Timeless(34)

"Who called you a witch?" Alexandria asked, but it was too late. Matilda had already lapsed into unconsciousness. "There has to be something we can do for her." Alexandria said, her voice pleading. "She went through all that pointless pain and suffering for nothing. She didn't even know what she was."

Mindy shook her head. "The poison from the bloodthorn flower is very potent, and once it's in the bloodstream…" Mindy's voice trailed off. There was nothing left to say that would make any difference.

Alexandria clenched her fists. "We're witches, damn it. Powerful witches, I thought. Surely there is something we can do?” Fiercely, she brushed away tears with the back of her hand. The flames on the candles grew taller, their fiery tongues licking the air. Mindy put a hand on Alexandria's arm, and one by one, the flames subsided.

"We don't have enough power yet to actually use the Saken Circle to save her. The circle has been activated, yes, but without the chosen witches stipulated in your mother's journal, it's pretty much useless. Whoever did this to Matilda knows that, and by killing her, and others like her, they are making sure we never do. They may not know which particular witches are the chosen ones, so my guess is they're going to keep killing witches until they eventually kill the right ones. Matilda was collateral damage."

"Which clan is she from, do you think?" Nina asked, walking around to the other side of the table. "I can't see any visible symbols on her to indicate which clan she belongs to. She was obviously telling the truth when she said she didn't know she was a witch."

Alexandria shot around, hearing the sound of Nina's voice. "You're a vampire ... can't you heal her with your blood or something?"

"It doesn't work like that, not with the length of time and the amount of poison she has in her body."

"Why not?" Alexandria asked angrily.

"Because she is more dead than alive, that's why," Nina snapped in a voice far angrier than she intended.

"What difference does that make now? What is there left to lose? Shouldn't we just be trying to do something? Anything, to try and save her?"

"If I gave her my blood, now, yes, she would live. That is true, but she would be in so much pain for the rest of her life from the poison in her body, that she'd wish we had let her die. I'm so sorry, Alexandria, but I've seen this before. There is nothing I can do for her. If there was a way, I would do it. All we can do now is find out which clan she originates from, so we can return her to her fold.

Mindy placed two fingers on the unconscious girl's right wrist, as though she were searching for a pulse. She whispered a visibility incantation to reveal the mark of the clan to which the girl belonged. After a few moments, beneath Mindy's fingers, a small, black shape like a tattoo began to materialize on the girl's wrist. Everyone leaned in, peering over Matilda. The black mark twisted into the shape of a circle with a small tree in the center. Mindy removed her fingers. "The Rivenfell Clan," she said.

"Who are the Rivenfell Clan?" Kat asked, holding tightly onto D'Artagnan's arm. "Do you even know how to find them, this Rivenfell Clan?"

Mindy nodded. "The Rivenfells are a friendly clan. They are experts in gems, crystals, and metal magic. A typical Rivenfell witch is kindhearted and likes to be of service to others. They worship Mother Nature, and usually have white hair and brown eyes. The Tree Of Life," Mindy said, motioning to the symbol on Matilda's wrist, "is the mark of the Rivenfell Clan. Now that we have her name, and know which clan she belongs to, Nina and I will be able to perform a summoning spell that should help us make contact with them."

Alexandria shook her head. "I just don't understand how someone could do this to her." She was quiet for a moment, thinking.

Kat shuddered, and D'Artagnan leaned down to kiss her cheek. "This could happen to anyone of us if we're not careful," she murmured.

"I would hunt them down and kill every last one of them," he said vehemently.

Mindy nodded. "You girls will have to be particularly careful from now on."

Nina picked up Matilda's limp hand and held it. "We should prepare her for her passing in the Rivenfell tradition. I need a simple white dress. We shall make her final hours as comfortable as we can. We should wash her hair, too. It is the least we can do until we find her people."

Alexandria threw her arms up in the air. "Are you kidding me? Are you telling me we just have to stand around here and wait for her to die? I can't believe that." She walked back over to Matilda's body lying unconscious on the table and stroked blood-matted blond hair off the girl's face. "She's just too young to die. She hasn't even had time to live. I wonder if she has family, or a boyfriend who knows where she was working, give us an idea of who did this to her, stop them before they have the chance to do it to anyone else. Someone has to know who she is, surely?"