Chapter 3
West set the metal tray with the single cup of steaming tea on the ground by the door and retreated a step so that the voices inside faded. It was tempting to eavesdrop further, due to both curiosity and worry, but he could execute more self-control than that.
Nix seemed to bring out the best in him.
Go figure.
He’d always been opposed to long-term relationships. He’d never really had a great example growing up, after all. His parents had hated each other. Yejun’s were in constant competition to see who could bring in more fame and prestige. Lake’s had died too soon, but West had always secretly been convinced eventually they would have fought and resented one another too.
For him, there was just Lake and Yejun and that was enough. Then his best friend had brought Nix into their circle and things had slowly but surely changed. A part of him was still uncomfortable about that fact, about this new existence, but for the most part, he was adjusting, and in ways he didn’t even realize until much later.
Forget what Lake wanted, he wanted to keep Nix. Which meant his friends needed to make good with Nixie so they could get back on track toward the perfect life.
“What are you doing?” Yejun appeared at the end of the hall, snapping West out of his thoughts. He started to approach, pausing when West waved him off and joined him instead.
“Let’s go to the kitchen,” he suggested.
“But I have to report.”
“Not now.” He turned Yejun around and forced him to retreat back the way he’d come. “Let them have some space.”
Yejun glanced over his shoulder at Lake’s bedroom door. “Are they making up?”
“They apparently already have.” West was aware that Yejun knew that much already, but he didn’t call him out on it. June had always prided himself on his connection with his emotions, but the reality was, he was always the first to lose it when it came to matters of the heart. “They need more time alone to work things out between them. You’re going to have to wait your turn.”
They descended the wooden stairwell, entering the living space of the Roost, Yejun allowing West to lead him all the while.
“He doesn’t want me near him,” Yejun pointed out solemnly.
“Do you blame him?”
“No.”
“Everyone is high-strung at the moment,” West said. “We all just need a minute to breathe. Give it time. He’ll come around.”
Yejun propped his elbows on the kitchen island, watching as West rounded it and reached for the center cabinet over the stove. “And if he doesn’t?”
“Then we’re going to have a shitty next sixty or so years?” He snorted when that earned him a dark look and brought two empty glasses over, along with a full bottle of June’s favorite liquor. “I’m joking.”
“What if you aren’t?”
“What if Mount Pia erupts tomorrow and we all die?” West poured the maroon liquid into both glasses and slid one over to his friend. “Cut the shit. This is no different than any other obstacle we’ve faced. You just keep going until you get through it, man.”
“Easy for you to say.” Yejun gulped down half the contents. “You’re not the one he hates.”
“And whose fault is that?”
“Mine.” He slammed the glass down and then groaned, dropping his head into his hands. “I fucked up. I get that.”
“You weren’t thinking clearly.” Understatement, but kicking the guy when he was down wasn’t beneficial for any of them. “Suffocating our fourth was taking things too far though. If you ever pull a stunt like that again—”
“I won’t.” He exhaled slowly. “I don’t want to hurt him. I was just so angry. I’m still so angry.”
“He didn’t know about Iris.”
Yejun glanced up at him. “You believe that?”
“Yes.”
“One hundred percent?”
“Yes,” he repeated more firmly. “You didn’t see how messed up he’s been over that discovery. He feels guilty and betrayed, probably more so than you even.”
Yejun snorted, clearly not believing him.
“No, seriously. Think about it. Nix has told us time and time again he’s only ever been close to one person his entire life. Then he comes all the way here in order to seek out justice for that person, only to discover their final act alive was figuring out a way to use him? Iris didn’t just manipulate you, June. She knew exactly what to say, how to phrase things, to get Nix to drop everything and enroll in Foxglove.”
Yejun’s brow furrowed. “Are you certain? Why would she do that?”
“Revenge?” West shrugged and sipped his drink. “Because the bitch was crazy? Who knows.”
“Don’t you want to?”
“Not especially.” It didn’t matter to him why she’d done any of it. All West cared about was that her actions had harmed Nix, possibly beyond repair. “He’s hurting. It’s our job to make it better, not worse.”
Yejun nodded and then something seemed to occur to him. “Since when did you become such a romantic?”
West winked and blew him a kiss over the rim of his glass before downing the rest of its contents. He refilled his and then did the same to Yejun’s. “It turns out taking care of people isn’t so hard. I actually seem to be fairly good at it.”
“Bragging because Nix likes you the most right now?”
“Obviously.”
“Have you said any of this to Lake?”
“Obviously.” He wanted to mend things between the four of them, sure, but that didn’t mean his competitive streak with the future emperor needed to take the backseat. “You both need to understand the severity of what you’ve done.”
“Coming from the guy who loses his cool more than any of us, that’s rather ironic.” Yejun took a few sips from his glass, going slower this time. A good sign. “Since Lake is busy mending fences, I guess we’ll just have to go over what I found out at the hospital ourselves.”
“Did Beck stay with you?” West couldn’t help but ask.
“Yeah.” Yejun gave him a funny look. “You should find time to talk to him.”
He quirked a brow. “About what?”
Yejun shrugged cryptically.
Great, had Beck finally confessed to him? If Yejun had broken the poor guy's heart, was he now trying to use West to smooth things over? They needed Lake’s cousin to continue being on their side, like he’d always been. It was useful having a family member in their corner, especially when Beck’s father was constantly trying to get in their way.
“Whatever.” He’d deal with that potential shit show later. “What did the doctor say? Was it a suicide or not?”
“No foul play suspected,” Yejun said. “He didn’t have anything in his system, and the location of his injuries lines up with someone who’d have jumped from those heights. Dew killed himself. The only question is, did he do it to escape us or someone else?”
“Both would be my guess.” It was certainly Nix’s, and West trusted their fourth’s opinion. “We found those emails between him and Hendrix, but there’s nothing we can do about them.” They were written in code to seem innocent, and even though someone of Hendrix’s status talking about baked goods with a student would seem strange, it wasn’t enough to have the Order turn against him. “If we tip our hand and try something too early, we risk this blowing up in our faces. I’m going to keep seeking out the truth, but it can’t be our main focus at the moment.”
“Because of Nightshade?” Yejun shook his head. “We were given until Demons Passing to find the hacker.”
“We both know there is no hacker,” West pointed out. “Which means the deeper into this we get publicly, the more risky it becomes. The last thing we need is the Order discovering what really went down that weekend and who was actually responsible for planting those devices in Hendrix’s office.”
Forget about all that. If it was discovered someone had used the same poison that had murdered the emperor on West, and they’d kept that a secret, they’d all be tried for treason. Didn’t matter who Lake or the rest of them were.
“The whole reason we hid it in the first place was to protect us,” West reminded. “We can’t drop the ball now. We’re close, but close isn’t the finish line.”
“Stop talking like we’re discussing sports,” Yejun grunted. “I get it. We hand over the information collected on Dew and pin him as the hacker. If he’s the only one responsible, no one else will bother looking further into things.”
“Exactly. And while they’re busy preparing for Lake’s ascension, we can focus on tracking the real threat down. He’s been quiet since his failed attempt with Iris, but that doesn’t mean he’s given up. It’s safer for us to assume he’s lying low and licking his wounds. His next appearance might be just as bad as the last time.”
“We should start checking all consumables for poison,” Yejun suggested.
They’d been more careful, not allowing anyone to enter the Roost, checking to make sure all of their products were sealed before they ate or drank it. If the goal of this person was to mess with the line of ascension, passing the Order’s test and ensuring Lake’s place on that line would no doubt draw their attacker out once more.
“He’ll show himself soon,” West said. “Probably before Demons Passing. He’ll want to stop Lake at all costs.” Hell, this person had already killed the emperor to get her out of the way. They were committed. “Hendrix has to be behind this.”
“He’s the only puppet master I can think of,” Yejun agreed solemnly. “There’s no one else who would benefit from Lake’s removal. But we’ve been saying that since the beginning, and it hasn’t brought us any closer to finding any evidence. When was the last time you even saw him?”
West thought it over, frowning when he realized it’d actually been a while. “He hasn’t been at the Club House when I’ve been. The last meeting they called us to, he was absent as well.”
“Maybe Lake has heard from him.”
“Or you could always just ask Beck.”
Yejun smirked. “ Or you could.”
West’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Why do I get the feeling you’re trying to foist me onto Beck all of a sudden? Don’t tell me you’re hoping to get rid of me so you’ll have time with Nix?”
Nix wasn’t ready to be alone with Yejun, but West kept himself from saying as much. There was enough going on to keep them all fairly busy, so if Nix wanted to avoid June, he’d find a way to do it with or without West’s help.
“Whatever,” Yejun rolled his eyes. “I’ll text him, happy? But you’ve got to do me a favor.”
“I’m not helping—”
“It doesn’t have to do with the Firebird,” Yejun cut him off. “I know I’m on my own with that. But what I want won’t exactly please him so…if we could keep it between us for now, that would be great.”
That didn’t sound good.
“What is it?” West asked.
“Look into Briant.”
He swore and pulled away, setting his glass down on the counter with more force than necessary. “Seriously?”
“I just want to be sure.”
“Sure of what? That the guy didn’t have a hand in his own sister’s destruction? Come on, man. Besides, he’s with Juri—”
“I still don’t trust Juri.”
“He’s done nothing to make us think he’s out to get us,” West stated. “If anything, he’s gone out of his way for Nix. That should mean something to you. It does to me. Anyone who has our fourth’s back is okay in my book. We’ve already proven that Dew set him up with the painting swap. Dew was also the one who pushed Nix into the waif stall that day. There’s nothing to pin onto Juri even if you want to.”
“What has Nix told you about Iris—” Yejun grimaced and licked his lips, then corrected himself, “Branwen and the letter she wrote him?”
This was all information that needed to be shared between the four of them anyway, so West didn’t feel bad talking about it. There wasn’t much, though. It’d been a one-page letter written by a girl who knew she was about to die. Most of the things she’d written had been clear coercions meant to guilt and enrage Nix enough to throw himself into the fire on her behalf.
The more he thought about that, the angrier he became. The idea that someone Nix had trusted so much could use him like that, and as her final act as well…It was deplorable. He’d never even dream of betraying Lake or Yejun that way. If there was danger, he’d want them far away from it, not throwing themselves into the thick of it. Especially not without the full story.
She’d strung him along and left him only half an instruction manual. If she’d truly wanted him to avenge her, she would have written out the guy's full name and included his social media handle.
“Branwen knew this guy,” West divulged. “She thought she was in a relationship with him even.”
“So she lied to me, even at the end,” Yejun didn’t sound all that surprised about that. “We should take a look at the people around Dew.”
“You don’t think he’s the one Branwen was seeing?”
Yejun made a face. “Absolutely not. She was a bitch, but she had taste.”
“Wow.” West would pretend to care about speaking ill of the dead—twice over, in this case—but he didn’t have it in him. He was worried about Nix and honestly a bit cranky. The last thing he wanted to do was research. He’d much rather take a warm bath with Nixie and then hit the hay. “Dew’s group is the same one Nix hangs around with.”
“That could be on purpose.”
It wasn’t entirely out of the realm of possibility. Could be whoever the mastermind behind all of this was, they were lying low to collect intel on Nix. Maybe this person already knew about his connection to Branwen.
“I’ll talk to him about it,” West said.
“Or—”
He gave a single curt shake of his head. “Don’t push your luck, June. Suspecting his friends is already going to upset him, it’ll only be worse if the accusation comes from you. We’re already using Juri as the sacrifice.”
“Nix agreed to that,” Yejun reminded.
West drank the remaining contents of his glass and then sighed. “I’ve got to get to work if I have a hope of finishing anything in time for Lake’s birthday dinner tomorrow.”
“Right,” Yejun groaned, “that. Any chance your dad will cancel?”
None of them were in the mood for a celebration, but considering this was the first birthday in a couple of years that Lake would be present on planet for… “No chance in hell.”
Which meant the four of them were going to have to play happy family and put their grievances aside for a night.
Fantastic.