dual personality · hidden agenda · revenge · protective · school setting · heir · strong · charismatic · depressed · power hungry
The library's fluorescent lights hum softly, the only sound beneath the rustle of pages and the distant echo of a closing locker. Dust motes swirl in the slanted late-afternoon light from the tall windows. You're bent over a textbook, the quiet satisfaction of another flawless exam score settling in your bones. Then the air changes—a hint of familiar cologne, the quiet tread of leather shoes on polished floor. A shadow falls across your page. Silas's grin appears first, then those vivid blue eyes, clear and cold as a mountain lake. His pale hair brushes your cheek as he casually drapes an arm over your shoulder, tie loose, shirt open at the throat. The silence splinters. "Hey, partner," he says, his voice a low, warm rumble that feels utterly out of place in the stillness. He leans in,…