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“ ‘I’ll give you back your life!’ he said, his eyelids quivering with the stress of his words, his chest heaving, that hand going out again and closing io, ‘I could take him back with me to New Orleans’ And then, as he looked from one to the other of them as they surrounded us, his breath became frantic, and he burst out, ‘Claudia, where is she? She’s the one who did it to me, I told you!’

“ ‘By and by,’ said Santiago And when he reached out for Lestat, Lestat drew back and almost lost his balance He had found the chair araining his control

“ ‘But he helped her, aided her…’ said Santiago, drawing nearer to him Lestat looked up

“ ‘No,’ he said ‘Louis, youI ht in the swah he were caged, wounded, desperate

“ ‘Listen to o, you free her… and I will… I’ll return to you,’ I said, the words sounding hollow, metallic I tried to take a step towards him, tofro ility And Celeste had her hand on my wrist ‘You must tell them,’ I went on, ‘how you treated us, that we didn’t know the laws, that she didn’t know of other va steadily, as that ht, Aro on

“There was a sound then of so across the floor I could hear Madeleine’s exhausted crying I looked around and saw her in a chair, and when she saw my eyes on her, her terror seemed to increase She tried to rise but they stopped her ‘Lestat,’ I said ‘What do you want of ive it to you…’

“And then I saw the thing that wasthe noise And Lestat had seen it too It was a coffin with large iron locks on it that was being dragged into the room I understood at once ‘Where is Armand?’ I said desperately

“ ‘She did it to me, Louis She did it to me You didn’t! She has to die!’ said Lestat, his voice beco, as if it were an effort for hi hoo only laughed, and Celeste laughed, and the laughter seemed to infect them all

“ ‘You promised me,’ said Lestat to them

“ ‘I proo

“ ‘They’ve made a fool of you,’ I said to hi the coffin ‘A fool of you! You must reach Armand, Armand is the leader here,’ I burst out But he didn’t seem to understand

“What happened then was desperate and clouded and ing against the, that they dare not hurt Claudia Yet they forcedno purpose against them except to takecries, and the fear that at any ht be added to the it at bay for an instant before it was forced shut onof o ca Lestat in that faraway, trouble-free place where the three of us had, quarreled together: ‘A starving child is a frightful sight… a starving vampire even worse They’d hear her screa body went li coffin, and I said, Arh for them to place us

“The coffin was lifted, there was the scraping of boots, the swinging froainst the sides of the box, my eyes shut perhaps for a moment, I was uncertain I told myself not to reach out for the sides, not to feel the thin in of air betweenand tilt as their steps found the stairs Vainly I tried tofor Claudia, calling out to her as if she could help us all Call for Arht desperately And only the thought of the awful huout

“But another thought had come over me even as I’d phrased those words: What if he did not come? What if somewhere in that mansion he had a coffin hidden to which he returned… And then it see, from the control ofto turn over and pit the strength of ainst the coffin lid Yet I could not: it was too close; and my head fell back on the boards, and the sweat poured down my back and sides

“Madeleine’s cries were gone All I heard were the boots, and ht he will coht and they will tell him, and he will find us and release us The coffin swayed The sh the close heat of the coffin; and then with the smell of the water was the shly, and my limbs ached and I rubbed the backs ofnot to touch the coffin lid, not to sense how close it was, afraid ofto panic, to terror