Chapter 17
By the time Yejun and Beck arrived at the hospital, West was already in surgery.
“I’ve called Lake,” Nix said, wringing his hands as he paced outside the closed doors leading to the operating rooms. “He’s on his way.”
“What did the doctors say?” Beck moved toward the doors but Nix pulled him back.
“You can’t go in there. They’re working on him now. He passed out just before we got here and they say he lost a lot of blood.”
“He’s going to be all right though, right?” Yejun came up to Nix’s side.
“The paramedics who looked him over in the ambulance are pretty sure it missed anything vital, but they couldn’t give me definitive answers.” Nix was pale despite his best efforts to remain calm.
“Hey,” he rested a hand on his shoulder, careful not to touch the healing bite mark on his neck, “it’s okay. This is nothing. He’s been through worse and came out of it fine.”
“I don’t know how you managed to keep it together that time.” Nix grabbed onto his wrist and held. “I’ve only just started liking the guy and I’m freaking out I might lose him. No wonder you took all this fear and anger out on Iris. I want to run Hendrix over with a hovercar right now.”
“What is he talking about?” Beck frowned at the two of them. “Did Iris do something to West in the past?”
Nix flinched, realizing his mistake but Yejun didn’t blame him for losing his cool. As much as he wished otherwise, out of the three of them, West was the one Nix was currently the closest to. The one he felt safest with.
West was more skilled at toeing the line than either June or Lake. At finding that sweat spot between pleasure and pain, and pushing Nix there. He got what he wanted out of their Firebird, but always ensured Nix didn’t leave the encounter feeling like it was one sided.
He used Nix, but never left him feeling used.
Having that, having someone who could take what had to be a terrifying mess of a situation and give Nix something to look forward to must be part of what was keeping Nix going.
He’d been through so much already, the fear of having that security blanket pulled away from him was probably sending him tail spinning. The only reason he was able to keep such a collected outward appearance was due to his impeccable survival instincts. Nix rarely showed his weaknesses to others.
“Yejun,” Beck’s tone hardened. “Tell me.”
“It’s nothing,” he lied, only for the professor to swear—which was very unlike Beck. “Whoa. Calm down. Even if something did happen between them, clearly he was fine afterward. And he’ll be fine now. What we should be focused on is what to do about Hendrix in the meantime. West will want to know we have a plan as soon as he’s fixed up.”
June understood that Beck had a crush, and he felt bad about keeping secrets, but there was no way he could speak about the poisoning. That was a secret the four of them would be taking to the grave.
Beck was nice and he liked him a lot.
But he wasn’t one of them.
Maybe if he’d opened his big mouth up months ago and confessed his feelings to West, he could have been, but the second Lake brought Nix into the mix, it was game over for everyone else. It’d taken Yejun and West a bit longer to reach that conclusion, the one Lake had obviously had from the start, but they’d gotten there eventually, and now there was no turning back.
Nix was it for them. All three of them.
“Did Iris try to hurt West?” Beck wouldn’t drop it, getting angrier than June had ever seen him before.
“What does it matter?” Nix cut in between them. “She’s dead now anyway.”
Beck stared at him for a long, tense moment, and then without another word, he spun on his heels and took off. He practically walked straight into Lake and Demitrious on his way, not stopping to apologize or acknowledge them at all. He was acting like a man with a mission, but Yejun couldn’t imagine anywhere else he could possibly be other than here, waiting for news about West.
“Is he off to find his father?” Demitrious asked as soon as he and Lake were within earshot, and Yejun had to admit that wasn’t a bad guess. “He’ll have to find him. Lots of people are already looking, including the Order.”
Yejun and Nix both frowned, that last part catching their attention.
“Video of him shooting West has circulated all over the internet,” Lake explained. His brow was pinched, the only indicator that he was worried for their best friend.
Still, he looked a hell of a lot more concerned than West’s dad.
“People are cherry-picking that scene specifically and leaving out the fight that took place beforehand,” Lake continued. “It’s making it look even worse for Hendrix. Like he attacked West unprompted.”
“Although, the part where you boys race into his defense is great stuff,” Demitrious grinned, glancing at the closed doors leading to the operating rooms before turning back to them.
Nix stiffened at Yejun’s side, and he latched onto his hand to silently coax him into relaxing. They’d already fought with one Order member today, and look where that’d gotten them.
“It’s helped to solidify your social standing,” Demitrious, completely oblivious to the seething Nix at Yejun’s side, kept spewing his nonsense. “They’re calling you the four Demons of Foxglove now. Congratulations, Phoenix.”
“Maybe we should go sit down,” Yejun suggested, risking crossing Nix’s boundaries by settling a palm against his lower back. They’d only just agreed to try and work through their issues, but the Firebird had made it very clear he wasn’t ready to be intimate with him in any sense of the word. Still, he needed to defuse this situation before—
“I can’t tell you how relieved I was to hear you weren’t there, Lake,” Demitrious said dramatically. “Can you imagine the uproar there would be if an Order member had shot the future emperor?”
“You are,” Nix’s voice shook with barely controlled rage, “quite literally, the worst.”
Demitrious tilted his head, staring at Nix as though seeing him for the first time. “Pardon?”
“I thought it was Hendrix, but nope. It’s you. The worst part is you’re too stupid to even realize it, but one day you’re going to wake up alone and wonder how the hell you got to be a sad, bitter old man in a big empty house, and I sincerely hope you think of me and this conversation then.”
Yejun blew out a breath and set his hands on his hips. Well. He’d tried.
“Your son was just shot,” Nix wasn’t finished, “but all you care about is kissing Lake’s ass. Is that a requirement or something? You have to be a creepy, self-centered loser in order to win a seat on the Order?”
Demitrious definitely wasn’t confused any longer, his eyes narrowed into slits as he stared down his nose at Nix. “I can see why Hendrix hit him.”
Of all the things to choose to say…
“Repeat that,” Lake growled, “I fucking dare you.”
Demitrious blinked at him.
“Do it,” he insisted, “so I can let June break your kneecaps.”
“Yes,” Yejun cracked his knuckles, “I’ve been dreaming about that for years.”
Since they were doing this, might as well go all in.
West’s father sputtered at them and actually took a step back. “What on Tulniri has gotten into you boys?” His gaze turned, homing in on Nix once more. “You. It’s you, isn’t it. You’re why—”
“Slap me.” Nix advanced closer and turned his head, presenting his cheek. “Go for it. Worked out real well for the last guy.”
The smirk he gave Demitrious was positively evil.
Yejun felt his cock twitch at the sight.
“You should run along and warn the Order,” Lake stated, “that if you don’t find Hendrix and ensure he’s properly punished for what he’s done, we will, and we won’t just stop with him. It’s time the Imperial family regains control and teaches the club members who truly owns this planet.”
“Spoiler alert,” Yejun chimed in, “it’s not you.”
“Are you threatening me right now? Me ?” Demitrious sputtered. “After all that I’ve done for you? You ungrateful—”
“You insult my mate,” Lake forced the older man back until he hit the wall, “and I can do a hell of a lot worse than simply threaten you. Spread the word about that as well. My future Royal Consort is off limits.”
“You aren’t emperor yet.”
Lake snorted. “What? Going to try and side with Hendrix now that your pride has been dented? Go ahead. Try it. I’d say it’s fairly safe to assume the entire planet is on my side after they’ve witnessed him shoot a college student in cold blood. West was unarmed.”
“He’s a professional fighter! That makes him a weapon!”
“Aw, so you are aware of how talented your son is,” Nix drawled, heavy on the sarcasm. “Never would have guessed it.”
Lake slapped a hand down onto Demitrious’s shoulder, the corner of his mouth curving in a mocking partial grin as he pretended to wipe lint off of the older man’s jacket. “Despite this unpleasant talk, nothing has to change between us. You help ensure I get the throne, and once I do, I approve your company’s requested trade routes. The Speck Belt, correct?”
Demitrious swallowed and then gave a curt nod, clearly trying to regain some composure to save face. “Yes, that’s right.”
“Consider it a done deal.” Lake patted him and then took a pointed step backward. “But only if Hendrix is found. He hurt one of us. He doesn’t get to walk away from that.”
“He doesn’t get to walk at all,” Yejun added, settling his gaze on Demitrious’s knees for a lengthy pause that had the older man stiffening all over again. “For every pint of blood West spilled, I’ll make sure Hendrix gives two.”
“Taking the hand that fired the gun should suffice,” Nix surprised them all by suggesting instead.
“You hear that?” Lake nodded toward Nix. “My mate wants Hendrix’s hand on a platter. What’s your response to that, Demitrious?”
He adjusted his dress shirt and cleared his throat. “When it comes to Hendrix needing to be punished, we’re on the same page. I’ll go now and ensure all of the club's resources are being utilized in the hunt. It’s only been forty or so minutes since the shooting. He couldn’t have gotten far.”
It wasn’t lost on them that Demitrious didn’t plan on sticking around to ensure West was safe, but none of them stopped him as he started for the other end of the hall with clipped steps and his head held far too high.
“Are you all right?” Lake reached for Nix, taking his chin to tip his head to the side. The red mark across his cheek where Hendrix had slapped him had long since faded, but the black eye from where his goon of a guard had gotten in a cheap shot was glaringly obvious. “I’ll kill them all.”
“It’s fine.” Nix pushed his arm away.
“What happened?” Yejun asked. “Grady found me at Café Soul and yelled something about needing to find you at the library due to some emergency before running out.”
“That must have been when he went to get West,” Nix supposed.
So Grady must know that things between Nix and him were strained, and for the comfort of his friend, kept searching until he found another Demon he could send to Nix for help. Yejun was going to have to reevaluate the way he viewed the Firebird’s friends. Clearly, there were some good ones worth noting.
“We came out of the library and Hendrix was waiting for me with two of his guards,” Nix began, launching into a recount of the events leading up to when Yejun had arrived swinging.
“Basically, you’re telling us you managed to insult not one, but two high-standing members of the club,” Lake stated.
“Who also happen to be on the Order,” Yejun added, letting out a low whistle. “Gotta say, I’m impressed, baby. I’ve been wanting to tell those two off forever, and you actually did it.”
“He put himself at risk by doing so,” Lake reminded tersely.
“Scold me later,” Nix waved his surly mood off. “It’d not like I can turn back time and do it differently anyway.”
“Songbird.”
“What?” He ran a hand through his hair. “Don’t you think I feel bad enough about it as it is? If it weren’t for me losing my temper, West would never have—”
“Hey,” Yejun stopped him. “No. No part of this is your fault.”
“He’s right,” Lake agreed. “This is all on Hendrix.” Something seemed to occur to him and he turned to Yejun with a frown. “Since when did he carry around a blaster?”
“I don’t know.” But it was a good question. “If he was packing, why bother with the security detail? Actually,” he crossed his arms, “I can’t really think of a reason he’d need those guys. Has there been a recent threat made against him?”
“I’ll have someone look into it,” Lake said.
“Yeah, who?” Yejun pointed toward the doors. “Our hacker is currently out of commission, and it’s not like we can trust just anyone with this.”
Lake gave him a look like he thought he was the biggest dumbass on the planet, and then set his sights on Nix.
Which, okay, yeah.
Yejun was the biggest dumbass on the planet.
Sue him.
“I can try and do it using West’s setup at the Roost,” Nix said, easily understanding what they wanted from him. “But I’m not leaving until we’ve heard from the doctors that West is going to be fine and I’ve seen him for myself.”
“None of us are going anywhere,” Lake confirmed.
Hendrix and the rest could wait.