Chapter 22 Dimitri
DIMITRI
Saturday morning dawned bright and warm, the tropical sun streaming through the window of Dimitri's room with an intensity that made sleep impossible. Not that he minded. Today was his day off, and he intended to make the most of it.
Mattie was already awake, sitting cross-legged on their combined beds, looking at the furniture they'd salvaged from the debris pile with the focused intensity of an artist contemplating a new canvas.
"I want to start on the dresser today," she said once she realized he was awake. "The finish is badly damaged, and most of the handles are missing. I'll need to strip it down, sand it smooth, and apply a new stain. And new hardware for the drawers would be nice if we could find any."
Dimitri propped himself up on one elbow, watching her with amusement mixed with admiration.
This was a side of Mattie he was unfamiliar with.
Had she ever refinished furniture before?
She seemed to know what was needed, and she was excited to start on the project.
The fear that had been shadowing her eyes lately had retreated, replaced by enthusiasm.
"And where exactly are you planning to get the materials for this restoration project?" he asked.
She turned to look at him, her expression shifting from confidence to uncertainty. "I was hoping you could help with that. I need sandpaper, wood stain, brushes, and maybe some wood filler for the deeper gouges. Oh, and a scraper. And possibly some steel wool for the finer work."
"That's quite a list."
"It's basic stuff that doesn't cost much out in the free world. But who knows what we can get here. The construction crews must have most of it, but I don't know where they get it from. It's not like there is a hardware store on the island."
Dimitri sat up and ran a hand through his hair. "The supplies are probably stored in some warehouse in the harbor, but I doubt they are offered for sale."
"How do you get what you need for the lab?"
"Petrov and I make a list and submit it to the acquisitions office. We usually have to wait at least a week until it gets here, but perhaps more basic stuff is available. I can ask around."
Mattie's face lit up. "Would you? I don't want to wait weeks to start on this project. I need something to do." She smiled sheepishly. "It's not like there is much work for me in the lab."
"For you, I will scale mountains and fight dragons." Seeing her happy and engaged in something other than survival and fear was worth any amount of effort on his part.
He swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood, stretching muscles that were still adjusting to their new and enhanced state.
Every morning brought new gifts. He was stronger than he'd been the day before, faster, and his response time was just insane.
The transformation was continuing, and he would be lying if he claimed he didn't revel in it.
The feeling of vitality, of invincibility, was intoxicating.
No wonder these immortals were so full of themselves. They really were a superior species.
Thankfully, on average they weren't any smarter than humans. He didn't want to think about what would have happened if that were not the case.
Right now, it seemed to him that humans' main advantage was in their numbers.
The immortals obviously didn't procreate as rapidly, or there would have been many more of them.
The fertility rate of these males must be much lower than that of humans.
It made sense since they lived forever and didn't need to create offspring as rapidly to continue the existence of their species.
Dimitri shook his head.
He was one of them now, which meant that his fertility was as low as theirs.
Did he mind?
Not really. He was too young to think about kids, and certainly not on this godforsaken island.
Petrov was still asleep when they were done with breakfast, and Dimitri was uncomfortable leaving Mattie basically alone in the lab. "I should go if I want to be done before lunch, but Petrov is still asleep, so lock the door and don't let anyone in while I'm gone."
Mattie nodded, but there was a flicker of the old fear in her eyes. "What if there's an emergency?"
"Then wake Petrov up. But there is never an emergency, and I have the code to get back in, so I don't need you to open for me.
" He leaned down and cupped her face in his hands, tilting it up so she had to meet his eyes.
"I love you." He kissed her softly. "The lab door is reinforced, so even the enhanced soldiers can't break in, and no one has the code to the lock other than Petrov and me, and now you.
You'll be perfectly safe as long as you stay inside and don't open the door for anyone. "
Looking relieved, she covered his hands with her own. "I'll clean up the dresser while you're gone. Get it ready for sanding."
"Good." He kissed her forehead. "I shouldn't be long, provided that I find anything at all."
"Wait." Mattie pulled back. "Before you go, can you help me move the dresser out to the hallway?"
Dimitri blinked. "The hallway?"
"Our room is too small to turn into a workshop. When I start sanding and painting, the dust and fumes will make it impossible to breathe in there."
He stared at her for a moment, then started to laugh.
"What?" She looked offended. "What's so funny?"
"Why didn't you think of this yesterday? When we muscled that thing up the stairs and squeezed it through the doorway and rearranged the entire room to make it fit?"
Mattie had the grace to look sheepish. "I was excited. I wasn't thinking about the practical aspects."
"Clearly."
"Don't be mean." She swatted his arm. "I'm admitting that I made a mistake. The least you could do is be gracious about it."
"I'm always gracious." He dodged another swat. "Fine, fine. I'll move the dresser. But you owe me."
"No problem. Name your terms."
"I'll think of something."
The look she gave him was pure mischief. Then she pulled him down by the front of his shirt and kissed him.
It wasn't a gentle kiss. It was thorough, passionate, the kind of kiss that made his blood heat and his thoughts scatter.
Her fingers tangled in his hair, her body pressed against his, and for a long moment, Dimitri forgot about dressers and sandpaper and everything else that wasn't the feel of her in his arms.
When she finally pulled back, she was breathing hard, and he was ready to take her back to bed.
"Is that an acceptable form of payment?" she asked, her voice sounding husky.
Dimitri groaned. "If you keep kissing me like that, I'm never going to leave."
"You have to." She smoothed down the front of his shirt where she'd wrinkled it. "Save it for later, mate. I need my supplies. But first, move the dresser for me?"
"Yes, ma'am."
Her smile was breathtakingly beautiful. "I like the sound of that." She kissed him again. "And I love you."
The dresser was heavy, with solid wood construction that had been built to last centuries. As a human, Dimitri would have struggled to move it even with help. Now, he lifted it with ease.
"Careful of the doorframe," Mattie cautioned as he maneuvered the piece out of their room.
"I've got it."
He set the dresser down in the hallway, positioning it against the wall.
"Perfect." Mattie ran her hands over the damaged finish. "I can work here. The light is so-so, but there's enough space to move around."
Dimitri watched her for a moment, marveling at the transformation. The sense of purpose was what she'd needed. Something to focus on, something to build, something that she could claim as her own.
"I'll be back as soon as I can," he said.
She nodded. "I'll be up here, cleaning the pieces we got."
"Don't work too hard." He planted a kiss on the tip of her nose and then forced himself to walk out the front door.
He locked it behind him, double-checking that the mechanism had engaged properly.
The hotel seemed like a good place to start.
Perhaps Anil would know where he could get the supplies for Mattie.
The walk took him through the resort's main thoroughfare.
Some of the construction work continued throughout the weekend, but most of the workers took either Saturday or Sunday off, so it was quieter than usual, or at least it was supposed to be.
Things got busier as he neared the hotel.
A crowd was gathered in the plaza, clustering around something he couldn't see because it was obscured by the bodies of the spectators. There was tension in their postures, and they seemed agitated with the kind of energy that preceded violence or followed a disaster.
Was there a fight?
His pace quickened.
He pushed through the edges of the crowd, using his shoulders to create space, until he had a clear view of what everyone was staring at.
A body lay on the ledge of the fountain in front of the hotel's entrance.
It was a big male, an immortal warrior, given the uniform. He was sprawled on his back, and his chest was a ruin of torn flesh and shattered bone. There was a gaping cavity where his heart should have been.
There were three ways to kill an immortal. A beheading, removal of the heart, or catastrophic damage that was too massive for their fast healing.
Whoever had murdered this one had gone for option number two.
The heart had been ripped out with a force that had destroyed everything around it, leaving a hole the size of a fist where the organ had once been.
He knew that signature. He'd seen it before in the reports about the enhanced soldiers and what they had done when gripped in the madness of the enhancement drugs. But that was before he and Petrov had calibrated the dosage. Dave was perfectly balanced. They couldn't have done that.
The truth was that any immortal was capable of this. The chest cavity wasn't much of a barrier, and a regular immortal warrior could punch right through it with the right motivation.
Someone must have been really pissed at this poor guy to end him this way.