“Tair…” Cass’s eyes turned dark violet to match the concern in her voice. “What’re you into this time?”

“Nothing I can’t handle.” Using her system to contact Eva was already involving her too much. I couldn’t let her know anything that would get her hurt.

“You know I’d help you.”

This wasn’t the first time I’d used her to make a call, but Cass wasn’t stupid and she knew me better than anyone else. She must feel the tension humming behind my every motion.

If I told her the truth, she’d be a valuable ally.

Still, I couldn’t. Not my sister.

I wouldn’t risk the one good thing in this charade of a life.

“If you want to help, log out and lie to our guard about my avatar having a wardrobe malfunction. I need five minutes of privacy.”

Cass shook her head, making her digital curls bounce. She knew I was brushing her off and she didn’t appreciate it. “One of these days you’re going to tell me the truth.”

“One of these days,” I agreed. Maybe ten years from now, when this was all a memory.

She stuck out her tongue and her avatar vanished. I quickly finished punching in the number. My guard would get suspicious if this took much longer.

Audio clicked on and a girl’s voice sounded. “Who’s this?”

“Altair Orpheus. I need to speak with Eva.”

“She’s bus—”

“Now. Tell her I found Quanta.”

The girl sucked in a breath. “Oh, shit.”

“Exactly. I’ve got four minutes before I’m dragged out of VR.”

“Hold on, I’ll patch her in.”

The video clicked on and a screen popped into my field of vision. Lady Eva sat in a chair and adjusted the camera to show her head and shoulders. Her hair was as red as I remembered, but stress pinched her eyes. “Altair? Tell me what’s happening.”

Her voice was too breathy. Then again, it would be. Quanta was as good as her daughter. “I’m in. Doctor Nagi just gave me a tour of his research facility under the senate. He’s been studying Quanta for a decade and I’m joining his team.”

Eva paused so long I thought the feed was frozen. “Lady Eva?”

She blinked. “She’s alive.”

It wasn’t a question. More of a reassurance. This wasn’t the unflappable Lady who’d talked me into joining her cause. I’d never seen her show such vulnerability. “The Seligo have been using her as an information source.”