Chapter 25

After showering off all of West's dried spit, Nix got dressed in the uniform that'd been left out for him on the bathroom sink. The clothes fit perfectly and he vaguely wondered if Lake had washed his set or if he'd ordered one with the correct measurements to be delivered to the Roost at the crack of dawn.

It was quiet when he stepped out into the hall, pausing with his head poking out just in case. A part of him was still annoyed that Lake had left him on his own, but the other worriedly wondered if that had something to do with the promises he'd made last night.

What if he'd already changed his mind?

What if, even now, he was gathering with the others and telling them all about Nix's true purpose for being here?

It's not like Nix had done any real harm, if anything, they were getting use out of him they otherwise wouldn't if he'd never enrolled here. Did it really matter if he was looking for his cousin's toxic ex if it wasn't one of them?

He'd only kept the secret in case it turned out to be, but if he trusted Lake—which he didn't, not fully, he wasn't stupid—but if he did , that meant none of the Demons were involved. There was no reason for this to cause any sort of problems between the four of them. Still…Nix stepped out into the hall and glanced down both directions.

West wasn't here, which meant his room was empty…Lake might eventually talk to him, but it might be smarter for Nix to stick with his original plan. He was used to doing things on his own. All his life, that was how it'd been. The only other person he could count on had been Branwen. He wasn't like Lake with his forever best friends and their childhood memories.

No matter how sweet he'd been last night, or how physically attracted to him Nix was, he had to remember the stakes here.

Branwen was what mattered.

Period.

Last night he'd freaked out and almost lost sight of that. It wouldn't happen again.

Mind made up, he selected a direction at random and slowly made his way down the hall, on a mission to locate West's bedroom. He assumed all three of them slept somewhere on this level of the Roost, he just needed to find the right door.

The first he came across led to a closet. The next, a communal bathroom. The first door on the right attached to the center room he'd seen when they'd first come up the main stairs. It was a library of sorts and he didn't linger since it was clearly not what he was looking for.

After almost fifteen minutes, he finally found another bedroom, stepping inside cautiously to make sure he was alone before fully entering.

The room was clearly in use, with clothes strewn about and the bed unmade. There was a computer on the desk to the left, but it quickly became apparent this space didn't belong to West.

He should just go, yet Nix found himself pausing in front of an easel by the window, staring at the curve of dark black lines on the bright white canvas. It was a drawing of a woman, long hair strewn out around her as she sat on the ground with her face hidden behind her hands. He didn't know much about art, but looking at it made him kind of sad.

"Looking for something, Firebird?" Yejun's voice coming from off to the side startled Nix and he spun around to find the Demon standing in the open bathroom doorway. He was dressed in only a low-hanging deep red towel, strands of his hair sticking to the sides of his neck as he cocked his head and stared Nix down.

Nix struggled to come up with a viable excuse but, in the end, only managed to mutter, "Sorry."

Yejun snorted and made his way over. "What are you doing?"

"I was looking at your drawing," he admitted, turning back to it.

"That?" He shrugged. "It's not finished. I just can't seem to bring myself to throw it away."

"Why would you do that? It's good."

He scoffed. "Don't insult me."

"No, really," Nix insisted. "I don't really understand art, but isn't it supposed to make you feel something? That's how you know it's good, right? When I look at it…I feel kind of depressed."

Yejun hesitated and then asked, "Do you?"

He nodded. "Why is she crying?"

"She made a mistake," he replied. "And it cost her everything."

That sounded personal…

"Is this her?" he asked. "The friend you mentioned before?"

"A version of her," Yejun confirmed. "So don't feel too bad for her."

"I don't." Nix took in the drawing. "It makes me sad, but not for her. It's like…I can tell you were upset while drawing it? I don't know. Maybe that sounds stupid." Put him in front of a computer and he could pick it apart and piece it back together again. He wanted to be a part of a gaming company after graduation, but he wouldn't be applying for the graphics department, that was for certain. "She really left you frustrated, didn't she?"

It was on the tip of his tongue to confess like he had last night to Lake. If he explained things to Yejun now, there wouldn't be reason for him to be mad at Nix, right? It wasn't like he was betraying him the same way this female friend had.

"She was the first person who was interested in my art purely because she enjoyed it," Yejun spoke before Nix could. "Or, at least, that's what she made me believe. Obviously I know now it was all a lie, but back then it was nice finally meeting someone who simply liked looking at my work. Who didn't want to get close to me because of my last name, or the fact that I'm Essential, or that I'm a Demon of Foxglove. She never made any type of move on me either, so I knew she wasn't after sex. I should have known it was a trap."

"Why?" Nix frowned. "Because there's no way someone could just be interested in getting to know you? Don't think like that."

"Why not?"'

"Because it's not true."

Yejun grunted. "Coming from the guy who is only here because he was forced to be? Admit it, Firebird, you wouldn't have fucked me if you thought you could get away with turning me down."

That was only partially true, but Nix didn't feel comfortable enough in his own skin to admit as much. To either of them.

"I think you can waste your whole life judging yourself for the things that were done to you," Nix said. "Or, you can choose to step back and look at the bigger picture."

"Which is?"

"Half the time, the shit you think is personal isn't. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time and ended up under Lake's thumb. Could have happened to anyone. You didn't know this girl beforehand, right? You'd never done anything to her in the past?"

"No," Yejun answered without hesitation.

"Then it wasn't your fault that you were played." Nix glanced back at the drawing. "Stop blaming yourself. Everyone on the planet wants to believe they can be liked for who they are."

"Who do you think I am, Nix?"

"I don't know," he admitted. "I'm still trying to figure that out."

He chuckled, but the mood seemed different. Lighter. "Fair enough. Well, right now, I'm hungry. I'm going to grab a change of clothes and go make breakfast. Interested?"

He'd skipped out on dinner last night because of the whole incident with the fake dead luk. "Yeah, food sounds great."

"Cool." Yejun undid the tie at his waist, laughing when Nix immediately averted his gaze when the towel dropped to the floor.

"I'm," he scrambled for literally any excuse to escape the naked Demon, eyes landing on the open bathroom door, "going to use the restroom."

"Knock yourself out," Yejun said. "I'll meet you downstairs after."

"Okay." Nix basically hid in the bathroom while Yejun dressed, not daring to come back out again until after he'd heard the Demon leave. Considering the way he'd been woken by a fervent tongue this morning, he wasn't in the mood to risk being pinned down by another one of them.

As soon as he was certain Yejun was gone, he slipped back out into the main room. It was set up completely differently from Lake's, most notably that it was square instead of circular. The window showcased a view of the stone pathways leading into campus, and Nix momentarily searched for his dorm building, only able to pick out the curved tip of the roof, the rest of the building concealed by others.

Yejun's bed was set against the right wall, his dresser across from it, with the desk next to that. Even though the walls were the same dark wood as Lake's room, the rest of the interior lacked the color scheme theme he'd gone with. Ironic, considering Yejun was the artist in the group.

He was also the slob, it appeared.

There were piles of clothing and stacks of art books. Canvases set against the walls, some already finished or started, others blank. Yejun's computer was practically buried by paintbrushes and tubes of paint, the desk cluttered and hard to get to.

Nix found himself back by the drawing he'd been looking at earlier, mostly just stalling if he were being honest. Eating breakfast with the Demons like everything was normal felt…weird. Since he was already here, he opted to snoop a bit, opening one of the wardrobe doors almost absently.

The second he did, dozens of shoes toppled out, and he cursed, springing backward. At first, he thought it was just Yejun being a chaotic mess, but then he registered that a good portion of the shoes were high heels and clearly the size of more feminine feet.

"What the hell?" He stooped and picked up a neon yellow stiletto, searching through the mess for its partner. Which was missing. "Why does he only have one of each shoe?"

Not wanting to get caught, Nix began picking them up, opening both of the wardrobe doors so he could pile them back in. He'd only replaced a few before he noticed that there were also canvases in there, tucked behind hanging clothes, and he swept them to the side to get a better look.

There were only three, the first of a raven with gold eyes surrounded by pink flowers. The bird was perched on an extended wrist, the hand also painted, though the arm disappeared off the side.

The second and third paintings were side by side, but Nix didn't really see the second, his attention instantly captured by the last one, half of which was visible.

He pulled it the rest of the way into view and it was like the whole world came to a screeching halt.

A blond girl was sleeping on a desk, her head cradled by her arms. Her eyes were closed, but her full lips were curved slightly upward, almost as though she knew she was being watched and only pretending. It was a closeup, so there was only the partial part of the desk she was lying over, the hint of her black uniform shirt, and the depiction of a jade drop on her ear in the picture.

The jade drop earrings Nix had bought her.

"No." His arms fell, brain momentarily unable to process things.

Hadn't they said the name of Yejun's friend was named Iris? He'd even told Lake Branwen's and gotten no reaction, but there was no mistaking the girl in the painting was Nix's cousin.

Which meant Yejun, at least, had known her.

Nix took a step back and then glanced over at the black drawing one more time. Now that he knew what to look for, it could be said they were the same girl in both works. Even though the black and white one had her face covered and no color to help identify her hair, the style of the cut, the shape of her form…

He was moving before he even registered that was happening, his feet practically racing from the room. Blindly, he traveled down the halls, mindlessly seeking the exit. The second he found the stairs, he took them, eyes landing on the front door the moment it came into view. Someone called his name from the kitchen area, but he barely heard and he absolutely wasn't going to stop to find out who it was.

Yejun had been friends with his cousin.

She'd betrayed him.

What the actual fuck was going on?

The door wasn't locked and he tugged it open with all of his strength and shot out onto the porch. He darted across the bridge and then kept going, only realizing he wasn't wearing socks or shoes when he'd made it around the bend and stepped on a stone hard enough it hurt and snapped him out of it.

Nix stumbled and cursed, lifting his heel to find he'd cut himself.

"Are you okay?" Juri was standing beneath the black awning of one of the small art stores on campus, a large portfolio case held in one hand.

"Are you an art student?" Nix blurted.

"Yeah…Why? Where are your shoes?"

"Can we talk for a minute?"

Juri hesitated but then glanced in the direction Nix had just come. A look of understanding morphed his expression and he ended up nodding. "Follow me."

Without bothering to ask where to, Nix did.