Page 103 of Villain
“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—”