the times I’d wanted to take him, enfold him in my arms, and sink my teeth slowly and tenderly into his neck, and drink his blood. Ah, now I might have him in a sense without having him—in the mere human tangling with his limbs, in whatever combination of intimate gestures and delectable little embraces he might like. And I might like.
The idea paralyzed me. It sent a soft chill over the surface of my human skin. I felt connected to him, connected as I had been to the sad unfortunate young woman whom I’d raped, to the wandering tourists of the snow-covered capital city, my brothers and sisters—connected as I had been to my beloved Gretchen.
Indeed so strong was this awareness—of being human and being with a human—that I feared it suddenly in all its beauty. And I saw that the fear was part of the beauty.
Ah, yes, I was mortal now as he was. I flexed my fingers, and slowly straightened my back, letting the chill become a deep erotic sensation.
He broke away from me abruptly, alarmed and vaguely determined, picked up the jacket from the chair, and helped me to put it on.
“You have to tell me all that’s happened to you,” he said. “And within an hour or so we may have news from London, that is, if the bastard has struck again.”
I reached out and clamped my weak, mortal hand on his shoulder, drew him to me, and kissed him softly on the side of his face. Once again, he backed away.
“Stop all this nonsense,” he said, as if reproving a child. “I want to know everything. Now, have you had breakfast? You need a handkerchief. Here.”
“How will we get this news from London?”
“Fax from the Motherhouse to the hotel. Now come, let’s have something to eat together. We have a day of work ahead to figure this all out.”
“If he isn’t already dead,” I said with a sigh. “Two nights ago in Santo Domingo.” I was again filled with a crushing and black despair. The delicious and frustrating erotic impulse was threatened.
David removed a long wool scarf from the suitcase. He placed this around my neck.
“Can’t you call London again now by phone?” I asked.
“It’s a bit early, but I’ll give it a try.”
He found the phone beside the couch, and was in fast conversation with someone across the sea for about five minutes. No news yet.
Police in New York, Florida, and Santo Domingo were not in communication with each other, apparently, as no connections regarding these crimes had yet been made.
At last he hung up. “They’ll fax information to the hotel as soon as they receive it. Let’s go there, shall we? I myself am famished. I’ve been here all night long, waiting. Oh, and that dog. What will you do with that splendid dog?”
“He’s had breakfast. He’ll be happy in the roof garden. You’re very anxious to be out of these rooms, aren’t you? Why don’t we simply get into bed together? I don’t understand.”
“You’re serious?”
I shrugged. “Of course.” Serious! I was beginning to be obsessed with this simple little possibility. Making love before anything else happened. Seemed like a perfectly marvelous idea!
Again, he fell to staring at me in maddening trancelike silence.
“You do realize,” he said, “that this is an absolutely magnificent body, don’t you? I mean, you aren’t insensible to the fact that you’ve been deposited in a … a most impressive piece of young male flesh.”
“I looked it over well before the switch, remember? Why is it you don’t want to … ”
“You’ve been with a woman, haven’t you?”
“I wish you wouldn’t read my mind. It’s rude. Besides, what does that matter to you?”
“A woman you loved.”
“I have always loved both men and women.”
“That’s a slightly different use of the word ‘love.’ Listen, we simply can’t do it now. So behave yourself. I must hear everything about this creature James. It’s going to take us time to make a plan.”
“A plan. You really think we can stop him?”
“Of course I do!” He beckoned for me to come.
“But how?” I asked. We were going out the door.
“We must look at the creature’s behavior. We must assess his weaknesses and his strengths. And remember there are two of us against him. And we have a powerful advantage.”
“But what advantage?”
“Lestat, clear your mortal brain of all these rampant erotic images and come. I can’t think on an empty stomach, and obviously you’re not thinking straight at all.”
Mojo came padding to the gate