Page 88 of Saint

It wasn’t like it was Nix’s first body—he’d seen Dew after the fall—but somehow it was…different.

“I was so angry at him, but now…”

West hushed him. “You don’t have to make sense of it right this second.”

“But you do have to keep yourself together,” Lake reminded. “West, go with Sif. Make sure nothing happens.”

“Will do.” He planted a kiss to the top of Nix’s head and then disappeared without a backward glance, completely ignoring his father.

“June, take Nix home. His cousin is still there with Beck.” Lake took Nix’s hand and squeezed once. “I have to stay here and make sure there are no rumors and no one contaminates the room until the authorities arrive. The Ferds have lost respect due to their sons, but they’re still members of the club. They’ll want an official investigation done.”

And Lake didn’t trust Demitrious or one of the other Order members not to plant evidence trying to pin this on them.

“Okay.” Nix allowed Yejun to walk him toward the doors, but then thought of something and stopped. “What about him?” He motioned toward Demitrious.

“Surely you don’t believe I truly ever meant to work against you?” Demitrious gave a nervous chuckle. “Lake, Yejun, you both know me better than that. Yes, I don’t approve of your choice in life partner, but that’s neither here nor there. I would never mix our personal lives with club business.”

“Of course not,” Lake said. “That’s very professional of you.”

“Yes.” Demitrious smiled. “I’m glad you’ve noticed.”

“I, however, am not as professional. But then, I don’t have to be.” Now that it was just the three of them there, Lake’s mask dropped, the enigmatic expression he was so known for wearing making way for his terrifying true nature. With just a look, he gave the impression he could peel the skin straight down to a man’s bones, and enjoy doing it.

The sight he set on Demitrious was purely demonic, villainous enough it actually had the older man stumbling backuntil he hit the wall even though Lake never made any moves toward him.

“I am the future Emperor of Tulniri,” Lake announced. “Tell me again, who is in charge here?”

“You,” Demitrious replied quickly. “You, of course. Of course. I’ve always rooted for you. You know I have.”

“What I know,” Lake stated, “is that if you ever threaten or lie to Nix again, I’ll chop off your feet and make you crawl up all one thousand steps of the Club House from top to bottom and then bottom to top. If you bleed out before you make it, I’ll have your body dragged the rest of the way. Club members will be allowed to come and leer at your decaying form, and West can take all of your assets and dismantle what he pleases. Am I making myself clear, Demitrious, or are you struggling to comprehend what I’m saying because I’m mixing business with my personal life?”

“Not at all,” his voice shook. “I understand.”

In a way, Nix could kind of see what Juri had been trying to tell him. The Order was nothing more than a bunch of middle-aged losers playing politics from the safety of their tower and their penthouses. If their planet had a hope of breaking free from the vicious cycle Club Essential enforced on everyone, they were going to need a strong leader who wasn’t afraid to tell them no.

But Juri had been wrong about who that needed to be, having witnessed the way all of those arrogant people had cowered in the presence of the Demons, that was apparent.

“Come on.” Yejun offered his hand to Nix. “Let’s go home. Lake can handle things here. Trust us.”

Trust.

“What did you really think when you first saw that photo?” He had no clue why he was asking that now, but the question just sort of poured out of him.

Yejun didn’t so much as flinch. “I thought you looked upset.”

“Did you?”

“Yeah. Weren’t you?”

Nix licked his lips. “Yeah.”

When he placed his palm against Yejun’s the warmth he felt radiating off of the Demon felt right. Welcoming, and comforting.

And honest.

“Take me home,” Nix said.

“I’ll be there soon,” Lake promised.

Then Yejun led Nix out of the room, and the two of them kept their heads up as they made their way down the halls and past the Order members who’d fled the scene. They were quiet in the elevator that took them to the main level, didn’t speak even once they were out of earshot from lingering members and had made it to Yejun’s car in the parking lot.

Nix let Yejun open the door for him and he slipped into the vehicle, and when the Demon slid into the driver's seat and reached for his hand again, he allowed him to take it.

They’d just pulled into the driveway of the Roost when they received the news.

Juri Ferd had died on the way to the hospital and the official diagnosis had already been released.

A foreign substance had been found in his bloodstream.

Death by poisoning.