“What?” said Tess. “She didn’t—” And then she took a step back—they all did—because the woman looked so familiar. She had icy-blond hair and wore a red dress and matching shoes.

The woman held up her arm, which was suddenly dripping with blood. “Look at this!”

Tess’s face went pale. “My cat didn’t do that. She didn’t touch you!”

“That is no cat!”

“Of course she’s a cat.”

“That is some kind of monster! Oh my Lord, that’s a machine, isn’t it?” the woman yelled.

“No!” said Tess.

“It is! It’s a machine!” the woman wailed. “Some kind of malfunctioning machine! Help! Won’t someone help me?” But she didn’t look scared, and she didn’t back up. Her dark eyes gleamed with something that appeared to Theo to be . . . amusement?

She was enjoying this, whoever she was.

People in the street stopped to stare. Jaime grabbed Tess’s arm, and Theo grabbed the other.

“Put your heads down,” Jaime muttered. “Don’t run.”

“But—” Tess began, but Jaime cut her off.

“Walk to the train. Pretend you can’t hear her, that she isn’t talking about you at all.”

They walked, behind them a rising torrent of murmurs along with the shrieking of the woman. One man’s voice rumbled, “Is that blood?”

Once they hit the stairs to the Underway, they walked faster, hopping the nearest train. They sat in a row, stiff and nervous, Tess muttering, “Nine didn’t even get near that woman. She bumped into me. And why would she say Nine is a machine? Why would she lie like that?”

Nine nudged her fingers, and Tess buried her face in the cat’s fur. Theo studied the passengers one by one. None of them seemed to be watching them; all of them seemed to be watching them.

“We’re okay,” Jaime said.

“I want to know who that woman is,” Theo said, keeping his voice low. “She must be following us.”

Jaime shook his head. “It was a different woman. The one at the library was taller and had light eyes. This one was shorter and had brown eyes.”

“There are two of them?” said Tess. “A team? But whose team?”

“I don’t know,” Jaime said grimly. He pulled out his sketchbook and quickly drew the woman holding up her arm and shrieking while a cold glee made her eyes glint.

Theo shivered at the drawing. “That’s almost too good.”

They were quiet the rest of the ride to Aunt Esther’s house, as if they were afraid that any more talking would somehow summon another person shrieking like a banshee. When they finally made it through Aunt Esther’s front door, Tess closed it and leaned upon it.

“Whew,” she said. “That was really close.”

Jaime said, “We need to lie low for a while.”

“The cube will keep us busy enough,” Theo said.