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“You’re trying to continue those experiments,” I realized. “That’s why you really performed those rituals on me when you were pregnant with me. And that’s why you wanted me to absorb Faith’s magic.”

“I wanted your daughter to absorb it, yes,” she said. “Magic gained before birth is so much more potent. It mixes with the child as it develops. I’m sure that’s the key to channeling the kind of power to truly master the gift of past vision. That’s the idea the Immortals were missing in their experiments. That’s why I arranged for your unborn child to absorb all of Faith’s powers. And that’s why I performed rituals on you before you were born. There is a chance your child will have the power to tap into the complete memories of anyone she meets. The unicorn’s power to see all that came before to create someone—magnified, focused, and extended by the power of telepathy.”

My demon mother certainly didn’t dream small. She was trying to accomplish something that had eluded even the original Immortals.

“Why are you telling me all of this?” I asked Grace. “Why reveal your secrets?”

“River knows it all already. She would tell you everything if I did not.”

My gaze flickered briefly to Faris, then back to Grace. “Aren’t you worried about revealing your secrets to Faris?”

“It cannot be helped.” Grace frowned. “He knows most of this already. And as for what he doesn’t know…well, Faris can’t do much with it anyway.”

“That’s what you think,” Faris said with a smug upward tilt of his nose.

“Going to proposition Ava or…” Grace laughed. “…Sonja to help you create another living weapon? Good luck with that. My sisters despise you even more than I do. And there isn’t another demon who possesses as powerful telepathic magic as I do. Truth is, honey, you needed me far more than I needed you.”

Faris scowled at her.

“Good,” River said.

Good? What did that mean? Was she just trying to get us all fighting? If she really was still with the Guardians, that would certainly be their way: to make us fight each other so we’re less of a threat.

River started walking away.

Faris stepped into her path, blocking her. “You may not pass.”

River looked at him, totally unconcerned. “You can’t stop me.”

Amusement flashed in his eyes. “Of course I can.”

River kept walking. Faris made a move to grab her, but the tornado swooped in and pushed him aside with such force that he flew across the platform. He immediately jumped up and launched a barrage of spells at River.

But the tornado surged forward and swallowed his magic. None of his spells ever hit River. Faris tried more spells, but none of them worked either. His wings burst out of his back, and he flew at her. The tornado reached out to swallow him, pinning him in place. He couldn’t move a muscle. The mysterious swirling magic tornado had completely immobilized the King of the Gods.

“How are you controlling the tornado?” I asked River.

“I’m not. I merely understand it,” she told me. “I know the rules of the Vault, something the god would do well to remember.” She slid a reproachful glance at Faris. “No magic can be used to attack another within these peaceful walls, else the Vault will be angered.”

A piece of the tornado swirled out and reshaped itself to form a platform beneath her feet. The platform boosted her up slowly, like an elevator, high into the sky.

It was so weird. The Guardians didn’t have magic; they neutralized it. So even if River knew the Vault’s secret ways, how was magic working with her in here too? Why did the tornado seem to be acting at her command rather than recoiling from her touch?

Before I could even begin to make a guess at those mysteries, she was gone. At that same moment, the tornado released Faris.

He glowered at the spot where River had disappeared. “I’m not done with you,” he said, making his voice boom and echo off the tornado walls.

Then he ranted at her for a good minute. Honestly, I was pretty impressed by his eloquent curses. He swore pretty well—for a god, anyway.

“Watch your mouth in front of the baby,” I scolded him. I couldn’t help myself. The idea of telling Faris how to behave was just too funny to pass up.

“The child will need to endure far more than unfriendly language,” he replied coolly.

Yeah, my daughter would have to endure much from him. I didn’t like the speculative look in his eyes. Likely, he was already dreaming up ways to torture my child with new and inhuman training methods. And she wasn’t even born yet.

I looked at Faris’s feathers, which were black with gold highlights. “Nice wings.”

His nose inched a little higher in the air. “I know.”