Page 87 of Sinner
That explained why it’d come up as an unknown substance when West had done a deep search for it.
“Dew knew what he was doing,” his voice darkened. “Demitrious cut him a deal. He swapped out the sedative meant for you with the poison. It was easy enough, since they were giving you a higher dosage than Yejun. Juri and Branwen had no idea.”
“Yeah,” West licked his lips, “Nix sort of hacked into your computer. We know they were innocent. Or, as innocent as can be in this situation, anyway.”
“When did he do that?” Beck’s brow furrowed. “Ah. The library.”
“Why’d you tell Nix you were taking it all back?” West asked. “Weren’t you afraid my dad would find out?” Cutting him loose right after stealing all that evidence? There was no way that was a safe call, and Beck was generally smarter than that.
So what was West still missing?
“Actually, no. My act at the restaurant was convincing enough. He hasn’t doubted me since, so there was no worry of there being a spy at the library.” Beck pulled a switchblade out of his pocket suddenly. “I took a page out of Dew’s playbook anddecided to use Demitrious to get what I want.” He smiled the second West’s eyes narrowed. “On the surface, anyway.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means,” he walked around him, “your father currently believes I’m keeping you occupied while he does the rest of his dirty work. The deal is, once this is all over and he gets what he wants, he’ll betroth you to me and help me sneak you off the planet. We’d go somewhere Lake would never even think to look for you, all on Demitrious’s dime.”
West felt the knife saw through the ropes holding his wrists, but didn’t move when they finally gave out, waiting for Beck to circle him once more so he could inspect his expression.
“I’m sorry I missed our timing. And I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Juri and Branwen before it was too late. But I meant what I said about not wanting to lose you, even if that means I’m relegated to the friendzone for the rest of my life.”
“And if I tell you that’s no longer my call to make?”
He nodded in understanding. “I’ll make it up to Nix.”
“Why are you doing this? Even if it’s true you got involved to find evidence against him, my dad’s made you a fairly good offer. Why not really take it and try your luck?”
“Because I don’t want you to hate me,” Beck explained without skipping a beat. “That’s also why I’m willing to stay away if Nix orders you to never see me again. I know you love him. I know what that feels like. Real love. Not fake or selfish devotion.”
Was he thinking about Dew? West didn’t bother asking.
“How am I supposed to believe you?” Even unbound, there was a chance this was another trick. A way to manipulate West somehow. All this time and he’d had no clue about the other man’s feelings for him. Clearly West was terrible at reading him.
“It’s up to you, but if you don’t, you’re going to regret it for the rest of your life.”
He stood up slowly. “Is that a new threat?”
“It’s a promise,” Beck said. “I know where Demitrious is right now, and what he’s planning. I also have an idea on how we can finally stop him for good. But you have to trust me. Can you?”
“Honestly? No.” West set his hands on his hips. “But it doesn’t seem like I really have much of a choice, now do I?”
If it came down to him or the others, he’d take the risk and sacrifice himself any day.
Chapter 29:
Nix wandered through the halls alone. After having some of the best sex of his life, he’d separated from Lake to give the others a chance to find him.
Which he was sort of regretting now.
“What the hell?” he grumbled, checking the time on his multi-slate. He was moving slowly, no longer interested in running around blindly.
When a room was occupied, the door was shut, and Nix passed many of them as he walked through the building. Some had soundproof walls, others weren’t so fortunate. Sometimes he could even hear moans over the forest sounds coming through the speakers hidden throughout Hunters Cross.
He was annoyed and about to call one of them to meet up when he finally caught sight of a masked West up ahead.
The Demon was peering at him from around the corner, and when he made no moves to give chase, Nix took a step toward him.
West took off, disappearing from sight, momentarily leaving a perplexed Nix staring at the empty space he’d once occupied.
