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“That’s not even the point.”
“I think it’s the only point. Some girls wish to be an oracle with all their hearts. We keep those girls close. Others have seizures in public and get captured on film, or someone outside of our purview gains knowledge of their medical records. The press marks them as future oracles and shows them to the world before our lawyers can stop it. We have a chance to save the rest, and it’s a rather small percentage.”
“Girls like Valerie and Vivian?”
The oracle nodded. “I knew those men would take them and love them like their own children. The hardest part was changing the girls’ government records.”
“Well, you missed a spot.” The words were out of Lila’s mouth before she realized she’d said them. She should have been pissed that they’d altered government files. She shouldn’t be offering tips.
The oracle barely contained her grin.
“How long do you think you can keep doing this before someone finds out?”
“I don’t know, and I really don’t care. We’ll do it for as long as we can. We’re tired of our girls running away at eighteen, never to be seen again because they don’t want this life. We want them safe, and we want them to have a proper childhood. They can learn how to be oracles when they’re older if they chose this path.”
“You used Mr. Nottingham as bait. You dangled him in front of me so that I’d follow him and find the girls.”
“I didn’t use him as bait. He got scared when he saw your blackcoat. I told him not to worry, but he thought you’d come for the girls. He’s not some criminal. He’s a believer and a scared, overprotective father.”
“What’s my role in all this?”
“I had a vision, clearer than the first. I know now that I can trust you, and that I can rely on you. I was right to say you were intertwined with the oracles. I just didn’t understand how intertwined. The oracles need someone we can trust now.”
“Why?”
“Among other reasons, the militia intervened in one of our kidnappings in La Verde. The girl’s birth parents are still under suspicion. Our lawyers will handle that end of it, but getting Rebecca back is proving more difficult. Your father put her into a foster home. I want you to retrieve her.”
“You want me to waltz into that girl’s foster home and kidnap her?”
“No. Her face has been splashed all over the news in La Verde. She’ll never have a chance at what Valerie and Vivian have, but the least we can do is get her back with her parents. All I’m asking is that you convince your father to return the girl.”
“That’s not all, though, is it?”
“Ideally, he’d also drop his fixation with the oracles.”
“You want me to go against the prime minister’s direct orders?”
“He’s your father.”
“When he’s hired me to do a job, he’s the prime minister.”
“I’m asking you to do what you’ve already decided. We wouldn’t even be having this conversation if you hadn’t.” The oracle opened a folder on the table. “That’s not all I’m asking of you.”
“Wonderful. Should I start taking notes, or will you just hand me a list when you’re done talking?”
The oracle ignored Lila’s tone and passed the folder to Tristan. “The larger problem is that someone else has been stealing our girls. Two have gone missing in the last week, both around New Bristol, and we’ve had nothing to do with it. Obviously we can’t go to Bullstow with this information. My purplecoats are looking everywhere, but so far, they’ve turned up nothing, and the gods are silent. This is everything we have on the girls’ cases.”
Lila averted her gaze. She’d almost feel sorry for the kidnappers if the purplecoats got hold of them. The oracles’ security forces carried tranqs and guns loaded with bullets, and they had the immunity to do as they wished with those they caught.
Tristan flipped through the militia reports. “I’ll look for them if she won’t.”
Lila snatched the folder from his hand.
“We can pay,” the oracle said.
“I’m sure you can.” Lila climbed upstairs, nearly leaving Tristan behind for the second time that day.
Chapter 14
