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But Oliver was already shaking his head before he could decide. “No. Nothing.” He spun back to his door and input the keycode with brisk taps. “Have a good night, Captain Mal’ik.”
Mal’ik’s title hit him like a blow, but he took that in silence too. He swallowed around the hurt to get the reply out. “Good night, Turner.”
He saw Oliver’s shoulders hunch up for just a moment, and then the door swung shut.
Mal’ik stifled a groan, rolled his neck, and turned to face the hallway. Once the night guards came to relieve him, he would take Lar’a up on her drinks offer.
* * *
When Mal’ik arrived at Serihk’s infamous ship, Bryant Harrison was standing in the entryway to greet him. The human put his hands on his hips and gave him a grin, surprisingly warm for how little they’d interacted so far.
“So you did manage to escape.” He stepped aside to welcome Mal’ik in and chuckled. “I hear it was Turner who made a break for it earlier, though. Sounds like he practically ran down the gangway.”
“He was eager to leave.” Mal’ik tamped down a swell of the same indignation that had arisen when Patrick had said something cruel about Oliver. Neither Bryant nor Patrick had meant any offense. Not to Mal’ik, at least.
“You don’t say. I think he was eager to leave as soon as he got here.” Bryant waved for Mal’ik to follow him down a hall. “Lar’a decided last minute she had to introduce Astrid to someone. I hope you don’t mind hanging out with just Serihk and me.”
“Not at all.” Mal’ik was a little disappointed to have missed Lar’a but was curious how this human consultant fitted into things. And it was always interesting to see Serihk without his diplomat mask.
Mal’ik followed Bryant into the elegant dining room. A few bottles and an abandoned glass that must have been Lar’a’s sat on the table, and Serihk sat across from the doorway.
“Glad you could make it, Captain Mal’ik.” Emissary Serihk raised his glass to him. “How is your arm?”
Serihk had been involved in the incident that had taken Mal’ik’s arm. He’d also been the one to commission his prosthetic for him. He always asked about it, and for a while, Mal’ik hadn’t known whether the question was prompted by guilt or by wanting to make Mal’ik feel he owed him. As the years had passed, Mal’ik had become more certain it was the guilt.
“Better than ever,” Mal’ik replied, to assuage it as much as he could. It hadn’t been Serihk’s fault.
“Good.” Serihk leaned back in his chair and raised an eyebrow. “And how’s the assignment? He was out of here rather quickly today.”
Oliver’s hasty retreat seemed a popular topic of conversation tonight. Mal’ik poured himself some of the purple liquid from the bottle in the center of the table. It was a Qeshian brew he didn’t often have, but he liked the floral notes. Sipping it now, it reminded him of the way Oliver smelled.
“I noticed.” Mal’ik settled into a chair once he had his drink. “Did something happen?”
“Nothing at all.” Serihk shook his head, and Bryant laughed loudly. The human reached over and shoved Serihk’s shoulder in a familiar way that made Mal’ik’s eyes widen. He didn’t think he’d ever seen someone shove Emissary Serihk. The most he’d seen was Lar’a giving him an eye roll. But Serihk looked strangely pleased, a slight smile curling his lips and some pink and purple swirling just above his collar.
“Serihk’s full of shit.” Bryant shook his head and looked at Mal’ik. “He was goading Turner the whole meeting.”
“I was not.”
“You were.”
“I was a little.”
Bryant leaned over the table to Mal’ik. “He was a lot.”
“Well, someone had to put him back in his place.” Serihk set his glass down hard, though he looked exasperated more than angry. “The Klah’Eel are excellent warriors, I’ll give them that, but they’re terrible negotiators. They were letting Turner have the run of the place.”
Bryant scowled. “And you think they’re any better at government? You think that that Governor Tesh should be in charge instead?”
“He’s at least an elected official.” Serihk pointed at Bryant with one of the fingers from the hand on his glass before taking a small sip. “He lives in the area and he knows its needs.”
“He knows his own needs, at least,” Mal’ik cut in in a low voice.
“Exactly.” Bryant nodded. “There’s something about him I don’t like.”
Mal’ik felt another burst of affinity for this human. There was something he didn’t like about that governor either, but he hadn’t known if it was the way his nostrils had flared eagerly as he’d leaned toward Oliver that first meeting in the courtyard.
“What, and you like Turner?” Serihk scoffed as though the idea was absurd. “You would hand the planet over to a Human oligarch to get out of dealing with a little social unrest?”
