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“Biometric technology,” whispered Vladimir. “It’s more advanced than any scanner I’ve seen. Give me your artifact tool.”

Lucienne had already turned her device on the palm reader.Transparent metal. She drew a breath. “How could they have had this technology in the eighth century?”

“It might not be their technology.” Vladimir pressed his palm against the scanner. Instantly a violent force sent him flying across the chapel. He hit a wall and slid to the floor.

“Vlad! Are you hurt?” Lucienne ran to him.

Vladimir groaned, coughed, and cursed in Czech as he struggled up.

Drumbeats and the chanting of monks from the distant Pray Hall stopped abruptly. Vladimir and Lucienne traded an alarmed look. Had the monks been alerted to their presence? Lucienne turned back to the biometric scanner.

“I don’t think that’s wise,” Vladimir warned.

“I opened the first door. Now I have to open the last.”

She placed a hand on the scanner. Intense electricity seared through her, sending her soaring into the air. Vladimir reacted instantly, catching her before she hit the wall. The impact drove them both to the ground. “I’m glad you’re on top,” said Vladimir with another groan. “I absorbed most of the hit.”

“That’s very kind of you.” Lucienne turned to Vladimir, their faces inches away. His warm breath and pheromone made her forget where she was. Rushing footsteps brought her to her senses.

“Vlad?”

“Yes, Lucia?” he whispered, his hands pressing against the small of her back.

“We’ve been discovered.”

“I know. But there’s no need for them to yell. That’s kind of rude.”

“They’re not yelling.”

“No, but they will.”

Lucienne broke from Vladimir’s strong arms and scrambled to her feet. Vladimir’s eyes darted between the compartment and the chapel entrance. “We need to shut the closet. Let’s come back when we figure out that DNA scanner.”

“We won’t get a second chance.” Lucienne was at the biometric scanner in a second. She knelt, her back to the scanner, and brushed her long braids to the side. On the nape of her neck was an eye-shaped gold implant that resembled flowing liquid, yet was entirelysolid. It was the mark of the Siren, removed from the former Siren and transplanted to her when she was crowned in the ritual.

The mark of the Siren was the ultimate secret for all Sirens, a secret they carried to their grave, more sacred than the symbol of a king’s scepter. It sanctioned the Siren and bestowed upon the wearer powers and supernatural protection. The chip felt cool in Lucienne’s neck now. But when she was implanted, the pain was like wading through seas of sulfur fire.

“Lucia?” Vladimir asked, moving toward her with a puzzled look.

Lucienne held out a hand to stop him from getting closer. Her back arched and her head bent backwards, Lucienne touched the Siren’s mark to the cold surface of the biometric scanner.

It sounded like the sigh of the wind. Then a stone door slowly moved aside, exposing a crypt under a small swirl of stairwell.

Shaking her braids back, Lucienne flew down the stairs. Vladimir was right behind her. “That was something, Lucia,” he said. “What did you—”

“I can’t tell you.” She turned to gaze into his eyes, sharply. “It’s my Siren’s—thing.”

Vladimir held her gaze for a second and shrugged. “Fine.”

A stone altar stood at the center of the crypt. On top of the altar a crystal box shone in the dark. Lucienne released her pent-up breath and lifted the lid. Inside was a curled scroll. Her shaking hands picked it up and flattened it. The artifact matched the description from the memories of her Siren’s mark. Lucienne pulled out her archaeological decoder. The scanner read:ancient human scalp.

This ancient map would show her the way to the Eye of Time and help her stop the family war. She’d lead the Lams dynasty to glory once again. Lucienne stared at it, dazed by the significance of the moment.

A bell rang somewhere, piercing the silence and echoing along the stone.

Lucienne woke up and whispered, “We found the second scroll.”

Vladimir gently removed the map from her hand, rolled it carefully, and inserted it into a scroll holder. “We can make a toast later,” he said, wrapping his hand around her waist and steering her up the stairs.