Luke saw Stefan pause, and place his hand on the cave wall. Hestood there 
for a moment, his head bowed, whispering in a language that Lukedidn't 
recognize. When Luke drew closer, he saw that Stefan was touchinga set of 
prayer beads hanging on a nail that had been pounded into the darkstone. 

Stefan answered Luke's silent query. "I found Alexie's diary here.It was 
behind this stone. The final entry read: 'I would rather spendeternity in 
hell, than another day in this place.' He was a devout Orthodox,you know, 
so he meant every word." He sighed, speaking more to himself thanto his 
companion. "I have always hoped that that particular element ofreligious 
dogma proves to be untrue." 

Luke felt a sudden, rare sense of impropriety, as if his verypresence were 
an affront to this moment. "I can't say that I blame him," he saidquietly. 

Stefan fingered the small cross attached to the beaded circle."Neither can 
I," he replied. He released the beads and stared ahead into thedarkness. 
"The entry to the cellar is not far now. We should be there withinthe half 
hour." 

"What can you tell me about the Cassadine Castle that I don'talready know?" 
Luke asked. "What kind of moats and dragons are we gonna runinto?" 

"It is... a structure built entirely upon the whims of paranoia."He cast a 
sidelong look at Luke. "A design that you would no doubtappreciate; but 
unfortunately, the architect is long dead. The cellar isessentially a bomb 
shelter, with poured concrete walls over six feet in thickness.The rest of 
the building is reinforced with steel beams, and is a study inredundant 
systems. If the electricity fails, there is a generator; if thegenerator 
fails, the house could still be illuminated by the gas lightingsystem that 
served as the original backup when the structure was built at theturn of the 
century." 

"So, we'd have to cut the main power and kill thegenerator..." 

"Which would immediately alert Helena to ourpresence..." 

"Look Cassadine! I think the cover of darkness is bestway..." 

"Ah yes, as usual, you prefer the cloak and dagger approach. Whichof your 
alphabet soup of contingency plans will you be serving metoday?" 

"How about Plan 'C' for crow? I've had a lot more experience inthis area 
than you have, man, so why don't you keep the editorials toyourself and 
stick to the information I need." 

"Fine. But I want to know everything that you plan to do, down tothe 
smallest minutiae, and I reserve the right to object..." 

"And I reserve the right to do whatever the hell Iwant..." 

With speed and strength that Luke thought him incapable of in hiscondition, 
Stefan pinned Luke to the cave wall, shoving him up against thecold stone. 
"I will not be treated as an accessory in this matter," he hissed."This is 
as much my battle as it is yours." 

Luke held his hands up in a gesture of surrender. "Okay, yerhighness!" And 
the corners of his mouth curved into a half-smile. "Glad to seeyou can duel 
with something besides your jaw." 

Stefan released him and continued: "Fortunately the cellar is alow security 
area, as I am the only one who knows of the secret entrance, andour presence 
should go undetected until we reach the main floor. I expect thatthere will 
be armed guards stationed outside of Nikolas' and Lesley Lu'squarters. As I 
mentioned before, Nikolas is probably being held in Alexie's oldroom, while 
I believe that your daughter will be in a separate location, mostlikely the 
nursery, which is on the second floor. The door to the nursery hasa rather 
formidable lock, which of course, locks only from the outside." Hepaused, a 
dark memory distorting his features for a moment. "So, there youhave the 
moats," he said. "As for the dragon: my mother's behavior is... 
mercurial, to use a generous term. You may take your best guess asto how 
she will react." 

------------------ 

Helena looked down at the child in her arms, feeling maternal forthe first 
time. It was an odd sensation: this small bit of a person lookingat her 
with such trust, rapt in the words of an old fairy tale, huggingher with 
soft, doll-like arms. Eventually, Lesley Lu's breathing relaxedinto the 
rhythm of sleep, caressing Helena's skin in regular intervals ofsoothing 
warmth. 

"Why?" she asked the small, sleeping figure, "Why is it so easy tohold you 
in this way, when I could barely bring myself to touch my ownchildren?" But 
she knew the answer already: Each breath that Stavros drew outsideof her 
womb became an usurpation, consuming her power and diminishing herposition. 
As for her second son, she could not look into Stefan's eyeswithout seeing 
the galling look of triumph on Mikkos' face after he had taken heryet again. 


"You see? You see?" Mikkos had said at Stefan's birth, holding thesmall, 
naked body of his second son over his head like some kind ofliving trophy. 
"My seed will produce only sons!" 

Helena's response had been a smile and a nod, and an unscheduledvisit to a 
discreet clinic in Switzerland for a tubal ligation. 

And then there was Nikolas. She believed that she could love him,because he 
was not a product of her sacrifice; and she believed that he couldlove her, 
because she was not the mother who had abandoned him. But when sheand 
Stefan would stand side by side, arms outstretched, the childwould run to 
his "uncle" every time. 

She carried Lesley Lu to her bed, and laid her body gently on thesheets. 
The child stirred for a moment, in protest of the cool linen, butHelena 
pulled the down comforter up to Lulu's chin. 

"This house is so cold ... so very cold," she said to her. "Sleepwell, 
little one." And she knelt down and brushed Lulu's forehead withher dry 
lips. 

Then, she stood and left the nursery, locking the door behind her.She 
wandered through the near-empty house, drawing the drapes andclosing the 
shutters, blocking out the sunlight. The old mansion became aworld of 
shadows, like a dark dream, and she felt like a somnambulist,walking its 
vacant halls. 

She descended into the basement and opened the circuit box. Shepulled the 
main switch and cut the electricity. Within a minute, she heardthe dull hum 
of the generator, and she shook her head disapprovingly at itbefore 
disabling it, as well. 

Bathed in complete darkness, she groped the concrete walls untilshe felt the 
cold ring of iron that controlled the mansion's original lightingsystem. 
The valve was stubborn and it took all of her strength to turn it,but it 
yielded at last, and she smiled when she heard the gas hissthrough the pipes 
like a venomous serpent. She climbed the stairs and entered thefront room, 
igniting the old gas light fixtures along the outside wall,filling the room 
with an amber glow. No... golden, she thought, like a luminouscrown. She 
chose for her throne a Carpathian walnut chair, and pushed itdirectly 
beneath one of the glowing lamps. She chose for her scepter anantique 
musket, embellished with an ivory grip and armed with onebullet. 

Then, she arranged herself on the chair's red velvet cushion, andwaited for 
Luke Spencer's inevitable arrival. 

------------- 


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