Deneus woke to the sounds of sharp knocking at his door. Sitting up, he looked around in confusion at the darkness. Where was he? He’d never seen the lush, two-story space, or the large, soft bed beneath him. Looking down at the naked Aurelian snoozing next to him brought the rest of the night back.
He grinned and rose. He’d finally bagged an Aurelian. Not a bad way to kill a night.
The knocking returned, sharp and more insistent than before.
“Who could that be?” asked the Aurelian sleepily, their slender arm drifting down their exposed torso to grab the covers, low on their hip, and pull them over their shoulders.
“Don’t worry about it,” Deneus whispered back. He leaned over the bed to kiss them on the head. “Go back to sleep.”
They nodded and laid back as he padded quickly to the door. Deneus slid it open, jerking a hand up to cover his eyes at the blinding lights in the hallway outside. “Yes?” he answered groggily.
“He says he wants to call the authorities.”
Blinking, Deneus slowly lowered his hand to see the Senator’s angry face. Deneus dropped a foot back to take the rest of the scene in with confusion. One arm stretched high, the Senator was leaning onto it, pressing Deneus’s tiny client into the wall by his throat.
Deneus gulped and looked at the dark-haired Avarian. Eyes puffy and nostrils twitching, he was bleeding from one ear and looking down at the ground, visibly trying not to tremble or cry. For a split second Deneus wanted nothing more than to quietly shut the door and chalk it all up to “other people’s drama,” but he wasn’t quite that big an asshole.
Instead, he pulled the door wider and took one small step big enough to make the Senator back off the doorway. “Izo, are you okay?”
“He’s fine.”
Deneus glared. “Then why does he want the authorities?”
“I don’t know,” said the Senator. “Maybe that’s what he was told to say at the end of the date?”
Deneus hissed. Of course. It couldn’t possibly be that the rich, powerful man had lured in and attacked a helpless Avarian. No, it had to be the opposite: the money hungry Avarian must have set up and falsely accused the rich man.
Deneus wanted to punch the other Malforian but knew it wouldn’t help anything at the moment. Breathing out slowly, he tried to think what “Izo’s Guardian” would do.
He stood a little straighter. “Izo, come inside.”
“Hang on.” The Senator shoved his captive further away. Izo grimaced painfully, forced to follow the motion. “He’s not going anywhere until he admits what happened,” said the Senator.
“What happened?”
“Nothing!” The Senator’s anger radiated down his body. He clenched his fist around Izo’s throat and the Avarian clawed at his grip, trying to pull free.
“Okay,” Deneus held up both hands. This was getting too real. If he wasn’t insanely careful, someone was going to get hurt and from there, plain logic would be to get rid of the rest of them, land, and pretend nothing had happened.
With every fiber of his being, Deneus tried to be soothing and calm. “I get it. There was a misunderstanding. That’s fine. Let’s do ourselves a favor and not make it any worse.”
The Senator frowned. He seemed to consider.
Deneus hurried on. “Everybody’s just a little upset right now. That’s all. Why don’t we go to our rooms, calm down, and talk about this in the morning?”
The Senator adjusted his footing. His nervousness was suddenly bleeding through. And, in that moment, it was glaringly obvious that the Senator was scared too. “No…” Mortaco finally decided. “If I leave you two alone, you’ll have fifty investigators here the second we land.”
“I won’t. I promise,” said Deneus. Reaching to the entry table next to the door, he grabbed his device. He offered it to the man. “Take it.”
Mort’s lips parted. A person’s device was arguably their single most valuable possession. It held all their information, all their ways of contacting the outside world. It might as well have been a digital extension of their identity and voice. Offering it to someone else, especially in a dangerous moment, was a giant show of trust.
The Senator reached for it. Deneus pulled it back. They locked eyes. “First, let him go.”
The Senator’s features darkened. “Not until he admits what really happened.”
The Avarian, poor thing, had both eyes clamped shut and both hands wrapped around the larger hand on his throat. The Senator shook him.
“Tell him! Tell him the truth,” demanded Mort. “Tell him nothing happened.”
Something about his choice of words set the youth off. The Avarian opened his eyes. His expression changed. All signs of fear and self-preservation disappeared. He gazed directly at Deneus, green eyes burning brightly, the streak of blood still running down his neck. “He tried.”
Deneus wanted to cheer. He doubted if he’d ever seen anyone half as brave. But he had to seem neutral at the moment.
The Senator huffed, and Deneus took it as good enough. “Okay,” he nodded. “Sounds like we’re on the same page.”
“Great.” Stepping between them, Mort put his back to the other Malforian and pried his hand away.
Then Deneus scooped the Avarian into his chest before anything else could happen. “Go to the bathroom. Lock yourself inside,” he whispered to Izo before releasing him. Turning back to the Senator, he plastered on his best we’re-all-good-here smile while leaning to block the door. “Sounds like a simple misunderstanding.”
Mortaco didn’t seem any happier, but he also didn’t try to come in. “We’ll see.” He held up his hand. “Device?”
Deneus gave the Senator a meaningful frown. “You know, it doesn’t look great for you if you take my device right now.”
Anger rushing back, the Senator made a move to get inside.
Deneus stretched both arms out over the door. “But I give you my word as a Malforian: I will not contact anyone until I’ve discussed things with you first.”
The Senator raged. For a moment they were locked chest to chest in the doorway. Neither pushed the other, but neither stepped away either.
“He’s going to tell you a bunch of lies,” Mort snarled, low and menacing. His breath was hot in Deneus’s face. “He’s going to make me out to be the bad guy.”
“And you’ll tell me your side in the morning,” Deneus answered.
The Senator’s nostrils flared like an animal’s. And then, out of nowhere, he backed away. “Fine. Hide in here and scheme. But let me be clear.” He stared Deneus down like a man heading to war. “This ship does not touch ground until this gets sorted.”
Deneus nodded. “Yep.”
The Senator glared over Deneus’s shoulder one last time. “You scared of me too?” he bellowed at the Aurelian inside.
They jumped. “No.”
“How do you feel about sleeping with Senators?”
“Great.” Grabbing their clothes, they hurried to pull on their dress and meet him at the door.
The Senator offered the long-haired Aurelian his arm, which they happily took. He sneered at Deneus. “See? People like me don’t need to hurt Avarians to get laid.”
Deneus demurred. “Glad to hear it. Good night, Senator.” He closed the door.
Putting his back against it, he finally let himself breathe. He grabbed his chest. Shit, he thought to himself while staring at the ceiling. Shit, shit, shit…