The Return of the Gods (Children of the Sun Book 1)

Chapter 3

That thought made him want to go check on Nira again, but he was already following Alor down the street and to the parking lot. And besides, he knew nothing would happen to her in the meantime. She was just sleeping, he kept reminding himself.

"In the car, all right?" said Alor, nodding his head slightly toward the people around them. Nef was pretty sure some of them were his neighbors, but how was he supposed to remember so many people?

Just before the silence between them could become awkward, they reached Alor's car. Looking at the silver, sleek design, the four unnecessarily strong engines, and the black leather seats, Nef was starting to feel stupid for not realizing something was up earlier. He'd just assumed that Alor was paid well enough to buy a Velox.

"The Flare, floor one-fifty," Alor told the car's computer as they got in and a few seconds later they were flying away, heading towards the center of Enbrant.

Nef wasn't sure what to make of that because the Flare was the tallest skyscraper in the world and there were so many firms, shops, banks, cinemas, and who knew what else that he couldn't even begin to guess why they were going there.

Nef was about to ask again, but before he could, Alor started talking.

"Right, so, this might come as a surprise to you, but I work for a secret government agency."

Nef blinked, trying to process that. "Okay.... Like how? As an accountant?"

Alor snorted, but he seemed more sad than amused. "No, Nef."

Nef didn't know what to say to that. He'd guess that this was an elaborate prank, except that wasn't Alor's style. Maybe Alor had gone insane. Or Nef had. Or both. Yeah, both sounded about right.

"Well, that is surprising," Nef finally said out of the need to fill the silence with something.

"The agency I work for is called Luxarx," Alor continued, making Nef frown at the strange name. "And we fight against a terrorist group called the Umbra. Mostly."

"Luxarx? Umbra? What's up with these names?" asked Nef and received a frown from Alor.

"It's mythological. Y'know, Luxarx? The shield of the god Enor? It's like a metaphor or something." Nef just stared at his brother blankly. "No? Enor? As in, Enoria, the country we live in—okay, never mind. That's not important."

"So, you want me to help you fight terrorists?" That sounded both cool and terrifying, but Nef somehow doubted that was what Alor needed help with. If he did, Nef would have definite proof of his brother's lack of sanity.

"No, we got that covered," Alor said with a smile. "We need a hacker."

That was...less exciting, but at least way less dangerous. Nef hoped. At least it was something he knew how to do, but he still didn't understand why it had to be him. "A government agency doesn't have enough hackers?"

"It does, but this isn't something we can tell the others about. You don't know anyone at Luxarx, they don't know you, and I can trust you." Alor gave him a regretful look. "I didn't want to drag you into this, but involving you is the best option we have."

Alor went silent as the car flew into the 300-story skyscraper and landed at the first available parking spot. "Okay, we're about to meet a co-worker of mine who's way better at explaining stuff than me. To be honest, I'm not even sure what I can tell you and what I can't."

He got out of the car, Nef doing the same a second later. The garage on this floor was almost entirely empty, except for about another ten cars beside theirs. There was something slightly unnerving about seeing a place that was supposed to be insanely busy devoid of life like this.