I saw Will stiffen as he heard her voice. “You,” he breathed. “It’s you.”

Rachel ignored him and the beak of her mask turned as she surveyed the Nightstalkers. Her movements carried an aura of menace so strong it was almost tangible, and I saw some of the adepts flinch. “Is the Council sending children now?” Rachel asked softly.

“We’re not with the Council!” Will snapped.

“Will!” Dhruv whispered. He was looking between me, Rachel, and Cinder. “Really bad idea. Really bad idea!”

“Why should I?” Rachel said suddenly. Her head was turned and she was talking as if to thin air. Once I wouldn’t have understood what she was doing; now I did. Shireen? What are you saying . . . ?

“Will?” Captain America said quietly. His hand was by his side and I knew he was poised to pull a weapon. “Who is she?”

“No, I haven’t,” Rachel said.

“Kid,” Cinder said. He was watching Will steadily. “You get one warning. Get out.”

“I’ve never seen him before!” Rachel snapped.

“You’ve seen my sister!” Will shouted. “Catherine! Remember her?”

Rachel turned to Will in surprise; it was as though she’d forgotten he was there. “Who are you?”

“You killed my sister,” Will snarled. “Remember me now?”

Rachel looked at him curiously for a moment. “Not really.”

Will’s eyes flashed with insane rage. “You. Killed. My. Sister.”

“Who?”

“Catherine,” Will said slowly. I knew he had to be seething with fury but he kept his words clear. “She used to live here in this country. You wanted her magic so you hunted her down and killed her for it.”

Rachel thought about it, then shrugged. “Not ringing any bells, sorry.”

“You killed her right here in this mansion!”

“Doesn’t narrow it down much.”

Cinder gave Rachel a glance. “You killed more than one Catherine in this mansion?”

“Well, I might have done,” Rachel said in annoyance. “It’s not like I stop to ask their names.”

“No!” Will shouted. “I won’t let you forget who she even was! Her name was Catherine Traviss! Remember it!”

Rachel had been looking at Cinder, but as she heard the full name she froze. She stared at Will for a moment before turning to me. “Catherine Traviss,” she said slowly. “You wanted to know about her.” She shifted her gaze back to Will. “But then you’d have to be . . .” Her eyes went wide suddenly. “No. I don’t believe it.”

“Yeah,” Will snarled. “You remember now, don’t you?”

“It is you,” Rachel said softly. Suddenly she threw back her head and laughed. The noise was loud in the enclosed space, startling, and I flinched as Rachel looked back down, eyes shining. “Now I remember! The little brother. We thought we’d got all of you, but we didn’t, did we? You were the one that got away!”

“Del,” Cinder said, a note of warning in his voice. He hadn’t taken his eyes off the Nightstalkers and red light hovered at his hands.