Chapter 5
WAKE MY GHOSTS
JACOB
I should have learned by now not to make promises I might not be able to keep.
The clock ticks in the silent library, and each second notches another passing moment in my chest.
Most of my students left campus hours ago. They read through the initial report, took their notes, highlighted what they thought was important, and decided they were done. I’m sure they assume I’ve sent them on a wild goose chase because they aren’t looking at the details.
Not like her.
By the time the clock strikes midnight, Patience Lancaster is the only student left in the library. An hour ago, she glared at me when I suggested she go home because it was getting late, and that single comment is likely why she stayed.
So difficult.
Defiant.
I can see why her fellow students might call her an ice princess. The hard walls she’s erected are so thick they’re nearly impossible to chip away at. Except they’re not ice, they’re gold, like the shade of her brown eyes. Bricks that form an impenetrable wall she refuses to let anyone past.
When I negotiated the delivery of the Lancaster daughter from Declan, I expected a girl a bit more like Gideon and Ursa. Her parents are manipulative and self-serving. Every decision—every action—is careful and calculated. Meant to advance themselves.
Which is why I assumed there was no innocence left in the Lancaster family. That is, until Patience fell into my lap on the plane.
Heart on her sleeve.
Hope in her eyes.
Yes, she’s careful and guarded, but one look in her eyes and it was clear there’s not a deceitful bone in her body.
Her perfect, beautiful body.
I shake that thought.
Patience Lancaster is the daughter of the enemy.
If I’m not careful, she’s going to ruin everything I’ve spent months planning.
She’s the leverage to dangle over her father.
One whisper his precious daughter is in my grasp, and he’ll have no choice but to cooperate. This was all supposed to be so simple.
Except, I didn’t anticipate her.
Blonde hair, dreams in her eyes. Ambition her Sigma-blooded family hasn’t burned out of her soul quite yet.
Maybe that’s been their plan all along. Keep her like this so she’ll fetch a steeper price someday.
My hands clench.
The thought of her family using her shouldn’t bother me when that’s why I brought her to LA, but it does.
Steadying my breath, I remind myself why I’m here.
Why she’s here.
I remind myself of the woman her father took from me. Patience Lancaster falling into my lap and getting under my skin changes nothing. It can’t resurrect the dead or fix this broken puzzle. It can’t put things back.
Her golden eyes filled with secrets mean nothing.
At least now she’s sleeping, so I’m not forced to stare into them.
Fifteen minutes ago, Patience’s eyelashes started to flutter. Ten minutes ago, her shoulders sagged. Now she’s sleeping at a table in the center of the library with her cheek resting on the back of her hands, stubborn as ever, and refusing to go home before I do.
I slide my ankle off the opposite knee and push to stand.
The library is empty apart from the two of us.
Knowing her parents, I expected her to be a little less trusting of strangers, so I’m surprised to see she let her guard down to give me such access. Maybe she doesn’t see me as a threat.
Why does that only irritate me more?
When we spoke on the plane, I got the impression she knew better.
Her father has committed unspeakable sins.
Her brother is notorious for violence.
Patience should know better than to leave herself at my mercy like she has now. Especially as I circle the table to get a better look at her.
Her blonde hair is pulled back into a tight ponytail. Tempting me with the perfect rope to wrap around my fist and tug until her back arches. Until she stops talking back and lets go of her defenses for once.
My blood runs hot at the thought.
Maybe that’s all this is—a chemical reaction.
Physical attraction.
Not that I’ve ever felt this way about a student.
But Patience, with her smooth, porcelain skin, has me questioning the only ethical code I’ve yet to break.
She has a single freckle on the side of her nose, and I wonder how many more dot her body.
Her long lashes sweep over the apples of her cheeks, and I wonder what she hides in those beautiful eyes.
She’s too young. Only twenty. And she’s pure fire.
Patience is the type of girl who ruins empires. Beauty that starts wars. That dethrones kings and puts queens on the throne in their place. She’s an itch spreading through my veins.
Women don’t get under my skin. I don’t let them. Not when the only one I ever cared about was brutally ripped away.
“She was a liability.”
“So you eliminated it?”
“We did what had to be done.”
Those words echo in my mind like the invisible blood that sticks to my hands. Nothing washes certain things clean.
I promised to never have a weakness again, which is why Patience makes me so angry. With every sassy comment, every challenge, every bit of fight, she proves she’s nothing like I expected.
I step closer and smell the sweetness of her sweat from under the mask of her floral perfume.
I’d like to peel apart her thighs and see if she tastes as sweet as she smells.
Find the pliant part of her that she refuses to show people.
I wonder how long I’d have to fuck her with my tongue until she would stop battling me.
From the rosy blush that dots her cheeks with every conversation, I assume it wouldn’t take much. She might have fight in her, but I sense she wants the excuse to let go. If only she’d let me take control…
These are dangerous thoughts. Ones I can’t entertain when Patience is the key to my revenge. I’ll destroy her if it means her father finally pays for what he did. There is no other option.
I reach down and brush a stray blonde strand off her face. My fingertips are nothing more than static on her skin with the fraction of space as I brush it away.
What would it be like to touch her?
To feel that fire sear straight through my chest?
She stirs, but I don’t step back. I watch as her eyes move beneath their lids, and her dreams or nightmares take over.
Patience was right about one thing. Be careful what you say and do because you might catch the attention of a killer. Part of me wants to wrap my fingers around her and never let her go.
She landed in my lap like the universe was making me promises it shouldn’t. One flicker of interest breathed this fire to life, and now it’s ripping through me.
Maybe I’ll hold on to her just a bit longer.
Figure her out before I use her to tear her family to shreds. Or maybe I’ll change tactics. Gideon took something from me; what if I took something from him? What if I kept her? What if I did worse than intended?
She wakes my ghosts. Crawls through my blood. Carves herself into my bones.
Patience adjusts in her sleep, turning her face over and resting her other cheek on her hands, denying me the perfect view of her beautiful face. Of that freckle.
She sighs, and I slowly make my way back to the chair at the end of the table.
I’ll let her sleep for now. It will give me more time to think. To consider. To plan. So long as she’s here under my watch, she’s safe.
At least, safe from everyone but me.