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Chapters (48)
  1. Cover
  2. ALSO BY ANNE RICE
  3. Title Page
  4. Copyright
  5. Dedication
  6. Epigraph
  7. A Brief History of the Vampires
  8. Blood Argot
  9. Proem
  10. Part I
  11. 1
  12. 2
  13. 3
  14. 4
  15. 5
  16. 6
  17. 7
  18. 8
  19. 9
  20. 10
  21. 11
  22. 12
  23. 13
  24. 14
  25. 15
  26. 16
  27. 17
  28. 18
  29. Part II
  30. 19
  31. 20
  32. 21
  33. 22
  34. 23
  35. 24
  36. Part III
  37. 25
  38. 26
  39. 27
  40. 28
  41. 29
  42. 30
  43. 31
  44. 32
  45. 33
  46. Appendix 1
  47. Appendix 2
  48. What’s next onyour reading list?

“But Kapetria,” Derek said. He had settled into a comfortable chair near the couch. “Don’t you see? The Prince will realize at once how we’ve multiplied. The vampires will know that we can increase our numbers almost as easily as they can.”

“And why does that matter, darling?” asked Kapetria, as she stood on the other side of the fireplace. “We are not at war with the Prince.”

“But what do we want of him? Why are we going there? What sort of alliance are we forming?” So many questions tortured him. You must all be inside the dome and together, with arms locked. You must all at the same time…

“You know I will speak for us,” said Kapetria. “You know I will decide what is best to tell and what is best not to tell, and for now, it seems that it’s best to tell all that we know and all that we don’t know.”

“Don’t worry,” said Welftu. He came and sat on the couch close to Derek. So sure of himself. So bright and clear eyed. He wore a smart jacket of gray worsted wool, and a white-collared shirt of yellow cotton. Welf’s clothes. What had Welf been all these years on the planet? Oh, there was so much for them to share with one another. Had they had other “lives” as Derek had had?

Derek’s heart was pounding.

Welftu was studying Derek. And Welftu did have Welf’s pretty eyes, his thick black eyelashes. But there was something fierce and eager in him that hadn’t been in Welf ever. Even when Welf had been asking Derek mean questions.

“They will protect us and we will protect them,” Welftu said. “That is the only course that will make sense to them. After all, think what might happen if they did try to destroy us.”

17

Rhoshamandes

THE SMALL HOURS, as they call them. He was on the bluff high above the Château, looking down on its four towers, and on the curve in the road that ran below it to the center of the village, with its carefully reconstructed inn, church, and townhouses with their shops.

In the great ballroom of the Prince’s castle, the vampires danced. Antoine conducted the orchestra, now and then playing his violin, and Sybelle’s delicate white fingers sped over the harpsichord’s double keyboard. Blood drinkers conversed in pairs or small groups. Some roamed alone through the many salons. Others were making their way down to the crypts.