Page 9 of Saint (Demons of Foxglove Grove #3)

“Are you sure there’s nothing else you’ll need help with?” Beck’s voice came through the earbud in Yejun’s left ear as the Demon stepped into the elevator.

He was the first to arrive at the office building downtown, an envelope stuffed with paper documents under his arm. They’d need Nix to sign digital copies as well, but the club liked to kick it old school from time to time, and having hard copies meant having a backup in case there was a technical issue.

“I’ve got it all,” Yejun replied, hitting the button that would take him up to the fourth level. He’d lost track of time at his studio and had texted the older guy asking if he was anywhere near the Club House. Beck had come through and picked up all of the documents they needed, handing them off to him on campus since he was scheduled for an afternoon class anyway. “Thanks again.”

Beck had called him because he’d realized he’d forgotten to hand over one of the copies, but it wasn’t important enough for Yejun to turn around and get it, or tell the others to make a stop themselves.

Since they’d claimed Nix as their fourth, they each needed to sign a specific form. He still had three with him, so he’d just wait on signing his and submit it later. No big deal.

“Actually,” Beck said as the elevator came to a stop and Yejun stepped out into the hallway, “I’m planning on being at West’s match tomorrow night. How about I hand it off to him then?”

Yejun shook his head. “You really have to get over this crush, man. I wasn’t going to say anything since our talk at the hospital but—”

“I know.” Seeing as how Beck had grown up the same way Lake had, he was also good at masking his emotions when he wanted to, so it was hard to tell if the guy felt sad or not. “I missed my chance. If I hadn’t known before, last night would have opened my eyes to the truth.”

Last night, when West had stuck to Nix’s side like a protective bodyguard. Any chance he’d had to touch the Firebird, he’d taken, smirking at anyone who dared allow their gaze to linger on their fourth a little too long.

Not the reaction Yejun would have had in his place, but then, the two of them were very different.

Yejun was realizing that he was far more possessive than he’d ever considered himself to be.

West, however, seemed to have enjoyed the attention. He clearly got off on flaunting Nix, waving in the members’ faces that he was claimed and untouchable. He’d figured out what Lake and June already knew.

Nix was special. Worth protecting.

And Yejun had royally fucked up.

He entered the office and shut the door behind him with a bit more force than necessary, going straight for the desk to the far left, where he dropped the paperwork. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Beck replied. “Especially since you only partially mean that.”

Yejun grinned and shrugged even though the other guy couldn’t see, spinning around to perch on the edge of the desk as he waited. “What can I say, Nix is a good guy.”

“Yes, he is.”

“I’m glad that he’s ours.” Even if that meant Beck had his heart broken in the process. He liked the older man and all, but it wasn’t like it was Yejun’s fault Beck had never grown a pair and confessed to West. “Since you’ve already come to terms with it being over—”

“It never really started,” Beck reminded, but Yejun grunted.

“Yeah, yeah. Can I ask you something?”

He sighed. “You’re wondering why I never told West how I felt.”

“It just doesn’t seem very like you, to back off when you want something.” Although, now that Yejun was thinking about it… “Actually. When was the last time you actually even wanted something?”

What Yejun meant was it didn’t seem like a former Demon to give up on something they wanted, but when he stopped to really consider it, Beck was different from the rest of them.

“Can I tell you truthfully?” Beck surprised him by saying.

“That’d be preferable.”

“Getting turned down by one of the current Demons would only get a laugh out of my father. That is the opposite of what I want.”

Beck was always thinking up ways he could screw Hendrix over, Yejun knew that, but still…

“Take it from someone who also has controlling parents,” he said, “don’t base every decision you make off of how they’ll react. Sometimes it’s worth just taking your own happiness into consideration.”

“Have you spoken to yours about Nix yet?”

He clicked his tongue. “Just my sister. Briefly.”

Yerin was the original owner of this building and several years his senior. She was currently running the Starlight Museum of Modern Art on the other side of the planet, and only made a few trips back home, usually for major Essential events. Due to the age gap, they were never extremely close growing up, but as they got older, they’d developed somewhat of a friendship.

His sister had heard about their fourth and called him to ask about it just last week, and Yejun had confirmed he’d fallen for Nix. She’d congratulated him, but warned him about their parents plans. He’d ended the call shortly after to avoid discussing it further.

Yerin had accepted the match organized by their mother with another prominent family in the art scene.

Yejun had no intentions of doing so, especially not now.

He was mostly trying not to overthink it, since as soon as Lake took the throne, it would no longer be a concern. His parents might be able to speak up against them now, but they wouldn’t be able to say shit to the Emperor.

The door clicked a second before Lake appeared, and Yejun nodded at him in greeting.

“Gotta go, Beck.” He ended the call and pulled the earbud out, remaining by the desk as everyone poured into the room, paying extra care to Nix when he entered.

Nix was dressed casually, in dark gray jeans and a red polo at least a size too big for him.

Yejun was pretty sure it belonged to West, but he wasn’t all that interested in Nix’s clothing choices. He was trying to decide if the others had told Nix what they were all doing here, and how Nix felt about that.

The Firebird must have been taking pointers from Lake and Beck though, because it was impossible to tell based on his expression alone.

Didn’t help that Nix was also refusing to make eye contact with him.

“Is this it?” Lake picked up the envelope from the desk, then placed it back down and keyed in the code for the top right drawer of the desk. He pulled out a holo-pad and started setting up.

“Yeah, minus one page. No big. I’ve got it figured.” Yejun turned to Nix. “Are you ready for this?”

“Not like he has a choice,” Lake clipped, motioning for Yejun to move out of the way before he placed the holo-pad on the surface of the desk and pulled the paperwork out. He shifted through it, separating the documents so the pages they needed to sign weren’t mixed in with Nix’s, and then set that down as well. “Come here, Songbird.”

Nix didn’t hesitate, moving over and taking the pen Lake offered him. “This is it?” he asked as he bent and dutifully signed his name to all the places Lake pointed, not even bothering to read the contract himself. “I was expecting something…more.”

“You watched it last night,” West reminded. “Juri signed a bunch of bullshit, swore an oath, and that was it.”

“Club Essential likes to think of themselves as god-like, but really they’re just another elite business club. The paperwork is legally binding, and the final test…” Lake paused.

“Oh, I already know what I want to film,” Nix said, moving on from the physical copies to the holo-pad.

“You do?” Yejun frowned and looked at West, but his friend didn’t seem to have any clue either. “You don’t have to do anything you’re not comfortable with. I’m sure I speak for us all when I say we aren’t afraid to submit a blank tape.”

“That won’t be necessary.” Nix scrawled his name one final time and then held it out for Lake. But when the Imperial reached for it, he snatched it back, gaze hardening. “Not so fast.”

Lake’s spine straightened, pursing his lips when Nix waved him to the side, urging him to step out from behind the desk and swap places with him. “What are you doing, Songbird?”

“I told you.” He took the empty spot just vacated so he was facing them all. “I know what I want.”

“And what is that, exactly?” West drawled, crossing his arms as they all waited for the answer.

“You,” Nix pointed a finger at Lake, and then moved his arm until he was aimed at Yejun’s heart, “and you.” He removed his multi-slate and held it up, the camera facing them. “I’m going to film you fooling around.”

Yejun blinked, certain he’d misheard, although, judging from the way the others looked every bit as shocked as he felt, he probably hadn’t.

“What?” West broke the silence first.

“You heard me,” Nix said. “I want them to touch each other.”

“Nixie.”

“Don’t play dumb,” he stopped him. “You’re smart, West. If you give it a minute’s thought, you’ll figure out exactly why I want this.”

West might be able to, but Yejun knew he had no chance and wasn’t even going to try.

“Why?” he asked, feeling an electric current race through his body when Nix finally set those brown eyes on him.

“Nixie wants the upper hand,” West sounded both impressed and wary.

“I want you to prove yourselves,” Nix reaffirmed. “I’ve been saying that all along. You both claim you’re sorry and that I can trust you? Prove it. Put yourselves in my position. Take a risk the same way I’ve been risking everything since the day I bumped into you on campus.”

If they did this, allowed him to film the two of them, and the tape was ever revealed for any reason…Yejun and Lake would not only have to answer for why Nix’s final test was of them, they would also become laughingstocks. It’d be irrefutable proof that Nix had them wrapped around his finger.

That he was in control.

“All right,” Lake agreed. “Are you filming already? How would you like us to start?”

“That’s it?” Yejun couldn’t hide his surprise. “You’re just going to go along with this?”

“Aren’t you?”

He opened his mouth and then immediately clamped it shut again.

“Stop wasting our time by pretending, June,” West chided. “It’s not like this will be the first time you see each other naked, and it certainly won’t be the first time you touch each other’s dicks.”

“That’s interesting.” Nix waved his phone. “I caught that on camera, by the way. So, how far have the two of you gone?”

“Hand jobs,” Yejun admitted. “And you’re…really okay with this?”

Nix snorted. “If I can stand by while you fuck other people, I’m sure I can handle it when you fuck each other.”

“Songbird.” Apparently, that’s where Lake drew his line in the sand.

Nix rolled his eyes. “Whatever. No penetration, happy?”

West let out a bark of laughter he tried, and failed, to conceal. “You’re really going to make them do this, aren’t you.”

It was a rhetorical question, but Nix nodded anyway.

In a way, Yejun got it. This blackmail video was meant to be of Nix so the club had something to hang over his head, but their smart-ass Firebird had ripped a page from their playbook and opted to make it his blackmail video against them instead. But it wasn’t just about proving they meant it when they swore they’d protect him.

Nix wanted them to experience what he had. To feel even a modicum of the embarrassment and humiliation that they’d inflicted upon him time and time again.

This was revenge.

And Yejun couldn’t even blame him for it.

“We do this, and you’ll forgive us?” Yejun held his breath, hope seemingly dangling from a thread like a carrot on a string. “You’ll forgive me?”

Nix looked like he wanted to say no, but he held June’s gaze and promised, “Yes.”

His hands dropped to the top button on his pants. “Tell me what to do.”

If it meant getting the Firebird to like him again, Yejun could do anything.

Even come on his best friend’s tongue if it came to that.