Page 100 of Villain

Before his cousin could reply, the sniffle came again, followed by a cautious voice to his right.

“Lake?” came through the wooden door of a closed stall, but was audible enough Lake immediately recognized it. “Is that you?”

He burst into motion, mind reeling as he undid the latch and practically yanked the door off its hinges to get it open. His breath caught in his throat the second he processed Nix, huddled in the middle of the dirty floor, his arms wrapped tightly around his knees.

Lake grabbed him under the arms and hoisted him up, eyes already scanning him from head to toe, searching for injury. When there didn’t appear to be anything wrong, he took his hands, scowling when he saw his Songbird’s palms were rubbed raw. “What the hell happened?!”

“Someone locked me in,” he said, voice still low and weak. When he cleared it, it became obvious that it was probably because he’d been in here screaming for help for a while.

A tightness coiled within Lake, the anger raw and demanding, and his grip tightened before he could think better of it, causing Nix to wince and cry out. He loosened his hold and pulled Nix from the confined space, not letting him go even once they were back in the main area.

“Who?” he asked.

“I didn’t get a good look at them,” Nix replied. “They were wearing something, like a cloak or a big jacket. I don’t know. It happened too fast.”

“If they were walking around in disguise,” Beck stated, reminding Lake that he was still there, “it sounds like they planned this.”

Nix stared at him, and even though he didn’t seem particularly uncomfortable in his cousin’s presence, Lake still found himself slipping his hand into Nix’s, careful not to apply too much pressure to his injuries this time.

Beck’s gaze trailed down to it, and something unreadable passed over his expression, gone before Lake could decipher it and replaced by a small smile. He nodded his head at Nix. “Hello, I’m Professor Beck, Lake’s cousin.”

“Where are West and Yejun?” Lake demanded. “Why are you here alone?”

“I…” Nix’s voice trailed off and he glanced between him and his cousin, but it was hard to tell if he simply didn’t want to say in Beck’s presence, or if he was stalling.

His Songbird was good at adapting, which meant he was also more than capable of hiding things. Case in point, the fact that Lake had only just managed to pry the truth of why he was really here out of him last night.

Whatever. It didn’t matter right now. Lake’s friends were going to hear from him later. He’d told them not to leave Nix alone; he understood he was more invested in this than they were, that neither of them felt the same connection he did with Nix, but he’d given them an order, and they should have fucking taken it seriously.

“Is there anyone you can think of who might want to do this to you?” Beck asked Nix. He turned to Lake before he could answer and added, “You three have thrust him into the limelight. Perhaps it's one of your fans?”

Lake scowled.

“Don’t give me that look. Half the student body is obsessed with you and the other is terrified,” Beck said. “This seems like a fairly childish prank, even if they did plan to do something to Nix ahead of time. A student is the likely guess.”

“Are you saying this is my fault, cousin?” Lake’s eyes narrowed. It wasn’t like Beck wasn’t well aware of the reason Nix had been brought in—or, at least the reason Lake had given the Order and the rest of the club.

“I’m saying you should have anticipated some type of blowback from your peers,” he corrected. “Naming a fourth isn’t unheard of, but to announce a brand new student as one and—”

“A what?” Nix frowned.

Forget finding who’d done this. Lake could strangle his cousin.

“We’ll discuss this later,” he said, but that only irritated his Songbird.

Nix shook his hand off of him and took a deliberate step back, stubborn, even as he was still clearly shaken up about being locked in the stall. “No, you’ll tell me now. What does he mean by that?”

Beck set his hands on his hips and had the audacity to give Lake a stern look. “You didn’t explain things properly to him when you chose him?”

“He understands enough,” Lake argued, but neither of them seemed to agree.

“What’s a fourth?” Nix shook his head before Lake could speak. “Don’t try and feed me any more bullshit. I’m at the end of my rope here. Tell me the truth. Now.”

“Legacies are given the title Demons when they enter Foxglove Grove,” Beck started to explain. “It’s a rite of passage that only those with families high in Club Essential are allowed to partake in. You’re aware of this at least, yes?”

Nix nodded his head in the affirmative. “Which actually has me wondering, what’s the point of anonymity if everyone knows whose families are involved the second their kids enroll?”

“There’s a point to that as well,” Beck said, “but that’s not the purpose of this talk. I just want to be sure you know exactly what it is you agreed to. My cousin can be rather…blunt.”

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