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I take it, squeezing. “I am and I do not need a toilet.”
“What were you doing out here in the corridor? Are you lost?” He glances around. “It’s a big castle, I wouldn’t blame you for getting turned around in here. I can escort you to wherever you need to go.”
His concern and warmth remind me so strongly of his brother that my doubts surface again and a feeling of wanting to go home washes over me. “I was… I just…” The urge to cry is nearly overwhelming and I sniffle, trying to hold it in. “I want to go to my room.”
He offers his arm. “Of course. I’ll take you to the guest wing.”
I take his arm and we walk in silence for a few moments. Me doing my best not to cry and ruin my first meeting with Keenan’s twin. Of course, like Keenan, he’s very observant.
“Do you want to tell me what’s wrong?” he ventures as we ascend a set of stairs.
I nod, but don’t say anything. I don’t know what I should tell him. What if he’s like the others? What if he wants to lock me up too?
He stops and turns to me, his eyes glowing with warmth. “I’m not sure what Keenan has told you of the mating bond, but in shifter world, twins are often closer to each other than other family. We frequently share emotions and thoughts through our familial connection, more so than our other brothers.”
I smile tremulously, the threatening tears receding. “Human twins can sometimes feel each other’s emotions too.”
He nods. “The connection also extends to a twin’s mate.” He pauses, allowing me to absorb his words. “I can feel your turmoil, Vanessa.”
“Please don’t tell Keenan,” I whisper, my smile falling away.
“Of course not,” he assures me. “I assume if you want Keenan to know, you’ll tell him yourself.”
“Thank you.”
We continue up the stairs until we reach the guest floor. I point out the correct suite and he pauses at the door. “If you need anything, Vanessa, please come to me. I will always help you.”
The tears rush to the fore again, but this time I don’t try to stop them. “I will,” I promise. “Thank you.” I slip into the suite, closing the door behind me.
Chapter 18
Persuasion
KEENAN
Lennox arrives shortly before Rush, Lock and I wrap up our meeting, giving us a summary of his findings in New York.
“I’ll be partnering with the fire investigator to figure out how Greystone’s body got there. Preliminary reports from the Medical Examiner’s office indicate he didn’t die in that fire.”
“My money’s on the missing heart,” Rush says drily.
Lennox replies, “The heart was taken after death. At the moment, we don’t have a cause of death and we don’t have any theories about motive, though it’s looking like an anti-shifter killing.”
“Have there been many of those?” Lock asks, frowning.
“No, but I think this kind of violence has been brewing and unfortunately your plan to connect the wolf shifters of Wolf-Haven with the rest of the world seems to have ignited the movement. Police departments across the globe have been hearing more and more anti-shifter rhetoric. They call themselves the Anti-Shifter Human Rights Association or ASHRA.” Lennox frowns, and, knowing my twin, I realize there’s more.
“Tell us the rest,” I urge him.
He shakes his head. “It’s speculation and I’m not willing to spread rumors if they aren’t true.”
“We’re not detectives,” Lock says, his tone hardening, which usually means he’s about to issue an order. “We don’t need to deal in concrete evidence. Give us the rest and let us decide what to believe.”
Lennox growls. “Opinions without evidence are worthless.” But he gives us the thoughts he’s guarding, “Along with the anti-shifter rhetoric going around, there seems to also be an uprising within the shifter and witch communities. There are rumblings about species superiority and placement on the evolutionary scale.”
“Fuck,” Lock growls, pacing the room. “We fought a war to eliminate speciesism and now it’s cropping up again. And it’s my fault? What am I supposed to do? Deny the shifters of Wolf-Haven their rightful place in this modern world? I won’t do it, but neither can I stomach another war.”
Lennox grips his shoulder. “I’m not sure what the best thing here is, but I will find some answers.”
