Page 73 (1/2)

Khayman

Dead quiet the peace of Carmel Valley So happy were the little coven in the house, Lestat, Louis, Gabrielle, so happy to be together Lestat had rid hiain in shining "vampire attire," even to the black velvet cloak thrown casually over one shoulder And the others, how ani her yellow hair rather absently as she talked in an easy, passionate manner And Louis, the human one, silent, yet profoundly excited by the presence of the other two, entranced, as it were, by their siestures

At any other time, how moved Khayman would have been by such happiness He would have wanted to touch their hands, look into their eyes, tell them who he was and what he had seen, he would have wanted just to be with them

But she was near And the night was not finished

The sky paled and the faintest wars stirred in the growing light The trees shifted, their leaves uncurling ever so slowly

Khay the color of the shadows change; listening to theShe was here, without question

She concealed herself, willfully, and powerfully But Khay to the laughter and talk of the small coven

At the doorway of the house, Lestat eray lected khaki clothes, her thick blond hair brushed back, the picture of a carefree wanderer And the black-haired one, the pretty one, Louis, was beside her

Khay on into the open field before the woods where she meant to sleep within the earth itself, while theSo so refined about that one, even as he slipped beneath the floorboards, sorave; the way he co at once into utter darkness

And the wo violence, sheas

if she had never been there The earth held her outstretched ared, into ile and river she would never remember

So far so good Khayman did not want them to die, to burn up Exhausted, he stood with his back to the apple tree, the pungent green fragrance of the apples enveloping him

Why was she here? And where was she hiding? When he opened himself to it, he felt the low radiant sound of her presence, rather like an engine of theoff some irrepressible whisper of itself and its lethal power

Finally Lestat eed from the house and hurried towards the lair he had ainst the hillside Through a trapdoor he descended, down earthen steps, and into a dank chamber

So it was peace for theer of bad tidings