Chapter Twenty-three Summary

Jesse tells Susannah that her intervention had a rallying effect on the souls of the people that Marcus Beaumont killed, i.e. bedevilment. The souls will punish Marcus until he dies.

Susannah tells her stepbrother, Doc, or David, that his mother loves him very much and that he is not responsible for her death. Doc cries; Susannah's eyes water. Tad phones, telling Susannah that his father is going through detoxification because someone was giving him hallucinatory drugs, which caused him to think he was a vampire. Tad is going away to live with his aunt in San Francisco.

Susannah reads Gina's letter while talking to Tad on the phone. Gina sends The Ninth Key Tarot card in her letter. The Ninth Key Tarot card's description reads,"the Hermit guides the souls of the dead past the temptation of illusory fires by...