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“Memories are stored here. Think of this place like a vault for memories. The Vault can tune in to someone’s mind and send them memories.”
“That’s some very complicated magic.” Faris’s tone was casual, but his eyes were very sharp.
“It is,” River agreed.
“But the Guardians cannot use magic,” I said. “They neutralize it.”
River’s smile didn’t fade. In fact, it grew wider. “Like I said, I am not like other Guardians.”
She didn’t elaborate, and it was clear she wasn’t going to.
“So you used this repository to send me visions?” I asked.
“Not I.”
Of course not. Not that she was going to tell me who had sent me the visions.
“Ok, so someone used this repository to send me visions?”
“Some very specific visions,” River told me.
“Why? Why connect to me? Why show me those visions?”
She smiled.
“You don’t know?” I asked.
“I know, but I can’t say,” she said, for what felt like the one-millionth time since I’d met her five minutes ago.
This was starting to get really annoying.
“Ok, why free Zane from the Guardians’ Sanctuary then?” I asked her.
“He was in danger there. He could not stay. If he were to die, everything would go wrong. You need him.”
“I need his help, you mean? Does he play a part in your plans for me?” I asked.
“He plays a part in your life, Leda Pandora. In the journey to come, you will need his help. And you will need him. He’s your brother. If he were to die, you would be distraught.”
“And I’m supposed to believe that you care about my feelings?”
I’d meant it to be a snide, sarcastic remark. I hadn’t expected a response.
River surprised me when she actually answered. “You are driven by your feelings. They make you who you are. They motivate everything you do. Were your brother dead, you would act most unfortunately.”
I wasn’t sure how to take that, but it sounded like River was manipulating me every bit as much as Faris and Grace were. And she was definitely hiding something from me. Ok, a lot of things.
I looked around at this floating island. “Are there more places like this?”
“Yes. And no.”
I thought she wasn’t going to elaborate, but she surprised me again by continuing.
“There are secret stashes all over the world. Each one holds different treasures, different powers, different secrets. Some of the vaults are smaller than this one. And some are quite a bit larger.”
“But they all share something in common, don’t they? None of these stashes have monsters. There is no Magitech wall to keep them out, but the monsters do not cross the threshold.”
Surprise briefly flashed across her eyes, like she hadn’t expected me to make this conclusion, but she quickly recovered her cool composure.
