“I sent you a number. Find out who it is.”
“I will.”
I face the balcony doors where I can see J tossing in her sleep. She kicks off the comforter and smiles a little after accomplishing it. Her blonde hair splays around her head likea halo, and her soft, tempting lips are slack. With her cheek smushed against the pillow and her eyes closed, she looks fragile and innocent.
An impeccable deception.
My stomach twists into one long rope. She’s bewitched me somehow. I keep forgetting who she is.
“On the other matter I assigned you,” I say to Ren, turning away from the sight of J, “what did you find?”
“No one at the hospital knows her real name. She’s saved in the records as ‘J.’ She’s been a patient since she was twelve. No visitors. No emergency contacts. She’s a ghost.”
Confusion descends, making my head spin. That makes no sense. Someone has to be paying her hospital fees. Those bills aren’t cheap.
“There’s one more thing,” Ren says.
I put the phone back to my ear.
He sounds hesitant. “There are rumors about her background. Some believe that she’s the illegitimate child of royals. Others say that her family owns the entire hospital. Some insist she has a secret benefactor.”
It’s more likely Redwood Prep and all the secrets J traded for moneywereher benefactors.
“These are just gossip, but I thought it might be helpful.”
I hang up and let my arm go limp.
Who the hell is this girl?
Stealthily, I return to the bed. My head is on the pillow, but my eyes are on Jinx’s back. Confirming her identity isn’t a victory. I’ve always known she was Jinx. The problem is that I don’t know anythingbeyondthat.
Who exactly is she? What does she want from us?
The longer those questions go unanswered, the more dangerous this becomes.
Jinx suddenly rolls around. Her head thrashes back and forth as if she’s looking for something. I blink in shock as she wiggles her way over to my side of the bed and throws an arm and a leg over me.
After cuddling close, she settles down.
I keep perfectly still, wondering if this is another ploy, but she’s breathing evenly. I doubt she can fake a sleep this deep.
Toss her off. She’s disgusting. She’s Jinx—one side of my brain argues.
But the feelings in my chest aren’t disgust. At least I don’t think so.
I definitely don’t want to push her away.
It’s not like you can expose Jinx tonight,I rationalize.Deal with her in the morning.
I lower my head to hers, one degree at a time, checking to see if she wakes up when I embrace her. J makes a pleased sound in her throat and presses more firmly into me. Her arms loop around my neck.
The way she seeks me out is like she wants to climb into my skin.
It’s wrong.
I shouldn’t.
But the warmth of her body and her soft hands around my back burn in the best way.
