10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Amber answered gruffly on the second ring. ‘DeLea.'

‘Hey, Amber, how are you?'

‘I'm … okay. And you?'

‘I'm all right. Things are a bit dicey here.'

‘No doubt. Stay on your guard,' she advised. Were those simply kind words of advice or something more? A true warning because she knew witches were gunning for me?

I hesitated over what to say next. ‘What?' she asked as the silence drew out. ‘What don't you want to say, Lucy?'

She was too astute by half and I chuckled ruefully. ‘You know me too well. Listen, have you ever heard of the werewolves' orb or the Sea Rock?'

‘Sure,' she said and I sensed her shrug. ‘Every scholar has. Its theft has been credited with the downfall of the werewolves. '

I grimaced. We might be on a lower rung of the Other realm's power ladder but we weren't downfallen. ‘Right. Right. So, you haven't … like … seen it?'

When she replied, she sounded amused. ‘Seen the missing magical pearl of the werewolves? What – you think I have it in my cupboard?' She snorted.

‘No, but it was taken around the same time as the witches cursed the werewolves. I wondered if the Coven Council had it.'

‘Not as far as I know,' she replied cheerfully. ‘But then again, I'm not privy to Council matters.' She paused. ‘There might be an easier way for you to find out if the witches are involved.'

I blinked, feeling a fool as a sudden idea occurred to me. ‘I could scry for it?'

‘Do you have any chippings from it? Any great emotional connection to it?'

‘No?'

‘Then no scrying.'

‘Bugger. Okay, so… What is the easier way?'

‘You have a third triangle on your head, Lucy, and access to a portal. You do the math.'

I blinked. Could it be that simple? Could I go back in time and somehow circumvent the theft? There was a fly in the ointment, however. ‘How will I know what time to go to?'

I expected my question to stump Amber but as usual she was unflappable. ‘I guess you'll need to do some research.'

‘But how?'

‘Must I wipe your bottom as well as spoon feed you?' she huffed, but her tone was still quite warm. ‘Find some journals – I saw enough of them in your personal library. Failing that, go to the Great Library. Family journals are kept there, thousands of them.'

‘And where is that?'

‘Oxford. Got to go, I have a patient.'

‘A patient?' I asked curiously.

‘A client,' she corrected hastily. ‘Don't bumble around in the Third, leave the timeline alone, and don't be seen. And Lucy?'

‘Yes?'

‘You can only go a few times to the Third. Three times max.'

‘Or else what?' I asked. I'd been twice so far, once with Jess and once with Grandy. If I went a third time, that would be my final visit.

‘Or else you start to lose your mind.' Her voice was low and mournful. She hung up before I could pry further; there was a story there but it didn't seem like it was one she wanted to tell.

Nina, could you tell me when the theft happened? What day, month and year?

The house was silent for a moment. I'm sorry, she said in a small voice. I don't note the passing of time like you do.

I gasped as I suddenly remembered her comment when we'd first met; she'd said that I had taken my sweet time. I'd thought she meant that I'd taken my time to approach the house, but with the thoughts of the Third swirling in my head her words took on another meaning.

Nina, have we met before? Before recently, I mean?

She hesitated. I'm not sure I should say.

You should.

She sighed. Long ago . You said you would be back but it took so very long for you to arrive. Her tone was so lonely that it cut me. It also confirmed that I'd travelled back in time – yet Nina still didn't have the orb.

I'm sorry, I said softly. Very sorry.

Nina forgave me. It's okay, Lucy . You're here now.

I am. I patted her walls.

Sara was watching me curiously. ‘You can commune silently with the seat of power,' she noted.

‘I can when discretion is required,' I said with a note of warning in my voice.

‘I am the soul of discretion,' she promised. ‘I am discreet, like an owl.'

‘And as wise as one, too?'

She grinned. ‘That hadn't crossed my mind, but now that you mention it…' She winked.

‘If you're so wise,' I started, ‘then tell me a way I can pinpoint a date in history roughly two centuries ago.'

She blinked. ‘I'd look in a journal first, or ask someone who was around at the time.'

‘Nina doesn't pay attention to the days and months.'

‘She may not, but there are plenty of immortal creatures around. Like your grandfather.'

I gave a solid face palm. She was right: Grandy might know. I pulled out my phone and dialled his number. ‘What?' he asked bluntly. Gone was the quiet affection of earlier.

‘Do you know the date when the werewolves lost their air magic?'

He sighed. ‘Do you know the date of the Great Fire of London?'

‘Um, 1666?'

‘What day, what month?'

‘I don't know but I can Google it. Why? How does that correlate with our date? '

‘It doesn't. The point is that with the passage of time it is hard to remember what I did last week, let alone what happened a century or two ago and on what day in what month.'

I grimaced as I accepted his point. I could waste several days calling all the ancient creatures that I knew but the chances were that none of them would remember. My best bet was finding the date recorded somewhere.

Grandy sighed. ‘Queen Victoria was newly on her throne – 1840, something like that, give or take five years. The werewolves lost their air magic round about the time I was turned into a vampyr. I was new, anyway.'

‘So you must know the time because it must have happened just after the last time we went back in time,' I said excitedly.

There was a long moment of silence before he finally agreed. ‘Yes, I remember your return.'

I bounced up and down on my toes. ‘So when was it?'

‘I have no idea,' he admitted. ‘When I took you back on that first occasion, I simply told the portal to take me back to the day I was turned and it did so. I didn't need to use a date because I tied it to an important part of my personal history. I'm sorry, I can't help you.'

‘Damn. Thanks, anyway. You don't happen to journal, do you? '

He snorted. ‘I do not. Night, Luci.' His voice was a shade warmer before he hung up.

‘Night,' I said to the disconnect tone.

Once again, I couldn't help feeling that I was stuck at square one – or worse, I was sliding down a snake whilst my opponents were climbing a ladder.