Page 76 of Villain

“It’s a fake dead luk,” Yejun corrected, seemingly losing his patience.

“Oh, and I supposed the note is fake, too, then?”

Yejun stilled, but West beat him to the punchline.

“Thinking about bailing now that you’ve been threatened by an outsider?” He leaned in and planted a heavy palm possessively to the back of Nix’s neck, jostling him slightly. “Sorry, Nixie, not an option.”

“Is this what you wanted?” He ignored West and instead glared at Lake. “Is this the kind of attention you wanted me to have?”

“We don’t know this came from the hacker,” Lake said.

As badly as he wanted to push the issue, Nix had to admit he was right. He deflated and dropped back in the chair, freeing himself from West’s hold in the process. When he batted the Demon's arm away, West even let him, probably sensing how freaked out he was.

“I’ve never been threatened before in my life.” Nix hadn’t really known anyone or done anything worth receiving threats over either, but he kept that to himself.

“Come on,” West drawled. “That’s not true. We’ve been threatening you since your arrival on campus.”

He blinked at him. “Is that supposed to make me feel better?”

Yejun snorted.

“Focus,” Lake ordered. “What are the odds this came from the hacker?”

“Considering the note was scrawled in red paint and warned him against associating with us,” Yejun said, “slim. The hacker we’re after would want to try and use him, not scare him off.”

“Unless he came to his senses and gave up,” West pointed out, shrugging when his friends both sent him droll looks. “Yeah, I don’t think that’s the case either, but it’s worth mentioning.”

“Who else could it be then?” Lake asked.

“Could be one of your crazy fans,” Nix guessed, “telling me to get out of the way. Or one of the people who hate you.”

“No one hates us,” West stated, frowning when Nix quirked a brow at him. “What?”

“Tons of students hate you,” he corrected. “They’re scared of you and think you’re all actual demons.”

“And you’ve spoken to some of these people before?” Lake’s eyes narrowed. “Who are they?”

Nix opened his mouth, caught himself, and slammed it shut again.

“Names, Songbird.”

“No.” He ran a hand through his hair, realizing too late that he’d walked straight into a spiderweb. Grady and his friends were the first to come to mind, but the last thing Nix wanted was to throw them into a snake den without any proof. “I’m sure it wasn’t them.”

“How sure?” Yejun said. “You can’t trust anyone. People screw other people over. It’s in their nature.”

“Dark, man,” West shook his head at him. “When are you going to get over that and move on already?”

“Hey.” Lake obviously didn’t agree with that sentiment.

“Don’t hey me,” West snapped. “You weren’t even here. Who do you think had to pick up the pieces after?” He motioned to Yejun while scowling at Lake. “You want to know how much carnage I had to clean up because of his piss poor mood?”

“You stabbed someone in the eye,” Nix’s voice, quiet yet firm, caught all of their attention, and they turned to him. He blew out a breath and met Yejun’s gaze. “Right?”

It was hard to put those two images together. The one of a man capable of blinding someone out of rage and the one who’d been so gentle with him in the studio. The Yejun Nix had been introduced to had the ability to be cruel, sure, but aside from that first night, he hadn’t shown it.

Even knowing that, Nix had allowed him to lay him down, spread his legs, and enter his body. He hadn’t just accepted it either. He’d welcomed it.

He covered his mouth as another wave of bile threatened to come up.