Taltos is the third novel in Anne Rice's Lives of the Mayfair Witches trilogy. Like The Witching Hour and Lasher (the previous two novels in the series), Taltos follows Dr. Rowan Mayfair. At the end of Lasher, Dr. Mayfair had killed the child she had with Lasher, which left her in a semi-catatonic state and unable to function fully.
With the news that Aaron Mayfair had been deliberately run over with a car, Rowan awakens from her catatonic state. Rowan plots with Michael to enact revenge on the Talamasca, who she believes is responsible for Aaron's death.
At the same time, Mona, who Michael had an affair with in the previous novel in the series, discovers that she is pregnant with Michael's child. With Rowan's blessing, Mona and Michael announce Mona's pregnancy to the rest of the family. In fact, Mona learns and later discloses that her child is a Taltos.
Meanwhile, Michael and Rowan travel to London and meet up with a man called Yuri Stefano. Yuri was Aaron's friend and was excommunicated from the Talamasca, the same group that Rowan thinks killed Aaron. Yuri sets up a meeting with Samuel, a Taltos, and Ashlar, a billionaire businessman and quartet set out to investigate Aaron's death further.
Eventually, Michael, Rowan, Ashlar, and Samuel discover that a man called Anton Marcus, who was a general in the Talamasca, played a part in Aaron's death. Because of this, Ashlar kills him, but not before a deeper and much more sinister plot is revealed: Stuart Gordon, another member of Talamasca, had been planning to unite Ashlar with a female Taltos. Aaron's death, in fact, had been orchestrated by Stuart to ensure that his plans were successful. Rowan uses telepathic her powers, otherwise seldom used for negative purposes, to cause Stuart to have a fatal stroke, avenging Aaron's death.
Michael, Rowan, and Ashlar return to New York, where Ashlar explains the history of his long life and the history of the Taltos, who once did very well on a remote island in the British Isles. There was a conflict with the Taltos that led to a rift in the species, which ultimately led to many Taltos, including Ashlar, leaving their island.
Michael and Rowan finally return to New Orleans, where Michael is finally introduced to the daughter (named Morrigan) he had with Mona. Morrigan is subsequently named the designee for the Mayfair family, but very quickly runs off with Ashlar.
