Cameron raised her hand. “They say any two strangers can share 99.5% of their gene sequence.”
I sat up straighter, then looked at Nolan. “Are we talking about twins or strangers?”
“The Twin Study that The Institute did a few years back,” he said. “Strangers who look alike. Doppelgangers.”
“Doppelgangers? So, completely unrelated twins?”
“Pretty much.”
“Hm.”
“Have you noticed how many twins there are at Ellis?” A student asked. “Not kidding, I’m taking four classes and there are two sets in each class.”
“You’re welcome,” Nolan hollered, making everyone fall into a fit of laughter.
“That is interesting,” the professor said. “Did you know, and please, correct me if I’m wrong, Astor brothers, that twins get a discount here?”
“No.” Someone gasped. “Why?”
“Ah, that is one of the gifts The Institute makes to the university. The second twin gets a scholarship.”
“Just for being born?” I asked.
“Just for being born.” The professor smiled. “We’re getting off-course. Back to doppelgangers.”
They continued talking about people who look eerily similar but come from different parents.
Doppelgangers.
Could that be what Stella and I were?
Chapter Nine
“Hey, wait up.”
I turned around to see Adam jogging up to me. “What? You want to bury me in broad daylight?”
“No.” He exhaled, looking around briefly. “Are you going back to The Manor?”
“Now? No. I have Spanish.”
“You don’t know Spanish?”
“It’s an easy elective, besides, I’m rusty.” I shot him a look. “Stop judging me.”
“Okay.” He cocked his head and squinted his eyes like he was really trying. “But you are coming back to The Manor, right? In general?”
“Maybe.”
“You’re going to give up?” He straightened.
“What does it matter?”
“This is the chance of a lifetime. Limitless doors open for you if you’re a part of The Swords.”
“If that’s true, why doesn’t your brother join?”
“He’s in another society. Ours is scientific. It’s about finding the best version of yourself and building bonds that last a lifetime.”
“That’s exactly what all the sororities say on rush week.”
“This isn’t a sorority.”
“Obviously. I’m the only woman there and the only other woman I saw there outside of the ones at the party was being raped. Or something.”
“Don’t say that.” His eyes narrowed. “Don’t throw that word around unless you know for certain.”
“There were monks in that dungeon and they may have been raping a woman.” I pointed outward, though I wasn’t sure what direction The Manor was to where we stood. “You know it and I know it. I can’t trust you or go back there if you can’t even say it’s a possibility.”
“I need you to go back there.”
“Why?”
“Because you were chosen.”
“Where are the other women invited?
“I don’t know.”
“What are their names?”
“I don’t know. I don’t have that information.”
“Yet you knew my name. You knew who I was from the moment I walked in there.”
“Of course I did. You’re under my care.”
“Whose care are the other women under?”
“They never showed, so technically, no one.”
“You don’t think it’s weird that this chancellor or whatever, his highness, person, hasn’t given you the names of the other women so you guys could go look for them?”
“We have to initiate you, then maybe they’ll give us the other names.”
“Doctor . . . ” I started over. “Was my father a Sword?”
Adam shook his head. “From what I heard, he wanted to be, but the society didn’t approve. Things were different back then.”
“Different how?”
“Different. Not everyone was accepted everywhere.”
“They didn’t let him in because he’s black?” My brows rose.
“I don’t know.” Adam frowned as he mulled that over. “God, I hope that wasn’t the reason.”
“So you don’t know the reason?”
“I don’t, but I know enough to know that if they’re inviting his daughter it’s because they regret turning him away.”
“Maybe.” I looked at the time on my phone. I still had a few hours before Dr. Thompson’s driver would pick me up, but during that time, I wanted to do some digging in Stella’s apartment. “I have to go.”
“Did you really not call the cops last night?”
“I really didn’t.” I looked up at him and shook my head.
“Who else knows you were there?”
“No one.”
No one knew aside from Detective Barry and Dr. Thompson, yet someone had supposedly called from the premises to say she was in danger and her name was Stella. If that was the case, was she there? Were they hiding her? The memory of the naked woman on the rock flashed through my mind. Would she be next?
I looked at Adam. “I have to go. I’ll see you later.”
I reached into my back pocket and unlocked the door to her apartment, walking in quickly before shutting it behind me. I’d tried to be as quiet as a mouse when walking the hall to not alert any neighbors by my presence. Just because Dr. Thompson said Stella didn’t have any friends, didn’t mean it was true. He obviously didn’t know about her and Cameron. I wondered if he knew about that side of her life at all. I switched the light on and let the backpack slide down my right arm before setting it down on the floor by the kitchen counter.