Stormy returned to her room to make the call. Of all the vampires she'd ever encountered-and there had been many-Rhiannon was the one she was least fond of. She'd never been 100% certain just why. But there was something else. Rhiannon had helped her. She'd been there, in Romania. She'd been the one to return Stormy to her home, to Max and Lou and her old life. How it had happened, why, she didn't know. And maybe part of her was grateful while the rest of her resented being separated from Vlad. Even though staying with him would probably have killed her.

And still might.

Max liked to believe Stormy's dislike of Rhiannon was because she and Rhiannon were a lot alike, but Stormy didn't buy that. Sure, Rhiannon was tough, full of herself and fearless. But she was also, Stormy knew, dangerous. More dangerous than the others she'd known. Except, perhaps, for Dracula himself.

She hated to bring the haughty vampiress into this mess, but there was no denying her powers or her skill. No one knew more about this type of thing than she did. She'd been a priestess of Isis. Besides, Rhiannon knew the backstory. More of it than Stormy did, at this point. And she knew Vlad, and for some reason she had tried to help before.

Stormy slid her PalmPilot from its case. The contact list was password protected, and she changed the password weekly. This week it was DRAC-2006. Yeah, he'd been on her mind big time even before she came here and ran into him again. Then again, he always was. Still, lately it had been worse.

She used the stylus to enter the password and opened her file of confidential contacts. She had a direct number for Rhiannon's cell phone, complete with voice mail. She never knew what time zone her vampire contacts might be in. Nor did they.

Stormy was taken by surprise when Rhiannon answered on the second ring.

"Well, well, well," she said when she picked up. "If it isn't the spunkiest little mortal I know. It's been a long time, Stormy Jones."

"I'd be real impressed by your psychic skills, Rhiannon, if I didn't suspect you had caller ID."

Rhiannon laughed. It was slow and sexy. "Don't belittle my powers so quickly. I imagine I can tell you why you've phoned."

"Fine, I'll play." Stormy crossed the room, picking up her videotape on the way, and sank into the cushioned and elegant chair near the French doors. "Why am I calling?"

"Because the deadline is approaching. Time is running out."

She blinked, then frowned. "Deadline?"

Rhiannon was quiet for a moment.

"What deadline, Rhiannon? Does this have to do with that Red Star of Destiny shit?"

"I... I assumed you knew. Vlad hasn't contacted you by now to tell you?" she asked, her voice very low and way more gentle than Stormy had ever heard it. That alone was enough to shake her.

"No, Vlad didn't tell me about any deadline. But if it involves me, I think I have a right to know, don't you?"

"There's no question. I wouldn't even consider keeping this from you, though he, apparently, is foolish enough to see some benefit to it. Tell me this. Do you know the rest yet? That ring you're searching for, do you know what it is?"

"How do you know I'm searching for a ring?"

Rhiannon sighed. "I keep very close tabs on you-and on Vlad, as well. This situation-it's coming to a head, I'm afraid. Tell me, do you know about the ring?"

"Yes. I know that if it's put on my finger and some rite performed, Elisabeta will return, and it will probably cost me my life. That's what I'm trying to prevent."

"Good. It helps that you're aware of that much, at least. But there's more. Stormy, the magicians put a time limit on the magick they used to ensorcell the ring. If Elisabeta's soul hasn't been restored to life by the time the Red Star of Destiny eclipses Venus, they said, the magick would die. Elisabeta would be free."

"So I've heard." Stormy turned the video in her hand, wishing for a machine right now, here in her own room.

"They included all the women she had ever been or would ever be in the wording. If you are her reincarnation, Stormy, and the deadline passes, you, too, would be... set free."

"Meaning?"

"Dead."

Stormy went icy cold. She'd been afraid that was what the cryptic words in the journal had meant, but to hear them confirmed chilled her to the bone.

"Don't panic yet, child. There's still time to prevent it."

"I'm not prone to panic, Rhiannon. And I'm no child."

"Compared to me, you're a newborn."

Stormy lowered her head. "When is this Red Star of Fate-"

"Destiny."

"Whatever. When does it eclipse Venus?"

"Once every five and a half centuries or thereabouts."

"And that would be when?"

"Midnight on Tuesday," Rhiannon said.

"You're shitting me." Stormy closed her eyes, feeling as if the words had been a hammer blow to her gut. "Tomorrow's Monday," she whispered. "So I'm going to die in two days and Vlad didn't even bother to tell me?" She was going to kill that undead bastard herself.

"Apparently."

"What if we had the ring?" Stormy asked quickly. "Do you think you could exorcise her spirit from me if we had it?"

"Of course I could. There's no question."

Stormy nodded. "And would that prevent my untimely demise?"

"I can't be certain, Stormy, but I believe it would. Call it an educated guess, if you wish. But there is no one more educated in this area than I. Not alive, at least."

Stormy nodded, knowing it was true.

"You have the ring, then," Rhiannon said.

The woman never missed a thing, did she? "Yes."

"Does Vlad know?"

"He's in town," she said. "He knows the ring is here, that someone has it, but I have no idea if he knows it's me." Yeah, I wish. I know damn well he's the one who brought that cursed thing here tonight.

"Then you have nothing to worry about. It's too near dawn now, but I can leave at sunset and come to you. Where are you, Stormy?"

"Edmunstun," she said. "It's in-"

"New Brunswick. Canada. Gods, tell me you haven't got yourself entangled with that nest of Athena vipers."

Something cold seemed to waft from her words, chilling the blood in Stormy's veins. "Why do you say that?"

"By the gods, you have, haven't you?"

"They're the ones who tipped me off that the ring was in town. They tried to hire me to steal it, actually, but someone beat me to the punch. I agreed to help them find it, and it turned up in my room."

"Your room where?"

Stormy swallowed, because her voice was getting hoarse. "Here at Athena House."

"Are you using their phone? By the gods, child, it's probably tapped."

"No. I'm using my cell." She was getting a very bad feeling, a dark foreboding in the pit of her stomach.

"They're not to be trusted, Stormy. Especially not one called Brooke, if she's still among them."

Stormy blinked, and her throat went utterly dry.

"Where is the ring now?"

She could barely move her lips. She glanced at the window, saw that the sun had risen. "By now Melina and Brooke are putting it in a vault for safekeeping."

"By the horns of Isis, Stormy, go after them! Now!"

Stormy snapped her cell phone closed and was halfway to the bedroom door before she realized she still had the videotape in her hand. Belatedly, she shoved it under the mattress, then headed back to the door and raced down the hall.

She met Lupe halfway down, gripped her arm.

"Where are the vaults?"

Lupe's eyes widened. She shot a look down the stairs and then whispered emphatically, "I'm not allowed to tell you that. Only a handful of the women here know where they are, even fewer how to-"

"Don't give me that bullshit. You're third in command, after Brooke and Melina. I know you know. Get me there."

Lupe stiffened her spine, shook her head. "No."

"Dammit, Lupe, there might be a problem."

"Might be?"

"Just trust me on this. I have to-"

"I'll go. But I'm not taking you." She turned away.

"But-"

Lupe whirled to face her again. "Dammit, Stormy, do you have any idea what happens to women who betray the trust of the Sisterhood of Athena?"

Stormy went still, her eyes widening a little at the grim tone in Lupe's voice, the expression on her face. "No," she said. "I don't. What happens to them, Lupe?"

Lupe stared at her, and her eyes said volumes, though her lips didn't speak a word. "Never mind. Come with me." She led Stormy down the stairs and through the mansion, into the library. "The phone in here has a two-way radio function. There's another in the vaults." She leaned over the phone, reaching out to hit a button, but before her finger touched down, a crackling sound came from the telephone's speaker.

Frowning, Lupe hit the "speak" button. "Melina? Brooke? Is that you?"

She released the button, her eyes seeking Stormy's. Stormy strained her ears to listen, and then the crackling came again, along with a single quiet word.

"Help."

"Melina?"

Stormy leaned past Lupe and hit the button herself. "Melina? What happened? Are you all right?"

She released the button, and when no answer came, she hit it again. "Melina, where is the ring?"

She waited. No reply. Then she shot a look at Lupe. "We have to go. And I think under the circumstances, you won't get into too much trouble for taking me with you."

"I could. But at this point, I'm willing to risk it. Come on."