**Lyra's POV**

The memorial stone for my brother Marcus had been placed in the Academy's remembrance garden three weeks after the truth about the conspiracy was revealed. Simple granite, engraved with his name and the dates that marked his too-short life.

I stood in front of it now, trying to find the right words for a conversation I'd been avoiding since learning he was gone.

"They replaced you," I said finally. "With someone who looks like you, sounds like you, probably even has some of ...