Chapter 31
“You don’t have to do this.” Nix was stalling.
Pretty terribly too, it seemed. He held up his hands, backing away when Hendrix moved closer.
He’d yet to aim the gun at him, but it was only a matter of time.
“Demitrious isn’t going to follow through on his promise. Think about it, you know how he is.”
“This is all your fault. If you hadn’t gotten in the way, none of this would have happened in the first place.”
“You can’t really be trying to place the blame for this on me?” Maybe stalling was a waste of time. It wasn’t like the others knew he was in trouble here. They’d be searching for him, sure, but for the Haunt, not because they were worried.
Which meant they wouldn’t bother trying to get into closed rooms, expecting them to be occupied by other people enjoying the festivities.
Nix was on his own. He needed to think smarter, appeal to Hendrix’s rational side, not his emotional one.
“Do you really want everyone on the planet knowing what you’ve done?” he asked, and that at least gave Hendrix pause.
“Isn’t it already too late for that? Everyone has seen the video. They know I shot West Corleone. Not even a Royal Consort has the power to turn back time, Mr. Monroe.”
“I’m not talking about that.” He inhaled and went for it.
“I’m talking about what you did last year.
We know that you’re the one who murdered the Emperor and her Royal Consort.
You think the world hates you now? Wait until they find out about that, or about how shooting him wasn’t your first attempt on West’s life. ”
“What the hell are you going on about?”
“If you kill me, they will catch you, and then they’ll release all of the evidence we’ve collected to the authorities. Murdering me is already considered treason, even if I haven’t held the position for long. But when it’s revealed you killed—”
“Wait.” Hendrix held up a hand—it just so happened to be the one with the gun, but he wasn’t aiming it at Nix in any case. “Do you really think you can make up some preposterous story to, what, scare me?”
He seemed…legitimately confused.
Nix thought back on all the evidence they had. “…Have you…ever exchanged emails with Dew before?”
“Who?”
“Dew Seaborn? He was a student here.”
Hendrix pursed his lips. “Oh, is that the one who threw himself off the roof?”
“Yeah.”
“Why would I contact him? I have no clue who that even is, or why you think he’s suddenly important. This is ridiculous—”
Well. Fuck.
“It must have been Demitrious.” Of course, Nix hadn’t really expected a full confession.
There’d been a fifty-fifty chance of one, since it was obvious the guy intended to kill him, but Hendrix’s reaction was too realistic to be an act.
He wouldn’t bother putting in this much effort to convince someone he was going to silence in a moment anyway.
Which only left one other person as a possible suspect. The man who’d tricked Nix into coming into this room in the first place.
Someone who had even more power than Hendrix.
Someone who could hide behind others, because it didn’t appear as though he’d have anything to gain from their deaths.
Someone willing to poison their own son in order to ensure they were never suspected—and it had worked, because not once had any of them stopped to think that perhaps the reason the poisoner hadn’t killed West too was because he’d merely been a cover-up.
They’d all hated Demitrious, but they hadn’t thought him capable of risking the life of his one and only heir.
“That’s it.” Nix was sure of it. “Demitrious must have been the one responsible, but he made it look like it was you.” He didn’t have time to explain everything.
“More of a reason not to work with him. I figured it out, but Lake and the others haven’t.
They won’t let you go for hurting me, and Demitrious must know that.
He’s planning on pinning it all on you!”
Then he’d sweep in and pretend to help pick up the pieces. While things were crazy, he’d try to worm his way back into Lake’s good graces and “help” him adjust to being emperor. Nix could see it now. With him gone—
Wait, no.
Nix being pushed aside wasn’t enough.
That’s what Demitrious had meant when he’d mentioned Beck. He was going to have Beck take West away.
Then what about Yejun? If Demitrious was willing to get rid of his own son, there wasn’t a chance he was going to risk leaving Yejun behind.
“He wants to alienate Lake.” He’d get him all alone, with no other support system, and ensure Lake only had him to rely on. “He’s using you now to do that, just like how he’ll use you to take the fall for the poison.”
Hendrix, to his credit, appeared to be at least mildly disturbed, but it was clear he didn’t want to believe it. “Is this how you seduced the Demons? You convinced them of a bunch of nonsense?”
“It isn’t nonsense. I can prove it. We just have to talk to one of them.”
Hendrix aimed the blaster at him and moved forward until the barrel of the weapon was pressed against the center of Nix’s forehead. “Don’t even think about touching your multi-slate. I know what you’re doing. You’re trying to tip them off.”
“They’ll find out it was you no matter what.”
“Demitrious will protect me.”
“That man hasn’t protected anyone other than himself his entire life. Use your brain. Did Beck get all of his intelligence from his mother?”
Hendrix sputtered, cheeks turning red. The second his hand visibly shook, Nix acted.
He latched onto Hendrix’s wrist and shoved his arm up toward the ceiling, twirling to the side in the same move.
The blaster went off at the same moment his elbow connected with the older man’s gut.
Then he slammed his heel down on Hendrix’s right foot, turned and, while he was hunched over, kneed him in the chin.
Hendrix’s head whipped back from the move, and Nix was able to pry the blaster from his hand.
Nix fired off a shot, but he missed. It was enough to send Hendrix to the ground though.
At the sound of the door opening behind him, Nix spun, moving to situate himself against the wall so he could keep the groaning Hendrix and whoever was entering in sight.
Like hell was he about to go down without a fight, especially not now that he finally knew the truth..