Dervish puts his ear to Bill-E's chest. Listens a few seconds, then raises his face-his eyes are those of a haunted man. "He's-"
"Shut up," I sob before he finishes the sentence. Then, softer, "I had to. Not to stop the Demonata, but for his sake. He would have suffered worse than any of us. They'd have used him. He couldn't have died. He'd have been stuck down here, tormented by demons, knowing he'd handed our world to them. I couldn't let that happen. If there'd been any other way..."
Dervish finds my left hand and squeezes reassuringly. We both weep fresh tears.
"Delicious," Lord Loss murmurs, savouring our sorrow. "I wish this moment could last an eternity. It was worth having our plans thwarted. My brethren will break through another time. This world cannot stand against the Demonata much longer. There is a force in motion which cannot be repelled. That is why I pledged myself to the cause of destruction, much as I delight in humanity's enduring pain. Things might have gone badly for me if I'd resisted. But this is the best of both universes. You have done me a great favour tonight. I am almost tempted to let you all live... but there are scores to be settled. A few more minutes to relish your agony, then I shall extract my long overdue retribution."
"Yeah, yeah," I mutter halfheartedly, brushing Bill-E's hair back from his eyes. I don't care about the demon master's threats. I don't care about anything except the fact that I've killed my brother and life can never hold any pleasure for me again. Better to die sooner rather than later.
But part of me cares. It stirs in response to Lord Loss's pledge. Energy slides down my arms to my hands. I call it back, but it doesn't respond. It's a strange type of energy, not like the magic I used to fight the demons (or kill Bill-E). This is more like the power I felt when I thought all was lost, when I distorted the laws of time and...
"We can go back!" I gasp, bolting upright. "We can travel into the past again and save Bill-E!"
Lord Loss hisses, not liking the sound of that. His six arms rise and he glides closer. Laughing hysterically, I bring my own hands up, aim at him and unleash the energy which has been buzzing at the tips of my fingers for the last few seconds. I expect a huge ball of magic to knock the demon master back, then shoot us into the past, where I can make things right. But the magic comes out in a stream, not a sudden burst. And it doesn't fly in Lord Loss's direction. Instead it flows into Bill-E.
I try redirecting the energy, but I can't control it. The magic seeps out of me and into my dead brother. Lord Loss is watching uncertainly, frowning, perhaps wondering if this is part of a time-travelling spell. Beranabus is dragging himself towards us, not willing to die without a fight. Dervish is still weeping over Bill-E, oblivious to all that's going on.
And then Bill-E moves.
At first I think it's just Dervish jolting the body, but then I see Bill-E's fingers shake and curl inwards. His lips part. He shudders. His eyes flicker open.
"What is this?" Lord Loss growls. "Regeneration? It cannot be. I felt his soul depart."
"Billy?" Dervish cries, unable to believe it, falling backwards as Bill-E sits up and looks around.
"Bill-E!" I yell with excitement, grasping his arms, squeezing hard, delight taking the place of dread. Somehow I've brought him back. I've used magic to restore his life. Everything's OK. We've beaten the demons and saved Bill-E. How's that for a night's work! "I'm so sorry for what I did, but there was no other way. But it doesn't matter now. You're alive. We whupped their ugly hides and..."
I stop. Bill-E's looking at me curiously, as if he doesn't know me. And his face is strange. His skin is bubbling, rippling, shimmering, a bit like Juni's did when her face changed. Then he opens his mouth and speaks, and I can't understand a word he's saying, because he's speaking the language of the girl in the rocks. They're Bec's words, not Bill-E's.
Lord Loss gasps. "You! No! I will not let you-"
Bill-E's right hand points at the demon master. He shouts something in Bec's language and Lord Loss screeches, "Artery! Attack!" The hell-child leaps and Bill-E's hand snaps round. A ball of energy surges from his fingers and Artery explodes into a thousand shredded pieces. He'll never recover from that. The hell-child has been finally, savagely, beautifully killed.
Bill-E stands. His flesh is still changing. The bones seem to be altering too. His eyes and ears. His whole face. Softening. Narrowing. Becoming more... feminine.
Lord Loss stares at the remains of his dead familiar. Trembles with a mixture of rage and fear. "You should not have come back, girl," he snarls. "This is wrong. You are asking for trouble, and be assured-it will find you."
Bill-E laughs in a way he never laughed before. Catches sight of Spine and waves a hand at the demon-it melts, screaming shrilly, a pool of gristle-speckled liquid within seconds, leaving Kernel to grapple around uncertainly and wonder what happened to his foe.
Bill-E faces Lord Loss again. His face is unrecognisable. His body too-he's smaller and his clothes are hanging loosely on his frame. I'd think I was going mad, but Dervish and Beranabus see it too. Their faces are contorted with bewilderment.
He speaks again and this time I hear the girl's accent as clearly as I heard it when she spoke to me from within the heart of the rock. Lord Loss trembles, then scowls. "So be it. Perhaps you are right-this is not our time. But it will come, be sure of that. And you won't have to wait another millennium and a half for it!"
The demon master draws himself up straight, then glares at me. "Enjoy your victory, Grubitsch. But remember-the end of the world is coming and there is nothing you or that apprentice priestess can do to stop it. Remember this also-you killed your brother. He died by your hand. How do you think you will sleep tonight? And all the-"
Bill-E barks a short spell. The strips of flesh at the end of the demon master's legs are suddenly alive with rats. Lord Loss squeals, slaps several of them away, then darts to the stalagmite where the body of Juni Swan is impaled. Ripping her corpse free, he cradles her to his chest, snarls hatefully at all of us in the cave, then launches himself at the crack in the rock-now just a thin line a few centimetres wide. He hits it hard and uses magic to squeeze through. Even so, the walls of the crack scrape much of his and Juni's flesh away, and the rats on Lord Loss's legs are knocked loose. They fall on the floor, turn in puzzled circles for a second or two, then tear away, heading for the surface, back to wherever Bill-E summoned them from.