Page 97 of Villain
“Thanks”
The stadium was across campus, and he’d seen Lake take his hovercar occasionally while Nix went to and from classes. Since he hadn’t brought a car with him, and there was no time to waste, Nix mindlessly raced toward the large domed building in the distance, slipping between students as he went with only one goal in mind.
He had to get to Lake and demand answers. The longer he sat with this, the worse his thoughts became.
What if Lake had known all along and this had merely been some game?
What if they all knew?
Juri seemed like a decent person, not the type to lie, and considering everyone else’s reactions whenever the demons were around, it was obvious they were more than capable of doing horrible things. Hell, they’d already done some of those horrible things to Nix. But wouldn’t a fake dead animal in his bag be a bit extreme?
It wasn’t like they even needed to put in that much effort. All they had to do was order him to come and he did. He’d yet to go against their wishes, no matter how badly he wished he could.
He was playing the part they wanted him to play perfectly.
But was the part also a lie? Was this all a hoax? Maybe there wasn’t even a hacker to find. What if Lake had known from the beginning that Nix had hacked the system and the three of them had come up with this scheme as a form of retaliation? Yejun was so upset over Branwen’s betrayal Nix could more than see him willingly going along with a plan to screw over her cousin—both literally and figuratively.
Were they just out to humiliate him?
No. Wait. That wouldn’t make sense either. If the hacker wasn’t real, then Branwen wouldn’t have betrayed Yejun for him. So the hacker had to be legitimate, unless there was another reason Yejun was upset with Branwen and the hacker was another fake story…
He hated this. Hated the uncertainty, and what’s more, hated how something tightened in his chest at the thought of all of it being a farce.
Nix didn’t know these people. A week in their company, in their beds, and what? Suddenly he had attachments to them? Bullshit. This strange sensation was simply because he wasn’t sure if he was closer to finding out what happened to Branwen or further. That was all. This was about his cousin.
This could only ever be about that, whether it turned out they were playing him or not.
Still, Nix needed to know. Right now.
His thighs burned and he was slicked in a sheen of sweat by the time he made it to the stadium, bursting through the stable doors since he came to that part of the structure first. There were a few snickers from the waifs currently in their pens, large creatures with scales and reptilian faces, but Nix tried not to look at them, passing down the wide dirt hall, eyes glued to the opposite side.
The stable was set up with closed entrance doors, but opened up to the field. Nix could see the grassy ground and the curve of white wall, bleachers set up in rows behind it. He’d never been big on sports and was even less comfortable around creatures as large as waifs, but he set all of that aside as he made his way through.
He had no idea what his plans were once he made it to the field, but he figured he’d find Lake amongst the other players and call him over. Hopefully it wouldn’t make too big of a scene and Lake wouldn’t be too pissed off to talk with him openly.
Nix was so caught up in his head that he almost didn’t catch the sound of footsteps jogging up behind him. He turned, brow furrowing, and already started stepping off to the side, figuring he must be in the way of one of the players late to the field or something. Only, he managed to catch a flash of a black robe, and before he could fully process what he was seeing, the person wearing it shoved him.
He let out a startled yelp and fell backward, hitting one of the stall doors and tumbling straight inside. His ass hit the straw-covered ground hard enough that he cried out a second time, the shooting pain vibrating up his spine, costing him precious seconds.
The cloaked figure took advantage of this, grabbing the door and slamming it shut. There was the distinct sound of a lock sliding into place and then the person’s footsteps as they ran off.
For a moment, Nix sat there with his mouth hanging open, sure that he’d imagined the whole thing. It’d happened so fast and was so absolutely ridiculous he didn’t think there was a way it could be real, and yet…His palms got pricked by the ends of straw as he lifted himself back onto his feet and made for the door. The handle didn’t budge, and the thick wood shook when he tried to pound his shoulder against it but didn’t give.
Sucking in a breath, he spun on his heels, taking in the large stall, grateful at least that it was empty. If there’d been a waif in here, he probably would have been trampled after startling the creature.
“Hello?!” Nix pounded on the door. “Is anyone out there?! Hey! Can anyone hear me?!”
He reached for his multi-slate, cursing when he saw the screen had cracked when he’d fallen. No matter how many times he tapped at it, the device refused to turn on.
Chapter 27:
Lake took a drink of water and eyed his teammate, Smith, as the other guy approached the dugout where he was standing. According to the others, Smith had been a shoo-in for the captain position before the announcement that Lake would be returning. He was still trying to gauge how pissed he was about that, but Smith was surprisingly good at keeping his thoughts close to his chest.
If Smith had tiered higher than Knight on the Enigma app, Lake would have considered offering him Favors to move up the ranks. He’d make a good addition to the club with a poker face like that.
“Good match,” Smith said, coming up to Lake’s side and stopping to reach for his own water bottle.
They’d just finished their morning practice, and coach had them split into two teams playing against each other. They’d been on opposing sides and Lake’s had—unsurprisingly—beaten Smith’s by several points.