“I wasn’t aware there were any in custody.” Eva and I had both suspected, but the Shadow Raven information network only went so far. It was my task to dig deeper, and apparently I’d just accomplished that. “I’d love some tissue samples for my research.” As cold as that was, it wasn’t a lie. I needed to get my hands on the girl’s code to find out what Nagi had been working on.

“I’ve no doubt you would.” Nagi gave a tight smile, likely because I’d said what any geneticist would say in this situation. “But working with this subject requires top-level security clearance. She’s a once-in-a-lifetime anomaly.”

His words tempted the part of myself that already itched to figure out how she ticked, and I let that enthusiasm flow into my voice. “How so?”

“The details are too complicated to articulate in this setting.” Doctor Nagi’s eyes subtly narrowed, sizing me up. “In summation, she functions as an information source.”

Sweat trickled down the back of my dress shirt. Information source?

That was treading into dangerous territory for me, but I kept focused, leaning in to scan the girl’s face again. “What sort of information?”

“She’s a seer.” Nagi folded his hands and I knew he was watching me process the news.

It begged the question…

What had she seen?

Focus.

Whether or not I was caught, I needed to keep my wits.

A true seer.

The gift was beyond rare, but a few cases had been documented, even before the Seligo came to power. Nagi had tried to engineer them, but had only had one success, and that girl was long dead. “She has visions of the future?”

If so… No wonder she was so valuable.

“And of the past.” Doctor Nagi queued up a video on the table. “Her leads have led to the capture of numerous Reds and rebels, but unfortunately, getting the information isn’t a science.” The girl sat strapped to a chair in a holo room, an IV in her arm, eyes vacant and dazed. The images on the walls of her room blurred together in unintelligible chaos, a mass of seething colors and shapes. “We’ve tried using various truth serums, but the results have been ineffective. That’s where you come into this, Mr. Orpheus.”

Part of his words echoed in my mind like the beat of a discordant drum.

Her leads have led to the capture of numerous Reds.

A Red selling out other Reds? And Ravens, too.

My stomach bottomed out. I had a sinking feeling why I’d been called…

“She projected this image earlier this afternoon.” The picture he pulled up stopped my breathing.

I stood with my arm outstretched, wearing the same suit I wore now. I reached for the girl, who glared back at me and ink shimmered on the back of my hand.

For a moment, my heart almost stopped.