Page 77 of Saint

He made a face. “Are you asking if I’ve got a tracker on my person or something?”

Juri gave him a once over, as though the thought had only just occurred to him. “Do you?”

“Dude, really?”

“Just to be safe…” He held out his hand. “Multi-slate.”

“You want me to give you my—”

“Just do it, Nix. This has already taken so long. We need to get moving if we’re going to get Briant out of that shitty room today. Did I mention there’s no heating system? The weather forecast says it’s supposed to be a cold one.”

Nix gapped at him. “Have you been torturing my cousin?!”

“I’ve only done enough to prove to you I’m serious. I left him with enough packaged food to last a few days, so long as he rationed it. Briant is smart, so he figured that out rather early on and has been limiting himself to one pastry a day. Same with the water bottles.”

Nix snatched the discarded holo-pad off of the bed once more. Briant was seen tucked into a corner of the room, his legs drawn up and his face hidden against his knees. There was a mini fridge nearby, and an empty desk. The floors looked like they were bare, and there were obvious black stains on the walls. In the corner of the footage, Nix could make out the end of a bed, but that was all.

His earlier assumption that this was a hotel room held firm. Maybe an abandoned one? Were there any such places in the city?

“You’ll never find him on your own,” Juri warned. “And if you’re thinking of leaving and getting the Demons to help, I’ll make it to him before you do.”

“And what? Commit murder?”

“If you turn on me, I’m screwed either way. I may as well get something out of it and prove to you I keep my word.”

If Nix didn’t help him and instead walked out, he’d tell Lake what Juri planned, how he was somehow behind the poisoning. That’s what he meant. There’d be no escaping their fury. He probably also assumed Lake would want to do away with any potential competition he had for the throne.

Juri no doubt believed his life was on the line here. That explained his hasty actions, and why he was so willing to hurt others to get his way. He’d been scared of Lake before discovering they were related and he posed a serious threat to everything Lake considered his. Of course he’d be freaking out now.

“It’s not too late to change your mind,” Nix tried, but he wasn’t able to get very far.

“Save it. I am not my brother. I won’t run from my responsibilities to save myself. I have a real chance here to do some good and spare the planet from tyrannical rule.”

“You’ve been using me this whole time.”

“I haven’t. I tried to convince you to leave them before, don’t you recall? I wanted to help you, but it was already too late. They’d already hooked their claws into you.”

That expression was too close to the one he’d used with Yejun the other day.

Which made him think about how angry June had gotten when he’d mistaken Briant for someone hitting on him.

How mad would he be if he saw a picture of Juri and Nix kissing?

Would he—

No. He shut those traitorous thoughts down. He and Yejun had talked it out and the Demon had promised him he would never react that way again.

Nix was safe with him.

With all of them.

Maybe it was foolish of him to put his faith in a bunch of guys who’d used and abused him in more ways than one, especially so soon after discovering that yet another person he’d trusted had used that trust against him. But Nix had to believe in them.

That was the only way he and Briant were going to make it out of this.

The only way they all were.

Trust.

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