Page 9 of Sinner
“Was it Dew’s account?” Nix asked, just for further confirmation.
They’d linked the Serendipity username to Dew. That’d been the King account Branwen had been talking to, so they’d surmised it was also the account of whoever had betrayed her. Of course, Nix had been doubtful that Dew was his cousin’s type, but Juri…made sense.
“That’s the name he kept saying, yeah,” Briant confirmed.
“Did he tell you how Dew happened to get his hands on a second account?” If he’d been given access to the King tier, someone had to have gifted it to him. Dew had constantly complained about being unable to reach that level on his own.
Not many people could do that, though, right? To reach the King level alone was a feat. Only a person in power, power enough they didn’t need to hold onto the username, would give it away like it was nothing.
They’d already wasted so much time searching for the King who’d fooled Branwen, and all it’d done was lead them in circles. Even with this newfound information, was it enough?
“He didn’t say much about his friend, other than to explain how he’d gotten the account in the first place.”
“Dew just… let him borrow it?”
“That’s the story.”
There had to be a reason Dew would do that. Was Juri blackmailing him as well? No, that didn’t make sense. Nix hadbeen around the two of them together a million times. There was no animosity there. Their friendship had seemed strong.
At least, up until Dew had killed himself. Then Juri had acted as shocked and upset as everyone else, even though he’d obviously known more than he’d let on.
They’d been friends, sure, with no clear problems. But that didn’t mean Dew would have ended it all to protect Juri. Nix had considered it earlier and came to the conclusion that Dew wouldn’t have.
So why?
“Branwen was new to campus,” Briant continued. “She didn't have any friends yet, and the only person she’d spoken with was Yejun. Juri saw his opportunity, and he took it. It started off small, just the usual stuff to get her to like him. Then once he felt like he had her confidence, he upped the ante. Started talking about his family.”
His family, who had been members of Club Essential for generations.
“They’re hardly innocent,” Nix sneered.
“Juri doesn’t see it that way.” He paused and blew out a breath. “Sorry, didn’t. He didn’t see it that way. To him, his brother was wronged. He wanted revenge. Bleeding hearts must run in the family, huh?” He laughed, but there was no humor in the sound. “I fell for his bullshit, too.”
“Same.”
“Too bad he’s dead. He could have tried his hand on mom and dad next.”
“Wow, dude.”
“Sorry.”
“Don’t be.” Nix unfolded from his perch and set his feet on the floor. “Anything else?”
“He made her feel bad for him and then roped her into helping him. From there, he fed her info on Yejun to help her maintain and grow that relationship.”
No wonder she’d managed to get close to June, when all others had failed. Juri might have waved his rights to the title of Demon, but he’d still grown up around them. It would be stranger if he’d gone all that time and hadn’t picked up anything about the artist.
“Branwen fell hard for Juri,” Nix said, thinking about what she’d written in her final letter. “No wonder she was willing to turn on Yejun for him.”
“She did more than turn on him,” he argued. “She risked it all. Her life, our family, everything. Juri had her drug Yejun so the two of them could look for evidence. Or, more accurately, so she could. That coward never stepped foot in the danger zone. He always had her do it for him, citing that he’d be recognized if he got close.”
The Demons would have never willingly invited him over, so that meant Juri’s only chance would have been to wait until after Branwen knocked Yejun out with the sedative. But then they’d run the risk of someone seeing him enter the Roost, a thing that would certainly turn into campus-wide gossip, or having West return and walk in on them. Juri had needed Branwen.
“Did she ever find anything?” As far as Nix knew, they were only aware of her drugging Yejun a handful of times at the Roost itself, though they’d realized she’d tried a few times to break into his multi-slate, with no luck.
“No,” Briant grunted. “You’ll never believe this, but as clever as Juri made it sound, the two of them were actually just stupid kids. On paper, the whole thing could be considered child's play. Sloppy and illegal. But harmless in the grand scheme of things. ”
They’d both been in their early twenties, so hardly kids, but Nix understood what he was saying. Besides, on some level, they’d always be kids in Briant’s eye, since he’d grown up watching over Nix and Branwen since they were in diapers.
