Page 30 of Seer

Cal glanced to the side and ran a hand through his hair. “There was a weird fog, and I couldn’t see the trees anymore. She screamed, and the sound cut off. Then the fog went away, and I woke up.”

My mind raced. I had questions about the fog, but saving the woman—and if she lived in my district there were only a few candidates for who it could be—was the priority.

“What did her wings look like?”

“Um.” He closed his eyes and spread his arms out. “Wider than her armspan from her body. Kind of... iridescent? And I don’t know what they were made of, but they moved more like an insect’s wing than a bat’s or a bird’s.” He opened his eyes. “Did that help?”

I nodded, yanking open my desk drawer and pulling out my phone. I dialed, drumming my fingers on the desk in a sharp staccato.

I was afraid the call would go to voicemail when she finally answered. “Hi, Greg. How are you?”

“Annie, hi. Listen. Are you wearing a short skirt and Doc Marten’s today?”

She hesitated. “Yes?”

I nodded at Cal. He slumped in the chair and rubbed his beard.

“And do you have a blue lunch bag?”

“Yes. What’s going on?” Tension filled her voice.

“The new Cassandra had a vision about you. Where are you right now?”

“What? I’m at work. At the law office.”

I sagged in relief like Cal had. “Good. Please stay there. Where do you usually take your lunch break?”

“Um, it varies. It’s nice out today so I was planning to go to Wharton Park.”

“Wharton Park,” I repeated.

Cal gave a sharp nod and picked up his backpack, pulling out a laptop covered in all kinds of stickers.

“Okay, so please, until I tell you otherwise, make sure you have people around you at all times.”

“Greg,” she snapped. “What happened in the vision?”

“He didn’t see a lot, but you were frightened, and you flew into the trees. And then you screamed.”

“Oh, fuck,” she whispered. “Please tell the Cassandra I said thank you. I’m so glad you called.”

“I’m grateful he came to tell me.”

Cal, who’d been looking intently at his laptop screen, held up a finger. “Ask her what time she was planning to go to the park today.”

I repeated the question. Annie said, “My shift starts at 6am so I take my lunch at 10am. It’s a ten-minute walk from here.”

“10am. Got it.” It was 8:40am now. “I’ll let you know what we find out.”

“Thanks, Greg. And be sure to thank the Cassandra for me.”

“Of course. Stay safe.”

We hung up. I put my phone down on the desk and put my hands over my face. “Thank fuck,” I muttered.

“No shit,” said Cal. “Okay, I think I found the bench where your friend was sitting in my vision. I’m gonna go hang out there and see what I can see.” He slammed his laptop shut and started to put it in his backpack.

I dropped my hands. “What? By yourself? You don’t even know what... she was escaping from.” I opened the drawer to get my keys.