“You’re dead,” Simon whispered, staring at the man he knew as Eric Lon.

“Well, I’d say that was pretty obvious I’m not. You might, however, be thinking of my brother.” The man smiled. “Lots of people said we were so alike they couldn’t tell us apart. But he died.” The smile left his face. “As you seem to know. I wonder how that could be?” He stared at Simon, then his good humour returned. “My name is Mitchell, by the way. Eric was, for his sins, my twin.”

“Where’s River?” Simon demanded. “Where’s my sister?”

“She’s all right.” Lon shrugged. “At the moment.” He leaned on the wall. “Of course, I remember you from a long time ago. Eric was the doctor, but he used to come home, tell us all about his students, and you in particular. He was most annoyed when you decided to come over all noble and go after your sister. He almost felt you’d insulted him.” He sighed. “Eric always did have a quick way with taking offence. Me, on the other hand, I like people.”

“What have you done with her?”

“Now, you see, here I am, opening up myself to you, and all you can think about is your sister. And I told you, she’s all right.” He pushed away from the wall and came to stand close to Simon. “You’re the one you should be worried about. You see, we know you’ve been trying to help her. Hell, you wouldn’t be her brother if you didn’t. But we need to know exactly what you’ve been doing. In order for us to reverse it, of course.”

Simon struggled against the men holding him. “You’re not going to hurt her!”

“Well, that depends.” Lon bent forward. “My brother was the one with all the medical training, but I had the aptitude. I was more intelligent than him, had more drive … but a few little things in my past stopped me from being at MedAcad. Which was a pity, because I think I’d have made a much better doctor.” He stood upright. “Eric was very sharing, though. Taught me a lot. Particularly how to get information out of recalcitrant gentlemen like yourself. And believe me, it won’t be