by BE Kelly
Duff kicked him under the table and nodded to Professor Burnham. “Mr. Kirkpatrick,” he said. “Did you hear my question?”
“Which one of us are you calling on, Sir?” Duff called. “Anson or myself? Because I heard you ask if my brother had taken any pictures when he found Miss. Gunderson’s body. I can’t answer for him, though. Did you hear the professor ask you that, Anson?” Duff asked.
“Um—yes, of course,” he lied. “And no, Professor, I didn’t take any pictures of Gen. I had just gone for a run and shifted, so I didn’t have my camera with me. Even if I had, it wouldn’t have been proper of me to take a dead girl’s picture.”
“You were friends with the victim?” the professor asked.
“Yes,” Anson said. “I was. She was one of my best friends, Sir.”
“Did she have any enemies?” Professor Burnham asked. Anson had already spent countless hours answering these same questions—first to the authorities and then to the academy’s board and faculty. For some time, he was even a suspect in her murder, as if he’d ever be able to take a life in the way that her’s had been snuffed out. He missed her still and the idea that someone murdered her just felt impossible to him.
“I believe you were in the hall when I answered that same question for the authorities that day, Sir. I don’t believe she had any enemies,” Anson said. His brother shot him a look and he shrugged, not caring if he sounded as flip as he felt.
“I remember,” the professor spat. “I was just hoping you might have thought of something new to share with us. We’re all here for the same purpose, Anson—to find out what happened to Miss. Gunderson. She was my grad student if you remember.” Anson did know that. In fact, he wondered why Professor Burnham wasn’t a suspect. Once they released Anson as a person of interest, the case kind of died off no other suspects were questioned. He wondered if they’d ever find her killer.
“Yes, Sir,” Anson said. “I remember.”
“Does anyone have anything else to share with the group?” the professor asked. He looked around the classroom full of about thirty shifters, and then back to Anson and Duff, his eyes resting on the two of them. No one spoke up. It was so quiet; Anson could hear his own heart beating.
“All right,” the professor breathed. “We will meet again next week to talk about steps that we can take to keep the undergrads safe. It’s all of our responsibilities to watch out for the younger shifters at Graystone academy. Remember—no shifting or hunting alone. Groups of four or more are encouraged, and report anything that seems out of the ordinary—no matter how small or inconsequential.” Anson barked out his laugh, garnering him attention from the professor again.
“That will be all,” the professor said. “Thank you all for your time.” He turned his back to them and started to erase the chalk board.
“Well, that was a fucking waste of time,” Duff complained. “I kind of feel bad for pulling you away from your sexy, little witch,” he said.
Anson rolled his eyes and stood. “She’s not my sexy, little witch,” he protested.
“She looked to be into you,” Duff said. “Well, until I came in the room and stole the show. You know she checked me out, right?” Anson shoved his brother out of the way and started for the door.
“She wasn’t into you,” Anson grumbled. “She was shocked to see two of me. You know how it works—people do a double-take when they see the two of us together.” “They’re probably trying to figure out how I can be so much better looking than you, Anson,” Duff teased. “I mean—I’m pretty sure that’s what your sexy witch was thinking.”
“Whatever you have to tell yourself to get by, man,” Anson said. “I’m going to grab some food before I go back to the townhouse—you in?” They had shared a room their entire time at Graystone, and when it was time for them to move off campus as graduate students, they decided to buy a townhouse together near campus. It was easier that way, but there were days that Anson wished for a little alone time from his brother.
“You know I’m always up for food, brother,” Duff said. “After dinner, maybe I’ll head over to the witch’s dorm and properly introduce myself to—what was her name again?” His brother was egging him on, trying to get a rise out of him, and he wasn’t going to give him what he wanted. He didn’t have the energy to deal with his brother tonight. He wanted a burger, a hot shower, and then his bed—in that order.
“Eden,” Anson breathed. “Her name is Eden Graystone.”
Duff
“Well, shit,” Duff said. “She’s a Graystone?” he asked. He was trying to keep up with his brother who seemed to be hell bent on getting to the dining hall in record time. He practically had to jog along side of Anson to keep up with his pace.
“She’s not a Graystone—she’s one of THE Graystones. Her father is Theodore Graystone—part of the founding family,” Anson said.
“Double shit,” Duff growled. He was beginning to understand why his brother insisted that he wasn’t interested in the sexy witch—she was off limits. Hell, she was more than off limits. The Graystones and the Kirkpatricks were rival families at the academy and dating Eden Graystone would be out of the question. Plus, her father would murder them both if he found them with her.
He and Anson liked to share their women, usually hooking up with an undergrad and having some fun. They wouldn’t be able to play with Eden and sharing her would be impossible. “Yep—now you’re seeing the big picture, Brother,” Anson said.
“Did you know who she was when you wandered into her room to take pictures of her half naked?” Duff asked. He sounded like he was accusing his brother of wrongdoing, and maybe he was. The last thing they needed now was to draw more unwanted attention to either of them. The Gunderson girl’s murder had caused Anson enough problems over the past few months. They needed to get through the rest of their internships and then, they’d be free to do who and what they choose.
“No,” Anson admitted. “I saw that her door was open and when I peeked in to find her half naked, I nearly swallowed my tongue. I couldn’t help myself—I started taking her picture and that’s when she woke up. I didn’t know who she was until she told me her name.”
“You know better than to be anywhere near that room, right? Hell—you took a chance just by being in that building. If father found out that you were taking half-naked pictures of a Graystone, he’d have both of our balls.” His father hated Theodore Graystone. They were at the academy at the same time and their rivalry was what legends were made of—literally. They hated each other and from that time on, Graystones and Kirkpatrick’s were enemies.
“I don’t see why your balls would be involved,” Anson grumbled.
“Because I’m the one who makes bad decisions, Brother. I’m the one who would spend all my spare time pursuing the sexy witch and when I wore her down, I’d convince her to let us share her. That would end with father having both our balls. If you’re the one going off half-cocked, acting completely reckless, who’s going to be the level headed twin? Who will keep us in check and make sure that we don’t do something stupid—like share Eden Graystone?” Duff asked.
Anson sighed, “I told you before, Duff, I wasn’t going to do anything stupid. Sure, she’s hot,” Anson breathed.
“Ah—so, you admit that she’s hot then?” Duff asked. He was fishing, although he had no idea what for. Getting Anson to agree that he found the witch to be hot wasn’t going to get them any closer to making her theirs. His brother’s admission wouldn’t magically change her name or the fact that she was off limits.
“So what?” his brother asked. “What does it matter if she’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen in my life? Doesn’t change a thing that I want Eden Graystone to be ours, but she can’t be. She’s still off limits to both of us.” Anson wasn’t watching where he was walking and he walked right into Eden, leaving her plastered against his body, her arms around him.
“Shit,” Duff grumbled. “This is not a good sign, Brother,” he whis
pered to Anson.
“I’m so sorry,” Eden stuttered. “I wasn’t looking where I was going because I was studying this stupid map, trying to find the dining hall.” She looked up and when she recognized Anson and Duff, she gasped and quickly extricated herself from his brother.
“No, it was completely my fault,” Anson stammered. “I should have been paying attention and not talking about—” he didn’t finish his thought because he’d have to admit that he was droning on about how hot Eden was. Duff smirked at him and Anson looked at him like he wanted to tell him to fuck off.
“You were talking about what?” she asked.
“Oh—nothing. We were going to the dining hall too and we were just wondering what they are serving tonight,” Duff covered for Anson. “Would you liked to join us? We can show you around so you don’t have to rely on that stupid map and end up injuring yourself.” Anson groaned and rolled his eyes at his brother.
“I thought we decided that ‘dinner’ was a bad idea?” Anson whispered. He used air quotes around the word, “dinner” as if sending his brother a clue to his cryptic code.
“Yeah—well, I told you that I liked, ‘dinner’ and I think that eating, ‘dinner’ is a good idea,” Duff countered, using air quotes just as his brother had. Eden looked between the two of them as if they had both lost their minds.
“You two don’t eat dinner?” she asked. “Is it something you’re opposed to or are you just not hungry tonight?”
“Oh, we’re hungry,” Duff insisted. “But we’re not sure if ‘dinner’ is a good idea.”
“I’m missing the point of why you are both using air quotes,” she said. “I don’t think that you’re using them correctly.” Duff nearly doubled over laughing and Anson shot him a look.
“How about it, Eden—would you like to have dinner with us?” Duff asked.
“As long as dinner doesn’t go against your beliefs or anything, sure,” she said. “I’d love to have someone to eat with. I don’t know anyone else here—well, except you both.”
“Then it’s a date,” Duff said. He smiled over at his brother and Anson rolled his eyes.
“It’s not a date,” Anson corrected. “It’s three new friends having dinner.” Duff sometimes wished he could read people’s thoughts as his brother could. He didn’t get any special gifts other than his ability to communicate with his twin telepathically, and he really didn’t consider that to be a “gift”.
Coward, Duff thought.
Realist, Anson thought back. I’m wondering if she knows about our families feud. She doesn’t seem to hate us or anything.
Why would she? I’m charming as hell, Duff thought. Anson barked out his laugh and Eden looked at him as if he lost his mind.
“You two are awfully quiet,” she accused. “You can read minds, obviously,” she said pointing at Anson, “since you read my mind earlier in my dorm room. What else can the two of you do? Are you having a private conversation and not including me?” she asked.
“No,” they said in unison. She stared them down, letting them both know that she didn’t believe a word they were saying and Duff knew that Anson was going to cave.
Don’t do it, Brother, Duff warned. Anson sighed and shook his head.
“Yes,” he admitted. “We can communicate with each other telepathically.”
“I’m assuming you aren’t warlocks, since you aren’t in Graystone Manor with the rest of the witches and warlocks,” she assessed.
“We’re wolf shifters,” Duff proudly boasted, even puffing out his chest some for good measure.
Eden giggled, “Well, that explains your size and all the muscles,” she said, looking him over.
“Thanks for noticing,” Duff said. He winked at her and she laughed, shaking her head at him.
“You really are something,” she breathed. “Do you have a modest bone in your body, Duff?” she asked.
“Modesty isn’t in his wheelhouse,” Anson chided. “My brother doesn’t know how to be humble and modesty flew out the window when we were just pups.”
“I can’t help that I’m confident,” Duff said. “Women like confidence in a man, right?” he asked Eden.
She shrugged, “Sure, as long as it’s laced with a hint of humility,” she insisted. They walked down the hill to the dining hall and Anson held the door for Eden, “After you,” he insisted.
“Thank you,” she breathed, brushing past the both of them.
God, she smells as good as she looks, Duff thought. Anson nodded at him and smiled, following her into the dining hall. The place was pretty empty tonight. Most students would be going out for one last meal with their parents since it was move in day.
“I thought their would be more students here,” Eden admitted.
“It’s usually pretty empty in here on move in day. Students go out with their parents for dinner, to say their goodbyes,” Anson said. “Did your parents leave early?” he asked. Duff shot him a look and he shrugged.
“My parents didn’t bring me up here,” she said. “My mother’s car broke down and she’ll bring my stuff up when she can get it looked at. My parents are divorced and my dad—well, he was too busy to help me move in. He did what he’s good at—transferred money into my account.”
“I’m sorry,” Duff breathed. “If it makes you feel any better, our father couldn’t make it either. Well, we bought our townhouse and had to move in a week ago, but he was too busy to help out.”
“What about your mom?” she asked. Duff could feel Anson’s sadness at the mention of their mother.
“Mum died two years ago,” Duff answered. Anson still didn’t like to talk about their mother’s death. He was with her when she passed but Duff was off on a hunt with their father. He still felt guilty for not staying home with Anson that day. He knew that their mother’s health was failing, but he agreed to go on a hunting trip with his father and made some lame excuse about needing a break from the despair and sadness that surrounded them since their mum became ill.
“Oh—I’m sorry,” Eden breathed.
Anson handed her a tray and they got their food and sat at one of the empty tables; Eden sitting on one side of the table and he and Anson on the other side. “Your father must be proud that you’re following in his footsteps and attending Graystone,” Duff said, trying to break the silence that felt like a great divide down the center of the table.
Eden shrugged, “I guess. He’s been hounding me for the past year to give up my gap year and sign up for classes. I was hoping to have a second year of freedom, but he put his foot down after my first year was up and told me that he got me accepted and that I’d be attending this fall. Really, he left me no choice, so I guess you can say he was pushy more than proud. I don’t know if my father has ever been proud of me, really,” she admitted.
Sounds a lot like father, Anson thought. Duff nodded and realized that Eden was watching them both again.
“You two really need to stop doing that,” she said. “I’m starting to feel left out when you have your private conversations.”
“Sorry,” Anson said. “I was just thinking that your father sounds a lot like our father.”
“How so?” she asked.
“Our father attended here and he didn’t give us much choice as to going elsewhere for school,” Duff said. He couldn’t believe that she didn’t seem to have any clue who their father was.
“You honestly have no idea who our father is, do you?” Anson asked.
“Should I?” she asked. She looked between the two of them, waiting them out.
“You’ve never heard of the Graystone/Kirkpatrick feud?” Duff asked.
“No,” she breathed. She giggled to herself and Anson smiled.
“She’s wondering if she’s having dinner with the enemy,” he said, filling Duff in on her thoughts.
“Anson,” she squeaked. “Stay out of my damn thoughts.”
“That won’t happen, Princess. Anson has a problem with boundaries,” Duff said. Anson smi
led and shrugged, “He’s not wrong.”
“So, am I having dinner with the enemy? Should we be dueling or something sinister?” she teased.
“I think we can get through dinner first—then we can talk about a duel to the death,” Anson teased. Duff liked seeing his brother like this—carefree and even flirting with the sexy witch. Anson was always so serious, especially since finding that girl dead in the woods.
“Tell me, why do our families dislike each other?” she asked. “I’m betting it has something to do with my father’s over inflated ego getting in the way of a friendship.”
“It was a woman who caused the rift between our families, actually,” Duff admitted. “Our father was in love with your aunt,” he said.
“My aunt?” she asked.
“Yes—your father’s sister, Bianca Graystone. She was a first year here when our father was an upper classman. But your father wouldn’t allow his only sister to date a wolf shifter. She was a very talented witch.”
“I’m afraid I don’t know much about my Aunt Bianca. She died before I was born and my father doesn’t talk about her much. My mother told me the story of her death when I was a teenager, after I found a picture of her in some of my father’s old things. My mom said that I look a lot like Bianca.”
“You do,” Anson said. “Our father has her picture on his desk in his office. Mother hated that he kept her picture, but he insisted that it was an homage to his friend. Mum accused him of still being in love with her, but he insisted that it was impossible to be in love with a dead woman. Her ghost seemed to be a dividing force in their marriage—almost as if a third person was always present in their relationship.”
