“Fun.”
“Don’t worry. Syrsee’s resourceful and has a lot of magic at the moment. She’ll come up with something. So that’s why I’m here. You’re going to live, Ryet. And, unfortunately, you’re…”
I bow my head, so tired. “I’m what?”
“Well, I was going to say the Antichrist, but it’s such a specific title. You’re…”
I look up again. “Evil?”
“Yes.” He points at me. “That’s a given. But it’s more than that. You’re incharge, Ryet. The Earth is your dominion now.”
“What’s that mean?”
“You… rule the whole planet. Which is why I’m here.”
“Hold on, back up.”
“I don’t have time to back up. Syrsee is very busy trying to work her new magic on you, and in a few moments, she’ll succeed and I’ll be gone forever.”
“Wait, what? No. I can find you in the dreamwalk.”
“I’m afraid not. You see, in order to kill Josep, I drank the Black blood. I wanted him to drink me afterward so that he would die. Of course, that’s not enough because the Darkness was inside him. But that was rectified with Echo. Poor girl. But anyway, it all worked out. He gave the Darkness to her to make his own Dark Baby and then he cut it out of her inside that cave?—”
“Oh, that was the black sand thing?”
Paul nods.
“Fuck. I ate it.”
“Yes. You did.” Then he smiles. “The part I need to explain is… well.” He looks sad for a moment. “Well, obviously, I could’ve drunk the Black blood at any point in time and ended my existence here on Earth. But I didn’t because I was on a mission. And if I gave up before I succeeded, then I would be damned to Hell.”
“How are younotdamned to Hell? I mean, come on. If anyone deserves Hell, it’s you.”
“True. But it’s not my vibe, Ryet. You understand, right?”
“Uhhh, no. I have no clue what you’re talking about.”
“See…” He falters here, trying to find the right words. “That black sand thing you ate, it’s the Darkness. And so, now, well,you’rethe Darkness.”
I point to myself.
Paul nods. “Yep. You. And, honestly, it’s not a great gig. I mean, I do enjoy the title. I like that. Ruler of the whole Earth is so much better than King of the American Vampires. And I also enjoy the part where I might’ve saved humanity—question mark? But the waiting, Ryet. It’s been soboring. I knew once World War II was over that it was coming soon. Which is why I made you. I would’ve failed my mission, utterly, if I had let Josep become the Antichrist. Luckily, I figured out the whole feeder thing and you worked out. And even though it has taken forever to arrive here on the edge of Tribulation, here we are, nonetheless. As exciting as that all is, it’s just not enough to give away my shot, ya know? Which is why I didn’t want the job.”
“Wait a minute. Hold on. Are you telling me this wasyourmission?” I point to myself. “You are supposed to be the Darkness and rule the world?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
“And instead of being… oh, I dunno, a fuckingmanabout it, you turned me into the Darkness so you could… what?Escape?”
“That brain of yours always did catch on eventually.”
“I cannot fucking believe you. Ya know what? I actually can. This is such a Paul the Vampire thing to do, I don’t even know what to say about it. You sacrificed me to save yourself.”
“In my defense, I have an appointment with my Maker. I have questions, OK? And that fucker’s gonna answer them. Otherwise, I’d stay and we could rule together. You and I would be in love, and Syrsee would feed us, and it would be like… the best time ever. But I need my answers, Ryet. Because I didn’t sign up for this any more than you did.”
“You used me. Just when I was starting to like you.”
“I did leave you a gift though.”
