Page 101 of If I Were Wind

Despite everything, I perked up at his words. “Yes?”

He glanced at the door. “Roy and I can’t hurt each other.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“It’s something about us being twins, I think.” He raked a hand through his hair, lost in his thoughts for a moment. “There haven’t been many twin beasts. In fact, I believe only three couples. No one understands how twin beasts work.” He lifted a shoulder. “Anyway, I can throw a punch at him, but won’t be able to hit him. I can’t even slap him. We tried everything back in the day. Stabbing and shooting each other, even strangling each other. Drowning each other. Smothering each other. You name it. Nothing worked. The bullet always missed the target; the blade never found the flesh. We kept this discovery a secret and only pretended to spar with each other. It was a lot of fun. Also, we can heal each other while we’re merging. Another secret.” He smiled. It was a genuine, boyish smile that sought my approval. But I wasn’t fooled. I’d believed that Roy was cold enough to kill his own brother. Lukas’s warmth wouldn’t fool me. “So, you see, I can’t hurt Roy even if I want to.”

“You can ask someone else to shoot him.”

A scrunch wrinkled his nose. “That would be cold. He’s the only family I have. Blood is thicker than water, indeed. I’m sure that deep down, he wanted to come with me and leave Raven Park, but he knew that, if we both had left, they would have chased us down. One of us had to stay behind to let the other go. We never spelled that out, but I’m sure that was what he thought that night when he let me go. He remained behind to protect me.”

It would be like Roy to sacrifice himself for someone else, for his brother.

“But you’ll get him killed if he doesn’t want to join the Nazis,” I said.

“He will join me when I explain to him what it means.”

“Good luck with that.”

His amber eyes became two narrow slits. “It’s not a matter of luck.”

“Perhaps it’s you who doesn’t know Roy.”

His brow creased in anger, but if he wanted to retort, he didn’t say a word.

The server returned with my bag in his hands. He stopped in front of Lukas and bowed. “Sir.”

“Thank you.” Lukas took the bag, but I tried to snatch it. He held it up out of my reach.

“That’s mine.”

“Easy. I was about to give it to you.” He clicked his tongue, the nerve of him. “Trust me a little. Here.”

I seized the bag and opened it. The cyanide capsule was gone, along with my hair pins and keys. They’d removed everything metallic.

“I ordered my men to search your belongings for anything dangerous. I couldn’t allow you to kill yourself.” Lukas propped an elbow on the banister. “Roy would have been beyond furious. And we don’t want that, do we?”

“Bastard.” I slammed the bag on the banister, and my precious pictures slipped out of it. I hurried to collect them, but Lukas put a hand on mine, stopping me. “What?” I barked, but then shut up at his astonished face.

Shock was freezing him. His gaze was fixed on the picture of Shoshanna and me. With trembling fingers, he picked it up and studied it for a long moment. He didn’t even blink.

“It’s mine.” I reached out, but he gripped my wrist, his stare still on the picture.

“Where is she?” he asked in a low voice that rang with an emotion I couldn’t place. It sounded like fear and hope, rolled up together.

The ground seemed to split open beneath me. He was a Nazi. Shosh was a Jewess. He must have recognised the Chai pendant she wore in the picture. The blood rushed down from my head. “Don’t you dare,” I hissed, my beast coming to the fore.

He sucked in a breath, as if he’d been underwater for an hour and was now breathing for the first time. “You don’t understand.”

“I understand perfectly well. I was in Berlin during Kristallnacht. I know what the Nazis do to the Jews. So give me that picture and go to hell and rot with your questions.” I expected him to slap me or get angry. Instead, he put a gentle hand on my shoulder, desperation gleaming his eyes.

“No, no. It’s not like that,” he whispered. “Is Shosh your friend?”

I pressed my lips together. What the heck? He knew her.

“Is she alive?” he whispered again. “Is she safe? Is her family safe? Please, I swear, that’s all I want to know.”

Blimey. His words sounded like a confession. “You know her.”

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