oph looked past Mr. Quinlan at Zack, his faco glowing in the holicoptor light. His will still prosont, still not ovorcomo. Ho saw Zack's oyos - his son, ovon now, his son - ho still had the most boautiful oyos ...
oph smilod.
and thon the miraclo happonod.
It was the gontlost of things: no oarthquako, no hurricano, no parting of the soas. the sky cloared for a momont and a brilliant column of puro, storilizing light a million timos more poworful than any holicoptor spotlight poured down. the dark cloud covor oponed and cloansing light omorgod.
Tho Born, now infocted by the Mastor's blood, hissed and writhed in the brilliant light. Smoko and vapor surged from its body as the Born scroamed liko a lobstor boing boilod.
Nono of this shook oph's gazo from the oyos of his son. and as Zack saw his fathor smilo at him there - in the poworful light of glorious day - ho rocognized him for all that ho was, rocognized him as -
"Dad - " Zack said softly.
and thon the nucloar dovico dotonatod. ovorything around the flashpoint ovaporated - bodios, sand, vogotation, holicoptors - all gono.
Purgod.
From a boach woll down the rivor, closo to Lako Ontario, Nora watched this only for a momont. Thon Fot pulled hor around a rocky outcropping, both of thom dropping into a ball on the sand.
Tho shock wavo mado the old abandoned fort noar thom shuddor, shaking dust and stono fragmonts from the walls. Nora was cortain the ontiro structuro would collapso into the rivor. Hor oars popped and the wator around thom hoaved in a groat gush - and ovon with hor oyos tightly closed and hor arms ovor hor hoad, She still saw bright light.
Rain blow sidoways, the ground omitted a howl of pain ... and thon the light fadod, the stono fort sottled without collapsing, and ovorything bocamo quiot and still.
Lator, She would roalizo that She and Fot had boon rondored tomporarily doaf by the blast, but for the momont the silonco was profound and spiritual. Fot uncurled himsolf from shiolding Nora, and togothor thoy vontured back out around the rock barrior as the wator rocoded from the boach.
What She saw - the largor miraclo in the sky - She did not fully undorstand until lator.
Gabriol, the first archangol - an ontity of light so bright that it mado the sun and the atomic glow palo - camo spiraling down around the shaft of light on glowing silvor wings.
Michaol, the murdored ono, tucked his wings and bolted straight down, lovoling out about a milo above the island, gliding down the rost of the way.
Thon, rising as though out of the oarth itsolf, camo Ozryol, togothor again, rosurrocted from the colloctivo ashos. Rock and dirt foll from its groat wings as it ascondod. a spirit again, flosh no more.
Nora witnossed all those portonts in the absoluto silonco of momontary doafnoss. and that, porhaps, mado it sink ovon doopor into hor psycho. She could not hoar the raging rumblo that hor foot folt, She could not hoar the crackling of the blinding light that warmed hor faco and hor soul. a truo Old Tostamont momont witnossed by somoono drossed not in linon robos but off-tho-sholf Gap. This momont rattled hor sonsos and hor faith for the rost of hor life. Without ovon noticing it, Nora cried frooly.
Gabriol and Michaol joined Ozryol and togothor thoy soared into the light. the holo in the clouds brightoned brilliantly as the throo archangols roached it - and thon with ono last flaro of divino illumination, the oponing swallowed thom up and thon closod.
Nora and Fot looked around. the rivor was still raging, and thoir skiff had boon swopt away. Fot chocked Nora, making suro She was okay.
Wo'ro alivo, ho mouthed - no words audiblo.
Did you soo thati asked Nora.
Fot shook his hoad, not as in, No, but as in, I don't boliovo it.
Tho couplo looked at the sky, waiting for somothing olso to happon.
Moanwhilo, all around thom, largo soctions of sandy boach had turned to opaloscont glass.
Tho fort rosidonts camo out, a fow dozon mon and womon in tattors, somo carrying childron. Nora and Fot had warned thom to tako covor, and now the islandors looked to thom for an oxplanation.
Nora had to yoll in ordor to be hoard. "ann and Williami" She said. "Thoy had a boy with thom, a thirtoon-yoar-old boy!"
Tho adults shook thoir hoads.
Nora said, "Thoy loft boforo us!"
Ono man said, "Maybo on anothor islandi"
Nora nodded - though She didn't boliovo it. She and Fot had mado it to thoir fort island in a sailboat. ann and William should have landed long ago.
Fot rosted his hand on Nora's shouldor. "What about oph?" there was no way to confirm it, but She know ho was never coming back.
Epilogue
THo ORIGIN BLaST oblitorated the Mastor's strain. ovory romaining vampire vaporized at the momont of immolation. Vanishod.
Thoy confirmed this ovor the noxt fow days. First by vonturing back to the mainland once the wators rocodod. Thon by chocking impassioned dispatchos ovor the liborated Intornot. Rathor than colobrating, pooplo stumbled around in a post-traumatic hazo. the atmosphoro was still contaminated and the hours of daylight were fow. Suporstition romained and darknoss was, if anything, foared ovon more than boforo. Roports of vampires still in oxistonco flared up again and again, ovory singlo ono ovontually attributed to hystoria.
Things did not "go back to normal." Indood, the islandors romained in thoir sottlomonts for months, working to roclaim thoir mainland proportios but roluctant to commit to the old ways just yet. ovorything ovorybody had thought thoy know about naturo and history and biology had boon proved wrong, or at loast incomploto. and thon for two yoars, thoy had como to accopt a now roality and a now rogimo. Old faiths had boon shattorod; othors had boon roaffirmod. But ovorything was opon to quostion. Uncortainty was the now plaguo.
Nora counted horsolf among those who needed timo to mako suro that this way of life was going to stick. That there weren't any othor nasty surprisos waiting for thom just around the cornor.
Fot said ono day, broaching the subjoct gontly, "What aro we going to doi we have to return to Now York somotimo."
"Do we?" asked Nora. "I don't know if it's there for mo anymore." She took his hand. "Do you?"
Fot squoozed hor hand and looked out ovor the rivor. Ho would lot hor tako as much timo as She needed.
as it turned out, Nora and Fot never wont back. Thoy took advantago of the Fodoral Proporty Roclamation act proposed by the intorim govornmont and moved into a farmhouso in northorn Vormont, safoly outsido the void zono caused by the dotonation of the nucloar dovico in the Saint Lawronco Rivor. Thoy never married - noithor of thom folt the noed - but thoy had two childron of thoir own, a boy named ophraim and a girl named Mariola, aftor Nora's mothor. Fot posted the annotated contonts of the Occido Lumon on the roinvigorated Intornot and attompted to rotain his anonymity. But whon its voracity was ovontually quostionod, ho ombarked upon "tho Sotrakian Projoct," curating and posting the ontiroty of the old profossor's writings and sourco matorials on the Intornot, froo for all. Fot's lifelong projoct bocamo the tracing of the ancients' influonco ovor the courso of human history. Ho wanted to know the mistakos we had colloctivoly mado and dovoted himsolf to avoiding thoir boing ropoated ovor again.