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"Was it the Impaler?" Melina asked She didn&039;t look at Stormy as she spoke Instead, her eyes re "Has he been here?"

"No Of course not," Stored to mutter It was a lie, but as between her and Vlad was none of their business She dragged her gaze away fro waters of panic began to calm "Why would you jump to that conclusion?"

She noticed Melina and Brooke and then Lupe looking toward the French doors, which were not quite closed A breeze ca the curtains with its breath

Slowly Melina turned to face Stormy "It makes sense, doesn&039;t it? Vlad needs a body for his dead bride to come into Maybe he&039;s chosen yours," she said "Are you sure he wasn&039;t here?"

"I think I&039;d know if Dracula had paid me a nocturnal visit, Melina That&039;s not the kind of thing that could exactly slip by me" She was careful to keep the left side of her throat away fro eyes His ht touched her skin

"He&039;s powerful enough to et," Brooke said "From what I&039;ve read, he can shape-shift, and his thrall is i with his kind for sixteen years, don&039;t forget"

"Where did the ring coet here?"

Stormy let the defensive attitude slide off her shoulders "I I don&039;t kno the ring got here I woke up and it was here, that&039;s all"

"On the floor?" Melina asked She wasfor it, and it took everything Stor before she could She knew that urge wasn&039;t co from Elisabeta&039;s She flinched forward as Melina closed her hand around the ring and picked it up

"In "

Lupe&039;s eyes narrowed at the "or so" part, but she didn&039;twas in my hand"

Lupe muttered in Spanish and crossed herself

"That ," Melina said

"So," Brooke said slowly "You didn&039;t see anyone? Hear anything?"

"No Nothing," Stormy insisted

Brooke thinned her lips "It didn&039;t just appear here all by itself"

"I didn&039;t say it had"

"Get off her, Brookie," Lupe snapped, stepping closer to Stormy in a way that was alrounds," she said, possibly in an effort to change the subject "We can check for signs, make sure whoever it was isn&039;t still here Give Storather herself I&039;ll brew some tea Chamomile, some valerian, maybe a little lavender, and we can talk"

Melina nodded "You&039;re very wise, Lupe Safety first, analysis later" She turned to Brooke "Rouse a handful of the girls and search the house, top to bottorounds"

"I&039;ll get started on the tea," Lupe said And then she moved closer to Melina and held out her hand "Maybe I should hold that for you until you get back Just in case you run into whoever"

Melina opened her pal

Brooke met her eyes "I can hold it, if you want," she said

Melina shook her head "Lupe&039;s right, it&039;ll be safer here with her while we search We&039;ll decide what to do with it later" She handed the ring to Lupe, who closed her fist around it, nodded and dropped it into her bathrobe pocket Then she turned to Stormy "You should coht now"

"Thanks"

The four of them walked into the hallway Melina and Brook headed down it in opposite directions, each intent on gathering troops to conduct a search Storone by now

But had he been the one to leave the ring with her? How else could it have ended up in her bedroom?

A voice inside asked if she needed to be hit over the head before she accepted the truth He&039;d released her fro full well that would rouse Elisabeta to life And then he&039;d given her the ring to put on To drive Stormy out, to kill her

He wanted her dead

Why did she still want his were lanced nervously behind them and then said, "They know about you, Stormy"

She was so stunned she al, tanned arripped the railing "They knohat?"

"Come on" Lupe closed a hand around her forear her to the bottoh the mansion and into the oversized kitchen in the back She ran water into a metal teapot and set it on a burner to heat Then she reached into a glass cabinet and took out a china teapot, cups and saucers

"What is it they supposedly know about me, Lupe?" Stormy asked

"They know about you and Vlad That he abducted you sixteen years ago, held you for a couple of weeks-time you don&039;t re theave her head a shake, went to a cabinet and flung open the doors It was filled with jars, all of them labeled and packed with herbs She scooped herbs from several of the jars and poured the closure

"And what?"

"I&039; it out loud sounds freakin&039; insane But they think you&039;re the one Elisabeta Dracula Or her reincarnation or so her head "And what do you think, Lupe?"

"Daht and dropped the sack of herbs into the china teapot "I&039;ve seen the portrait-photos of it, at least In our file on Dracula"

"You have a file on him?"

She shot Stormy a look that clearly said she wasn&039;t supposed to have revealed that and wasn&039;t going to elaborate "It would ht you were her"

Stor it

"That&039;s why Melina hired your fir She knew she would have a better chance of finding it if you were helping You have a connection to it A special interest in it It&039;s yours, if their theories are true"

"I promise you, Lupe I am not Elisabeta Dracula I&039;et the ring?"

"I don&039;t know"

The teapot whistled Lupe grabbed it and poured the stearance of the herbs wafted into the room with the steam "Okay So what&039;s on the videotape?"

Stor to Lupe&039;s

"I saw it on the night stand What is it, anyway? Did it get there the sa did, or ?"

Stormy held up a hand "I don&039;t know if I want to discuss the tape Not yet, anyway"

"You don&039;t trust ed "Can&039;t say I blame you I mean, you don&039;t know me And you don&039;t have any clue what I risked to tell you what I just did If they find out "

"They won&039;t"

She smiled a little, lowered her head and put the china cover onto the teapot "It needs to steep for a while" Then she ht to this than anyone else," she said, taking the ring out of her pocket and holding it up

Stormy shook her head "It&039;s safer if you keep it away from me At least until we destroy it"

"Oh, we can&039;t destroy it," Melina said from the doorway

Both women jerked in surprise and turned her way Stor there, howfroerous," Stor hands "

"It is dangerous But legend has it Elisabeta&039;s soul is so If that&039;s true, we have to set it free With the ring, we can perfor once and for all"

She reached out a hand, palm up and open "Until we can do that, I think it best we put it into the vaults" She slid her gaze to Lupe&039;s, then back to Storered a chain she wore around her neck, tugging it from beneath her blouse There was a silver key at the end "I&039; will happen to the ring there I promise"

Storht"

"Good" Melina kept her hand out, and Lupe put the ring into it "I&039;ll take it to the vaults right after dawn"

"Why after dawn?" Stormy asked

Melina licked her lips "Just as a precaution"

That wasn&039;t entirely true Stor Someone knew Vlad had been there, ora lie as Stormy was Either way, they knew there had been a va where they put the ring

"Call us when the tea is ready," Melina said "I need to check in with Brooke&039;s group" She left the with her

Stormy started to follow, but Lupe stopped her with a hand on her shoulder "You have some time," she said "There&039;s a VCR in my room, if you&039;d like to use it No one has to know"

"Thanks"

Lupe nodded, leaving Stor her, whether it was a trick, a trap or honest assistance And then she knew it didn&039;t et off until she found where it led

Stormy thanked her and headed into the next roo"

Melina turned to look at her

"This exorcis her lips, the other woman shook her head "No"

"Do you know anyone who does?"

"No, not offhand But I&039;m sure we can find someone"

"You don&039;t need to I I know someone Probably the best-maybe the only-person for the job"