“I have to go.” Nuri didn’t wait for his brother to respond. If this was all true, and it’d been a week since the last time he and Silver had slept together, that meant that Silver might no be playing with him after all.
Silver might actually be in danger.
Chapter 31:
Nuri paced Silver’s office at the manor, panic taking over him full force.
“Eli says the team hasn’t had any luck yet,” Falc said from the doorway, having just checked in with the Imperial Guard.
“Keep looking.” Nuri picked at his cuticle, mind racing over all of the possibilities. “Send someone to Mab.” The guard would get there a lot quicker than he could. “And Club Spade.”
“They’ve searched the club, Master—”
“Search again!” He paused, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment before turning an apologetic look Falc’s way. “I’m sorry.”
“You’re worried, I understand. The two of you have never spent this much time apart before, it must be very unsettling for you.”
“What if he’s hurt somewhere?” Nuri had been trying to block those thoughts out, but they surfaced unbidden. “Or worse. What if—”
“His majesty is trained in the art of combat,” Falc reminded, “and he’d a Swift. He’s stronger than most. Wherever he is, I’m sure he’s fine. There’s got to be something. A clue. He wouldn’t leave you with no word like this.”
Nuri laughed, the sound empty and weak, and rubbed at his face. “I told him to.”
“What was that, Master Narek?”
“I told him to let me go. I just didn’t think he’d…” If something terrible had actually befallen Silver, Nuri didn’t think he could live with himself. “Give me his multi-slate. You said he left it behind?”
“One moment.” Falc vanished, probably to retrieve the device from the master bedroom. Sure enough, when he returned, he held the golden multi-slate out to him.
Nuri checked the message and call logs, then went into his email. Aside from a million missed communications—including a dozen or so from himself—there was nothing suspicious. It didn’t appear as though Silver had used it that morning after the two of them had fought.
His holopad was here as well, and Nuri went to the desk, checking that next, then finally the computer. But there was nothing there either.
“Did he use the communication pad in the lobby to hail a ride?” he asked, but Falc shook his head in the negative.
“I checked myself after I learned he didn’t go into the office that day.”
So he’d walked out with nothing?
“Where the hell could he be?” And how could he be hiding this well without access to anything? “Contact the Imperial bank. Tell them the Royal Secretary demands access to theEmperor’s transaction history. If they won’t give it, ask them to inform you if any charges have been made in the past week.”
“Right away.” Falc hurried off to follow the command.
Nuri dropped into the chair across from the desk. There wasn’t a place Silver had gone in the past decade that Nuri wasn’t at least somewhat aware of. How could the Emperor disappear without a trace like this?
Was he getting help?
He didn’t have any friends, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t order someone to hide him. But again, what for? What did he have to gain from doing all of this?
Nuri no longer believed Silver was trying to lure him into a trap. This had gone on far too long for that. If he’d been trying to make Nuri worry, he would have returned the second Nuri sent the Imperial Guard out looking.
“Think.” According to Silver, everything he did, he did for Nuri. If that were true, and it was a big if, then how could this tie back to him?
He’d already searched all of Silver’s devices. There wasn’t—
“Falc!” Nuri shot out of his seat. The butler found him crawling on the floor, frantically checking beneath the furniture.
“Master Narek?”
