The body was still burning long after Sebastian Danner’s had gone out. Indeed, the gasoline that fueled it initially had already been consumed, along with his clothing and hair and flesh until he looked like an anatomist’s mannequin of the muscular system. But still he burned, hotter and brighter than ever, and Stiles couldn’t get too close for the heat. It reminded him of hydrogen peroxide poured into an infected wound; the chemical would react with any corruption present and bubble and fizz angrily as it purified. It was exactly what the fire was doing now. Reacting to the corruption. Purifying. Growing hotter and brighter as it burned away the layers that housed his demonic core. “Is it over then?” Billie whispered, hugging herself close to him. “Is it really over?”

“Yes,” he soothed, kissing her lightly, “it’s really—”

The fire flared suddenly, whether from a sudden breeze or a bubble of gas in the entrails. It licked out and seared his vision and left it imprinted with a ghostly orange haze. He stumbled and grabbed at his stinging eyes, blinded, and felt a wave of intense heat rush past him.

And he heard Billie scream.

Stiles chased the spots from his gaze, only to find her cowering on the ground a few yards away, shielding her face to the fiery abomination that loomed over her. Nathan Danner was still the same apparition as a moment ago, still sheathed in angry flames, but now he stood upright, defying every natural law. He no longer appeared human; the face was skeletal, covered only in a thick gauze of blackening muscle, and the eyes bulged without benefit of lids to hide them. When they abruptly popped and melted from the heat, even the empty sockets seemed to stare with evil intent. The lipless smile was much too large for any human mouth, and the teeth clicked and worked as if attempting words, but all in vain. It emitted only harsh exhalations as its lungs dried up and turned to ash. The monstrosity took a shambling step toward her and a gaunt hand reached out, a charred skeleton’s hand with a flap of loose muscle hanging like moss from the wrist, and it caught Billie by the shoulder. She squealed and tears filled her eyes as it burned through the jacket to the flesh beneath. That angry gust of air came again as it pulled her closer, and this time it somehow formed the word blood.

Stiles loosed a maniacal cry that echoed through the night, taking the both of them by surprise, and when he launched himself at the undying creature it was with a wide-eyed, slobbering rage. His own pain and limitations were forgotten as he pistoned a vicious kick into the Danner-thing’s side and knocked it away from her. “Fight me!” the soldier roared, crouched and snarling like a wild animal.