“You didn’t want to risk the council finding out what you both knew about Chanara,” Leela further explained. “We knew Chanara would go after Caro when she failed to find Astasiya. That’s why you played Osiris the way you did. Almost seven years after the council ordered Chanara to be woken up.”
“The requisite time that it takes to wake up an ancient sleeping Seraphim,” Vera concluded. “You always knew Osiris would find you. It was a matter of when, not if. And we all used that to our advantage.”
“Your sacrifice was even more powerful than you realize,” Leela whispered, awed. “The council has been trying to locate Astasiya through Caro because Chanara has continued to fail. I mean, she was able to find Caro, but never your daughter.”
“The rune,” Lucian interjected. “It doesn’t just block Ichorian gifts.”
“Correct.” Vera grinned at him. “Originally, it was intended to only block Ichorians because of a prophecy from Skye. But when we learned of Chanara’s awakening, Caro made a few updates to hide Stas from her own bloodline.”
“So you removed the memories of the decision to wake up Chanara, and the subsequent plans that followed, so the council wouldn’t know about the protective rune,” Lucian translated for the rest of the room. “That’s a brilliant strategy. But how did you orchestrate Osiris finding them?”
“Via Gabriel and Ezekiel. As I said, we all knew it was inevitable. And he provided the perfect cover as well to essentially distract the council. Astasiya disappeared while Osiris had Caro, which left Caro unable to say what happened to her daughter that day.”
“Because you altered her memory of Gabriel’s arrival,” Sethios said, making it a statement more than a guess. It was the natural solution. Otherwise, the Seraphim would have just discovered the affiliation during the interrogation process. If the Ichorians and Hydraians had mind readers, so did the angelic beings who had birthed all of humanity.
“I altered all her memories of Gabriel,” she confirmed. “The council has—or rather, had—no idea he was involved in any of this. Until now.”
“But how could they not even suspect him?” Astasiya asked, her tone riddled with confusion. “He’s my brother. Who else would have taken me that day?”
“Because he’s never given them reason to question his loyalty,” Vera replied. “When the council informed him of their intentions to rehabilitate his mother, he gave them his consent, stating it was a necessary maneuver after everything she’d done. The member from the council—his father—didn’t suspect any other reason to question Gabriel and left him alone to continue his mission of monitoring the CRF’s developments.”
“He purposely took that assignment so he would have an excuse to be around humans,” Leela said. “No one has paid any attention to him. He played it all perfectly.”
“Until his cover was blown this week by having all the abominations at his house. Owen was hard enough to hide. Everyone else, well, he pretty much gave up.” Vera shrugged. “He knew the council would call him in, which they’ve now done. And I tried to return as many memories as I could, but I held back the information on Chanara. I needed him to be genuinely surprised to see her. No one ever told him about her awakening, so I had to keep it that way.”
“So you’ve been playing with all our memories,” Sethios drawled, both amused and irritated. Mostly irritated. Sure, he’d agreed to it, or had maybe even suggested it. But that didn’t mean he had to fucking like the consequences of it. “What else have you altered, Vera?”
He knew better than to take the Seraphim at her word. She was always hiding some caveat or another.
“I created the memory loop that Stas and Gabe have been seeing in their dreams. I also sent you the vision earlier today to get you all moving.”
“So it was a memory loop. She’s not still drowning.” Astasiya sounded relieved, but her expression turned incredulous. “And you did this to keep us all from finding Caro.” Not a question, but a statement.
Still, the Seraphim confirmed with a “Yes. It was the only way to ensure Gabe didn’t try to save her from the council—which was his idea, by the way. He needed to remain off their radar to keep your location hidden.”
“Because they’ve never suspected him of helping,” Astasiya clarified.
“Correct,” Vera agreed. “There’s never been any reason to suspect he had anything to do with your disappearance.”
“Family loyalty isn’t a concept among Seraphim,” Leela elaborated. “We