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Paul threw his invisible fist right into the side of Lestat's face. Lestat felt a cold gust of wind hit against him. An ice cold mist beat against his face and body. Lost in a swoon, Lestat ignored Paul's assault on him, and bit harder into Jamie's neck, drinking the robust, heated taste of a living mortal's blood pooling inside his mouth, running down his throat.
"I love you Paul," Jamie murmured.
Deceived, Lestat thought. He removed his mouth from Jaime's neck, shoving him away. "You deceived me. You're not in love with Louis."
"Non, I'm in love with Paul," Jaime cried frightened, putting his hand to his neck. "Paul, Paul," he cried, "Come back here. I cannot do this without you."
His ghostly lover was vacant from the room.
"You lied to me. You tried to use me. For what purpose? I demand an explanation of your behavior!" Lestat growled, looking nervously around the room. "Paul is dead. There never has been a Paul in this room. You are imagining things," he sternly told Jamie.
Lestat's skin started to crawl, he heard footsteps running up the stairs, down the hall. "Damn," Lestat whispered, hiding himself behind the bed.
The door slowly opened, Louis came in, "Jamie," he said worriedly, "I came back to check on you. Madam Sally tried to lie to me when I asked where you were." Striding into the room, Louis looked down at the bed. Noticing a familiar pair of riding gloves, Louis growled, baring his fangs, yelling, "Lestat. I know you are in here."
"Louis!" Lestat cried, poking his head up.
Louis took in with a glance the meaning of the blood dribbling down Jamie's neck.
"You have proven you are my superior in matters of brute strength," Louis said coldly, untying his ascot, handing it to Jamie for him to use to bind up his wounded neck. "Now what are you trying to prove?"
"Nothing, nothing to you," Lestat cried, standing up, dusting off his elegant suit, doing his best to look haughty. "I wanted to kill him because he is beautiful. He attracts me. You know how I am. How I kill mortals I find to be pleasing to my eyes. This has nothing to do with you," Lestat frantically lied.
"No one is going to kill Jamie but myself."
Louis and Lestat turned towards the window. There standing in the room was a strikingly, handsome looking, young, blond vampire wearing the most fashionable of clothing which was made of the finest Italian cloth. His face was veiled in black. All they could see aside from his hair was his turquoise eyes. His hair was done in an elegant coiffeur. He lightly tapped his walking stick on the dirty floor.
"Lestat, you are well aquatinted to how much this young man means to me because of his relationship with Paul. Allow me, a friend of Paul's, the honor of finishing what you have started."
"What is the meaning of this? Who are you?" Louis cried, pulling out his rapier.
Henri calmly ignored him. He took out a fine lace handkerchief from his pocket, handing it to Jamie to put on his still bleeding the neck. Jamie used it to replace the now soaked ascot.
"Young man," Henri said to Jamie, "Through we have never officially met I have your best interests at heart. I can take you to Paul," Henri said quietly, "Trust me. I will be kind."
"Non, you will not be kind," Louis screamed, putting the point of his rapier to Henri's covered up nose, "I've seen how they kill Jamie. It's terrible, I've seen the blood flee from mortal's faces. Jamie, I touched the coldness of the bodies they leave behind. They sometimes even break the bones of their victims," Louis said furiously, "I have cut the throat of a man, to, to be one of them. My own overseer's throat, I cut."
"You never have seen how I kill," Henri said sharply, "Enough of this nonsense. Lestat you know the boy will be hunted down by our kind till someone kills him. He's seen your fangs. You drank from him. He now knows without a doubt the type of creatures we are. Before it was speculation. You know the rules concerning mortals who have witnessed what makes us what we are."
"We will protect him," Louis said stoutly.
"How can you be so sure you can protect him?" Henri hissed, "What are you going to do make him one like us? You, Lestat, you know it is too soon since you created your last fledgling to make another one. The risk to Jamie becoming an insane creature is too great. You, Louis, would you give him a drop of your addictive blood to enslave him, to insure his loyalty to you? You could very well take him back to being your slave."
"Non, he is not my slave," Louis cried shamefaced, pressing the point of his rapier into Henri's throat, making a cut which drew blood to fall out from under the scarf which was hiding Henri's face. "Stay away from my cousin," Louis snarled, "Least I kill you. How do you come to know my name?"
"I snatched it out of your mind, of course," Henri said calmly, "My dear monsieur, I must ask you to desist in poking at my person. Cutting one of our kind is very well, I suppose, in defending oneself. Mais might I suggest to you fire is a better determent when a vampire attacks you. You might very well notice I am neither threatening nor attacking you."
"You are a threat to my cousin. And I ask that you leave, monsieur, immediately," Louis said coldly. "I, myself, will make him into a vampire."
"Non! You would take me away from your brother perhaps for forever? Make me wait out centuries till I can be with him again? " Jamie said quietly, "Put your weapon down Louis. I want to talk to Paul."
Jamie went to Henri, eye to eye with him. "Do you promise to take me to Paul?"
"Oui, I promise," Henri said gently, "I love Paul too. In a different way than you do."
"Damn it! Damn it! I will not allow this," Louis cursed, pushing himself between Henri and Jamie.
"Step a side, cousin," Jamie cried, "Am I not a free man? Isn't it my choice? I choose you," he said to Henri
"Step aside young man," Henri said sharply to Louis, "Do not touch Jamie. Or try to restrain him. You heard him He belongs to me."
"How did you know my brother?" Louis snarled.
"I knew him from afar," Henri said calmly.
What is going on here? Lestat projected his thoughts into Henri's mind, so only Henri could hear him. What is your stake in this boy's death!
You know I love Paul, and you know Armand tried to trick you into killing Jamie. What can I, a poor rogue, do to save Jamie's life? Let it be I who is the one to kill him. I am doing this for Paul. Or, Lestat, shall the four of us sit down for tea, and we can all discuss what happened the night of Paul's death, and your affair with your dear friend, Armand?
"Let Jamie be," Lestat blurted out angrily to Louis, afraid of Henri's threat, "Let him live his life as he pleases. You're not his keeper, or his father!"
Henri put his arms around Jamie.
Louis watched horrified as Henri's mouth locked into Jamie's bleeding neck.
"Can you imagine I loved your brother now?" Jamie said fearfully, his eyes enormous with tension and tears.
"I believe you loved him. Jamie, you loved him. I'm sorry I always belittled your love for him. I was cynical. I didn't believe you. I do now. Please forgive me." Louis cried.
"I forgive you," Jamie whispered, "I love you, cousin. I finally learned how to love you."
Louis watched horrified.
A look of pain and fear chased on Jamie's face.
"Non, " Louis cried out.
Lestat put his hand on Louis' shoulder, restraining him. "You are being disrespectful," Lestat said in a hushed, hurt voice "This is between the two of them. Killer and victim. I will not allow you to interfere."
Jamie hung on to Henri for a moment. His face was strained, small beads of sweat broke out on his forehead, his lips parted in a silent moan. He sighed, a look of utter emptiness was on Jamie's face, he collapsed in Henri's arms. Henri supported his limp body.
Finally Henri removed his hidden mouth from Jamie.
Thank God, I can not see Jamie's blood on your mouth hiding behind your veil, Louis thought stunned, The sight of it would surely drive me wild.
All Louis could see was a dull red where Henri's moist mouth was, drops of blood fell from under the scarf to Henri's ascot.
Gently, Henri laid the boy's body out on the bed. "The deed is done," he said.
"I'll take care of him now. I'll open up the crypt, and put him next to Paul. It's where he belongs," Louis said in a shocked voice.
"Mousier, honor demands I remove the body myself," Henri said sternly, "Lestat, haven't you taught him any manners? You are a vampire. Young man be the part!"
"He is Jamie de Pointe du Lac. He belongs with Paul. He belongs in his family crypt with the rest of his family. Jamie," Louis cried, going to the bed, falling to his knees. "Wake up. Enough, make him into one of us."
"It wasn't what he wanted. Besides, it is too late, he is dead," Henri said, not unkindly, "Goodnight to you both."
"Mais why, why you?" Louis demanded, backing away from the body, "What do you think you are going to do with him?"
"Bury him," Henri said shortly, "Burn him. Does it really matter?"
"Louis do as he says," Lestat said, "We cannot be discovered with his body. It's only a body now, devil take it."
"Lestat. I must ask you both never to mention my presence here. You know the dangers which can occur to me. Louis I will take the young man's body to Pointe du Lac. When I was killing him all the time he was dying he was thinking of an oratory. I can take his body there, if you like, then you can decide what to do with it. In the mean time Lestat you were the last person who was seen with Jamie. I suggest the both of you leave together while I deliver the body as you requested. Through I must confess, I do not see why you require it. It's of no use to anyone anymore. Lestat escort your lover out," Henri said firmly.
"How can the two of you be so calm? You just killed a boy who harmed neither of you," Louis cried his chest aching.
"Where is your vampire's sense of distance from death? " Henri said puzzled. He worriedly looked over the state of Louis' exhausted body, his emotional turmoil. "My dear monsieur we have a choice in the matter of the kill. We vampires provide a service to nature as any other beast does. I myself try to kill those in the last stages of cancer, or what ever illness my victims happen to be in. Through, I do freely admit, I do partake of a healthy mortal on occasion. Dying people tend to have a nasty taste to them. You are starting to hurt my feelings. Come here, Louis look at him," Henri said, taking him to Jamie, "Look at how peaceful he is." Henri quickly covered Jamie's face with a sheet, "Nothing can hurt him now. This was what he wanted. He's with Paul."
"How do you know?" Louis rasped.
"I know," Henri assured him. "You are wan, peaked. Lestat haven't you been teaching him well? What is the matter with him? He is not healthy. Young man have you been feeding as much as you should be?'
""If only you had such an impossible fledging, " Lestat retorted, "Then you would understand what I put up with him!"
"My dear young vampire, " Henri said smiling, at Louis, ignoring Lestat, "I have been Jamie's friend for just this short while. I assure his death was kindly done. You must feed better. Anyone can tell."
"I will see to it," Lestat said ominously.
"Merci for making his death a fine one. I was never the relative I should have been to him while he was alive. I did try. I learned how to love him too. I forgot to tell him I loved him before he died. I never told him. I did," Louis said weakly, "You will deliver him to the oratory for me?"
"I shall," Henri said gently, "do what I can for you. I'm sure he knows Louis that you love him."
"Will you not tell me your name at least?" Louis demanded, wiping the tears off his face.
"Non, it is best I do not," Henri said firmly.
"This is so unfair. He should not have died," Louis said furiously, "He should have lived. He had so much to live for."
Lestat half led, half pulled Louis from out of the room, muttering under his breath. "How can you have such little control over yourself?"
"My being upset embarrasses you?" Louis said hotly, trying to pull his arm away.
"Non, you not eating as you should upsets me! You make me to look to be the worst of masters."
"You only look the worst of masters because I refuse to be your slave," Louis said furiously, almost sobbing,
"We shall see about that. Tonight you will kill a mortal, or by God I will have to beat you," Lestat whispered as they went down the stairs.
Manon watched the two leaving, noting the pale sadness on Louis' face, and the restrained worry and fury on Lestat's face. Armand's slave and spy, bent his head down in sorrow. He had liked Jamie, and didn't understand his master's hate for him. Manon once had been the slave of a priest who taught him how to write and read. It had only been a day after his master, Father Lefebre, died when he had been sold to his monster of a master, the bewitching Armand. He bitterly supposed that when Armand would receive his news about Jamie's death, and about how angry Lestat and Louis were with each other, Armand would dance for joy. | 