How many feelings can he possibly feel all at the same time? Louis' gentle voice, familiar, breaking the miserable silence. His heartbeat, so close. Lestat imagines that if he pressed a hand to the side of his prison, it would reverberate.

A matter of time, then. He feels sick with this knowledge. A wild, last ditch effort—

'Take him,' in Daniel's mind. Soft but loud, like God whispering. Too much. He is trying. 'Why haven't you? Just go with him. Leave me here and go.'

The sheer selflessness and beautiful tragedy of this action breaks through his breathing, which will definitely give away his location anyway.