Page 6 of Right on Time

Nitiel clenched his jaw. “Lady Hloe, have you heard a word of what I said?”

“Uh-huh.”

“You are being rude on purpose, then?”

“Mhm.”

He narrowed his gaze at her. Not that she noticed, still looking at her device.

“What if I told you that you will never see Terra again? That your mother will not be allowed to attend the wedding?”

“Okay.”

Just as he had suspected. She was not listening, let alone paying attention to her specially designed surroundings.

Before he knew what he was doing, Nitiel was pressing the second button on his door handle.

“Hey! Why did my phone just die?”

Nitiel felt a bit ashamed at using the onboard communication scrambler, but perhaps it was better this way. She could finally pay attention to the journey now. “We are preparing for takeoff. I do not know how Terran electronics react to that.” The very truth.

She kept tapping at the dark screen. “Fudge! I was in the middle of reading reactions to the Temporary Closed message I just put on my online shop–Wait, did you say takeoff? Are we at the space port already?” She finally unglued her eyes from her device and looked out of the window. “Huh, we just exited the city.”

She looked his way, her green eyes filled with suspicion. “What is going on?”

Nitiel sighed. “Had you listened to what I said a moment ago, you would know. Lady Hloe.”

She huffed. “Well, sorry for using the last chance to salvage my dream and not remain without any income whatsoever. Subcommander.”

He frowned. “Your dream?”

“Yes, my dream. Not everyone dreams only of a fated mate, you know.”

He found himself curious. What was this dream the bare mention of which ignited such sparks in her pretty eyes?

Before he could ask, the limo began to ascend and she squeaked in surprise. For a moment Nitiel worried she might be scared, but then he saw her excited expression. Followed by her practically plastering her face to the window to watch. Finally some appreciation of the effort his people put into this journey.

He should be looking out the window himself, to enjoy the sight of the outdated, bumpy Terran infrastructure remaining far below them and the puffy clouds flying by. But he found it impossible to look away from Hloe Davison. This was the first time he was seeing joy on her face. It made her features even more charming.

“Whoa, we’re flying so high! Awesome.”

His wing feathers shook in pleasure.

“How come we’re not wearing seat belts but are not sliding off the leather seats?”

“The limo generates its own gravity, Lady Hloe. The vehicle can be upside down, and we would still remain in our seats.”

“Amazing.”

Nitiel smiled, he couldn’t help it. She was as excited as a Gaenthian child receiving their first weapon. Not a lady-like behavior, but pleasing to him nonetheless.

Suddenly, the gravitational pull disappeared. He was heavy enough to remain in his seat, but as the limo executed a slight turn, the female slid off hers.

And right into Nitiel.

CHAPTER 4

Hard

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