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Chapter two

Boyfriend

The last time Niko was on Celelast had been the darkest days of his life.

A quick look at the familiar architecture—empty, derelict apartment buildings with broken windows, this section of city long since abandoned for more modern projects—left his heart in his throat.

His breath came quickly now, in short, panting gasps, as visions of falling through a window just like those, surrounded by glimmering glass shards just before the impact that had changed his life forever overtook his sight.

Niko exited the ship and ran a hand over his face, trying to banish the visions, trying to steady himself. The air was cool here, but he was sweating.

The fact that Zann chose this spot to meet haunted him.

He tried not to look into it too much, tried not to think of what message his brother might be sending.

In the end, Celelast was a private place to meet, the entire dwarf-planet being half run down and abandoned, an old outpost inhabited only by a dwindling but stubborn population of outlaws, ruffians, and laborers.

Should have asked him to meet on Sunorrna. But that place seemed sacred, somehow, something intimate, a breath softly exhaled and suspended in time. A quiet memory that existed only between Elliott and himself.

Maybe Niko could make a new memory of this old dump. Maybe it could be the reunion he longed for with his brother. Something to replace the trauma and looping re-experience of falling whenever he even heard the name.

In the end, you did it to yourself anyway, asshole , a cruel thought reminded him. Nobody pushed you out that window.

Niko started toward the memorial park. It was overcast and windy today, a sort of biting, temperamental wind that picked up in random gusts before calming again.

Trash was strewn about the old memorial grounds.

A defaced and vandalized statue of the human business mogul, Edorren Duna, who had founded the now-dead sector of city had a damp napkin stuck to his face.

Bird shit painted a crusty river down his left arm.

Beyond the statue was the old park, where long-neglected playground equipment stood, chains jangling and groaning when the wind pushed around the old swings and rusty merry-go-round.

Whatever laughter and children’s joy once filled this park was long since gone.

The idea of kids being here, let alone ever being happy, was something Niko couldn’t picture.

Or maybe they had never been happy. This place had been abandoned and moved on from for a reason.

Zann was there, sitting alone on an old bench. He held a cigarette between his lips, the purple smoke carried away on the biting wind. He’d quit years ago—they both had. Niko knew things were bad for him if he’d gone back to it again.

He watched his half-brother from afar for a moment, heart aching at the sight of him.

He didn’t know where they stood now, nor if they’d ever be alright again.

He didn’t know how much Zann had known about Honeybliss, either—only that he’d, when pressed, admitted he was aware they were real. That they’d done horrible things.

They had both betrayed each other; it was a double-sided blade that wounded.

Zann glanced up and saw him. He must have felt eyes on him.

He had always had the same kind of uncanny instinct Niko did.

For a moment, they simply stayed like that, gaze meeting gaze, Zann’s face half shrouded behind a dancing haze of smoke.

Then he waved Niko over and patted the bench.

“Don’t just stand there, Niko,” he called.

Niko hesitated, casting one last glance around.

The old park and silent buildings surrounding it revealed nothing.

He tried to shake his unease, but it wouldn’t budge.

There was something else that lurked within it, something deeper, and more sinister.

Paranoia. His skin crawled beneath the suit; the uncanny feeling of hidden eyes on him tugged at the edges of Niko’s attention.

We’re not alone.

Maybe Elliott was right. Maybe this was all a trap, and countless Galapol agents were staged, just waiting for the order to take him down for good.

He shook his head, trying to push the thought away.

He had to trust Zann. After all, he’d come this far.

His paranoia could just be a product of the anxiety that being back on Celelast induced in him.

Niko was grateful that Elliott was still back at the facility. If anything happened now, at least the other man would be alright.

He had to take some solace in that.

Niko made his way across the park, through the old and long-abandoned playground equipment.

Up close, he was surprised it still stood at all.

None of it had seen use in obvious years, maybe decades.

He sank down onto the bench beside his brother, looking over at him.

Zann smelled of tobacco, and a faint whiff of the aftershave he’d always favored.

It made Niko nostalgic for when life had been less complicated.

“Want one?” Zann asked, holding out a pack of cigarettes.

Niko hesitated, considering it. The stress he’d been under lately was incredible, and it would be nice to have another outlet for it. He shook his head. “No, thanks. I’ve picked up enough old bad habits lately. Probably don’t need another.”

“You look like shit,” Zann said, tucking the pack away.

“Yeah, you’ve been saying that lately,” Niko said.

“Because you do.”

“Zann…” Niko started, shaking his head. “I want to say I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I hurt you back on Neema. I’m sorry for knocking you out. I’m sorry for… getting you kicked out of Galapol.”

“Replaced by fucking Fourier, of all things. Probably for the best, or I’d be in a body bag right now, instead.”

Niko winced at the memory. It still made his stomach churn to recall the horrible sight—and scent —of two dozen Galapol special ops agents dismembered, dead and dying from Bubblegum’s explosives.

“You know,” Zann continued, taking a drag. “Kulna interrogated me. Fucking Kulna. Had to go into the room and be recorded and sworn in and everything to tell them I didn’t know jack shit about you and your new boyfriend.”

“I never wanted you to get caught up in anything like this,” Niko said. Guilt sat heavy in his chest, greater than any pull of gravity.

“I just want to know why , Niko? Why throw your lot in with this guy, of anyone? Why him?”

Niko shifted uneasily. “I learned about Honeybliss. It just hit too close to home, Zann. Everything that’s going on that just gets turned a blind eye to. They killed his sister—”

“That’s not what I’m talking about. I saw those cute little sexy texts and that photo. Made me want to pour bog-theun corrosive into my eyeballs. That’s more of Elliott Kestrel than I ever wanted to see.”

Niko felt himself flushing.

“You were getting in with him long before you downloaded those files. ‘You kissed me back?’ On Uula? Seriously, Niko?”

“I, uh—” Niko squirmed again, at a loss for words. “I— Yeah. Yeah. I guess so.”

“So, what the hell?” Zann tossed the cigarette butt on the ground, crushing it beneath his shoe, where it was destined to fester with the scattering of other forgotten trash blown across the old park grounds.

“I don’t—” Niko felt suddenly like a small child caught sneaking sweets red-handed. “I-It was just tactics. Part of the game. He— I—”

Zann sighed, clearly done with this line of questioning upon seeing that it was going nowhere. “Niko, brother, you need to stay away from this.”

“Stay away?”

“Yeah. I’m saying you need to leave whatever the fuck you have going on right now. I can get you a safehouse, a new temp ID. I’ll figure something out. Come on, man. You’re not thinking about any of this.”

Irritation flared through Niko and he shot Zann a scowl. “I’m not thinking? I’ve done nothing but think since this whole thing started.”

“Yeah, with your dick, maybe.”

“It’s not like that.”

“No. No, no. You are. How the hell do you know this guy isn’t just using you, Niko?”

“Using? What?” The idea was incredulous. “No one’s using anyone in this situation. I agreed to help him because I actually saw what he’s getting at.”

“Yeah. I know you must really, really like him. Especially if you were willing to fuck off the way that you have to help him start knocking off galactic celebrities.”

“I—”

“But,” Zann continued, steamrolling right over him, “my question is, Niko, does he like you?”

“Yeah, Zann. Somehow, he does.”

“How sure are you of that?” Zann’s voice had a dangerous sort of tone, the same kind Niko had heard him use during interrogations when he’d found a weakness to exploit and circle like a vulture. The one he got as he walked a suspect into their own logic trap.

“What?”

Zann eyed him, leaning back and draping an arm across the back of the bench. “I’m asking if this guy is using you as just another survival tactic.”

Niko’s head swam. The suggestion was egregious. “No, Zann. We’re equals. We work together in this. There’s no using or being used here.”

“Are you sure , Niko?”

“Yeah. I am.”

“All I’m saying here is that you’re someone I would describe as ‘pure of heart, but dumb of ass.’ I know you like this guy.

Clearly you do. But who was the biggest pain in his ass before this?

You. Who was the one getting in his way and fucking up his plans, over and over again?

You . You were the only one able to keep up with him and get close and he knew that.