[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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They got to Imbera at six in the morning. Nef wished the trip had taken longer than that because only getting three hours of sleep couldn't be good for him. He had trouble sleeping while traveling.
None of them had said much since flying away from Enbrant, except for his brother telling him and Nira what they were going to do. Nef sighed as he looked at his girlfriend, who was sitting next to him. She seemed content with them just holding hands the entire time. Nef couldn't blame her for not wanting to talk, especially after the destruction of the Flare, and he wasn't sure he even wanted her to. Still, there was only that much silence he could take.
"Quick question," Nef said, sticking his head between the front seats and looking at Alor, "how in the hell are we gonna meet anyone in Terenth if two million people live there?"
"Well, we have phones."
Nef frowned. Why hadn't he thought of that? He must have been really tired. His brother, on the other hand, sounded way too alert after so long behind the wheel. Er, joystick. And that was still strange because Nef hadn't known Alor's car could be driven manually. There just hadn't been anything to drive with before. Where had the joystick come from?
Nef had a feeling this wasn't Alor's first all-nighter. Not like he himself had never done that, but he usually regretted it afterward. Sitting through boring lectures with no sleep was a recipe for disaster.
"Right," said Nef with a nod, yawning into his hand and groaning as he stretched. Damn, his back hurt. He was starting to remember why he never went on any road trips. Or trips in general.
Forty minutes and some talking on the phone while driving later, they finally arrived just outside of Terenth. Because Nef was eager to leave the car and stretch his legs, he quickly got out and almost immediately yelped in shock.
"Why is it so cold?" he complained, hugging his chest. "Damn this island!"
"It could be raining, you know," Nira told him, apparently unbothered by the temperature. All three of them looked at the white sky above them, expecting the rain to start at just that moment. Thankfully, the weather stayed as it was. Cloudy and depressing.
"Yeah, great," Nef grumbled and looked around. They were on the outskirts of the city, or so Nef assumed. The only thing he knew about Terenth was that it was in Imbera, and it was pretty big, and it seemed he was right about both. The city did seem large from where he was standing. Not as big as he was used to, living in the largest city in Enoria, but still quite big.
"Finally, you guys got here," said Rayni as she walked towards them from the side, waving her hand at them. Next to her, Kara seemed to be trying very hard not to roll her eyes. Rayni looked like she was back to her usual self, though she still seemed a bit off.
"And who's the—" Rayni started, looking at Nira and stopping. "Oh."
"Oh? What does oh mean?" Nef asked, immediately irritated. He wasn't even sure why—Rayni hadn't insulted her. It had to be the lack of sleep. Definitely.
