Page 11 of Martyr

“I’ll bring you some pain meds with the tea.”

Nix hesitated but then ended up saying, “Thanks.”

“Did you mean it?” Yejun waited until they’d made it to the landing and started down the hallway. The second level was set up with a large room at the very center, and a hall that branched off in either direction and met in the middle on theother side. He went left, heading in the direction of Lake’s room. “When you said you hated us?”

“Yes.” He considered lying but…Why? “But…you less so, if that means anything.”

Yejun chuckled. “You don’t have to try and soothe my ego, Firebird. I’m under no illusions. I know what we are.”

“Monsters?”

“That’s definitely on the list.” He sighed. “Lake took things too far. He should never have done something like this to you. He’s never even shown an interest in the old ways before, I’m honestly as shocked as you are.”

“I doubt that.” It’d be smarter to hold his breath, keep conversation to a minimum and then safely separate from the Demon to ensure his cousin’s secret was kept but…This could be a chance, and after everything he’d already been through, Nix would be a fool to pass up any opportunity for answers. “Have you ever thought about it?”

“About what?”

“Claiming someone?”

Yejun snorted. “Me? Are you hearing yourself? I can’t even commit to the same person for a day.”

“Oh.” On some level, he’d of course known that, but still. “So then—No, never mind.”

“No, it’s okay.” Yejun stopped at Lake’s room and pushed open the door before leading Nix over to the bed. “What is it? I’ll give you a pass today. Ask me anything, I promise not to get angry.”

He wrung his hands in his lap. “You never thought about maybe trying things out with that friend you were so close to? Before she betrayed you, I mean.”

“Iris?” Yejun crossed his arms, but even though the spot between his brow furrowed in distaste, he didn’t seem to be upset at having her brought up. “Not really. I thought wewould be friends for a long time, even considered making her Essential.”

“Really?” Shit. That meant they’d been really, really close. Nix had known Yejun had connected with his cousin, that she’d hurt him deeply, but a part of him had still hoped Yejun wouldn’t take it out on him if he found out.

When he did.

Secrets like that never stayed hidden forever, and the fact Lake had taken things as far as biting him was proof he thought the same. Eventually, it was going to get out that Nix was Iris’s cousin, and when that happened…

“Maybe she had a good reason and you just don’t know about it yet?” he dared to suggest, glancing away when Yejun’s eyes sparkled.

“Why would you say something like that?”

“I don’t know, sorry, it was dumb. I just figured there’s always the chance you don’t have the whole story. Wouldn’t that be better? Wouldn’t you prefer to think it wasn’t anything personal she had against you? It always hurts more when the betrayal comes from someone we like.”

“I’d prefer to think a lot of things,” Yejun drawled. “I’d like to think my parents are satisfied with my work, and that one day West and Lake will stop constantly being at each other’s throats. That we’ll all wake up tomorrow happy, on the same page, and Lake will be summoned and handed the crown and we can call it day. But reality doesn’t always line up with our wishes, Nix.”

He nodded, because there was no arguing there.

“I bet you wish you’d never met any of us, don’t you?” Yejun asked.

“More than that,” he said. “I wish I never bothered transferring at all.”

He frowned. “You regret following your cousin's advice that much? Did something happen with your family? This morning, you ran out of here like—”

“Yeah,” Nix cut him off. He couldn’t exactly admit he’d left this morning because he’d realized Yejun and Branwen’s connection. “I found something out about her that makes me question everything I thought I knew about what type of person she was. Sorry I left without telling you. I was just…scared.”

Yejun settled down onto the edge of the bed next to him. “Scared of what?”

“My cousin…hurt people.” A lie that stuck closest to the truth was always the most believable, and the easiest to remember.

“So? We hurt people all the time.”

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