Page 93 of Villain

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.

Chapter 26:

“Here.” Juri handed Nix the can of coffee he’d just purchased from the vending machine. He’d brought them to a small snack area situated outside between one of the literary and science buildings. There were a couple of picnic tables, along with a row of machines that offered various snacks and beverages. He’d already pulled his shower shoes out of his bag and given them to Nix as well.

“Thanks.” He rolled the can between his palms, collecting his thoughts as Grady’s friend quietly took the spot next to him on the bench. “Do you major in art?”

“Yeah,” Juri said. “Both Dew and I.”

Right, the redhead at the library, Dew had mentioned seeing Nix and Yejun together.

“This is going to sound strange but,” he blew out a breath and went for it, “do you happen to know of a student named Branwen?”

He considered it, but shook his head. “I don’t think so.”

“What about Iris?”

“Yeah, her I know. She was expelled last year though.” Juri frowned. “What’s this about? Did you hear something else about the Demons?”

“You and Grady are the only two people on campus who’ve warned me against them,” he said. Everyone else either whispered about how jealous they were behind his back, or tried to suck up to him in class. “Aside from Grady, I haven’t even been able to make any friends.”

They’d come around his desk, clearly wanting something from him, sure, but the second he stopped engaging when asked about the Demons, all of the “friendly” students tended to return to their seats and go back to ignoring him. All this time, Nix had just assumed that was because he was the new guy and it being senior year, everyone had already established their clicks.

It’d made finding the right opportunity to ask about Branwen difficult, but since accessing the Enigma app files was the quickest way to discovering who she’d been chatting with anyway, he hadn’t been too bent out of shape about it.