The Reluctant Vampire Page 0,92

They would pour water over me and so on. And in Spain, I always had a maid who helped me bathe. Well, until that went out of fashion. I am not bothered by your being here."

"Really?" Stephanie asked curiously. "Did they have soap in Egypt?"

"Not the hard bars used today. Ours was a cream made up of lime, oil, and perfume."

"That sounds nice." Stephanie sighed. There was a rustle, and then the flushing of the toilet, followed by the squeak of the taps being turned.

Teddy needed some oil on that, Drina thought absently as she continued scrubbing.

"Well, I guess I'll go back downstairs," Stephanie announced, turning off the taps. "Do you want to play cards or something when you come down?"

"Sure," she said easily. "I'll be down in a minute."

"Okay." Drina heard the bathroom door open and thought Stephanie was leaving, but she suddenly said,

"Oh, I forgot, Teddy went out to pick up sandwich fixings before heading to the police station. I was going to make myself a Kitchen Sink sandwich. Do you want me to make you one too?"

Drina stilled and asked uncertainly, "What is a Kitchen Sink sandwich?"

Stephanie chuckled. "That's what my dad calls them because it includes everything but the kitchen sink. It's tomatoes, le uce, onions, radishes, green peppers, cucumber, cheese, mayo, Italian dressing, and ham or whatever. It's basically like a sub sandwich, but on bread."

Drina was actually salivating by the end of that long list of ingredients. "That sounds delicious."

"Oh, it is," Stephanie assured her on a laugh. "So you want one?"

"Yes, please."

"Okay, see you soon."

The door closed, and Drina promptly unplugged the stopper and switched the shower on. She was suddenly in a hurry to get downstairs and try this Kitchen Sink sandwich.

"I hear that Lucian finally called."

Drina glanced up from her cards and smiled at Teddy as he se led at the table with his plate of pork chops, potatoes, and salad. Leonora had made dinner tonight with Drina, Harper and Stephanie basically ge ng in her way as they tried to help. Everyone else had eaten two hours ago, but Teddy had just go en home. She suspected the poor man had worked late to avoid coming home to his presently overcrowded house. She couldn't blame him.

"Yes, he called just before we sat down for dinner," she said finally, and then smiled apologe cally.

"Lucian's going to make arrangements, and then call back. I'm not sure what's going to happen." She discarded so that Harper could take his turn, and then added, "Tiny should be waking up soon. He's calmed considerably and hasn't needed to be drugged for the last couple of hours. That usually means they're through the worst of it."

Teddy nodded as he started to eat.

"Does that mean Leonora, Dawn, Alessandro, and Edward will go home soon?" Stephanie asked, reaching for a card when Harper finished and discarded.

"Yes," Drina said, and then added wryly, "In fact, I suspect they'll leave the minute Tiny opens his eyes."

"Oh," Stephanie murmured, but Drina could see the relief on her face and knew it was for two reasons. One, while everyone was being really considerate, they were all exhausted, the house was just too small, and they were ge ng on each other's nerves. On top of that, though, she knew Stephanie would be relieved to have four less life mates in the house. Drina and Harper had been playing cards and board games with the girl all day to try to distract her, but she didn't think it had helped much. It would have been nice if they'd been able to take her out to Wal-Mart or a restaurant or something to give her a break from the energy and voices bombarding her, but all the vehicles were s ll back at the house, and Teddy had been at work. They'd been stranded here in his house in the country, which might be for the best un l they sorted out who was behind the a acks. They were guessing Leonius, and Teddy and his deputy had been asking around about any sigh ngs of strangers in town, but no one had seen anyone fi ng his description.

"Teddy, I think I'm going to have to make another run to the blood bank," Leonora said, entering the dining room. "As a new turn, Tiny will need a lot for a while, and Stephanie's s ll growing, so she needs a lot as well. I don't want them running low after we leave."

Teddy glanced around