Chapter 14 #2
The Angel grabbed it, tapped on the screen a few times, and handed it back.
It was a movie showing the front of a log cabin, a blur, and then Rory jumping back with a silent scream.
The video stopped, and his heart pounded against his ribs as he played it again, smiling at the glare she shot the camera.
She transfixed him with every replay, and he wanted to watch her forever.
“Can Lenora record Rory a message to let her know she’s okay?” Lauren asked, taking her phone back. “Rory will want to send her one, too. I know it’s against the rules, but she needs this.”
Any form of exchange between an inmate and the outside world was expressly forbidden by the Seraphim.
Caius couldn’t care less about the Seraphim and their rules if he tried. If they wanted his loyalty, they should have sent Gedeon to hell when he killed his own sister. “Can you get me one?”
Lauren quirked a brow. “You two talk regularly. Why would you need one?”
It took him a minute to register her meaning. “Not a personalized video. A phone.”
She rubbed her hand across her mouth to hide a smile. “Why do you want a phone when you can’t use it here?”
“I want to look at her whenever I please,” he answered honestly. “Take as many pictures of her as those things will hold and as many videos as you can record.” One day, it might be all he had of her.
Lauren’s face softened. “I’ll get you one and fill it with her when she’s not paying attention. Otherwise, she’ll break the camera if I stick it in her face every day,” she joked, and Caius laughed lightly at the thought of Rory threatening Lauren. The Angel stood and crossed the room to leave.
“Lauren,” he called out as she closed the door behind her.
The door swung back open, and she poked her head in. “Yeah?”
“Record her laughing for me.”
Emotion passed over her face, followed by a smile. “I’ll tickle her if I have to.”
A couple of hours later, Lenora bustled into the room with Lauren and Kit on her heels, and Caius smiled, genuinely happy to see her.
His eyes landed on Kit before sliding to Lauren. The Angel stepped in front of Lenora and kicked her a path through the rubble. “She needs to weigh in. If anyone will know anything, it’s our resident bookworm.”
Kit and Lenora looked around at the wreckage. “Did you do this?” Lenora tsked at him. “Start cleaning this up.”
He straightened defensively. “I have staff to do that, and those who do will receive extra credits this month.” Lenora didn’t seem impressed, and three men stepped into the room with extra chairs, stopping her from scolding him further.
“What happened?” Kit asked, jumping to the point.
Caius glanced at Lenora. “Will restoring Rory’s memories help?”
She regarded him thoughtfully, and Kit muttered something under her breath.
“I know my daughter, and if you tell her, she will try to avenge her sister. Even if she resists at first, she won’t be able to help herself. It’s who she is.”
Caius shook his head. “I don’t mean telling her.” He paused. “I mean, yes, that is an option, but I’m talking about restoring the memories she lost.”
Kit mumbled again, and Caius turned to her. “Is there something you’d like to say?”
The librarian looked at the other three, baffled. “Restoring her memories is no less of a feat than breaking the magic holding you here. It was put in place by the Seraphim, not a Munin.”
A Munin. They were mystics with the ability to manipulate memories. Caius hadn’t considered having Rory see one.
“It won’t work,” Kit said, interpreting his thoughts. “You think mystics haven’t tried?” She snorted. “They have, and not only did it not work, but it’s also illegal.”
Lenora sat quietly, listening to the exchange, and Caius cleared his throat. “That’s if we decide restoring them is the best course of action.”
“Right,” Kit agreed, nodding her head sardonically. Shadows wound around Kit’s ankles, and she shrieked, kicking at them.
He smirked. “As I was saying, our choices are to tell her nothing and allow her to live as she is now, tell her what’s happened the last three months, or find a way to restore her actual memories.”
Kit glared at the retreating shadows, and Lauren gave her a look that said, ‘You should have known better.’
Ignoring them both, he turned to Lenora. “I can try to jog her memory in our soulscapes, and if I believe it’s working, we can try to restore them completely.”
“What is the difference between telling her about her missing memories and you jogging her memory?” Lenora asked, leaning forward.
Caius adjusted in his chair. “If the Angels and I tell her, she might not understand the seriousness of the situation and go after Gedeon herself.”
“She will,” Lenora agreed.
Caius’ mouth pressed into a grim smile. “That’s what I’m afraid of. If I try to remind her in our soulscape, it can be explained away as a dream if it doesn’t work. But if it does and she remembers bits and pieces, then maybe a Munin can bring the rest of her memories back.”
“Why do you think she will remember anything?” Kit questioned him. “It has never happened in the history of Vincula, as far as I know.”
“I believe it’s already happening,” he said, glancing at Lauren.
Kit sat straight up, and Lenora sucked in a sharp breath.
“Holy aether,” Kit breathed. “Are you sure?”
He nodded. “She’s asking questions she shouldn’t be asking. As my Aeternum, she is blessed, and it’s possible the magic doesn’t work as well on her,” Caius said, repeating what he’d told Sam days earlier.
“By that logic, the magic holding you here might not work as well on you, either,” Kit pointed out.
Caius considered her theory. It made sense, but where did he start? There were memory restoring methods they could try to break the magic binding Rory’s memories, but there weren’t any ‘break out of prison’ methods to try.
“Before I decide, I need to consider the consequences of every possibility.” The weight of the silence between them was heavy, and he sighed. “I’ve already made a mistake that put her in danger, and I can’t risk doing it again.”
“She’s in danger as she is,” Lenora interjected, surprising them all. “If she stays in the dark, she is as good as dead.” Her eyes glazed over slightly with her last statement, and Caius and Lauren shot to their feet.
“Did you see something?” he asked the Sibyl. “Lauren, did she keep any of her abilities?”
The Angel shook her head. “I didn’t think so.”
“I can hear you two,” Lenora huffed. “No, I do not have my abilities, but I remembered a part of a prophecy I saw.”
“What did you remember?” Caius asked, losing what little patience he had left.
“Watch your tone, young man,” she scolded him. “I’ve told you I only remember pieces. Well, more like tiny shards. In one potential future, Rory knows, and she’s in the Lux Palace, screaming your name as Gedeon chokes her.”
Caius’ body turned cold. “What? You’re sure?”
Lenora nodded. “I don’t get the sense that she’s dying, only suffering, but in a future where she doesn’t know, she’s on the floor, dying, with blood pouring from her mouth as Gedeon stands over her.
I-I don’t know if she actually dies or not.
I know that in both futures, she dies if you don’t arrive soon enough, but I’m not sure which one gives you more time. ”
“You see different futures of different futures?” Kit asked.
Lenora nodded. “Every future can go different ways, and when I have my abilities, I see them all.”
The librarian gaped at her. “I didn’t realize it was that bad.”
Caius cursed under his breath, and shadows snaked up the walls.
“Whoa,” Kit breathed, looking around.
Lenora reached forward and grabbed his hand. “Stop.”
Her touch made the shadows recede almost instantly. “We have to restore her memories,” he said with finality. “We know she is on the path to Gedeon as she is. I cannot allow that.”
“She is on the path to Gedeon no matter what,” Lenora reminded him. “But I don’t think keeping her in the dark is the best option.”
“If we can’t restore her memories, we have to tell her,” Lauren added, and Kit bobbed her head in agreement.
He looked around the room, remembering when he once made Rory clean up his mess. Would telling her of memories where her emotions ran high be the key?
The others were waiting for him to respond, and he rolled his shirtsleeves up, bending over to pick up a piece of wood. “I know we have to tell her if she doesn’t remember, but first, we try it my way.”
He continued to collect as much debris as he could hold.
“Lauren, you and Sam find everything available in Erdikoa that involves restoring memories.” The armload he carried clattered loudly when he dropped it near the door.
“Kit, add anything to do with memories to your research list.” His throat tightened as he turned to Rory’s mother.
“Lenora, tell me if you remember anything else.”
The Sibyl remembering minor details about her visions was helpful, but he feared what they revealed could break him.