[2023 Wattys Shortlist, 2023 Amby Awards winner, Featured 3 times in Wattpad Picks lists]
Kaleth has worked as an agent of Luxarx for years. What the average person might see as an exciting, dangerous job has become the routine, and the only thing...
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"Nira!" Nef yelled, horrified as he tried to wake her up by shaking her shoulder. It was useless, though. She wasn't waking up. He'd rushed into the room as soon as he realized what Alor had done, but it was too late.
"She's gonna be asleep for the next few hours, Nef," Alor told him gently. "That's kinda the point. And I think she can use the rest."
Nef realized that his brother had said this to calm Nef down, but all it did was piss him off more. Why was he being so causal about what he'd just done? "You drugged her! Why would you do that? What the hell's the matter with you?!"
Alor at least had the decency to look ashamed then, but Nef still wanted to punch him. That, or run away because Nef had never thought Alor would do something like this, and it was kind of scary.
"Look," Alor began, scratching the back of his neck. "I'm not happy about this, but Nira was already suspicious of me. If we just left, she would want to know where you were, and you're...." Alor paused and shrugged. "You're a terrible liar, Nef."
"That's nice, Al. Thanks," Nef grumbled, glaring at his brother.
"I can't risk her knowing anything. You getting involved is risky enough."
"Are you ever going to explain what the hell is going on?" Nef asked, feeling about ready to tear his hair out in frustration.
"Like I said, I'll explain it on the way," Alor replied, walking out of the room. Nef looked back at Nira again. She seemed content enough, peaceful even, but Nef couldn't help but worry about the side effects. And the fact that she'd been drugged by his damned brother, of course.
"She's gonna be fine, don't worry. She's just asleep," said Alor. Nef glared at him. He'd just completely broken Nira's trust, and he didn't seem to care. Or he was pretending not to care, at least. Nef hoped that was it. "C'mon."
Nef didn't want to leave Nira here, but he supposed his presence wouldn't change anything about the situation. Alor was still his big brother who Nef had known his whole life. He wouldn't want to hurt Nira, would he? That didn't make any sense.
Nef shook his head. No, of course, he wouldn't want to do that. And for whatever disturbing reason, Alor seemed to know exactly what he was doing, so if there were any side effects, he would tell Nef, surely. Nef trusted his brother with that much at least.
And Nef wouldn't lie—he really wanted to know what his brother had to say, and why exactly drugging Nira was a necessary part of this. His stomach twisted with guilt at that, but it was true. He took one last look at Nira, squeezing her hand, and sighed, walking out of the room a moment later and closing the door. He did so as quietly as possible, even though he knew that even if he slammed it shut as loudly as he could, she still wouldn't wake up.
"Okay, amaze me," Nef said, not bothering to hide the anger in his voice as he and Alor walked out of the apartment. It was already getting dark, which surprised Nef a little. He hadn't thought it was this late already, but there was still enough light to make out his surroundings easily enough, so he didn't care. The heat was gone, but he was sure that it would still be too hot for Nira. And there was also a surprising amount of people around. Namely couples.
