Page 5 of Saint

Was he being ridiculous still? Acting on emotion?

Nix turned the knob for the hot water, wincing at the immediate burn as the temperature went up.

Before now, he would have sworn that Dew wasn’t her type, but…How well did he truly know her at the end of the day? Dew fit the description, in any case. He was a King on the Enigma app, and clearly had it out for the Demons. He’d set Juri up by sending him to retrieve the wrong painting, and had been the one to switch it out with the piece Yejun had intended to display.

Yejun had hung back and gotten everyone in attendance to spill. A couple of them had recalled seeing Dew there earlier.He must have had Juri bring the painting and then arrived at the gallery himself after he’d messed with the security cameras.

Nix had thought they were friends, but it made sense that Dew would have it out for him to protect himself. West’s plan had obviously worked the way they’d hoped, even if the outcome was confusing and more upsetting than they’d figured it would be. Juri was probably hurting right now too.

And Grady…

They’d been close friends with Dew for a long time, and word was already spreading around campus about his death. Rumors he’d tried to take down the Demons were circulating as well. Nix had even caught wind of a couple of them on their way back from the police station where they’d given their statements. He had no clue how long ago that had been, but he’d shut his multi-slate off the second he’d heard the first whisper and had entered the Roost with no intention of leaving any time soon.

Ironic, considering this place used to feel like a prison to him, yet here he was, taking sanctuary from it.

How desperate must Dew have felt to jump off the roof? Even when Nix had been at his lowest, his thoughts had always turned to fleeing for his life, not ending it. Something had scared Dew and Branwen so badly, they’d both decided death was the only option left to them.

But who?

And…did he really even want to keep looking?

He was too exhausted for guilt, cleaning off the rest of himself mindlessly before finally stepping out of the shower stall. Things like vengeance and revenge seemed too far out of reach at this point, like a pipe dream. A waste of time. Besides, it wasn’t like either his cousin or Dew were around to see him avenge them even if he did manage to identify the other accomplice.

Because what he’d concluded with West the other week still held true, maybe even more so after today's events. There were two people involved in this plot against the Demons. Dew was undoubtedly one of them, but the other remained a mystery.

Maybe that was it. Maybe he’d taken his own life to protect this person.

Did he love him, the same way Branwen believed she’d loved the person who’d used her? Were they one and the same?

West would find out. He should be doing a deep dive into Dew and his electronic footprint already, while Yejun was at the hospital waiting for the medical report, and Lake made calls to all of the Essentials who could be beneficial to them in their search.

Nix was the only one who had nothing better to do than wallow alone in a bathroom. The only one who seemed affected by witnessing a gruesome suicide. It made him wonder if things like this were more common for members of the club than they let on to the public. If death, destruction, and mayhem were truly things he’d signed up for.

For life.

He dried himself halfheartedly and then stepped from the bathroom, a waft of steam exiting it along with him. The second he stepped into the attached chamber, his skin prickled from the chill.

“How careless.” Lake’s gaze landed on him from the window where he’d been standing, expression morphing into one of obvious displeasure. He was crossing the length of the room almost instantly, pulling Nix over to the bed as his eyes scanned over every bare inch of his flesh. “You’re bright red. Did you try to boil yourself alive in there? I knew I shouldn’t have allowed you to bathe alone.”

“But you did,” Nix’s voice sounded weak and distant even to his own ears, and when he tipped his head back so he couldsee the other man’s face, he noted the way Lake seemed to falter in his annoyance.

When they’d arrived back, Nix had warned Lake not to disturb him. He’d wanted to shower in peace and have a moment alone, a rarity now that he lived in this house with three other pushy men. It was obvious Lake had wanted to refuse, but in the end, he’d agreed. Nix didn’t want it to, but the fact that he’d respected that and had actually stayed out foolishly meant a lot to him.

Because accepting the bare minimum was now his forte, it seemed.

The next emperor of Tulniri cleared his throat and then removed the sweatshirt he was wearing. He tossed it over Nix’s shoulders and went to the closet, returning a moment later with a familiar set of sweatpants and a pullover.

“Déjà vu,” Nix mumbled.

Lake scowled but didn’t say anything, carefully dressing him. The silence stretched around them, disrupted only by the soft pattering of rain against the window and the skylight above. Another typical backdrop to their interactions. It was almost as though this moment had been captured and suspended, forcing them both to relive it over and over again.

“I don’t think it would be the worst outcome,” Nix whispered, not realizing he was speaking out loud until it was too late.

Lake pulled on Nix’s last sock and then quirked a brow at him, remaining kneeling on the floor as he waited for an elaboration. They’d stay like that forever too, until he got his answer. The other guy was stubborn like that. Pushy and fierce and overbearing.

Hell, just to get his way, he’d stuck his teeth into the side of Nix’s neck and torn a mating mark into his flesh. A permanentdecision he’d made all on his own, one that bound them for the rest of their lives, whether they liked it or not.

“Why do you like me?” he found himself asking. His left hand lifted, and before he knew it, he was lightly tracing the sharp curve of Lake’s right eyebrow, the blond hairs tickling the pad of his finger. “What would you do if I told you I didn’t like you back?”

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