Saylor took a deep breath. “Technically, I kidnapped you.”

I felt David jump at that, and wasn’t sure anything had ever been more painful than watching him try to think of some way to respond. “My parents?” he asked, his voice strangled.

“Dead,” Saylor replied, blunt. “Murdered by the same people who are after you now.”

She dropped her head, pinching her nose between her thumb and forefinger. “I’m messing this up. There’s so much to tell you, and I don’t even know where to start. Christopher would’ve been better at this, Christopher was—” Saylor broke off. “It doesn’t matter. The point is you’re an Oracle.”

“But that’s impossible,” I said. “Everything I read said that Oracles are always girls.”

Saylor whipped her head around to me. I think for a second, she’d forgotten I was there. “You’ve already started researching this?”

“A-a little,” I told her, standing up. “Dr. DuPont used the word Paladin, so I started there. Then when I talked to David, he mentioned his . . . his dreams, and we started putting things together.”

The look Saylor gave me was part pride, part appraisal. I’d seen it before at Cotillion practice. “Clever girl,” she said in a low voice. “Maybe you’ll be better at this than I thought.”

Then she heaved another sigh and came back to the table, bracing her hands on it. “But what you read was wrong. There can be male Oracles, although there’s only been one besides you, David. In the eighth century, there was one named Alaric, and—”

David gripped the back of a chair, his jaw set. “I don’t want a history lesson,” he ground out. “You’re telling me you’re not my aunt, my parents are dead, and I’m an Oracle. The eighth century doesn’t really mean shit to me right now.”

“David,” I said, tugging his jacket.

“It’s all right,” Saylor said, her eyes still on David. “You have every right to be upset. More than upset. But we are running out of time, and now that there are . . . ,” her gaze flicked to me, “unforeseen complications, I need you to listen. I need you to understand. I don’t need you to forgive me right now, but please. Hear me out.”

David paused, nearly vibrating with anger and energy. But eventually, he sat.

Saylor closed her eyes briefly and then continued. “Unfortunately, Alaric was nowhere near as powerful as all of the women who came before him were. His visions were muddy, unclear. More what could be than what would be.”

“That seems . . . lame,” I said, going back to sit in my chair.

“That’s a word for it, yes,” Saylor replied. “And the problem is, you can’t have more than one Oracle at once. One has to die for another to be born.”

Dumbly, I nodded. “So if you get stuck with a dud Oracle—”