Page 73 of Saint

“I knew it was going to be hard for you to see reason. Eventually, once you’ve gotten the help that you need, you will, I promise. But for now, I’m just going to have to take control of the situation.”

“What situation?! You haven’t told me a damn thing! Forget this.” Nix lifted his wrist a second time, stepping out of reach.

“If you tell one of the Demons,” Juri’s cold tone stopped him short, “I’ll kill Briant.”

He stared at him, trying to connect the person standing in front of him with the one he’d thought he’d known all this time.

“I need your help, Nix.”

“Yeah, that’s so not going to happen.”

“I think it is. You want Briant to stay alive, right? So do I. I wish I didn’t have to involve him, I really do, but Demons Passing is tomorrow, and sadly that means we’re all out of time.”

“Where is Briant?”

“I’ll tell you, once you’ve helped me.”

“With?”

“Taking down the Demons.”

Nix snorted. “I’m not doing that.”

“You think you care about them, sure. But we both know you legitimately care for your cousin. Are you really going to sacrifice him for their sake?”

“You won’t hurt Briant,” he was bluffing, but he had to try something. “You’re not that type of person, Juri. You said it yourself. My cousin and I had nothing to do with this world. Briant is innocent. If you do something to him, you’re no better than the people you’re claiming to want to stop.”

Juri nodded solemnly. “Sometimes we have to do the wrong things to get the right results. I’m not proud of it, and I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to both of you, but this is what needs to happen, Nix. It’s what’s best for everyone.”

“You’re insane.”

“I’d argue with you over that, but who knows? I wouldn’t exactly refer to Lake as sane.”

The room was suddenly way too small and it was getting hard to breathe, but Nix forced himself to remain focused. “What?”

“You’re smart,” Juri reminded. “You can put the pieces together on your own.”

“No.”

“Afraid so.” He snorted. “Trust me. I’m not happy about it either.”

Hendrix wouldn’t shut up about Lake’s parents and their affairs.

Lake had confirmed himself those actually happened. That both of his parents had other lovers, but…

“You said it was your mom who cheated,” he pointed out.

“It was.”

“Lake said his mother is the one who fell for someone else.”

“Maybe he just never noticed his dad had as well.” Juri shrugged, clearly not caring about the details. “All I know is—”

“You and Lake have the same father.”

It was crazy, but it wasn’t the most important part here. Not the driving force behind Juri’s actions. He’d never stoop so low as to kidnap Briant and use him as blackmail against Nix simply because he found out he was Lake’s brother.

“You’re after the throne.”

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