Page 24 of Villain
“We’re making progress,” Lake lied easily, that frosty demeanor of his coming in handy against people like West’s father. He was seated at the side of the table on Demitrious’s right, while West was at his left.
Demitrious respected a cool head. It was one of the many reasons he’d given for being disappointed he’d ended up with West as his son and not Lake. West could still recall the elation painted across his father’s face the night he’d discovered that the Zyairs, Lake’s parents, had died in an accident.
He’d rushed to the hospital and had been the first to arrive, even before the rest of Lake’s relatives. By the time Lake’s uncle had made an appearance, Demitrious had already convinced Lake to come live with him. He’d acted as an unofficial adoptive father ever since.
The son he’d always wanted, a fact he’d never hesitated to rub in West’s face.
West downed another drink and slammed his glass onto the smooth cherry surface of the table with a little more force than necessary. It had the unfortunate result of gaining his father’s attention for the first time in what had to have been an hour.
Demitrious glared at him pointedly, but before West could give in to the flash of anger coiled in his gut and snap back some snide remark, Lake spoke again.
“I have a plan,” Lake said. “I’ll be discussing it with the others tonight.”
“Oh?” Demitrious smiled and swiveled his body back toward him. “Tell me more.”
“We’ll be bringing someone else in,” he began, still speaking in that even and clipped voice. It was impressive since not many could maintain that air of superiority in the face of West’s father. Though, Demitrious no doubt considered it as Lake thinking they were on even playing fields.
How wrong he was.
Lake didn’t think himself equal to anyone, sometimes not even West or Yejun. Those were the rare occasions where West allowed himself to be angry with his friend and act on that anger. Fortunately for the both of them, those moments were few and far between.
They’d made a promise to each other as kids, the three of them, and Lake may be many things, but he never broke a promise.
That didn’t mean he always clued West and Yejun into things.
Like this, for instance. Someone else?
Who the hell was he talking about?
“Someone who will be incredibly beneficial in helping us root out the threat,” Lake continued, and Demitrious nodded his head, hanging off of every word.
Or, at least, making it seem that way.
West couldn’t tell this time.
“A member?” Demitrious asked.
“No,” Lake replied, but before he could be warned against taking that kind of action, added, “Not yet, anyway. He will be, come the Night of the Nightshade.”
“You’ve chosen a sacrifice?” West accused, ruining all his hard work for the evening by breaking his silence. “Without us?”
“Hey.” Yejun grabbed his wrist, but West shook him off, not having any of that despite knowing his friend was merely looking out for him.
“Lake is an Imperial,” Demitrious reminded curtly. “You will show him proper respect when in my presence. This is not the schoolyard, boy.”
“He’s got every right to be annoyed,” Lake interrupted, careful not to let the irritation slip into his tone, even though West noticed the way his spine had straightened slightly. “Selecting a sacrifice is the duty of every Legacy up for review, not just me.”
West inhaled slowly and dug his fingernails into his palms, focusing on calming his jangled nerves. Lake and Yejun weren’t the enemies here. They cared about him, truly. They were on his side. Attacking them was the same as attacking himself, and West was no masochist. His father was the mismatched piece here. He was the thing that didn’t fit.
“We did all choose together, though,” Lake added, and West quirked a single dark brow, waiting for the explanation to come. His friend popped the last morsel on his plate into his mouth and chewed slowly, before saying, “We met with them the other day at the Roost. You confirmed there and then that he was to your taste, remember?”
Yejun covered what would have been a chuckle with a cough and reached for his drink.
West’s lips twitched, the smirk forming against his better judgment, but damn it all. That was a good one.
“Well then, since you all seem pleased with the collective choice,” Demitrious said, rising from the table, “I’ll wish you luck, boys. Just remember, a lot more is at stake here. The Legacies of the past were all jokes compared to you three. Make me proud.” He set his harsh gaze on West. “Or else.”
They stood as well, bowing their heads wordlessly as he took his leave, waiting on the count of ten before straightening after he left.