Darren Shan - Demon Apocalypse (Demonata, Book 6)

The Demonata

Darren Shan

Hachette

Copyright 2007 by Darren Shan
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Little, Brown and Company
Hachette Book Group USA
237 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Visit our Web site at www.lb-teens.com
First eBook Edition: May 2008
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
ISBN: 978-0-316-04087-7

Also in
THE DEMONATA
series:
Lord Loss (Book 1)
Demon Thief (Book 2)
Slawter (Book 3)
Bec (Book 4)
Blood Beast (Book 5)

For:
Basback with a vengeance!
OBEs (Order of the Bloody Entrails) to: evil Elizabeth Eulbergmistress of Dukes!
sinister Cynthia Eagansteer clear of the spoon!
Prophet of doom:
Stella Paskins
Horsemen of the Apocalypse:
the Christopher Little seers

ADEMON shaped like a giant scorpion digs its stinger into a womans eyes. As they pop, it spits eggs into the bloody sockets, then watches with its almost human face as the eggs hatch and wriggling maggots feast on her flesh.

Another demonic beastit looks like a cute rabbit, though it has an ugly bulge on its backvomits over a man and his two children. The acidic liquid sizzles and dissolves them down to the bone.

A third footman of the Demonata runs after a flight attendant. He has the body of a young boy but his head is larger than an adults, he has a wig of living lice instead of hair, and fire burns in the holes where his eyes should be. He also has two extra mouths in the palms of his hands. The teeth of both are eagerly snapping open and shut as he chases the screaming flight attendant.

All the people on the plane are screamingexcept those whove already been killedand its music to the ears of the demon master, Lord Loss. He hovers in the aisle, mouth twisted into a sad smile, red eyes distant. A few of his eight arms twitch in rhythm with the screams, like the conductors of an orchestra. Then his eyes snap back into focus and he turns his gaze on me.

You should not have humiliated me, Grubitsch, Lord Loss says, still furious about the time I beat him at chess. You should have fought fairly, faithful to the spirit of the contest, and won or lost on merit alone. You ruined chess for me. For many centuries it was my only other source of joy. Now I have just the agony and torture of humans to keep me amused.

He slowly drifts down the aisle toward me, the strands of flesh that pass for his legs floating a few inches above the floor. The tiny snakes in the hole where his heart should be are writhing, hissing hatefully, spitting venom in my direction. Blood is flowing from the many cracks in his pale red skin. The holes above his upper liphe has no nosequiver wildly as he gleefully inhales the stench of terror from the doomed passengers. His dark red eyes are dilated with morbid pleasure. All eight of his arms are extended. Some of his mangled hands brush the heads and cheeks of humans as he passes, as if he is obscenely blessing them. The white-haired, pink-eyed, albino traitor, Juni Swan, is behind him, smiling serenely.

A woman clasping a baby falls to her knees in front of Lord Loss, sobbing painfully. Please! she cries. Not my child. Have mercy on my baby. Dont kill him. I beg you!

Suffer to come unto me the little children, Lord Loss murmurs blasphemously, taking the baby with three of his hands. He strokes the boys face and the baby laughs. Lord Loss passes him to Juni. For you, my darling swan.

You are generous to a fault, my lord. She smiles, then kisses the infant.

No! I scream. But its too late. A moment later she tosses the grey remains of the baby aside, having sucked his fragile life from him. The childs mother chokes, eyes wide with disbelief and horror. Lord Loss bends and breathes in her sorrow, sighs contentedly, then moves on, leaving her to the lesser demons.

Sick with fear, I back away from the approaching demon master. There are several empty rows behind methe other passengers have fled to the tail of the plane. Lord Loss makes a small humming noise. At last you move. I thought I might wring no sport from you today.

Leave them alone, I snarl, hands knotted into trembling fists. Its me you want, so let the others go.

I cannot do that, Grubitsch, Lord Loss sighs. My familiars are hungry. I promised them food. You would not ask me to break my word, would you?

My master always keeps his promises, Juni chuckles.

I focus on her. The fair-faced but black-hearted cuckoo in the nest. She acted like my mother. I loved her. I let her steal me away from Dervish. And all the time she was plotting against me. Harpy! I sob. What the hell are youa demon in disguise?

I dont have that honor, she replies smoothly. Im merely a human like you. In fact, Im from the same family tree, believe it or not. But unlike you and your fool of an uncle, I chose to serve those greater than ourselves, rather than vainly battle with them.

You sold us out! I shout. Then confusion kicks in. But... I dont understand. In Slawter, when we were trying to escape from the demons, you helped us.

No, she smiles. That was all a pretense. When I first visited your house with Davida Haym, I used magic to convince Dervish to come to Slawter and bring you and Billy with him. On the set it was my job to win your confidence. I found out your secrets, so we could use them against you.

I played you like pawns, she boasts. I had you thinking I was one of your pathetic group, a trusted ally. I let you make escape plans and even allowed you to act on themit would have been more delicious if you failed with freedom in sight. At the end, just before you breached the barrier, I meant to reveal my true self and turn you over to my master. And I would have, except...

You were knocked unconscious. I gasp, remembering the dying demon who clubbed her in its death throes.

Juni nods bitterly. By the time I recovered, it was too late. I paused to silence Chuda Soolhe knew the truth about methen departed to join my master and plot our next approach.

We had not planned to strike so soon, Lord Loss says. Hes come to a stop ten feet away, enjoying my growing understanding of how we were betrayed. I could sense the magic within you, even though you hid it masterfully. I didnt want to move on you until I knew precisely what Id have to deal with. But then Juni had a vision.

I catch glimpses of the future, Juni says smugly. I saw you change into a werewolf a few months before it happened.

I could not wait any longer, Lord Loss sighs. I wished to punish you while you were humanthere would be no satisfaction in killing a senseless animal. So I set a watch on you. Im a fine judge of werewolves. I was confident of timing it so that I struck just prior to the final turningI liked the idea of letting you suffer the agonies of the impending change for as long as possible.

It all fell neatly into place in the end, Juni smirks. I was planning to come to Carcery Vale, looking for an excuse to explain my return. When your friend died, I donned my psychologists disguise, disposed of William Mauch, and replaced him. You and Billy couldnt have been more welcoming. And Dervish... Well,