I laughed. “David, I’ve never heard you so incensed.”

“That’s because I know you, and I think you mean to do this switch, and you must not!”

“Answer a few more of my questions. I want to think this through.”

“No.”

“Near-death experiences, David. You know, those poor souls that suffer a heart attack, go up through a tunnel, see a light, and then come back to life. What’s happening with them?”

“Your guess is as good as mine.”

“I don’t believe you.” I reported James’s talk of the brain stem and the residual soul, as best I could. “In these near-death experiences, has a little bit of the soul remained behind?”

“Perhaps, or maybe these individuals do confront death—they actually do cross over—and yet the soul, whole and entire, is sent back. I don’t know.”

“But whatever the case, you can’t simply die by going out of your body, can you? If in the Gobi Desert, I had gone up and out of my body, I couldn’t have found the gateway, could I? It wouldn’t have been there. It opens only for the whole soul.”

“Yes. As far as I know, yes.” He paused. Then: “Why do you ask me this? Do you still dream of dying? I don’t believe it. You’re too desperately fond of being alive.”

“I’ve been dead for two centuries, David. What about ghosts? The earthbound spirits?”

“They’ve failed to find that gateway, even though it opened. Or they refused to go through. Look, we can talk about all this some night in the future, roaming the alleyways of Rio, or wherever you like. The important thing is, you must swear to me not to deal with this sorcerer any longer, if you won’t go so far as to follow my suggestion that you put an end to him as soon as you can.”

“Why are you so afraid of him!”

“Lestat, you must understand how destructive and vicious this individual can be. You can’t give your body over to him! And that is just what you mean to do. Look, if you meant to possess a mortal body for a while, I’d be dead against it, for that is diabolical and unnatural enough! But to give your body to this madman! Ye gods, will you please come here to London? Let me talk you out of this. Don’t you owe me as much!”

“David, you investigated him before he became a member of the order, did you not? What sort of man is he … I mean how did he become this wizard of sorts?”

“He deceived us with elaborate fabrications and counterfeit records on a scale you wouldn’t believe. He loves that sort of connivance. And he’s something of a computer genius. Our real investigation took place after he’d gone.”

“So? Where did it all start?”

“Family was rich, merchant class. Lost its money before the war. Mother was a famous medium, apparently quite legitimate and dedicated, and charged a pittance for her services. Everybody in London knew her. I remember hearing of her, long before I was ever interested in that sort of thing. The Talamasca pronounced her genuine on more than one occasion, but she refused to be studied. She was a fragile creature, and very much loved her only son.”