The witching hour - By Anne Rice Page 0,141

saw in the visions?”

“Only you can determine that for yourself.”

“You wouldn’t play games with me.”

“No. Of course not. But don’t play games with yourself either, Michael. You always knew that man was not … what he appeared to be, didn’t you? What did you feel last night when you saw him?”

“Yeesss, I knew … ” Michael whispered. He felt the disorientation again. Yet a dark unsettling thrill ran through him. He saw the man again peering down at him through the fence. “Christ,” he whispered. And before he could stop himself, the most surprising thing happened. He raised his right hand and made a quick, reflexive sign of the cross.

Embarrassed he looked at Lightner.

Then the clearest thought came to him. The sense of excitement in him was rising. “Could they have meant for me to meet you?” Michael asked. “The woman with the black hair, could she have meant for this meeting between you and me to take place?”

“Only you can be the judge of that. Only you know what these beings said to you. Only you know who they actually were.”

“God, but I don’t.” Michael put his hands to the side of his head. He found that he was staring down at the leather folder. There was writing on it in English. Large letters, embossed in gold, but half worn away. “ ‘The Mayfair Witches,’ ” he whispered. “Is that what those words say?”

“Yes. Would you dress now and come with me? They can have breakfast waiting for us in the country. Please?”

“You don’t believe in witches!” Michael said. But they were coming. Again the room was fading. And Lightner’s voice was once again distant, his words without meaning, merely faint, innocuous sounds coming from far away. Michael shuddered all over. Sick feeling. He saw the room again in the dusty morning light. Aunt Vivian had sat over there years ago, and his mother had sat here. But this was now. Call Rowan …

“Not yet,” said Lightner. “After you’ve read the file.”

“You’re afraid of Rowan. There’s something about Rowan herself, some reason you want to protect me from Rowan … ” He could see the dust swirling around him in motes. How could something so particular and so material give the scene an air of unreality? He thought of touching Rowan’s hand in the car. Warning. He thought of Rowan afterwards, in his arms.

“You know what it is,” Lightner said. “Rowan told you.”

“Oh, that’s crazy. She imagined it.”

“No, she didn’t. Look at me. You know I’m telling you the truth. Don’t ask me to search out your thoughts for it. You know. You thought of it when you saw the word ‘Witches.’ ”

“I didn’t. You can’t kill people simply by wishing them dead.”

“Michael, I’m asking for less than twenty-four hours. This is a trust I am placing in you. I ask for your respect for our methods, I ask that you give me this time.”

Michael watched in confused silence as Lightner removed his smoking jacket, put on his suit coat, and then folded the jacket neatly and put it in the briefcase along with the leather file.

He had to read what was in that leather folder. He watched Lightner zipper the briefcase and lift it and hold it in both arms.

“I don’t accept it!” said Michael. “Rowan is no witch. That’s crazy. Rowan’s a doctor, and Rowan saved my life.”

And to think it was her house, that beautiful house, the house he’d loved ever since he was a little boy. He felt the evening again as it had been yesterday with the sky breaking violet through the branches and the birds crying as if they were in a wild wood.

All these years he’d known that man wasn’t real. All his life he’d known it. He’d known it in the church .…

“Michael, that man is waiting for Rowan,” Lightner said.

“Waiting for Rowan? But, Lightner, why, then, did he show himself to me?”

“Listen, my friend.” The Englishman put his hand on Michael’s hand and clasped it warmly. “It isn’t my intention to alarm you or to exploit your fascination. But that creature has been attached to the Mayfair family for generations. It can kill people. But then so can Dr. Rowan Mayfair. In fact, she may well be the first of her kind to be able to kill entirely on her own, without that creature’s aid. And they are coming together, that creature and Rowan. It’s only a matter of time before they meet. Now, please, dress and come with me.