Page 94 of Sinner
Beck sort of just…hovered at the end of the couch where West was sitting.
“Seems like you two have the most to tell,” Lake stated, glancing between West and Yejun. “How did you get that injury on your leg, June? It was made by a knife, not a blaster.”
“Noticed that, did you?” He let out a whistle and tapped the side of his thigh, which had been bandaged by professionals at the scene. “Good thing Demitrious isn’t as keen.”
“He brought a knife to the party.” Nix shrugged when they all looked at him. “What? He gave me one too.” He lifted the hem of his pants and pulled the hidden blade out, holding it up so they could see before tossing it onto the empty space where the coffee table used to be.
He fucking hated that piece of furniture.
Actually, this was the first time he’d really sat in the living room since. Funny, considering he hadn’t thought about it at all. If not for the clatter of the weapon hitting the floorboards instead of a table, making it obvious, he probably never would have.
“Would you like to move to the kitchen?” Lake suggested, no doubt noticing the way his eyes had lingered too long on that spot.
“No.” There was no way he was inviting Beck into a comfortable space. He didn’t deserve to be there, even if it was sort of apparent he hadn’t done whatever it was Demitrious had ordered him to do. “Here is fine.”
“You gave him a knife but not me?” West turned to Yejun.
“You can defend yourself,” June replied.
“Nix can defend himself, too.” He beamed at him proudly. “Heard you used some sick moves on Hendrix to disarm him and take the upper hand. You must have had one hell of a teacher.”
“You are his self-defense teacher,” Lake drawled, crossing his arms when West laughed.
“That I am.”
“So,” Lake turned back to Yejun. “You stabbed yourself? Is that what you’re saying?”
“Well, I wasn’t going to shoot myself.”
“Why’d you have to hurt yourself at all?” Nix asked.
June sobered. “Rase cornered me and held me at gunpoint. Said he was getting payback for what I did to him.”
“Wasn’t he in prison for sexual assault?” West cocked his head, thinking. “I swear I heard there was a trial.”
“I heard he got a job on the other side of the planet,” Nix said.
“That was just a cover-up from his family.”
“We let him keep his cover story,” Yejun explained. “It seemed like we’d sort of done enough to the poor guy.”
“The poor guy,” he stated, “who you just said was in prison serving time for hurting other people?”
“West shot him in the end, didn’t he?” Yejun pointed at West who glared at him before turning to Nix and chuckling awkwardly.
“I swear, it was either him or June,” West told him.
“Rase was about to take me out, but West and Beck arrived just in time to distract him long enough for me to fight for the blaster.” Yejun lowered onto the armrest, taking some of the weight off his injured leg. It was the only sign he was in any amount of pain.
“I took the opportunity to shoot him in the back during the struggle.” West shrugged. “Trust me, he deserved it.”
“What about after?” Lake twirled a finger in the air, silently ordering them to speed up the story.
Nix was with him.
“Beck explained that Demitrious was the real poisoner,” West said. “And that us pushing him out of the Order had set him off on another diabolical scheme. The only way to regain his seat at the table was if he could convince Lake to forgive him.”
“He had no clue you guys knew that the emperor and Royal Consort had been murdered,” Beck added.
