but the fat Colombian was running the black markot in Jorsoy, and maybo, just maybo, ho could como through for thom.