Imposter

Chapter 39

Nix picked through his bag of fruit-flavored candies, staring down at his unfinished sketch.

Sometimes he drew without a meaning, not really seeing where his pencil was leading him until he was broken out of his daze.

"Not bad," Zyler remarked, placing his hands on his shoulders and squeezing.

"I knew him," Nix said with a frown. "A picture doesn't do him justice."

Even he couldn't quite capture the sharp curve of his jawline, or the set of his high cheekbones. The cruel edge to his lips and the faint silver glimmer in his eyes.

Most of all, he couldn't capture his smile because he hadn't seen it often enough and when he did, it was cautious.

He was afraid to be himself, afraid to be happy.

But he was not afraid to betray his only friend.

Nix muttered a curse and crinkled the paper in his fist, tossing it across the room. He leaned into Zyler's massage, sighing and closing his eyes.

"Where's Caelie?"

"Busy." Zyler rested his chin on his head. "Nix, you don't belong here."

"Thanks." He scowled. "I needed that."

Zyler spun him around to face him, looking dead serious. "I mean it," he said. "You're destined for something else, something bigger than all of us. You don't belong here, not because we're too good for you, but because you're too good for us."

"Don't say that."

"There is something about you that draws everyone to you," Zyler said. "I mean, why you? Why did Annlyse choose you that night?"

"Because I was hot," Nix said with a shrug. "And I was the least intimidating in the room."

Annlyse had come to the brothel a virgin, with free pick of any of the men or women in the room. She had ignored everyone, including those who had approached her.

And then she saw Nix.

After her night with him, she had somehow convinced her parents to buy him for her. He had slept with her a lot for the first few months.

It ultimately ended when her parents decided they wanted him for themselves. Annlyse was forbidden to speak with him, and he rarely saw much of Zaxby's sister since then.

"But you were the most popular at the brothel," Zyler insisted. "Something about you draws people in."

Nix frowned, picking out a watermelon-flavored candy in a thin, rope-like shape. He sucked on the end of it, making a face at how sour it was before he popped the rest of it in his mouth.

"So what? I'm destined to be the whore of the world?" He laughed.

"But if you channel your appeal into other things, think about what you could accomplish," Zyler said. "It's not just me who thinks that—it's nearly everyone. Caelie and I were talking about it the other day."

Nix sighed. "My own parents didn't even want me. My mother left me alone with a piece of shit for an uncle. You don't have to lie to try and cheer me up."

Zyler smiled, shaking his head. "I wouldn't do that, Nix."

"It doesn't matter," Nix said, standing up. "I'll be stuck here until they get tired of me."

A knock at the door startled them both, and they turned to see Caelie.

She had a bruise across her cheek, her lips red and swollen. "Nix—"