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between my pleasure at reuniting with a long-lost relative and my sense that she wasn’t quite … normal. Maybe she seemed a little off because she was family. I’d need to get used to the idea.
    So I decided to like her. Finally, a family member who was still willing to talk to me. That had to be a good thing, right?
    As we headed upstairs, Rachel confided about how daunting she found Yoshiro, until we stopped outside a set of elaborately carved wooden double doors. A couple of male ghost servants stood on either side of the door, as though guarding the room. “I don’t mean to frighten you,” she said. “You’ll be fine.”
    â€œEmma’s not afraid of anything,” Bennett said.
    I took a deep breath, hoping he was right.
    I smiled at one of the ghosts, but he ignored me while the other opened the door. After that, I expected a throne room or something, but Bennett led me into a small chamber, decorated like a library where you’d find Sherlock Holmes solving the case. It was all cherrywood, leather-bound books, and red and gold Oriental rugs with a fire blazing in the ornately carved fireplace.
    Three men sat on leather couches, taking in the heat of the fire. They stood as we entered, and the oldest, an Asian man wearing wire-rim glasses, his long gray hair in a ponytail, stepped forward.
    â€œEmma Vaile,” he said, subjecting me to an unsmiling inspection. “You are not as impressive as I’d imagined.”
    â€œYou must be Yoshiro,” I said, with a fake smile. “I thought you’d be taller.”
    Beside him, the dark-haired younger man coughed, smothering a laugh, then introduced himself as Gabriel. He had a Spanish accent, and the sort of smoldering spark of one of those ugly European guys who’s somehow incredibly attractive.
    â€œA pleasure to meet you, Emma,” he said. For the record, “Emma” sounded really pretty with a Spanish accent.
    â€œWelcome to the Knell,” the third man said, a middle-aged black man dressed in intellectual chic. “My name is William. I remember your mother and father fondly.”
    â€œThanks. It’s kind of hard to imagine them here.”
    Yoshiro cleared his throat. “Sit.”
    I almost said something snotty about barking and rolling over, but Bennett nudged me toward one of the couches. Everyone sat except Yoshiro, who paced for a minute, then turned suddenly and considered me.
    â€œExcept for your youth, your likeness to the tapestry is exact.”
    â€œAnd my hairstyle.” She looked like me dressed up for a Renaissance fair. “It doesn’t mean anything. It’s genetics. Probably happens all the time, except other people don’t have medieval tapestries lying around.”
    â€œYoshiro believes it’s more than that,” Gabriel said.
    â€œYour powers are unprecedented,” William said. “And your resemblance to at least two dead ghostkeepers is also unprecedented. That’s not a coincidence.”
    â€œMaybe not. But I’m not the first Emma, I’m not that medieval lady. I’m just a—” I looked at Yoshiro. “An unimpressive girl who doesn’t want to battle ghosts and kill wraiths. There’re only three things I want. To find my family. Dispel Neos. And to—” I stopped suddenly, and didn’t know where to look.
    â€œYes?” Yoshiro said. “The third thing?”
    â€œTo be with me,” Bennett said.
    Yoshiro made a disgruntled sound. “You are too close.” He waved his hands between us. “This is dangerous.”
    â€œWe’re okay,” I said. “Thanks for the concern.”
    â€œ You are okay,” Yoshiro said. “But you are not the one in danger. You have a strange way of showing Bennett your regard, by undermining his ability.”
    This time, my snappy retort dissolved into flushing with embarrassment, and I squirmed a few inches away from