“You really think Jax convinced them to stay?” I said as we walked.

“You know what he’s like. Jax could convince you to jump off a cliff if you listened to him long enough.”

“But they must have families. And Nadine is a student.”

“They might not have done well over there, sötnos. At least voyants can learn what they are in Scion. Over there, they must just think they’re crazy.” He put on his sunglasses. “In that way, Scion is a blessing.”

He was right, in a sense. There was no official policy on clairvoyants outside Scion; they had no legal recognition, no minority status—they only appeared in fiction. Still, that had to be better than being systematically hunted and killed, like we were. I couldn’t work out why they’d stay.

They were waiting outside the University. Nick raised a hand to the nearest of the two.

“Hi. Zeke?” The stranger nodded. “I’m Nick.”

“Paige,” I said.

Zeke’s eyes were like black tea, set in a thin, restive face. He must have been in his twenties, slim for his height, with brittle wrists and skin used to the sun.

“You’re with Jaxon Hall, right?” His voice carried an unfamiliar accent. He used his free hand to wipe the sweat from his brow, giving me a glimpse of a vertical scar.

“Yes, but don’t say his name again. The SVD could be anywhere.” Nick smiled. “And you must be Nadine.”

He was looking at the whisperer. She had her brother’s eyes and restless features, but that was where the similarities ended. Her hair was dyed red, cut as if with a ruler. Scion citadels tended to use the fashion and slang of the decade they were established; everyone in SciLo wore neutral threads, Victorian style—but Nadine’s yellow shirt, jeans, and stilettos screamed “tourist” and “different.” “Last I checked,” she said.

Nick narrowed his eyes a little at Zeke. I was struggling to classify his aura, too. Seeing it, Nadine moved closer to her brother.

“What?”

“Nothing. Sorry,” Nick said. He glanced over their heads, watching the University, before he looked at each of them in turn. “We have to be quick. I take it you’ve both thought about this, because once you walk away from this building, there’s no going back.”

Zeke looked at his sister. She looked at her shoes, arms crossed. “We’re sure,” he said. “We’ve made our choice.”

“Then let’s go.”

At the end of the street, the four of us piled into a buck cab. Nadine dug around in her bag and took out a pair of headphones. Without another word, she snapped them on and closed her eyes. Her lips seemed to be trembling.

“Monmouth Street, please,” Nick said to the driver.

The cab trundled off. Fortunately for us, buck cabs were unlicensed. They made plenty of push off the backs of their clairvoyant clientele.