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“I should have gone with you,” Kian said. “I failed you.”

“No, you did right.” Jed’s voice was feeble. “Lucienne is your responsibility. Her day has come; mine has passed. I don’t matter. Protect her.”

Without Lucienne’s control, her throat made a sobbing sound. She approached Jed, whose eyes were now riveted on her. “Leave us,” he said to the nurse.

She greeted Lucienne and quickly departed. Kian followed the nurse out and closed the door behind them.

“Lucienne,” Jed said. “You’ll move to the island after I’m gone.”

Jump right down my throat,Lucienne thought. The worst fight she had ever had with Jed was over the Sphinxes project. “Grandfather, we can talk about that later. I have something more important to show you.”

“A secured island is safer for you,” Jed continued, “but I want you to remember the Red Mansion is home to all Sirens.”

“Red Mansion will always be my home, Grandfather,” Lucienne said. “I’ll not abandon it, and I’ll not tear the family apart, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Jed sighed. “I deeply regret that none of my sons or grandsons was destined to be Siren. But selecting the true Siren is bigger than my preference. You’ve proved no less than any of us. Stronger, in fact.”Jed’s eyes locked with Lucienne’s. “I know what you need to do to secure your rule. But when you clean house, promise me you’ll show mercy.”

“I’m not heartless. You know that.”

“You’re never heartless to your friends, but to your enemies, you’re merciless.”

“I’ll give them a second chance if they repent.” Lucienne looked miserable. Her grandfather wasn’t dead yet, and here they were, discussing how she’d run things after he was gone. Lucienne pulled her chair closer to Jed’s bed. She inserted her hand into her coat and took out a scroll holder. She retrieved the content, flattened the scalp map, and held it for Jed to see.

“Feel this, Grandfather,” she whispered. “The second scroll. Through this map, we’ll find the Eye of Time.”

Jed’s aging, shaking fingers traced the map. Lucienne could see that Jed knew the artifact was authentic. All the Sirens had the uncanny ability to recognize the three ancient scrolls.

“You secured it, Lucienne Lam, my heir, my Siren,” Jed said. Tears of tremendous joy gathered in his eyes. Lucienne felt her own tears welling behind her eyelids. Wasn’t that what she always wanted—to make him proud? Make him never regret his impossibly difficult decision to choose her as his heir? She was the chosen one, through and through. Even the I-Ching ??, the oldest oracle on Earth, had validated her.

Eight years ago, when the Siren candidates failed to grasp the concept of I-Ching—an imperative for the Siren—she had begun to establish herself as the brightest. In the packed classroom, the contest turned out to be an I-Ching tête-à-tête between Dr. Hsi—the I-Ching master—and an eight-year-old Lucienne Lam. Lucienne tossed a few questions out on the eight primal forces of the universe and the moves of the sixty-four hexagrams. The male candidates and their supporters looked as if they believed she and Dr. Hsi were conspiring in a coded language.

“I consider the I-Ching more of a spiritual guide than a device to predict the future.” Lucienne smiled confidently as all eyes were on her, especially Jed’s hard, distrustful ones.

“I’m glad you resist the temptation and choose the higher path, Miss Lam.” Dr. Hsi nodded in appreciation.

“It wasn’t easy, Dr. Hsi, but thanks to you and the oracle I made the right choice.” She reminded herself to remain in control. “I-Ching comes from China. Its concepts are difficult for people used to the Western mode of thought. Oriental philosophy holds that absolute reality is beyond human thoughts, and that the highest form is formless and abstract. So, I translated the basic concepts of yin and yang into Western physics: each action has an equal and opposite reaction.”

“It depends on how you attune all the elements,” Dr. Hsi said. “Everything in the universe is connected in a spiral web, but very few can read the code.”

“Speaking of the code, I still have difficulty grasping the deep connection between Wu Ji, the Way, and Tai Ji, the source of time and space. Are there deeper meanings beneath the symbol of two eyes, one black and the other white, forming a circle? How can the ultimate nothingness contain the supreme ultimate?” she asked, batting her eyes, her voice innocent and sincere. “Maybe the candidates can enlighten me? They’ve been awfully quiet, and I absolutely have no intention to be rude and steal their thunder.”

“Very considerate.” Dr. Hsi clasped his hands with a knowing smile, turning to the boys in the class for the first time. “Does anyone have any idea how the ultimate nothingness contains the supreme ultimate? Boys?”

Lucienne could almost hear every candidate cursing her in his mind. An innocent, encouraging smile danced in her eyes. As she intended, she had led Dr. Hsi to ask an impossible question that elicited complete silence from the boys and their supporters.

But proving to be a prodigy invited countless attempts at her assassination. Lucienne Lam had survived, but obliterating thousands of years of Lams’ tradition and accepting a female Siren had finally brought her grandfather to his death bed.

Lucienne placed her hand on Jed’s frail one, her eyes glowing with a tender light. “I was lucky, Grandpa,” She said. “Vlad and I stumbled onto the second scroll.”

“There is never coincidence in the universe, child,” Jed said. “You were meant to find it. That part of the prophecy about you has come to light. You must find the last one. Remake history. My dear child, how I wish I could be there to see it through.”

Prophecy? What prophecy? She’d ask him later. She had a more urgent problem to solve now. “Grandpa, you’ll be there to see it all the way through,” she said, her mind working on how to introduce Vladimir to the equation.

“I won’t live forever, but I’ve seen it in a vision,” said Jed, his eagle eyes piercing her, as if reading her mind. “Now tell me: how do you like the Czech prince?”

“Vladimir.” A sob escaped her. “His name is Vladimir Blazek.”

“Is he good to you?” Jed asked, then chuckled at his own question despite his poor condition. “I don’t think I should worry about that. My granddaughter would never allow anyone to take advantage of her.”