Chapter 17
Lake didn’t often seek out his cousin, which meant it was already somewhat suspicious when he appeared in the library and approached Beck’s table.
The professor was seated alone, with no one else around in this particular section. It was the perfect setting for a private chat, but that also meant there were limited ways Lake could try luring Beck away from his computer.
The laptop sat open before him, and he was swiping between notes there and on his multi-slate when he lifted his head and noticed Lake.
“Something the matter, Cousin?” Beck’s voice was calm, as per usual.
He always spoke in an almost regal tone, as though he believed himself to be above emotional outbursts and losing his cool.
In many ways, he and Lake were a lot alike, but that was what made this more difficult to wrap Lake’s head around.
“Do you have a minute?” Lake stopped at the other side of the table and casually rested his hands on his hips. He was still in uniform, which meant no pockets, and since small talk had never been his forte, he wasn’t quite sure how to proceed.
“How was practice?” Beck gave his uniform a once-over. “There must be something important for you to come all this way without changing first. What’s going on?”
“Can you help me locate a book?” Some genius he was, he couldn’t come up with a better plan than that? “One on native amphibians.” They were close to that section, but it was enough rows off to the left that he felt he might be able to separate Beck from his computer to find it.
“What an odd request.” Beck rose to his feet. “Why do you need something like that?”
“There’s a sound coming from outside West’s bedroom. He’s been wondering if it might be a type of frog. I think it’s a nocturnal bird.”
“Ah, so you want to rule his theory out and prove him wrong.” Beck hesitated. “So…is this really about West? That’s a poor excuse.”
Lake frowned. “What about West?”
Beck stared at him for a lengthy moment and then nodded and reached to close his laptop.
“Just leave it,” Lake suggested before he could shut the device. “We’ll only be a short while, and it’s right there.”
“I couldn’t possibly do that,” Beck explained. “There’s loads of sensitive information on here.”
Damn it.
“Professor Bardin.” Nix came out from around the stack where he’d been hiding, carrying a book with him. “I’m glad you’re here. I had a question about physics, and Lake mentioned once that it was one of your best subjects. Could you help me quickly?”
Had he? Lake didn’t recall, but his eyes narrowed, not liking the thought of Nix remembering anything about another man, even his cousin.
Nix stopped next to Lake and placed the book on the table, flipping through to a part near the end. Once he was on the page he wanted, he glanced over at Beck expectantly.
What was he playing at?
Beck sighed and then headed around the table, though he didn’t go far, walking just enough to have his back partially facing his device. “I know what you’re both really here for, you can stop pretending.”
Nix cocked his head. “Is that so?”
Lake found himself curious to see where this was going as well. Was he about to confess to his secret rendezvous with his student? It wasn’t like they could get him in trouble for it—at most, Beck would get a slap on the wrist—so he didn’t see a reason his cousin should bother keeping it hidden.
“West talked to you, didn’t he.” It wasn’t a question, but Beck’s response threw them off even more.
Lake carefully kept his expression neutral. “Pardon?”
“I know what I did was wrong, but try to put yourselves in my shoes,” Beck said.
“I realized the other day at the meeting with the Order that I was about to lose my last chance, so I took it. It was obviously spur-of-the-moment, and I’ve been embarrassed by my actions since.
I just didn’t know how to bring it up to West.”
They were silent for a second before Nix seemed to grasp the conversation.
“You confessed to him.” The only sign that bothered him was the slight twitching beneath Nix’s right eye. Otherwise, he kept himself as composed as Lake was. He sounded certain, like he really had known about Beck and West’s talk.
Beck pinched his brow and at least had the good sense to appear apologetic. “It was wrong to threaten him the way I did. I’ve always loved him, and I never intended to use my position within the Order to force him to reciprocate those feelings.”
“So why’d you do it?” A little more heat came through Nix’s tone, but Lake was still caught up in this revelation.
Beck really was in love with West? Since when?
“You,” Beck stated honestly. “Immature of me, I know. But now that West is about to get everything he’s ever wanted, I felt him slipping further away, and I panicked. Not my finest moment.”
“He’s never going to want you back,” Nix told him.
“Never is a long time.”
“Beck,” Lake warned. “You’ve already crossed multiple lines. Is this an apology or not?”
“It is, yes.” He sighed. “How much did he tell you?”
Not a damn thing, which was another problem to be sorted out later.
“We don’t keep secrets from each other,” Lake said. The fact that Beck had felt comfortable threatening West at all was proof he needed to say whatever it took to convince him they were a united front.
“While it’s true I stayed out of the fight for the throne because of him,” Beck began, surprising them further, “I didn’t mean the rest of it. I’ll have your back, of course. Whether West decides to ever come to me or not.”
“Not,” Nix stated. “That’s never going to happen.”
Lake could tell his Songbird was mad and jealous, but how much of that anger was directed at West? He wasn’t as explosive as Yejun, so there was no fear he’d storm off and do anything as serious as stab the boxer, but that didn’t mean Nix couldn’t be vengeful in his own right.
And how did Lake feel? He didn’t like that West had kept such a monumental secret from them, but he’d grown up watching the friendship bloom between West, Yejun, and Beck. The two of them had consistently vouched for him, trying to convince Lake he was a good guy and on their side.
He was on West’s side, that was for sure.
At least Lake hadn’t imagined the distance between him and his cousin. By Beck’s own admission, if not for West, their relationship would no doubt be on even more uneven ground.
“West has the right to make his own decisions,” Beck said.
“He bit me,” Nix reminded without skipping a beat.
“Yes, which is why he’s the one who has the choice. He bit you, but you’ve never returned the claiming mark. That puts him in the higher position. Meaning he can choose to take on another lover at any time.”
Nix turned to Lake. “Is that true?”
“It’s news to me.” Lake had never heard of such nonsense before. “A claiming mark is a claiming mark.”
“And cheating is cheating.” Nix took a single step closer to Beck. “All of you are terrible at apologizing. We’re going to have to implement a class or something once Lake’s finished reorganizing the Order. You just promised to back all of his decisions no matter what, right?”
Beck licked his lips but then nodded.
“Great.” He motioned to Lake. “Let’s get out of here. I don’t feel like learning anymore.”
The two of them left without another word to Beck, and his cousin didn’t attempt to stop them. Lake waited until they were halfway down the front steps before speaking.
“You’re extremely jealous right now,” he pointed out.
“And you’re not?”
“I don’t have romantic feelings for my best friend.”
“Sure, but he lied to the both of us.”
“He kept a secret,” he corrected. “That’s not necessarily a lie.”
Nix glared. “That so? How many secrets are you keeping from me then?”
“None. I tell you everything.” Lake really did. Nix was his greatest confidant. Ironic, considering how they’d started.
He exhaled, clearly trying to get a hold of himself as they headed to the parking lot where Lake’s car had been left. “Aren’t you even a little bit mad?”
“A little,” he admitted. “But we don’t have all of the details yet. Maybe this conversation only just happened, and West hasn’t gotten the chance to tell us.”
“You don’t believe that for a second.” Nix yanked open the passenger side door and stared at him over the roof. “Why are you so…calm?”
“How should I be acting?”
“This is very unlike you, is all. Anytime I do something that displeases you, you throw a fit. Why is West getting a free pass?”
Lake shook his head and grunted. “He isn’t. The reason I’m not overreacting is because you taught me that it only leads to making mistakes. I’ll hear him out first, and if he doesn’t give us satisfactory answers, we can both hit him. How’s that sound?”
“Like you’re suggesting we gang up on a professional boxer and hope for the best.” Nix snorted but got into the car.
For all of their sakes, Lake hoped West had a phenomenal explanation for keeping this from them.
“What about the plan?” he asked as he slid into the driver's seat.
“Oh, mission accomplished.” Nix pulled a small black box from his left pocket and held it up. “I mirrored his device while we were talking. Just needed him to step away so he couldn’t see it downloading on his screen.”
“Is that why you didn’t rush off the second he told you about West?”
“Part of it.” Nix shoved the box out of sight and huffed. “But I also wanted to hear the rest. How about you? Are you nervous about Beck and his influence with the Order now that you’ve heard it’s directly tied to his feelings toward West?”
There was always the chance that West’s rejection would push his cousin to the edge, and that was something Lake now had to take into consideration. He’d never fully trusted his cousin though, so as far as he was concerned, not that much needed to change between them.
“We’ll have to keep an eye on him. Aside from causing trouble, he can’t prevent me from taking the throne at this stage.
” Not that Lake wanted to have to deal with another Bardin trying to turn the Order or the High Council against him right now.
There was already too much going on to add another burden to the list.
“What if he poisoned you?” Nix bit his lower lip when Lake frowned and shrugged. “What? It’s possible.”
“You think he was involved? If he’s in love with West, why would he try to kill him? Even if your theory about Hendrix merely trying to harm him to make a point is true, would Beck even take that risk? Something could have gone wrong with the dosage at any time.”
Nix shifted in his seat to better face him as they drove the short distance to the Roost. “He acted really strangely at the hospital after West had been shot. The second he heard us talking about poisoning, he freaked out and ran off. What if that’s because he was aware of the plan, but thought it was Yejun who was being targeted? ”
“That’s…” It was a decent theory.
Which wasn’t good.
“He never openly backed his father, but if Hendrix had promised to help him be with West, Beck may have worked with him.”
“It’s plausible, but those are a lot of what-ifs, Songbird. You’re assuming he spoke to Hendrix about his feelings at all, but in all our lives, I’ve never once seen the two of them open up with each other.”
“Doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.”
“Doesn’t mean it did either.”
“Well, we’ll know soon enough.” He patted the box in his pocket.
“That’s if Beck kept anything incriminating on his laptop.”
“Of course he did.” Nix gave him a look that screamed he thought he was an idiot.
Lake pulled into the driveway and cut the engine. West’s car was there as well. “All right. What are we doing first, then? Checking the files, or—”
Nix was already out of the car and slamming the door in his face midsentence before he could finish.
“Confronting West it is.”