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afraid.’ He paused. ‘I had to take Daniel’s heart, but the procedure was not unproductive. As you can see, I’m
fitter than ever.’
    I looked at him. It was true, his face was less lined and grey than I remembered. My whole being filled with hatred and revulsion. I clenched my fists, feeling the bile rise in my throat. How could Elijah do such a thing – and to a little boy?
    ‘I’m sorry you were lied to, Rachel, but it was necessary to bring you here.’
    ‘H-how did you find me?’
    ‘One of the agents assigned to you under the government protection programme sold you out.’ Elijah smiled at my shocked face. ‘In case you were wondering, I have limited
security on the island, which is why I had Milo bring you straight to the house. Plus I wanted to give Milo a chance to prove himself. He may be crippled, but he has his uses.’ He paused.
‘His code name is Hephaestus, you know . . . the lame God . . . another son of Zeus. You remember my code name, Zeus?’
    I nodded. God , it was all flooding back, the detached, dispassionate way that Elijah always spoke about his cloning work. A sob rose inside me.
    He had killed Daniel. I couldn’t believe it. Except it made sense. Elijah had been prepared to sacrifice Theo in exactly the same way, for exactly the same reason . . .
    I closed my eyes, feeling the grief swell inside me.
    ‘Rachel?’
    ‘You’re . . . evil . . .’ My voice broke as I looked up at him.
    Elijah sighed. ‘I’ll leave you alone . . . talk to you later . . .’ He took a step to the door.
    ‘No.’ I wiped at my eyes; I needed answers. ‘Tell me why I’m here.’
    Elijah leaned against the wall. His dark eyes – so like Theo’s – studied me carefully. ‘I need you,’ he said.
    ‘ Need me?’ I said suspiciously. ‘What for?’
    ‘Did Theo ever mention the Hermes Project to you?’
    I tried to remember. The name was familiar and Hermes, I knew, was another of the Greek gods.
    ‘Isn’t . . . wasn’t Hermes . . . er, Daniel ’s code name?’ I said. As I said his name, another wave of misery threatened to overwhelm me. Daniel had looked
just like Theo when he was younger. It was like . . . like learning Theo’s little brother had been killed.
    I couldn’t imagine how awful Theo was going to feel when he found out.
    Elijah was still leaning against the wall, his cold, dark eyes intent on my face. ‘I called my project after Daniel – Hermes – because he was the first healthy clone that I
kept with me. Which meant he was the first clone I was able to experiment on.’
    Ugh. ‘What sort of experiments?’
    ‘Lots of things . . .’ Elijah said with a vague wave of his hand. ‘The Hermes Project is a research programme designed to compare clones with non-clones, to find out what
strengths and weaknesses belong to each. Part of the programme examines IQ and physical abilities. The other looks at genetic codes and DNA programming.’
    ‘And the government let you stay on this island, working on that ? Not . . . not caring that you’ve killed people?’
    ‘No, the government does not allow this, Rachel.’ Elijah sighed and ran his hand through his hair – a gesture I’d often seen Theo make. ‘If Milo told you that, it
was another lie. I’m still a wanted man you’ll be pleased to hear, although I do have a backer who believes in my research. And he has powerful connections which offer me some degree of
protection. But we’re not talking about me, we’re talking about the Hermes Project – and that’s where you come in.’
    ‘Me?’
    ‘As you know, I cloned you from your older sister, after she died. I don’t know whether your sister carried this . . . genetic quirk, or whether it’s only in you, but
there’s something . . . special . . . in your DNA which I need to examine. I’ve been working off a single strand of your hair – that’s all I had with me – but now my
tests can be more extensive. It’s just some blood I need, nothing too