Page 92 of Martyr

“What happened to you?”

“I slipped into a coma.”

“What?” Nix sat up, ignoring West’s protests.

“Relax, I’m fine, aren’t I?”

“You…” Nix looked like he was finally about to panic—like he should have been doing this entire time—but for all the wrong reasons. “You’re saying my cousin almost killed you?”

“It had nothing to do with you, Nixie.”

“She’s my cousin!”

“So?” He tipped his head. “You think that means Yejun had a right to do whatever he pleased? These bruises,” he motioned down to his body, half of him still covered by the blankets, “were deserved? If that’s the case, then someone should have slit my throat several times over. If they had, it still wouldn’t be enough to make up for all the atrocities my father has committed.”

“You don’t exactly have a squeaky clean ledger yourself,” Nix drawled, then sighed and hung his head. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner that you almost died? Why doesn’t anyone talk about it?”

“Because no one knows.” West bumped his knuckles lightly against Nix’s chin until the other man looked up at him once more. “And no one is going to, understood?”

“Why not? What else aren’t you telling me?”

Yejun was going to be furious once he found out what West was doing, but they’d left him no choice. He was the only one here who could do damage control before they lost Nix for good. And they were close.

Despite his assurance that he’d been willing, West wasn’t convinced. They’d backed Nix into so many corners in such a short period of time, there was a good chance he’d simplyforgotten the definition of consent and what it truly meant. I.E. not choosing the lesser of two evils out of survival.

He wasn’t sure exactly when it’d started, but West clearly viewed Nix Monroe as one of them. Whether that was due to Lake’s claiming mark or not, it was what it was. He wouldn’t mistreat Lake or Yejun, which meant he could no longer mistreat Nix.

“The poison used on me was the same as the one that killed the Emperor and the Royal Consort,” West divulged, voice dropping low despite the fact they were safely locked away in his room.

Nix’s mouth gaped, and for a moment, all he did was stare in shock. “You’re saying…The Emperor was murdered, and my cousin was in possession of the murder weapon?”

“I slipped into a coma,” West continued, knowing that he needed to divulge everything for it all to make sense, “and while I was unconscious, Yejun dealt with Iris. He interrogated her—”

“Did he…” Nix squeezed his eyes shut. “What a stupid question. Of course he hurt her.”

“I won’t lie and say he didn’t.”

“Was it…bad?”

“According to him and the doctor who looked her over before she was released, there were no broken bones or major internal injuries. He didn’t hit her. He mostly starved her and kept her awake with loud music for three days straight.”

“Did he…?”

“He was never sexual with her,” West said, knowing that’s where he was going with it. “He’s only ever used sex as a weapon against you, as far as I know. I’ve never seen him fuck his feelings.”

“I’m pretty sure the expression is eat your feelings,” his tone was flat and he appeared close to tears once more but held them at bay. “Keep going.”

West grabbed Nix’s hand and linked their fingers. Apparently, it was a day of firsts. Yejun had never used his cock as a weapon before, and West had never used skinship to comfort someone. Whether they liked it or not, Nix wasn’t the only one being changed by their proximity.

“Iris confessed that she’d been drugging me little by little every time she was invited over to the Roost. I was working hard for an upcoming boxing match and on a pretty strict diet. The tea I was drinking was separate from the others. She was putting the poison in there. Sometimes, she’d knock Yejun out first and do it, other times she managed to behind his back.”

“What about the devices she planted on the paintings?” Nix asked. “Lake said that’s how you discovered she was a spy in the first place. She was trying to bug his uncle—” Realization dawned on him and he stopped himself.

West gave him a minute, not bothering to deny what was clearly obvious.

“Lake lied to me,” Nix whispered.

“We had to protect the secret. Iris told Yejun everything she knew, and it turned out not to be very much. It became clear at the end that she’d been used by the hacker—”

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