“There’s no way that he can become a Blood Hunter,” said Lestat calmly. “Stop shaking, Quinn. Look into my eyes. I’m here with you now. I’m here to help you, Little Brother! And he’s gone, and after the burning I don’t think he’s going to come back, not for a long while.”

“But can he feel physical pain?” I asked.

“Of course he can. He can feel blood and pleasure, can’t he?”

“I don’t know,” I rattled on. “Oh, I hope you’re right,” I said. I was almost about to cry. “Little Brother,” how I loved the words, how I cherished them, and how sweet it was, as sweet as Aunt Queen calling me forever Little Boy.

“Get a grip, Quinn,” Lestat said. “You’re sinking on me.” He clasped my hands. I could feel the hardness of his flesh. I had some hint of his strength. But he was gentle, and his skin felt silky and his eyes were totally kind.

“But the old tale in the Chronicles,” I said, “of the first vampires—of how they were humans until a spirit entered into them. What’s to stop it from happening again?”

“It’s never happened since, to my knowledge,” said Lestat, “and we’re speaking now of thousands of years ago, of a time before ancient Egypt. Many a Blood Hunter, as you call them, has seen spirits, and many a human as well. And how do we really know what happened in the beginning, except that we were told through tradition that it was a powerful spirit who entered its human host by many fatal wounds. You think your Goblin has the power or the cunning for such a perfect fusion?”

I had to admit that he did not.

“But who would have thought that he could drink from me?” I asked. “Who would have thought that he would? The night I was made, my Maker said that Goblin would leave me, that spirits had an aversion to Blood Hunters and I’d soon find myself alone. ‘No more ghostly companions for you,’ he said. He said it meanly. Because he couldn’t see them, you see. Oh, what a demon he was!”

Lestat nodded. His eyes were filled with muted compassion.

“In the main, that’s so,” he said. “Ghosts shy away from Blood Drinkers, as though something about us, understandably, horrifies them. I don’t know the full explanation of it. But you know it’s not always so. There are many vampires who see spirits, though I’m not one of them, except on a very few remarkable occasions, I should openly confess.”

“You mean you really can’t see Goblin,” I said.