Timeless(9)

"I still think it's a bad idea," Andrew said, as he paced back and forth in the small sitting room that Alexandria was using as a makeshift office.

"I think we need her," Alexandria said, closing the guest sign in book and placing it in the top drawer of her father's old writing desk.

"Look, if it's about the money—"

"It's not the money," Alexandria said, lowering her voice. "Do you think it is true that vampires have heightened hearing?"

Andrew continued to pace around the room, rubbing his chin, shaking his head. "How would I know? I mean, I know they exist, I've just never met one before. All I know is that there are lots of them still out there that, like, you know, drink human blood. And if they bite you, well, we all know how that ends. Frankly, I tend not to trust anyone who doesn’t have a pulse. How old do you think she is, by the way?"

"Will you please sit down? You are making me dizzy pacing back and forth like that. And I don't know how old she is. I thought it would be rude to ask. I was only little at the time," Alexandria said in a conspiratorial voice, "but I can remember my mom talking to my father once about a friend that was a vampire, which I thought was just some kind of joke at the time, but when Nina told me her name was Rosenberg, it rang a bell and got me thinking.

Andrew pulled up a chair and rested his elbows on the table. "Go on," he said, resting his chin in his hands, enthralled in the story.

Alexandria continued. "So, while you were taking Nina upstairs, I had a look in one of my mother's books. Not the one full of spells, another one." She took from around her neck a chain with a little key dangling from it. She leaned down and opened the desk’s deep bottom drawer and pulled out a book wrapped in a piece of red velvet. "It's one of my mother's journals. I found it hidden in her room, concealed inside another book titled Candles For Casting by M. Harvey."

"M. Harvey, whoever that is, must be related to you."

"Could be. They appear to be coming out of the woodwork these days, relatives. Anyway, I've been reading Mom's journal at night." She turned the pages until she came to a page with the words Saken Circle across the top in her mother's handwriting. Drawn on the page was a pentagram with a letter representing each of the five vertices. S, A, K, E, N. Below the pentagram were the words, Harvey, Lochlanach, Rivenfell, Rosenberg. Alexandria tapped the page. "These names here, they're clan names, and, according to what my mother wrote, you need five witches from any of these four clans to form a Saken Circle." She looked up at Andrew, her green eyes sparkling like emeralds. "My bet is Nina was a Rosenberg witch before she became a vampire."

"So the letters spell Saken. What's a Saken Circle? And do you think she can still be counted as a witch if she's a vampire?"

"I don't see why not. And a Saken Circle, according to what's written here, is a very powerful circle. I think, once you bring these five witches together, the Saken Circle is complete. Just think, Andrew, if it really is as powerful as it says it is, it could help us find Eden."

Andrew's eyes grew wide in anticipation, and he sat bolt upright in his chair, a tuft of hair falling across his eyes. He pushed it back urgently. "Do you really think so? You think there's a chance?"

Alexandria nodded. "I also think that each letter represents a person. What if the A stands for me, the K for Kat, and the—"

"N for Nina," Andrew finished with growing enthusiasm.

"Exactly."

Andrew's expression changed from optimistic to wary. "I just don't know. This was written years ago by your mother, before you were even born. How could she possibly know who was going to be around today to form this circle?"

"I'm not sure, but I have a hunch. I think this book might be the reason why my parents were murdered. I think this is what Raymond and Vera were searching for before the house figured out what they were up to and locked them out. I think whoever put them up to searching for this book is trying to make sure the circle is never completed. Or perhaps they wanted to know the names of the witches that would form this Saken Circle. Perhaps the five witches are all in danger. No witches, no Saken Circle."

"But from whom?" Andrew asked.

"From another clan. A dark clan." She tapped a word at the bottom of the page, Bloodthorn, and read out a description. "Named after a poisonous flower, they are darkest of all the clans, the Bloodthorn witches are famous for the use of dark magic, forbidden practices, and the ability to do evil."

"Crap. You think that is maybe why you were sent away after your parents died?"