Chapter 28

The security room was empty when they entered, but that didn't deter Nix. His nerves had settled on the walk over, and he was trying not to allow the fact that a lot of that had to do with Lake's presence to linger on his mind.

At first, he'd suspected the Demon when Lake had stormed into the stall, but it'd quickly become evident that he was just as upset by what had happened as Nix was. He was also still dressed in his waif uniform, further proving he'd come from the field. That, added to the fact there was no reason Nix could think of for Lake to want to frighten him, it was clear someone else had done it.

But what exactly had it been meant as?

A prank?

A warning?

Since the person who'd shoved him hadn't stuck around to specify, Nix was left scrambling in the dark for answers, and he wasn't a fan of that at all.

"We can come back," Lake said when they entered the room and the security guard who was meant to be monitoring the screens wasn't there.

Nix ignored him, taking the seat himself, fingers already dancing across the keyboard. "Like hell. I want to know who did this to me."

"Are you afraid of cramped spaces?"

He shook his head, busting through the password protection on the device.

"Are you hacking into the system, Songbird?"

"What do you expect me to do?" he shot back. "Wait?"

Lake sighed and moved behind him, dropping his hands onto Nix's shoulders, though he didn't attempt to pull him away from the computers. "Did you really learn how to do all of this because you wanted a job at Star Eye Holding? What does being able to hack have to do with creating video games?"

"I want to get into developing," Nix replied. "In order to do that, I had to learn programming skills. The hacking was sort of just...fun? I didn't break into anything too illegal."

Lake paused and then repeated, " Too illegal?"

"I never went near the club." Nix didn't have a death wish, and the last thing he'd wanted was to end up in prison. The change in topic did make him realize Beck hadn't followed them. "What happened to your cousin?"

Lake turned around and glanced at the closed door to the room. "I forgot about him. He must have had something else to do."

A professor at an elite university like this one probably had a ton of better things to do than chase after a couple of students. Nix didn't have any classes with Beck, but he'd heard about him once or twice from West and, obviously, occasionally from the news throughout the years.

"Here." He accessed the footage from the stables and rewound a little over a half hour until he saw himself enter on screen.

"Did you come to see me?" Lake asked. "You look upset, Songbird."

"I was more upset after when…Here!" He pointed as another figure slipped into the stables behind him.

"Well damn," Lake drawled. "That is a legitimate cloak."

The man catching up to Nix was dressed in a long black rope with a hood. It concealed everything aside from the tips of his brightly colored shoes. The pattern was orange with neon yellow soles.

They both watched as the Nix on-screen realized he was being followed and started to turn. Before he could all the way, the cloaked man twisted to his side and shoved him straight into the stall with both hands. The second Nix fell in, the man slammed the door shut, flicked the bolt lock, and turned on his heels.

"He's running," Lake snarled. "Like a little bitch."

Nix didn't disagree.

"He didn't say anything to you?" There was no audio included in the feed, but there hadn't exactly been time for the two of them to have a chat.

"No," Nix confirmed anyway. "Not a single word." No one else entered until Lake and his cousin did twenty or so minutes later. He clicked to switch feeds, going to the one that showed the front of the stables, but it wasn't much more useful. They saw both Nix and the cloaked man walk in, and then the cloaked man run out. Then nothing. He didn't stick around or return. "Do you think it was random?"

Lake snorted. "You don't actually believe that's a possibility, do you?"

Nix slumped into the chair and rubbed at his forehead. All the screaming and panicking he'd done had left him with a splitting headache and a sore throat. All he wanted to do was climb into bed and sleep today and all its shitty events off.

He froze, recalling why he'd come here in the first place.

"What is it?" Lake spun the chair around and settled his hands on the armrests when Nix didn't respond fast enough for him. He leaned in until their faces were close, openly searching Nix's expression. "Did you remember something?"

Lake might not have been the one to shove him earlier, but that didn't change the fact that his cousin was right. The only reason he was being targeted right now was because of his association with the Demons. Nix wanted to blame him, but he wasn't exactly innocent in all of this either.

He'd been the one to hack into the app, after all. If he hadn't, none of this would have happened.

Nix had been the one to start it.

"Is there even a hacker?" he blurted, opting to at least ask some of the questions he'd come all the way here for.

Lake's eyes narrowed. "Are you letting my cousin get to you?"

"You didn't tell me anything about being a fourth," Nix pointed out. "How can I be sure there isn't a ton of other shit you're keeping from me? Is the hacker real or did you make it all up in order to—"

His hand settled around Nix's throat and he tipped his head up. "You're clever, take a moment to think this through before making accusations. Who am I?"

Nix frowned, but when those fingers tightened, he rushed to answer, "Lake Zyair."

"Soon to be crowned Emperor of Tulniri," he said. "If I want something, I don't need to lie, or beg, or barter for it. I simply have to take ." He shoved Nix away, scowling as he straightened. "I don't have to make up some story about an imaginary enemy to make you mine, Songbird. And let's not forget, you were the one who reached out to me first."

Nix dropped his gaze because hadn't he just been thinking that exact same thing?

"Are you scared now, is that it?" Lake surmised.

"I did have a dead animal put in my bag and now this," Nix stated, even though that wasn't it at all. Sure, he didn't like the idea that someone was targeting him, but it wasn't the highest issue on his list at the moment.

Could he trust Lake enough to tell him what he'd initially planned to though? He'd raced here without really considering all of the angles, and after Lake's speech just now…

What if he confirmed he was manipulating Nix?

What would knowing that for certain achieve?

What if he really didn't know anything about Branwen and Iris being the same person, and he got angry at Nix once he learned the truth?

"If I am," Nix tentatively began, already sort of knowing what the response would be, but wanting to test it out anyway, "and I want to put an end to this thing between us still…?"

"Everything I told you last night still stands," Lake said.

"This doesn't change anything for you? Not even a little?"

"What, that you were attacked?" He hummed. "If anything, it only makes my stance on the matter more firm. We'll catch whoever did this to you, and I'll keep my word. Once we're back at the Roost, I'll ask West about your cousin's account."

"I have to ask you something," he began, licking his lips and wringing his hands in his lap. "You might get angry. Or I might. Depends on how this goes really."

"If this is another attempt to leave—"

"It's not," he said. "Despite my comment just now, I heard you last night. I know you're not going to let me walk away that easily."

"Try ever," Lake growled. "I won't let you walk away ever, Songbird."

Warning bells went off at that, but Nix locked them down since there was nothing he could do about that possessive note in the other man's voice. Instead, he focused on what needed to be done.

"My cousin's username was WildFlower." Nix felt his heart sink when Lake noticeably went still. "I had no idea, but apparently, she went by a different name while she was here. I don't even know how she picked it. To me, she's always just been Branwen, but apparently, to everyone on campus, she was—"

"Iris," Lake filled in before he could finish. "You're telling me that your cousin is Iris Cherith?"

"Her real name is Branwen Cherith," Nix corrected, but it seemed like Lake barely heard him.

"You don't share the same last name," he took him in, "or even similar features."

That caught his attention. "So you've seen her?"

Yejun obviously had been involved, but Nix had been so sure that Lake wasn't. Had he been wrong about that?

"Only in pictures," Lake stated, but when his eyes met Nix's there was a darkness there that hadn't been present before.

Survival instincts kicked in, and Nix shot out of the chair, backing away with his arms up between them. "I didn't keep it from you. I really only just found out myself."

"How?" Lake didn't move from his spot, but the tension filled the room, and it was clear he could pounce at any moment, that he was holding himself back. "Your explanation better be good."

"I found one of Yejun's paintings," he confessed. "That's when I recognized her, and before I came here to find you, I ran into Juri—"

"Who?"

"Juri, he's a junior here? He's another Legacy."

Lake shoved him hard against the wall, his hand back around Nix's throat. "If it's who I'm thinking of, he's a reject. After turning down the Demon title, it was pity from the Order that allowed him to still attend Foxglove. After he leaves this place? He'll be lucky to get a decent paying job anywhere on this side of the planet."

Nix frowned. "Just because he didn't want to be one of you?"

"You don't get to reject us," he growled. "Every action has consequences. Yours are no different."

"Lake—"

"So you spoke to a relative stranger about our business," he cut him off. "Someone other than me knows about this? Someone before me knew?"

Okay, he'd obviously botched this whole thing.

"Lake—"

"Do you have any idea what your bitch of a cousin did to Yejun?"

Nix grabbed onto his wrist despite the danger. "Don't call her that."

"I'll call her whatever the hell I want, Songbird," he practically snarled. "If you knew the details, you would say much worse about her, blood relative or not."

"What does that mean?"

"You don't need to know."

"Lake—" He tried to push away from the wall, hissing when he was shoved back and that hand tightened, hard enough now that it momentarily restricted his breathing.

Why were these assholes always throwing their weight around trying to choke him?!

No fucking wonder his cousin had betrayed them.

The second Lake's hold loosened, Nix couldn't help himself, the words shooting off his tongue like vitriol.

"You're all monsters," he snapped. "What the hell did you do to my cousin? What the hell did you make her do?! Did West try and smother her with his cock?! Did Yejun force her to pose nude for him?! You all think you're so high above the rest of us because of your connections to the club. You disgust me!"

" I'm the monster?" Lake's usually icy exterior cracked even more. "Iris almost got Yejun killed. She almost cost him everything. Yet you have the audacity to stand here preaching like she's some saint? Newsflash, Nix, you didn't know your cousin very well. You might not have known her at all. Don't take that out on me. She wrote you a letter telling you to come here? She practically gave you to us, but you want to defend her?"

"She didn't!" In her letter, she'd told him not to come. She'd told him…

Oh, but she'd known he wouldn't listen.

Of course she'd known.

Because even if Nix was now realizing that maybe Lake had a point, that didn't change the fact that clearly Branwen had still known him .

But loyalty was a complicated thing.

Right now, it didn't matter how much truth may or may not be in Lake's words. What Nix knew for a fact, maybe the only thing he was certain of even, was that Branwen was his cousin. For years, she'd been the only person he'd cared about as a friend.

"Get off of me!" Nix swung, his knuckles connecting the side of Lake's jaw.

They both froze simultaneously.

The hit had probably hurt him more than the Demon, his hand radiating pain which he ignored, too afraid to move a muscle.

"When Yejun finds out you're related," Lake's voice cut through the silence like a sharp blade, but it seemed like he was talking to himself, "he'll destroy you. It won't matter that I've already named you our fourth. That won't be enough to stop him from tearing you to pieces and scattering your parts across the city."

Nix's mouth dropped open but he had nothing to say to that. So far, Yejun had been the kindest to him out of all of them but…He was learning he wasn't the best judge of character. Clearly, since in a matter of minutes, Branwen had gone from his closest confidant to a relative stranger.

"He'll take you from me." Lake's head turned, his eyes dark but slightly clouded over, almost as though he was too deeply lost in thought to focus on what was in front of him.

Which, unfortunately, was Nix.

"I can't blame him," the Demon continued, still in that low tone, "but I also can't allow it."

Nix cried out as he was yanked forward by the collar of his shirt, the material tearing under Lake's ministrations. He struggled as it was tugged down on the right, exposing him. Before he even knew what to brace for, Lake's mouth was on that meaty spot between his neck and his shoulder.

When his teeth clamped down, there was no hesitation. He chomped into Nix's flesh, tearing through skin, right down to muscle. He pinned Nix against the wall and held, growling when Nix's struggles continued and he cursed and sobbed against him.

The pain was bad, but it was nothing compared to the fear.

This wasn't the person who coaxed him into comfort over the video feed. Or even the man who'd stood by and watched as his friend pounded Nix's face with his cock. There was nothing sweet or collected in this, a version of Lake that seemed undone, cut off from that tight control he was so famous for.

That wasn't the only part that scared Nix, though. Bites were…ritualistic. Old. Practically unheard of in present society, but the meaning behind the action was glaringly obvious, even if Nix couldn't quite understand the why of it.

Hadn't he been promised this would all end on Demons Passing?

Then why…

Lake released him all at once, stepping back and rubbing his hand across his mouth. The move smeared blood across his face, and he watched as Nix slid to the ground before crouching in front of him. He pulled the material of the torn shirt out of the way again to inspect his handy work, humming to himself, an unmistakable glimmer of self-satisfaction in his green eyes.

"That's going to scar," he announced. "I marked you in a way that can't be ignored. Not even by Yejun."

Nix flinched and protectively lifted his arms in front of his face when Lake moved his hand to touch him. Even with everything else that had been done to him, this was by far the worst. He'd never been truly injured by another person before, and knowing it was someone like Lake, someone powerful and stronger than him, made it ten times more frightening.

He wished he'd stayed locked in the stables instead. That would have been better. So much better.

Lake shushed him and gently lowered his arms, keeping a hand over one of Nix's wrists so it remained in his lap. "Don't be afraid, Songbird. It's over."

"Please," Nix squeezed his eyes shut, hating how pathetic he was being yet unable to stop himself. "Please."

"I won't hurt you anymore," he promised, easing his knees down to the ground so he was caging Nix in. Carefully, he captured his chin, tipping his face up before his lips brushed against Nix's, featherlight. "Shh. Don't cry."

"You don't get to say that," Nix stated, but he didn't push the other man away. "You don't get to touch me like this after doing that to me either."

"I'll touch you how I please," Lake corrected, but there was no anger in his tone now, his voice still trying to soothe. "You can blame that precious cousin of yours, Nix. She's the reason we're both in this position now. She forced our hands."

"Liar."

"You can't tell Yejun about her yet," he warned. "This will be enough to keep him from killing you, but that doesn't mean he won't try and make your life a living hell. There's only so much I can do to stop him from that."

"Liar," he repeated with more venom. Now that the pain was starting to turn into a dull throb, his anger was returning full force.

"He's my best friend," Lake said, as if that should explain everything.

Suddenly, the door to the room opened, and a middle-aged man dressed in a security uniform stepped inside, pausing the moment he spotted them across the room.

"Get out," Lake ordered, not even bothering to turn to face him.

He hesitated briefly, then seemed to realize who Lake was. With a muttered apology, he stepped back and slammed the door shut, sealing the two of them in the room once more.

"I'll tell him myself once I figure out the best way to put it," Lake picked up the conversation as though the interruption hadn't happened. "Promise you won't say anything, Nix."

"And if I do?" There were still tears in his eyes, making his vision blurry, but he stubbornly glared through them at Lake. "What? Are you going to bite me again?"

"You know why I had to do that."

"No, I fucking do not."

He sighed. "You're native to this planet. You know ."

Nix didn't want to go there, and frankly, he didn't have the mental strength to do so at the moment.

"The only good thing about all of this is we're after the same person," Lake said then. "The same one who recruited your cousin. You wanted revenge on them, remember?"

"I wanted revenge on whoever hurt her," he corrected.

"That wasn't us."

"I don't believe you." How could he, all things considered? "I'm bleeding on the floor right now, thanks to you."

"I did that to protect you."

"Bullshit!"

"All right, I did that to protect you and as punishment for talking with Juri Ferd. You want something, you come to me. If I find out you're cheating—"

"We had a single conversation, Lake!"

"And that's where it'll end. You're mine." He poked at the still bleeding wound. "Officially and permanently."

Nix winced and finally gathered enough courage to slap his hand away. "Stop saying things like that."

"Like?"

"We agreed on ending this come Demons Passing."

"We agreed on no such thing." Lake stood and then extended a hand down to him, curling his fingers when Nix didn't make any moves to accept it. "Get up, Songbird."

"Why?"

"We've got places to be."

"Like?"

"Nix. If I have to lift you myself, it won't be pretty."

Ignoring his hand, Nix struggled to his feet, grimacing when Lake reached forward and adjusted his shirt to cover the bite.

"Let's move fast," Lake suggested. "The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can get back to the Roost and tend to your injury."

"The one you gave me?"

"Don't pout. One day, you'll thank me for it."

"Dream on." Nix wanted to argue further, but he really was spent now. "Where are we going?"

"Your dorm," Lake said, but before Nix could feel any sort of relief from that, he added, "To pick up your things."

"What?" He shook his head.

"You're moving into the Roost."

"No."

"I'm not asking, Songbird." Lake stepped in close, pausing when Nix tensed. "Put your animosity toward me right now aside. Someone is after you. The Roost is—"

"If you finish that sentence by claiming it's the safest place," Nix stated. "I'll bite you back."

Lake didn't seem nearly as offended by that as Nix had hoped.

"By all means," he kissed Nix's forehead and then retreated. "Mark me, Songbird. I won't stop you."

He didn't exactly stick around to give him the chance, though, either.

Nix debated refusing as he watched Lake head to the door, but knowing that would just lead to more suffering, he gave in. It wasn't like he was following the Demon straight to hell or anything anyway.

This was already it.

And he was already here.