Page 31 of Martyr

“He’s—”

Nix tried to tune the hushed whispers out, but it grew harder and harder to deal with as the day dragged on. By his third class, he was about ready to call Lake and concede just so he could hide back at the Roost where there was peace and quiet.

Or…at least quiet, in any case.

He’d yet to see a friendly face all day and he was starting to really see the appeal in having them. Ever since he’d arrived at this school, that was one lesson he seemed to be learning in spades. Prior to this, he’d always gone through life on his own, believing that friendship wasn’t all that important.

Seeing the Demons interact, and listening to all the gossip aimed his way with no one there to help defend him…Nix glumly admitted to himself he’d like a friend in his corner. Someone he could rely on.

Someone he could talk to.

Branwen had been that person for him before. Now there was no one. No one he could go to in order to get this load off his chest.

The whispers and the stares were all Lake’s fault, but he would merely shrug and say that’s what he wanted if Nix tried to complain to him about it. Yejun and West were both annoyed by the bite because not only had Lake done it without discussing with them first, it also lowered their chances of drawing the attention of the hacker they were after.

Nix had figured that out fairly quickly, which meant Lake had to have known when he’d made the decision to sink his teeth into his flesh.

His multi-slate buzzed and he sighed, anticipating it being a summons or whatever from one of the Demons. When he saw that it was an unknown number, his unease only grew. Tapping open the message, his eyes widened.

Unknown:Yesterday not enough for you?

Nix didn’t have enough time to even consider responding before another message popped up on the screen.

Unknown:You should run while you still can.

Who…Was it the hacker?

That seemed too easy, and according to what they knew about how this person approached Branwen, if it was the hacker, they shouldn’t be trying to convince Nix to leave. They’d want to use him to get to the Demons. Right?

Assuming it wasn’t the hacker, then…

Grady?

That made more sense. Grady had pushed him into that stall, so he’d known to comment about it today. He was also the only person on campus who’d warned Nix away from Lake and the others since the beginning. If anyone here wanted him gone, it would be his roommate.

Nix was going to have to talk to him. They’d need to clear the air, and he wanted to tell Grady to get rid of those shoes. If Lake saw him wearing them around, he’d recognize them the same way Nix had and then—

“Hello.” The man who’d introduced himself as Lake’s cousin the other day appeared next to Nix’s desk, cutting into his thoughts. Aside from hair color, there wasn’t much resemblance between him and the Imperial currently considered the bane of Nix’s existence, especially since Beck wore a friendly, almost hesitant, smile.

“What are you doing here?” Nix glanced around, shoulders caving in slightly when he saw they’d gained even more attention from the students leaving. Class had just ended, and even though Beck was a professor at Foxglove, he wasn’t the professor here.

He exited out of the message window, hoping the other man hadn’t noticed. The last thing Nix needed was for Lake or the others to find out he was receiving threatening messages now. He had to talk with Grady first.

Even if his roommate was behind the attack and these texts, Nix still trusted that all of that was coming from a good place. He wanted to help protect him, and truthfully, when looked at from Grady’s perspective, Nix couldn’t blame him. The Demons were vicious on the best of days.

Nix had firsthand experience with that.

“I saw you on my way,” he pointed toward the hall, “and figured I’d check in on you after yesterday. How are you holding up?” His eyes, a crystal blue, swept over Nix, lingering on the bandage peeking out from beneath his collar. “That definitely wasn’t there when I last saw you.”

Resisting the urge to cover it up, Nix grunted. “Upset you left early and missed the show?”

Beck frowned. “Is my cousin mistreating you? He seemed genuinely concerned for your safety.”

“Come on,” Nix called bullshit, “you know the guy better than that.”

“I do know him,” Beck agreed. “Which is why I’m confident Lake cares for you. If he didn’t, there’s no way he’d claim you. He’s in line for the throne, Nix. Don’t you understand what that means?”

Nix’s brow furrowed, because…no, not really. At least, not in terms of why it would affect Nix outside of the obvious.

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