Chapter 5
“I’m at the station right now,” Nuri assured his brother, weaving his way through a small group of travelers who’d most likely just arrived. The space station had a few off-world trips scheduled, with his taking place in about an hour.
Ignis Galactic was the top off-world traveling company this side of the galaxy, but he’d only ever gone on one business trip that had required him to leave the planet, and that had been at Silver’s side.
He was admittedly a little nervous about making such a long journey through space, but he couldn’t let that doubt bleed into his tone or his brother would misunderstand.
He didn’t want his siblings to think he didn’t want to see them, because he did, it was just…
He’d always struggled with being off the ground, whether that was in the sky or outer space.
It was why his hover car was always flown on the ground road and not in the air lanes.
Now he was about to board a ship that would take him on a quick six-hour flight but all he could think about was there’d be no way off if something went wrong…
“I’m going to end up losing the bet,” Nate said on the other end of the line, his steady, almost teasing tone helping to wash away some of Nuri’s unease.
“What bet?” He’d packed light and only had the one suitcase with him that rolled closely behind on its own. N.I.M., who he’d considered leaving behind, was tucked safely between a stack of shirts and pants within the case.
“We bet on whether or not you’d actually make it. After talking to you last week she was certain you would, but I had my doubts.”
“Nice.” Nuri rolled his eyes and paused to look for which check-in area he needed to be in.
The station was huge, with ceilings that stretched up fifty or so feet, and since it was already mid-morning, the foot traffic was increasing every minute.
He needed to get in line and get to his designated waiting area.
“It’s my fault you guys are doing that. I’m sorry I haven’t visited sooner. ”
“It’s only been two years,” Nate stated nonchalantly, but Nuri saw through him. Nate had grown up as the middle child, but when their mom had gotten sick, he’d been forced to take on a lot of the older sibling role that Nuri had no longer been there to do himself.
In order to pay the medical expenses, Nuri had agreed to work for the Emperor and had moved almost immediately to the boarding school to act as a confidant to Silver, as well as help keep him in line.
He’d gotten into so many fights with so many people by that point, and Nuri hadn’t been sure how Sij thought he’d be able to make any sort of difference. Miraculously, he had.
Silver had been terse with him the first couple of weeks, but not awful.
He’d even helped him catch up in their studies, explaining things the private school had that Nuri’s less impressive old school hadn’t.
His fascination with meeting someone from a lower-class family on a planet where they made up less than twenty percent of the population had fueled much of their discussions.
Nuri had been insulted by that at first. He’d felt like Silver was silently laughing at him, but he’d soon realized that wasn’t the case.
Silver simply hadn’t been able to comprehend half the things Nuri had told him, like needing the job to afford health care, or having never been to a Ruby Star restaurant before.
As a kid, Silver had been self-centered, unable to see outside of his own inner world.
Now he was just an arrogant prick who preferred not to bother with anyone else’s concerns.
Admittedly, Nuri was still put off by what happened between them last night. It’d been so long since Silver had gotten physical with him, it’d thrown him and he’d reacted on instinct despite that most likely having not been in his best interest.
He should have at least gone to dinner. There was little doubt in his mind that the Emperor was furious with him now, and would take it out on him once he returned from this trip.
“Should I quit and just not come back?” He murmured, momentarily forgetting he was on a call until his brother made a startled sound.
“Please tell me you mean that,” Nate said.
Ruffling clothes and footsteps came through the line as he obviously left whatever room he’d been in.
“Between you and me, Neve is planning on begging you to stay. She’s got a whole presentation with pros and cons even.
She’s spent a lot of time on it, in fact, even though I told her it would never work. ”
Nuri made it to the line he was supposed to be in and frowned. When she’d told him she wasn’t going to let him leave, he’d thought she was joking. Had she been serious?
“This may have started as something you had to do,” Nate continued, lowering his voice as if to keep himself from being overheard by others around him, “but let’s be real here, brother. You love your job.” He hesitated. “And you love—”
“Welcome to Ignis Galactic,” a woman beamed at him from behind the counter. “How may I help you today?”
“It’s my turn. I’ll call you when I land.” Nuri tapped his multi-slate and moved up to the counter, returning the woman’s smile as he turned his arm over to press the screen of his multi-slate to the panel set in the center of the table before him. Neon lights scanned it and then it emitted a beep.
“Okay, let’s see here…” She typed at the computer before her, her smile slowly dropping away.
Nuri shifted on his feet, suddenly getting a bad feeling.
Had he forgotten anything? He’d confirmed his flight last night before leaving the office, so that should be all set, and he’d paid for one carry-on bag.
A glance over at the large screens behind her showed that his flight was still on schedule.
“Is there a problem?” he asked, noting that she was full-on frowning now.
“I’m sorry, sir,” she made a few more clicks on her keyboard before giving up, “it looks like your ticket has been canceled.”
“What?” He shook his head. “No, that can’t be right. I didn’t cancel anything. I confirmed last night even.”
“Yes, I do see that,” she agreed, “however there was a call made shortly after.”
“I didn’t make it,” he insisted. “You can’t legally allow someone else to cancel a flight for me.” He was a full-grown adult, after all. Besides, who would even— He went cold. “Does it say who canceled in my place?”
“I’m sorry it doesn’t. All I can see here is that it was.”
Nuri wanted to believe he was paranoid, that there was no way Silver would have stooped so low, and yet…
He’d been witness to far worse things done by the Emperor.
Just because they typically weren’t aimed Nuri’s way didn’t mean they couldn’t be.
And it wasn’t like their relationship was all sunshine and rainbows.
Of course, he’d never overstepped to this extent but still…
“Can I buy a new ticket then?” he asked. “I have to get on this ship.”
“It looks like we’re fully booked,” she told him apologetically. The deep purple of her crisp uniform seemed to mock him.
“The next one then.” Damn Silver. That asshole really thought he owned him, didn’t he?
She checked her computer and winced. “We’re booked through the week.”
“You can’t be serious.” Vitality was a nice planet, but it was hardly a luxury resort-type place. Sure, people from Ignite might go for a reprieve from the cold, but there was no way all of the flights were booked right when Nuri needed to take one. “Fine. Give me a ticket to Essence.”
He could land there and then immediately book a trip to Vitality. It would add another five hours to his trip, but the planets were all close together, close enough that they could sometimes be seen in the night sky.
“Of course, sir, I’ll—” She stopped abruptly, eyes widening on her screen before she went a little pale. “Forgive me, sir, but it seems like that won’t be possible either.”
“What do you mean?” He leaned onto the counter, though there was no way for him to catch a peek at her computer with the way it was angled. “You can’t be saying everything off this planet is booked?!”
“It’s not that, sir,” she cleared her throat, obviously uncomfortable with having to tell him what she was about to, “you’ve been flagged, I’m afraid.”
He pulled back. “What?”
“Your name has been added to the No Fly list. I’m sorry, but there’s nothing I can do.”
So long as his name was on that list, he couldn’t leave the planet. Ever. No station would allow him to. Hell, he might not even be able to get on a plane to another city.
“That fucking psycho.” The harsh words slipped past his lips before he could help it, but he hardly noticed when the woman flinched.
Grabbing the handle of his bag, he dragged it behind him as he stormed away.
For the first time in a long time, the anger swelling within him was strong enough to drown out everything else, including logic and self-preservation.
Nuri, who was usually so put together and calm, saw red.
* * *
“Mr. Narek,” Marta stood from his desk when he appeared, “what are you—”
He hardly heard her, heading straight across the room for the door to the CEO’s office. He didn’t bother to knock either, slamming a palm against the panel and storming inside before it’d even fully opened.
True to form, Silver was seated with his eyes glued to his tablet, not seeming the least bit interested in the cause of the commotion.
Nuri wasn’t going to wait for him to notice him this time, though.
He pulled the rectangular envelop from within his jacket pocket as he made his way over, slapping it down on the desk with a loud whacking sound that was enough to yank even someone as self-absorbed as Silver out of his private thoughts.
The Emperor’s glare turned into a slight frown when his eyes landed on the envelope.