“Come with me,” Romeo asked, fighting against the men trying to drag him toward the helicopter.
“To what end?” He lifted a brow. “You were only trying to drive a wrench between his majesty and myself. There’s no need for us to pretend to be friends.”
“I wanted to use you to hurt him, I admit it, but that doesn’t mean I don’t really have feelings for you.”
Nuri scoffed. “Goodbye, Mr. Brixton.”
“You’ll see!” Romeo called out as he was overpowered. “You’re no longer fun to play with, so you’ve been tossed aside!”
“Don’t listen to him, sir,” Eli urged, hands tightening into fists at his sides as his group boarded the copter. “There’s got to be a good reason the Emperor has gone dark. I’ll send out a search party immediately. We’ll find him. Don’t worry. But…Forgive me for being blunt, but if the two of you did have a disagreement, please try and make up with him. You’re the only one he even remotely listens to, and now that he’s upset his aunt, things are going to get complicated for the palace.”
“You should go.” There was no point in discussing this now, especially when Nuri’s migraine was throbbing and his confusion was already heightened. “Make sure that asshole gets on the ship.”
“With pleasure, Royal Secretary.”
The helicopter had just taken off when Nuri got another call. He popped the earbud attachment and turned, heading back to his car to avoid having to deal with the two remaining guards.
“I’ll walk myself out,” he told them before hitting the accept button. “Nate, this isn’t a good time.”
“What’s wrong? Are you okay?” Nate asked.
“I’m fine.”
“So it’s Silver. Is he hurt?”
“He’s…” Nuri blew out a breath. “How would you feel about me quitting and moving to Vitality? Mind letting me stay with you for a bit while I settle in?”
“I’m buying the first ticket to Ignite. Just wait for me.”
“What?” Nuri frowned. “Why?”
“Because something is seriously wrong. If you won’t tell me what, I’ll come find out for myself.”
“Don’t, everything is fine.”
“Everything is not fine, brother. Neve has been begging you to quit for years, and now you’re suddenly bringing it up yourself? No way. I don’t buy it. Did you and Silver have a fight?”
Nuri scrunched up his nose. “Is it that obvious? Everyone seems to be guessing as much.”
“There’s no way you’d be considering leaving if you weren’t,” Nate stated. “Not with the Swiftbond between you.”
Nuri froze with his hand on the door to his car. “How…?”
“I’m not an idiot, brother,” Nate grunted. “After catching the two of you in the act while he was in Swift form, and seeing how he wouldn’t let you out of his sight during your trip here, it was pretty obvious.”
“What do you mean?” Silver had always been somewhat clingy, that was nothing new. Certainly not new enough to warrant attracting Nate’s attention.
“You visited on the week of the full moons,” Nate explained. “As a Swift, the full moon affects him more than any other stage, and since he grew up on Ignite, he’s not used to having to deal withtwoof them.”
Vitality was orbited by dual moons, Illusion and Echo.
Had they been full that week? Nuri had been too distracted to notice, and Silver had kept the blinds pulled shut. They also hadn’t slept together until that last day…There’d been no signs whatsoever that he’d been affected the way Nate as implying.
“Swifts take comfort in proximity to their mates during this time,” Nate continued, speaking as though this was common knowledge. “It had to be hard to keep his composure aroundus. I figured that was why you seemed so distracted when you thought we weren’t looking. He was keeping you up late for sex, right?”
“No.” Nuri was even more lost than before. “We didn’t—”
“Relax,” Nate reassured. “You don’t have to be embarrassed. We’re both adults, remember? I can handle knowing my brother is in a relationship. I admit, he’s not my favorite person, and he’s definitely not good enough for you, but I just want you to be happy. Since you accepted a Swiftbond, clearly you’ve made your decision.”
