Chapter 34
Nix wouldn’t let any of them touch him until he’d gotten a full explanation. After spending an hour with the police at Hunters Cross, where they were each questioned separately, Lake had finally pulled rank and insisted they be allowed to go home.
Demitrious and Hendrix were arrested, and the High Council had been tasked with overseeing their containment, so there was no chance of either of them slipping away.
Not that they believed either of them had any allies left after tonight. Even if others were working with them before, the video West had sent out to every device within a mile would have those people distancing real quick.
Now they were finally home, and Nix was sitting in the armchair waiting for a complete play-by-play of everything he’d missed.
Mostly, he was wondering why Beck had come with them, though.
“Who wants to start?” West took control of the situation and dropped down onto the couch.
The others remained standing, Lake by the fireplace, and Yejun by the chair opposite Nix’s.
Beck sort of just…hovered at the end of the couch where West was sitting.
“Seems like you two have the most to tell,” Lake stated, glancing between West and Yejun. “How did you get that injury on your leg, June? It was made by a knife, not a blaster.”
“Noticed that, did you?” He let out a whistle and tapped the side of his thigh, which had been bandaged by professionals at the scene. “Good thing Demitrious isn’t as keen.”
“He brought a knife to the party.” Nix shrugged when they all looked at him. “What? He gave me one too.” He lifted the hem of his pants and pulled the hidden blade out, holding it up so they could see before tossing it onto the empty space where the coffee table used to be.
He fucking hated that piece of furniture.
Actually, this was the first time he’d really sat in the living room since. Funny, considering he hadn’t thought about it at all. If not for the clatter of the weapon hitting the floorboards instead of a table, making it obvious, he probably never would have.
“Would you like to move to the kitchen?” Lake suggested, no doubt noticing the way his eyes had lingered too long on that spot.
“No.” There was no way he was inviting Beck into a comfortable space. He didn’t deserve to be there, even if it was sort of apparent he hadn’t done whatever it was Demitrious had ordered him to do. “Here is fine.”
“You gave him a knife but not me?” West turned to Yejun.
“You can defend yourself,” June replied.
“Nix can defend himself, too.” He beamed at him proudly. “Heard you used some sick moves on Hendrix to disarm him and take the upper hand. You must have had one hell of a teacher.”
“You are his self-defense teacher,” Lake drawled, crossing his arms when West laughed.
“That I am.”
“So,” Lake turned back to Yejun. “You stabbed yourself? Is that what you’re saying?”
“Well, I wasn’t going to shoot myself.”
“Why’d you have to hurt yourself at all?” Nix asked.
June sobered. “Rase cornered me and held me at gunpoint. Said he was getting payback for what I did to him.”
“Wasn’t he in prison for sexual assault?” West cocked his head, thinking. “I swear I heard there was a trial.”
“I heard he got a job on the other side of the planet,” Nix said.
“That was just a cover-up from his family.”
“We let him keep his cover story,” Yejun explained. “It seemed like we’d sort of done enough to the poor guy.”
“The poor guy,” he stated, “who you just said was in prison serving time for hurting other people?”
“West shot him in the end, didn’t he?” Yejun pointed at West who glared at him before turning to Nix and chuckling awkwardly.
“I swear, it was either him or June,” West told him.
“Rase was about to take me out, but West and Beck arrived just in time to distract him long enough for me to fight for the blaster.” Yejun lowered onto the armrest, taking some of the weight off his injured leg. It was the only sign he was in any amount of pain.
“I took the opportunity to shoot him in the back during the struggle.” West shrugged. “Trust me, he deserved it.”
“What about after?” Lake twirled a finger in the air, silently ordering them to speed up the story.
Nix was with him.
“Beck explained that Demitrious was the real poisoner,” West said. “And that us pushing him out of the Order had set him off on another diabolical scheme. The only way to regain his seat at the table was if he could convince Lake to forgive him.”
“He had no clue you guys knew that the emperor and Royal Consort had been murdered,” Beck added.
“There was no chance of Lake ever giving him a second chance with the Yejun and I around, so he decided to get rid of us. We figured he was going to come back to check and make sure Rase got the job done, so we set a trap for him. The cameras took a long time. We had to be sure to set them up somewhere he wouldn’t notice. ”
“Then we left Yejun in the room and went to hide in the one across from his,” Beck picked up the story. “We’d only just gone in when we heard you two coming.”
“I texted June and told him, so he’d fire the gun and make it believable.”
“No reason I would stick around if I’d killed Rase sooner,” Yejun explained. “I stabbed myself in case you insisted I go with you when I warned you about Nix. Which, by the way,” he turned a glare on Beck, “I didn’t fucking know was real.”
“Me either,” West growled. “You made it sound like it was an excuse to get Lake to leave.”
“I honestly didn’t know anything about my father being here,” Beck swore. “He seemed the most believable person to mention, so I did. Perhaps Demitrious didn’t want to risk telling me because he knows how rocky our relationship is.”
“Nix could have gotten hurt,” West snapped.
“Lake got to him in time. Isn’t that what matters?”
“Actually,” Lake drew their attention his way, “Nix had already handled the situation by the time I arrived.” He stared Beck down. “You should probably remember that, cousin.”
“There won’t be a next time,” Beck told them all, glancing around at each of them. “I never intended to harm Nix.”
“Fine.” Nix waved the topic off. They could be here forever trying to figure out if he was being honest or not, and for what? “Why was your plan to send Lake away?”
“I needed Demitrious to confess and be caught by the cameras,” Yejun said.
“I knew if he’d left Rase to kill me, he’d want to try it himself after seeing Rase had failed.
I just had to make it easy for him, that way he wouldn’t pass up the chance.
So I emptied the chamber of the gun and pretended to fall into him, giving him the perfect opportunity to snatch it. ”
“Better than taking the risk he was carrying his own piece.” West nodded at him, giving away they hadn’t had time to discuss that part ahead of time, and it’d been purely Yejun’s quick thinking that had prevented them from having to find out.
“Him giving away that he’d poisoned the late emperor was really just the cherry on top.
” Yejun went on to explain they’d been trying to get him to confess he was responsible for Rase being there, thinking that could give them enough for the police to arrest him now.
Then, afterward, they would present the rest of the evidence proving he’d ordered the poison.
“So it was really him.” Nix sat back in the plush chair. “It’s really over? Like, actually? For good this time.”
“Demitrious must have left that fake email on Dew’s computer as a backup plan,” West filled them in. “He always intended to use Hendrix as his scapegoat if he was ever caught. Using his connections to free him from the transport and have him brought to campus tonight was his final plan.”
“He would have pinned all of this on my dad and then taken him out so he couldn’t tell the truth,” Beck sighed.
“Hendrix may not be as malicious as we first believed,” Lake reminded coldly, “but he still tried murdering my Royal Consort. He will be tried for treason alongside Demitrious.”
“I would expect nothing less, cousin.”
They stared at each other a moment and then Lake offered, “If you’d like to see him one last time before then, I can arrange that.”
“Thank you, but anything that needed to be said between us has already missed its timing.”
“If you change your mind, let me know.” Lake’s multi-slate started ringing almost as soon as he finished that sentence, and he scowled down at the number. “I’ve handed over copies of the evidence to both the High Council and the Order. This is Kori now.”
“Take it,” Nix said, but almost as soon as he walked off to answer, Yejun and West’s devices both rang.
“It’s my sister,” Yejun told them.
“The Order. Probably want my help getting into my dad’s shit.” West stood but looked to Nix before doing anything else.
“Go ahead.” Nix laughed as soon as his multi-slate went off. “Looks like I have to take a call as well.”
Yejun wandered into the kitchen, but West hesitated, glancing between Nix and Beck before a nod from Nix sent him out onto the patio.
“Hey, Briant,” Nix popped the earbud attachment into his ear and greeted his cousin.
“Nix, I’m still at the party. Everything has settled back to normal here.
But everyone is talking about Demitrious and Hendrix.
” Briant had shown up at Hunters Cross while Nix and the Demons had been with the police.
Everything had been explained, but Nix had asked him to remain behind so he could listen to gossip and be sure no one was saying anything negative about Lake.
Really, it was just an excuse to get some alone time with them, and an explanation. Nix knew Briant would worry if he’d heard the whole story in detail.
“Thanks. Hold on a second.” Nix got to his feet and made to leave, pausing as though it were an afterthought. He turned back to Beck. “I know you had the chance to try and steal him tonight, and you didn’t take it. That must sting.”
“I’m not a criminal,” Beck replied.
Nix snorted. “For the sake of your help tonight, I’m willing to pretend I believe you when you say you had no idea my life was in danger.
” He took a threatening step closer, voice dropping an octave.
“But if you ever, for even a second, forget that West is mine, I’ll take you out the worst way imaginable. ”
“Yeah? How is that?”
He forced the corner of his mouth to curl in a mimic of the cruel look he’d witnessed Yejun wield. The one that still sometimes haunted his dreams, and not in the good way. Then, in a tone that rivaled the frost he’d heard coming off Lake’s tongue, he replied, “By getting West to pull the trigger.”
Nix would never really, but Beck didn’t have to know that, and if the way he froze was any indicator, Beck fully believed he would ask West to do something like that for him.
And that West would do it.
“I understand West is happy with you.” Beck dipped low into a respectable bow. “I’ll respect your boundaries, Royal Consort.”
West turned around and caught the scene through the glass door, and his eyes lifted to meet Nix’s.
Nix winked.
Then he walked off, chatting with his cousin, feeling lighter than he had in months.
And maybe even more himself than he’d ever been.
He really was the perfect fit for the Demons after all.