Page 67 of Martyr

“I grew up in this world,” Juri took a step closer, growing serious. “I know a few—”

“Remember how I asked you if you put anything weird in my bag?” Nix interrupted.

“Yeah…?”

“It was Grady. Grady wanted to help me the only way he could think of, so he tried to rattle me enough I’d make a break for it. You know what happened after that?”

Juri silently shook his head, but it was clear he knew where Nix was going with this.

“Lake forced me to move to the Roost.”

“Nix…”

He straightened. “I appreciate your help,” he repeated. “And if you meant it, and you really don’t mind, I would kind of like having a friend in the club I can rely on. But I understand if you don’t want to put yourself out there like that, especially once I tell you this next part.”

“What’s the next part?”

“Don’t bring up running to me ever again. If they find out you have, you’ll just get me in more trouble than I’m already in. They’ll tighten the restraints and I’m already struggling here as it is.”

Juri definitely wanted to argue, but he must have seen the conviction on Nix’s face because he ended up nodding and giving in. “All right. I promise.”

“Thanks.” Nix glanced toward the dorm building. “Are you going to see Grady?”

“Yeah, he’s got some notes I need. But—”

“Just think about it some more,” Nix suggested. “In the same way you don’t want to be a coward by turning the othercheek, I don’t want to foist my problems off onto someone else. Especially when we both know it won’t do much good in the end. I’ll become a member of the club one way or the other because that’s what Lake wants.”

“Of course it’ll help,” Juri corrected. “You said so yourself. It’ll be comforting to know you’ve got someone outside of them you can talk to.” He rested a hand on his shoulder. “I know this sounds ridiculous since we aren’t that close, but you can trust me, Nix.”

He wanted to, mostly because it would be a relief to have some kind of connection to help him figure out his twisting feelings. “I’ll try.”

“Okay.” Juri dropped his hand and gave him a soft smile. “Friends then?”

Nix nodded.

Juri’s multi-slate dinged and he glanced at it. “That’s Grady. He’s always been impatient.”

“Go ahead,” he motioned to the dorm, “I’ll catch you later.”

“Yeah, later!” Juri ran off, and Nix watched him for a moment feeling a little bit lighter than he had this morning. Talking to the two of them, Juri and Grady, and getting some clarity had been a big help.

After the other guy disappeared inside the building, Nix turned, intent on heading back to the Roost since he didn’t have any other classes.

His breath caught in his throat the second his eyes met Yejun’s from less than twenty feet away.

Chapter 16:

“So it’s Grady and Juri, right?” Yejun asked as they walked back to the Roost together, adjusting the large black portfolio he had hung over his left shoulder. He must have been coming from the art building. “The friends you mentioned after the dead Luk incident?”

“I spoke to them,” Nix didn’t bother confirming or denying it.

“And?”

He hesitated.

“I won’t stab either of them in the eye, Firebird,” Yejun drawled, rolling his eyes when Nix gave him a hard stare. “Fine. I won’t stab them anywhere, happy?”

Happy was a strong word, but whatever. “It was Grady. It was harmless though.”

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