Page 3 of Sinner
“But if they didn’t poison West, who did?” Branwen had been caught red-handed slipping something into West’s tea. They’d tested it, had confirmation that it was drugged and—
Nix shot to his feet and rushed to the door, yanking it open with so much force, he almost stumbled back. He caught himself, eyes scanning the shocked looks of the Demons who’d been patiently waiting for him in the hallway.
“The tea,” he breathed, somehow out of breath just from that little bit of movement. How long had he been sitting here?
“Tea?” West frowned. “Are you thirsty? I can—”
“You tested the contents of the glass,” he said, “the one Branwen slipped something into. But what if she wasn’t poisoning you? What if the poison was already there the whole time? What if it was—”
“The tea.” Yejun caught on, blinking.
“Did you test it separately?” Nix asked.
“No. Not, but…” He shared a look with Lake. “Firebird, I’m sorry, but we tested the contents of the vials she had on her. We know for a fact that’s where the poison came from.”
Nix deflated some, but he wasn’t willing to let this go. “Juri got rid of a lot, so there isn’t much, but he and Dew talk about a substance a few times in their regular text feed. It doesn’t sound like Juri or Branwen knew what it really was. There’s mention of it being a stronger dose of the same sedative they’d been giving Yejun.”
“Songbird.” Lake took his hand, but he pulled away, not wanting to be distracted when he finally felt so close to…something.
“No,” he shook his head, positive he was right about this. “Branwen never poisoned you—or, at least, she didn’t mean to. Since she never got anywhere with Yejun, you were the next target. Considering how you controlled the app and kept tabs on everything, it was a smart guess. If she could get into your systems, she could find the evidence they were looking for and get out of there. Finally stop pretending.”
“Evidence for what though?”
“It didn’t matter,” he explained. “They just wanted something, anything, to help prove to the world you were monsters.”
“And they were willing to risk their lives for that?” Lake frowned. “For a chance they’d uncover some secret horror?”
Nix stared at him. “You can’t stand there and tell me Yejun stabbing a man through the eye with a fork was a one-off.”
He wasn’t naïve. He knew exactly who these three were.
“If you gave me access and I checked right now, I bet I’d uncover a shit ton of crimes that could easily be used against you, at least enough to turn the public. That’s all they wanted. Juri wanted you to suffer the way his brother had. He wanted you unmasked in front of the entire planet, so you’d feel the way his family felt. Embarrassed and whispered about in the streets. He did not, however, intend to murder any of you.”
“Okay, but your cousin—”
“My cousin was convinced Juri was going to get his revenge and run off with her into the sunset. Hell if I know why. Juri wasn’t into her like that.” She’d lied to him about having a boyfriend and about hooking up, but that wasn’t important context here.
Lake sighed and rubbed at his forehead. “Pack it up then, Songbird. Let’s take it all home. You can keep working there. It’s late.”
“Can’t.”
“Nix. I’m worried about you.”
“Don’t be.” He totally, one hundred percent, should be. “I can’t leave. Juri set up a location key. I can only access these hidden files here. If I move the laptop even a foot out of bounds, everything will relock and I won’t be able to get back in without a new passcode, which I won’t be able to create without access to his—”
“I have no idea what you’re saying.”
“I do,” West interjected with a sigh of his own. “He’s saying we’re stuck here until he’s satisfied. Isn’t that right, Nixie?”
“Yes.” Without wasting another word, Nix slammed the door in their faces and returned to his spot on the floor.
There had to be more here, or a way to recover the deleted chat logs and messages. There was no telling how long he’d have before the Ferds came collecting for Juri’s things.
He had to get through all of it before that happened.
He had to.
Chapter 2:
