Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles - An Alphabettery

Chapter 1

Aaron Lightner

Talamasca

aron Lightner is a psychic detective for the Talamasca Order. He marries into the Mayfair family of witches and plays a major role in bridging the Lives of the Mayfair Witches with the Vampire Chronicles. He appears in Merrick (2000) and Blackwood Farm (2002).

Born in 1921 in England, Aaron Lightner begins demonstrating remarkable psychic abilities at an early age with both telekinesis and telepathy. His English father and American mother grow so concerned that they introduce him to the Talamasca house. When he is between the ages of seven and twenty-two, the Talamasca teaches Aaron how to control his psychic powers for the purpose of good. At twenty-two, after graduating from Oxford University, Aaron is invited by the Talamasca to become a member of the Order. After a decade of service, Aaron finally becomes the department head of witch families. He reorganizes their files, supervises the chronicling of families of witches throughout history, and takes particular interest in the Mayfair family.

Aaron meets Beatrice Mayfair in New Orleans and Deirdre Mayfair in Texas, where he also sees Lasher, the evil spirit who has developed a plan to become incarnate as a Taltos through an incestuous breeding program of thirteen generations of Mayfair witches. Aaron discusses Lasher s danger with Deirdre, but she desires to live a normal life, so she asks Aaron to keep the Mayfair emerald the talisman that represents a covenant between Lasher and the witches in his plan for incarnation but Aaron decides against it, fearing Lasher s retribution. Aaron then travels back to New Orleans, where he meets with Carlotta and Cortland Mayfair to explain the Mayfair family s history. Abhorring his interference, Carlotta issues a restraining order against him, and Cortland attempts to poison him. Surviving this attempt on his life, Aaron continues watching the Mayfair family from afar.

Aaron discovers Merrick Mayfair, a member of the

BECKET has a bachelor's degree in music composition and master's degrees in systematic theology and industrial organizational psychology. He was a diocesan seminarian for three years and a Benedictine monk for five and from 2005 to 2017 was the personal assistant to Anne Rice. He is the author of eleven books, including three books of poetry. He lives with his wife in Steubenville, Ohio.

ANNE RICE is the author of thirty-seven books. She died in 2021.

MARK EDWARD GEYER received a B.A. in Studio Art from Florida State University. He has illustrated Stephen King's Rose Madder and The Green Mile, the middle-grade series Inquisitor's Apprentice, and other books. He teaches at Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design, and lives with his wife.