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“Better than the other guys,” her sister replied. “The Guardians’ forces tried to take control over the Vault, but I changed the password. They’re locked out.”

I guessed this ‘password’ was what allowed people to get into the Vault without picking the lock at the full moon, when the magic was just right.

She took a shaky step forward. Bloody and bruised with half of her armor plates dented or knocked clean off, she looked like she’d barely escaped a battle with her life.

“Great.” Basanti’s voice sizzled with sarcasm. “Now there are five of them.”

“Which one is that?” Leila wondered.

“It’s River,” Zane answered. “The one who got me out of the Sanctuary.”

River bowed to him. “Nice to see you again, Zane.”

“Wait, if you can get someone out of the Sanctuary, can’t you just sneak someone in?” I asked the rogue Guardian.

“It’s not that easy,” River told me. “My magic nullified Zane’s magic. It made him appear dead, thereby tricking the Sanctuary’s system.”

“I used the same trick to get out,” Cadence said. “I pretended to be dead.”

“But I can’t hide all of your magic.” River shook her head. “And getting in is even trickier than getting out, especially right now. After I got Zane out, the Guardians locked me out of the Sanctuary.”

“Why did you get him out anyway?” I asked her.

“I told you before, Leda. You need your family. They make you strong, strong enough to fight the Guardians. And strong enough to beat them.”

“Yes, you did say that. But there’s something else, another reason you helped Zane escape and find me. You wanted me to trust you,” I decided.

“You should trust us,” Inali told me.

“It’s hard to trust someone who hides behind another’s face,” Calli told the person she’d once considered a friend.

“But we aren’t hiding,” said Inali, the mimic. “We revealed ourselves to you.”

“But you haven’t revealed everything. You’re still hiding behind secrets,” I told her. “For example, why was River staying with the Guardians for all those years?”

“As a spy. I was their eyes inside the Sanctuary. It was my job to keep an eye on the Guardians’ dangerous plans.”

“Their eyes?” I said. “Whose eyes were you inside the Sanctuary?

River said nothing.

“Well?”

“I can’t say.”

“Can’t?” I asked. “Or won’t?”

River didn’t answer. I had not missed these evasive conversations with her.

“Can you at least tell me more about the Prophecy the Guardians are so worked up about?” I asked River.

She looked at Gertrude, who nodded.

“Very well,” said River.

“So apparently the Guardians had a plan for Nero’s parents—and, presumably, Nero,” I said. “You’ve shown us my past, but what about Nero’s? Did you interfere in his past as you did in mine?”

“No, that wasn’t our doing. It was the Guardians.” River looked at Cadence and Damiel. “The Guardians watched you throughout your lives. They arranged for you to meet. They set the scene so you would fall in love.”