She wasn’t faking how much she disliked the man, and if she’d given up secrets, I couldn’t believe she’d done it willingly. Before I could decide what to do with that judgment, the door slid open.

A team of three in lab coats entered the room bearing a stretcher. The subtle shift in air pressure told me exactly what the Seligo thought of Quanta. The entire floor was ventilated like a laboratory for infectious diseases, with the air funneled toward the most dangerous area. The arrangement usually kept contaminants from escaping, but here?

Quanta was the dangerous element.

Wasn’t keeping her in a secret research facility underneath the senate enough? She couldn’t be any more prisoner if she were chained to the wall.

Doctor Nagi waved off the crew. “No need. Back to your stations.”

He’d seen the same change in her that I had—the window of her vulnerability was closed. For now.

They dipped their heads and disappeared in a chorus of “Yes, Doctor.”

“Come, Altair.” Doctor Nagi headed for the door.

I followed, but I couldn’t help a last glance back at Quanta. She gripped her shaking arms to her chest, hands bunched into fists around the fabric of her sleeves.

Cheeks red, eyes defiant.

What had I done to make her so furious? And how do I fix it?

The door jetted shut behind me and I remembered the truth of the situation. I couldn’t worry about Quanta yet.

Doctor Nagi demanded my full attention.

He headed next door and thumbed open a lock. The long room ran parallel to Quanta’s suite and the wall of glass gave an unobstructed view through her faux window.

Like an animal enclosure at a zoo.

As if the view inside her space wasn’t enough, displays showed vid feeds from every possible angle. Quanta had fled to her bedroom. She sat cocooned in a blanket, wedged between her bed and the wall. It was the closest to privacy she was likely to get, but her vitals still ticked on screen and thermal cameras showed her rocking back and forth, head between her knees.

Horrible.

Just…

How could anyone live like this?

I kept the disgust from my face as I settled into a chair next to Doctor Nagi. I had to pretend this was acceptable. Observing her was necessary if it gave the Seligo the information they needed to secure their borders and capture dangerous Reds. As a senator’s son and a geneticist who wanted to work for the man, I shouldn’t question his methods.

But as a Shadow Raven—

No. As a human with basic morals and empathy, I couldn’t swallow that lie.

This wasn’t right.

My fingers clenched on the chair arms. It’s fucking barbaric.

I visualized lunging, crushing his windpipe under my fingers.