Page 95 of Sinner
“There was no chance of Lake ever giving him a second chance with the Yejun and I around, so he decided to get rid of us. We figured he was going to come back to check and make sure Rase got the job done, so we set a trap for him. The cameras took a long time. We had to be sure to set them up somewhere he wouldn’t notice.”
“Then we left Yejun in the room and went to hide in the one across from his,” Beck picked up the story. “We’d only just gone in when we heard you two coming.”
“I texted June and told him, so he’d fire the gun and make it believable.”
“No reason I would stick around if I’d killed Rase sooner,” Yejun explained. “I stabbed myself in case you insisted I go with you when I warned you about Nix. Which, by the way,” he turned a glare on Beck, “I didn’t fucking know was real.”
“Me either,” West growled. “You made it sound like it was an excuse to get Lake to leave.”
“I honestly didn’t know anything about my father being here,” Beck swore. “He seemed the most believable person to mention, so I did. Perhaps Demitrious didn’t want to risk telling me because he knows how rocky our relationship is.”
“Nix could have gotten hurt,” West snapped.
“Lake got to him in time. Isn’t that what matters?”
“Actually,” Lake drew their attention his way, “Nix had already handled the situation by the time I arrived.” He stared Beck down. “You should probably remember that, cousin.”
“There won’t be a next time,” Beck told them all, glancing around at each of them. “I never intended to harm Nix.”
“Fine.” Nix waved the topic off. They could be here forever trying to figure out if he was being honest or not, and for what? “Why was your plan to send Lake away?”
“I needed Demitrious to confess and be caught by the cameras,” Yejun said. “I knew if he’d left Rase to kill me, he’d want to try it himself after seeing Rase had failed. I just had to make it easy for him, that way he wouldn’t pass up the chance. So I emptied the chamber of the gun and pretended to fall into him, giving him the perfect opportunity to snatch it.”
“Better than taking the risk he was carrying his own piece.” West nodded at him, giving away they hadn’t had time to discuss that part ahead of time, and it’d been purely Yejun’s quick thinking that had prevented them from having to find out.
“Him giving away that he’d poisoned the late emperor was really just the cherry on top.” Yejun went on to explain they’d been trying to get him to confess he was responsible for Rase being there, thinking that could give them enough for the police to arrest him now. Then, afterward, they would present the rest of the evidence proving he’d ordered the poison.
“So it was really him.” Nix sat back in the plush chair. “It’s really over? Like, actually? For good this time.”
“Demitrious must have left that fake email on Dew’s computer as a backup plan,” West filled them in. “He always intended to use Hendrix as his scapegoat if he was ever caught. Using his connections to free him from the transport and have him brought to campus tonight was his final plan.”
“He would have pinned all of this on my dad and then taken him out so he couldn’t tell the truth,” Beck sighed.
“Hendrix may not be as malicious as we first believed,” Lake reminded coldly, “but he still tried murdering my Royal Consort. He will be tried for treason alongside Demitrious.”
“I would expect nothing less, cousin.”
They stared at each other a moment and then Lake offered, “If you’d like to see him one last time before then, I can arrange that.”
“Thank you, but anything that needed to be said between us has already missed its timing.”
“If you change your mind, let me know.” Lake’s multi-slate started ringing almost as soon as he finished that sentence, and he scowled down at the number. “I’ve handed over copies of the evidence to both the High Council and the Order. This is Kori now.”
“Take it,” Nix said, but almost as soon as he walked off to answer, Yejun and West’s devices both rang.
“It’s my sister,” Yejun told them.
“The Order. Probably want my help getting into my dad’s shit.” West stood but looked to Nix before doing anything else.
“Go ahead.” Nix laughed as soon as his multi-slate went off. “Looks like I have to take a call as well.”
Yejun wandered into the kitchen, but West hesitated, glancing between Nix and Beck before a nod from Nix sent him out onto the patio.
“Hey, Briant,” Nix popped the earbud attachment into his ear and greeted his cousin.
“Nix, I’m still at the party. Everything has settled back to normal here. But everyone is talking about Demitrious and Hendrix.” Briant had shown up at Hunters Cross while Nix and the Demons had been with the police. Everything had been explained, but Nix had asked him to remain behind so he could listen to gossip and be sure no one was saying anything negative about Lake.
Really, it was just an excuse to get some alone time with them, and an explanation. Nix knew Briant would worry if he’d heard the whole story in detail.
