Chapter 20
“Come straight home afterward,” Lake’s firm voice came through the earbud in Nix’s right ear. “No exceptions, Songbird.”
He rolled his eyes as he headed up the steps to the dorm building where Juri stayed whenever he didn’t feel like going back to his apartment. The fact the guy had asked to meet there was the only reason the overprotective Imperial currently talking Nix’s ear off had allowed him to go.
With only a day left until Demons Passing, everyone was busy preparing for the holiday, including the Club Essential and everyone at Foxglove Grove University. Classes were still in session today, and since he was already on campus and close by Juri’s, he’d been able to convince Lake to let him meet up with his friend.
“I’m about to head into practice,” Lake continued, “but I’m keeping my multi-slate on me. The stadium is only six minutes from Juri’s dorm. I can make it in three.”
“It’ll be fine,” Nix reassured him, stopping to close his wet umbrella when he made it to the entrance of the building. “We aren’t going anywhere. He asked me to stop by to talk about my cousin, that’s all.”
“Why?”
“I told you. There’s something going on between him and Briant.”
“You said you think there might be something,” he corrected. “Text Yejun when you’re done. He’ll come pick you up.”
“Who’s checking in on West?”
“Beck is getting him,” Lake said. “They should be on their way from the hospital now. He’ll be there waiting for us, so don’t spend too long with Ferd.”
“Got it. We’re just going to talk a bit and then I’ll head out.”
“Nix.”
“I’ll call Yejun, wait for him, and then head out. Jeez. I got it.”
“You’re the one who keeps mentioning the poisoner,” Lake reminded. “If it’s true he hasn’t given up yet, you’re the most likely target. He gets to you and he has something to use against us.”
Nix entered the lobby of the dorm and turned toward the far left corner. A black security camera with a blinking red light was tucked high up and he waved at it. “Which is why I agreed to allow West to spy on me, didn’t I?”
West had hacked into the school's system and was using his multi-slate to keep tabs on Nix as he moved about campus. He’d been doing it all day, insisting on it when Nix decided he wouldn’t skip any classes. The wound in his side was practically healed already, but he’d asked Beck to pick him up and help check him out so he could pay closer attention to Nix on his device.
Nix thought about his conversation with Yejun as he headed up the stairs, feeling a little bad for the professor. If Beck really did have a crush on West, wasn’t it rubbing salt in the wound making him witness his love interest obsessively stalk his boyfriend on camera?
His multi-slate dinged and he turned his wrist to check the screen, seeing there was a new message from West.
Hellhound: Looking hot, babe. Keep it up.
Nightingale: That’s my line. Didn’t you promise me something once you were better?
Hellhound: Tonight. That ass of yours is mine. We can make the others watch again. This time, I’ll make you come all over Lake as payback for the mess the two of you made, how’s that sound?
Nightingale: We’ll see. Maybe you’re all talk.
Hellhound: Challenge accepted.
“Who are you texting?” Lake sounded annoyed. He must have heard the clicking as Nix had typed.
“West.” He stopped outside of Juri’s room and knocked. “I’m here. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Remember—”
“Yeah, yeah,” Nix made a big show of pointing to his earbud and rolling his eyes when Juri opened the door and saw him, “I got it. Don’t go anywhere. Don’t gossip with Juri about how big your dick is.”
“I’m coming to get you right now.”
“Wait,” he laughed. “I’m joking, I’m joking. And I’m hanging up.”
“Nix.”
“Yeah?”
“Be careful.”
“You too.” He ended the call and slipped the earbud out, clicking it back into place in the device at his wrist as he stepped into the room. “Sorry about that.”
“One of them?” Juri asked, shutting the door behind him before moving toward the bed. He motioned for Nix to make himself comfortable, and then sat on his desk chair nearby.
“Yeah.” He glanced around the small space. “This a single?”
“Decided I wanted privacy.” Juri shrugged. “Grady has asked me to move into your dorm though, since you’re no longer using it.”
He wouldn’t be returning either, not with Demons Passing right around the corner. Nix should really make a point of collecting his things and filing his move with the school, that way Grady could apply for a new roommate.
“I can—”
Juri shook his head. “I don’t plan on taking him up on the offer, I was only saying.”
“Oh.”
They settled into an uncomfortable silence for a moment that honestly threw Nix off. Conversation had always been easy with the other guy in the past. The only reason he could see for this awkwardness was…
“Is there something you wanted to talk to me about?” Nix asked. “Did something happen?”
Nervously, Juri rubbed the palms of his hands on his thighs. “I thought I had this all planned out in my head, but now that it’s actually happening, I’m finding it more difficult. I don’t know where to start.”
This seemed serious, way more so than the lighthearted conversation he’d thought they’d be having about a potential crush on Briant.
“Is everything okay?” Nix’s brow furrowed. “Is it about the club? Do you regret rejoining?” Maybe he could talk to Lake about getting Juri let off the hook if that were the case. Surely as the emperor, he’d be able to do something like that. “If that’s it—”
“It’s not,” Juri said. “But thank you. You’re always putting other people first, Nix, which is why this is so difficult to do. It’s too late to turn back though, I really need you to understand that. I did try. I went over every other possible scenario in my head a dozen times, but there’s just no way around this I’m afraid.”
“Going to be honest here, you’re starting to freak me out. What is it?”
“I’ve never told anyone this before.”
Oh, was this about a personal secret? He understood what carrying those felt like. In fact, it’d been Juri who had helped unburden Nix in the beginning when he’d been trying to piece together who Iris and Branwen were. As soon as he’d made that discovery, he’d run into the other guy on campus, and he’d sat with Nix, a relative stranger at the time, and listened to him talk in riddles.
The idea of getting to return that favor and be a shoulder for Juri swept away any discomfort he’d been feeling. Nix resituated himself on the edge of the bed so he could be a bit closer. “You can confide in me, Juri. We’re friends.”
“It happened a couple of months before you enrolled here,” Juri began, clearly struggling with formulating his thoughts. “It was an accidental discovery, really, not something I went looking for or even had a clue about. My brother—you remember I’ve mentioned him before?”
Nix nodded, but quietly waited for Juri to continue.
“Well, at the beginning of the summer I was contacted by Greta police.” That was on the other side of the planet. “They’d found a body in a marsh and there was some indication that the body might be my brother, Joel.”
“Oh gods, I’m so sorry!”
“It wasn’t him,” Juri said. “But before we knew that, they asked for a DNA sample to be sent over. I was going to fly, but the sample could reach them quicker, so I went down to the local station and had it done. Turns out, the body wasn’t my brother after all, but a friend of his. Joel went in for questioning and offered up a sample of his own to test against the body.”
“He was a suspect?”
“Very briefly. My brother couldn’t hurt a fly. That’s why he made for such a terrible Demon. Anyway. I thought that was the last of it, until I received the reports in the mail. I think they meant to send them to Joel, like maybe he’d requested it for some reason, but I ended up with copies as well.”
Nix wasn’t following, and it must have shown on his face.
“I’ll get to the point,” Juri stated. “Turns out, my brother isn’t my full brother. The guy I grew up with, looked up to, thought I knew…He’s only a half-sibling.”
“Your parents didn’t tell you?”
“I don’t even know if my dad is aware honestly.” He ran a hand through his hair and smiled bitterly. “He probably does though and they just kept it from me.”
“Why would they do that?”
“To protect me, most likely.”
He started to see where this could be going. “You found out who your biological dad is and he sucks, doesn’t he.”
Juri grunted. “Pretty much. I wish that was all of it, but it isn’t.”
“There’s more?” Nix dropped a hand to Juri’s knee and patted. “Sorry, man. It must really suck to discover you’ve been lied to all your life.”
“It changed how I saw my family,” he admitted. “And how I view myself. That’s been the hardest part, I think. Having to reevaluate who I am as a person, the lengths I’ll go to for justice, stuff like that.”
“Justice?” Against his parents? “You haven’t tried talking to your mom yet?”
“No, but I went through her things. That’s how I discovered who my real dad is.”
“Have you reached out to him?”
“He’s dead. He’s been dead for a while.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You don’t have to keep saying that,” Juri told him. “It’s not like any of this is your fault, and you’re not going to be feeling much pity for me once I’m done explaining things.”
He pulled back, confused all over again. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
What did Juri’s revelation have to do with Nix?
“I’ve harbored a lot of resentment because of my brother and the way he was treated. How he chose to run away instead of face his problems and maybe make a difference. I felt like dropping out of the club was the only way I could help keep the peace at home, since my parents were so desperate to get Joel back, they decided they were going to pull back with club duties. It didn’t work. Joel doesn’t care what they do with their lives. He wants nothing to do with us, and me even less than before.”
So, his brother had discovered they were only half-siblings and took that fact out on Juri? Used it as an excuse to put more distance between them?
“I know what it’s like to think you know a relative, only to discover you never really knew them at all,” Nix said. “If your brother is going to act like you aren’t good enough for him, that’s his loss.”
“He’s the one not good enough for me,” Juri stated, a bit of venom slipping into his tone, surprising Nix. “I have no use for a coward who won’t take the chance to change things for the better when they’re presented with the opportunity. If he’d stuck around and fought back, maybe things would be different here. Maybe Lake and his people wouldn’t be ruling the school through fear mongering.”
How had they gotten on the topic of Lake?
“Maybe you wouldn’t have been forced into accepting a life you never wanted.” Juri’s gaze landed on Nix’s neck and he scowled. “Those monsters. I can’t believe they did that to you. You’re an innocent person who had nothing to do with the club before now, and they had to pull you into this nightmare out of pure selfishness.”
A month or two ago, Nix might have agreed, but now…
“It’s not exactly like that, Juri,” he began, only for Juri to speak over him.
“Briant and I are in agreement that you’ve been brainwashed. You’re not thinking clearly because they’ve subjected you to all sorts of heinous things and programmed your body into wanting them. No one should have to live a life where they’re passed around between three spoiled brats who are incapable of understanding the word no.”
“Briant?” Nix stiffened. “What does my cousin have to do with this? Were you talking about me behind my back?” He understood the need to vent, but this sounded like it’d been more than that…Like they’d come to conclusions about him and his life with only the small amount of information they’d been able to glean on their own.
“I just want you to know, I really do care about you, Nix. I’ve never lied about that. I genuinely want to be your friend and, I hope, once this is all settled and done, and you get the help that you need, you’ll want that again too.”
He stood, not liking where this was going, and took a single step toward the door. “I think that’s enough for today. I don’t know what I did to upset you, Juri, but you’re making me really uncomfortable. I’m going to—”
Juri slapped his wrist away when Nix lifted it, about to contact Yejun.
“Hey! What the fuck is your problem?!”
“The Demons are,” Juri said. “The fact that you’re so willing to bounce on their dicks is. Wake up, Nix! They don’t love you! And I’m going to prove it.”
He froze. “If you touch them I’ll—”
“It’s not them you should be worrying about.” Juri turned and tugged open one of the desk drawers, spinning back before Nix could even consider bolting. “Here.”
It took him longer than it should have to process what he was looking at, but once he recognized the tiny cloud sticker in the corner of the multi-slate Juri was holding out, he felt a wave of cold wash over him.
“Why do you have Briant’s multi-slate?” His cousin had texted him letting him know he’d made it home last week. There’d been nothing strange about the message, it’d sounded one hundred percent like Briant, even had his favorite emoji added at the end.
Nix had Juri by the collar, shoved up against the desk in a flash, the device on the ground at their feet. “What the fuck did you do to my cousin?!”
“Calm—”
“Don’t tell me to calm down!” He swung, connecting with the side of Juri’s face, the impact loud enough to echo in the tiny room.
Juri touched his cheek protectively. “See? You’re only proving my point. Briant talked a lot about you, Nix. About who you are. The guy he knows is reserved and kind. He’d never hit someone. The Demons have done this to you, turned you into this explosive thing that reacts without thinking.”
Nix was so done listening to this crap. “Tell me what you did to Briant, or I won’t stop at a single hit.”
“He’s fine,” Juri said. “I won’t hurt him.”
“Unless?” Nix filled in the blanks. He shoved Juri away and started pacing. “You’re such an asshole. Pretending to be my friend! Betraying my trust all this time! Using my cousin?!”
Gods, what if Briant was in on it?
No.
No, he would never.
But…Branwen…
No.
Nix growled. Now he was making him second guess himself!
“Just tell me what you want already,” he snapped. He needed to know that Briant was safe and then he needed to get the hell out of here before he did something he’d regret.
Something Yejun level bad.
“I wasn’t lying,” Juri insisted. “I am your friend. I just want what’s best for you.”
“Bullshit!”
“I knew it was going to be hard for you to see reason. Eventually, once you’ve gotten the help that you need, you will, I promise. But for now, I’m just going to have to take control of the situation.”
“What situation?! You haven’t told me a damn thing! Forget this.” Nix lifted his wrist a second time, stepping out of reach.
“If you tell one of the Demons,” Juri’s cold tone stopped him short, “I’ll kill Briant.”
He stared at him, trying to connect the person standing in front of him with the one he’d thought he’d known all this time.
“I need your help, Nix.”
“Yeah, that’s so not going to happen.”
“I think it is. You want Briant to stay alive, right? So do I. I wish I didn’t have to involve him, I really do, but Demons Passing is tomorrow, and sadly that means we’re all out of time.”
“Where is Briant?”
“I’ll tell you, once you’ve helped me.”
“With?”
“Taking down the Demons.”
Nix snorted. “I’m not doing that.”
“You think you care about them, sure. But we both know you legitimately care for your cousin. Are you really going to sacrifice him for their sake?”
“You won’t hurt Briant,” he was bluffing, but he had to try something. “You’re not that type of person, Juri. You said it yourself. My cousin and I had nothing to do with this world. Briant is innocent. If you do something to him, you’re no better than the people you’re claiming to want to stop.”
Juri nodded solemnly. “Sometimes we have to do the wrong things to get the right results. I’m not proud of it, and I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to both of you, but this is what needs to happen, Nix. It’s what’s best for everyone.”
“You’re insane.”
“I’d argue with you over that, but who knows? I wouldn’t exactly refer to Lake as sane.”
The room was suddenly way too small and it was getting hard to breathe, but Nix forced himself to remain focused. “What?”
“You’re smart,” Juri reminded. “You can put the pieces together on your own.”
“No.”
“Afraid so.” He snorted. “Trust me. I’m not happy about it either.”
Hendrix wouldn’t shut up about Lake’s parents and their affairs.
Lake had confirmed himself those actually happened. That both of his parents had other lovers, but…
“You said it was your mom who cheated,” he pointed out.
“It was.”
“Lake said his mother is the one who fell for someone else.”
“Maybe he just never noticed his dad had as well.” Juri shrugged, clearly not caring about the details. “All I know is—”
“You and Lake have the same father.”
It was crazy, but it wasn’t the most important part here. Not the driving force behind Juri’s actions. He’d never stoop so low as to kidnap Briant and use him as blackmail against Nix simply because he found out he was Lake’s brother.
“You’re after the throne.”
Juri really was insane.