Morgen stood stock still for a moment, his shoulders slumped, his head hung low as the flames roared louder around them. Morgen was transfixed by the sight of his son, his only child scrambling in the flames, oblivious to his safety. Seth went to Morgen and placed his hand on the priest’s shoulder.

“Quick, Father,” Seth said. “Let’s get out of here.”

Morgen wrestled with the instincts that impelled him toward his son. He saw the energy of the maniacally driven man in the flames and something seemed to speak to the priest, to tell him that perhaps only flame could heal, could quench the insanity that had taken over the son he had never really known. Morgen’s heart lurched in his chest and then he turned toward Seth. His tear-streaked face wore the pain of a father’s ultimate rejection by his only son, his only child, whom he had loved for a lifetime, but only from a painful distance. Lear. For an instant he knew the heart of that king and the darkness that had filled it.

A screaming commotion erupted behind them and they turned as four of the uniformed security men wrestled with Cardinal Braun, who was trying his best to walk into the flames.

“No, let me go,” Braun cried. “Let me go. Let me go.”

Suddenly, Braun loosed an inhuman scream as he turned on the security men until, finally, with the superhuman strength people are capable of only when all they hold dear is at stake, the cardinal broke free and lunged into the flames. The security men tried to follow the cardinal, but the flames beat them back. Morgen took half a step forward and then stopped himself.

They all stood transfixed staring at the wall of flames, not believing what they had just witnessed. Then, instants later, they heard Braun’s shrieks rising above the roar of the flames. The shrieks began low and rose through the full range of the human voice into a range that seemed to border on the edge of hearing. The sound continued for what seemed like a very long time, but which was probably only a few seconds. The shrieks seemed too loud, too powerful to come from a human being. But the thing that would chill Seth and Zoe for the rest of their lives was the tone of the shriek. It didn’t sound like pain; it sounded like a man in ecstasy.

“God be with you,” Morgen said.

As the shriek ended, Seth, Zoe, and Hans Morgen raced for the stairwell and to the helicopter they prayed would still be waiting on the roof.

EPILOGUE

The first of the cardinals had begun to arrive at the Vatican in response to the Pope’s summons. He had begun chatting with them when he was interrupted by Richard Borden, the Vatican’s secretary of state.

As he walked into the room, Borden wore an expression on his face the Pope could not decipher.

“I apologize for disturbing you, Your Holiness, but I felt you would want to receive this as soon as possible.” Borden handed him a yellow telex, then left the room.