Chapter 16 Summary: El Demonio

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Summary

In 2031, Tony Pietrus travels to Miami at the mayor's invitation to advise city officials on sea-level rise, but the meeting goes poorly—some officials nod off during his presentation on saltwater upwelling. Outside, protesters call him a liar and a traitor, while counterprotesting climate activists hold Fierce Blue Fire signs. Tony's publisher dropped him after he publicly challenged the future president at Davos, and Yale pushed him into retirement; he now survives on consulting fees from cities that do not want to hear his warnings.

Over a late lunch with his brother-in-law Corey, a Florida real estate developer who dismisses Tony's dire predictions, Tony tries to explain that Florida is doomed regardless of any policy changes. Corey deflects with jokes and boasts about his dating life. Tony's flight home is delayed, and while waiting at Miami International Airport, he watches news coverage: white nationalist billionaire Rory Baumgart has poured money into Jennifer Braden's primary challenge, Russ Mackowski is courting evangelical leader The Pastor, and the worst wildfire season in history is raging across the West, having already killed nearly four hundred civilians and twenty-three firefighters. The news also reports that two Fierce Blue Fire staffers have accused Kate Morris of unwanted sexual advances—a story that disgusts Tony, who had once hoped Morris's movement would succeed.

Back in New Haven, Tony exchanges a lighthearted text with Holly about a typo in her writing, remembering a painful episode from her teenage years when an offhand comment about her weight contributed to an eating disorder. Then Holly calls: fires are threatening Los Angeles, where Catherine lives, and she is not answering her phone. Tony learns from his son-in-law Dean that Catherine has been struggling with substance abuse, has been arrested for possession, and goes on benders where she blacks out. Holly had kept this secret to protect her sister's trust.

As the Wisdom Tree Fire races toward the city, the governor orders the evacuation of Los Angeles—an unprecedented move affecting as many as five million people. Tony's colleague Hasan, a climate researcher, arranges for Tony to fly on a FEMA plane to Ontario, California, and has a car waiting for him. Cal Fire's Hank Magdolin briefs Tony on the fire's behavior, warning him that the blaze is making its own weather and that fire crews are falling back to Highway 10. Tony drives into the burning city, passing the massive refugee flow on the freeways, and eventually abandons his vehicle when it fails. He breaks into a gas station for water, encounters a homeless man who calls himself Diamond, and with Diamond's help—using a crowbar from a Goodwill—breaks into Catherine's apartment. He finds her drunk, passed out in a beanbag chair with a VR headset on, surrounded by bottles and trash.

With Catherine barely able to walk, Diamond helps Tony carry her to a middle school basement, where they shelter as the fire rages overhead. A fire crew of women inmates from the California Institution for Women in Chino—sent by Corey, who had hired them after Tony's text reached Holly—rescues them. Corey is also there, having driven into the city to find his family. After treatment for smoke inhalation, Tony, Catherine, Corey, and the dog fly out over the ruined city, which looks like a gutted hole in the earth.

Key Events

Tony's Miami consulting meeting fails to move city officials; protesters confront him.
Corey dismisses Tony's climate warnings over lunch.
News breaks of Kate Morris's sexual misconduct accusations and the record wildfires.
Holly reports that Catherine is unreachable as fires approach Los Angeles.
Dean reveals Catherine's substance abuse and arrest history.
The governor orders the evacuation of Los Angeles.
Hasan arranges a FEMA flight and a car for Tony.
Tony drives into the burning city, abandons his vehicle, and breaks into Catherine's apartment with Diamond's help.
Tony finds Catherine drunk in a VR headset.
They shelter in a middle school basement until Chino inmate firefighters rescue them, along with Corey.
Tony, Catherine, Corey, and the dog fly out over the ruined city.

Character Development

Tony Pietrus is pushed to his emotional limit in this chapter. His professional life has collapsed—he is a consultant nobody listens to—but his personal stakes become visceral when Catherine's life is threatened. His decision to drive into an evacuating city shows a father's desperation overriding all caution. His guilt over past parenting failures, especially the eating-disorder incident with Holly, resurfaces as he confronts Catherine's addiction.

Catherine is revealed as deeply troubled: she drinks heavily, uses harder drugs, has been arrested, and escapes into VR. Her vulnerability is stark—she is found passed out, unable to walk, and must be carried to safety.

Corey, initially a comic figure of oblivious privilege, surprises Tony by driving into the city to find his family and by hiring the Chino inmate crew. His presence at the rescue complicates Tony's long-held view of him as a shallow fool.

Diamond, the homeless man, refuses Tony's money, calling the rescue