Chapter 22 Dimitri #2
"Who is it?" someone in the crowd asked.
"It's Tarik," another voice answered. "His body was already cold when I found him, so the murder must have happened last night."
Tarik.
Dimitri felt a chill slither down his spine.
The one who had attacked Mattie, the one Dimitri had stabbed with the syringe, and who had bitten him and activated his immortal genes.
The one who had been the threat hanging over them ever since that evening at the bar, and the reason Mattie couldn't leave the lab out of fear.
Tarik was dead.
There was no doubt in Dimitri's mind who had done it and why.
Dave had done exactly what he'd promised. He'd taken care of the problem, permanently and spectacularly, leaving the body where everyone could see it, so others would get the message.
What message, though?
No one was supposed to know about the threat that Tarik had posed to Mattie or to Dimitri.
Unless the rumor about the attack had spread, and Dimitri hadn't known about it.
What he knew for sure was that the Eight hadn't done it out of anger, because Dave didn't feel anger, and they hadn't done it as vengeance because Dave didn't feel that either. They had done it to safeguard Mattie because, for some reason, they had taken it upon themselves to be her protectors.
It was fascinating, and Dimitri wished he knew more about psychology because this was profound.
Dave had achieved a higher level of consciousness by melding all eight minds of his individual parts together.
They had transcended, and in their elevated state, they had decided that protecting Mattie was more important than the life of an immortal warrior.
It gave him hope that he hadn't felt in a long time.
In a world that was surrendering its collective will to grand unified algorithms, it was encouraging to see that a grand unified mind would choose to protect the human female against the immortal male.
He should have felt horror and disgust at the brutality of the killing, the mutilated body, but he felt relief and hope instead.
Justice had prevailed, good had triumphed over evil, and the bastard was dead. He would never endanger Mattie again. He would never corner her in a dark hallway, never again make her feel small and helpless and afraid.
Thank you, Dave.
Dimitri had known Dave was dangerous, had understood on an intellectual level that the collective consciousness controlling those eight enhanced bodies was capable of violence, but seeing the evidence of that violence and knowing it had been deployed in defense of Mattie, he felt nothing but gratitude.
"Clear the area," someone shouted. "Everyone, back off."
Dimitri allowed himself to be pushed back with the rest of the crowd. He needed to tell Mattie that the threat was gone, that she was safe, that Dave had kept his word.
The tools and materials could wait. This was more important.
He pivoted on his heel and headed back to the lab, walking faster than was probably wise, barely restraining himself from breaking into a run.
As he finally reached the lab building, his fingers fumbled with the code, getting it wrong the first time but succeeding on the second try. The lock clicked open, and he pushed through, taking the stairs two at a time.
"Mattie!"
She stood at the top of the stairs, a cleaning rag in her hand, and her expression shifted from confused to alarmed.
"What's wrong?"
"Tarik is dead."
The words hung in the air between them. Mattie's face went pale, then flushed, her emotions cycling through shock and disbelief and eventually settling on hope.
"What? How?"
"They found him this morning. In front of the hotel." Dimitri crossed to her, taking her hands in his. "His heart was ripped out. It had to be Dave. They said they would take care of it, and they did."
Mattie's legs gave way, and she sank down onto the hallway’s carpeted floor, the cleaning rag falling forgotten from her fingers.
"He's dead?"
"Very much so. Missing a heart will do that to an immortal."
"Because of me." Her voice was barely above a whisper. "Because I told Dave what he did."
Dimitri lowered himself to sit beside her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
"Because Tarik was a monster who hurt you and would have hurt others.
Dave did what needed to be done, and by doing so, prevented the suffering of many.
I bet that was exactly the calculation the Eight did before killing Tarik.
Dave is not impulsive, vindictive, or overly aggressive.
Not with the drug regimen that Petrov and I designed for them.
Dave acts on pure logic, and they reached the conclusion that the world would be a better place without Tarik. "
"It's still horrifying." Mattie's eyes were bright with unshed tears. "I should feel terrible about it. A man is dead because of me."
"A rapist is dead because he made himself a threat. Don't feel guilty for something that wasn't your fault. You didn't do anything to invite Tarik's abhorrent behavior, and you didn't ask Dave to kill him either."
"I told Dave about him. I described him. I gave Dave everything he needed to find him."
It was so frustrating to see Mattie struggle with guilt over something she shouldn't feel guilty about.
"Dave compelled you to tell him. You didn't have a choice."
Mattie was quiet for a long moment, her gaze distant. Then she took a shaky breath.
"Part of me is glad," she admitted. "Is that wrong? Part of me is so relieved that I can't even feel bad about it. He can't hurt me anymore. He can't hurt anyone anymore."
"That's not wrong." Dimitri pulled her closer. "That's human. That's survival."
"And maybe..." She hesitated. "Maybe it will deter others. Other immortals who feel entitled to do whatever they want to defenseless women. The question is whether they will make the connection. They might assume that Tarik had enemies who wanted him dead for other reasons."
Dimitri nodded. "I'm not sure anyone knows what Tarik did to you either."
"Tarik's friends will know," Mattie said. "The ones who were there that night, who pulled Tarik off you. And they might have also gossiped. Word spreads quickly in a place like this."
"That's true. The island is large, but the community isn't, and news travels fast."
She looked up at him, her expression a complicated mix of guilt and relief. "I just need to believe that something good can come out of this."
He pressed a kiss to her temple. "I already believe it. I know that Dave made all the calculations and arrived at the conclusion that Tarik needed killing."
They sat in silence for a while, leaning against each other. The hallway was quiet around them, the dresser standing patiently against the wall, waiting for attention that would have to take a little longer.
"It's a nice day outside," Dimitri said quietly. "It's not oppressively hot. And now that Tarik is gone, and you have Dave's phone, you don't have to be afraid to leave the lab anymore. We can go looking for the tools and materials you need together. We can make a day out of it."
She shook her head. "I don't know if I'm ready for that."
"We can go to the harbor." He shifted so he could look at her. "We can pretend to be taking a stroll while we look at the ships. I want to see how they operate, how they're guarded, and what the security is like. Maybe we can find a way to sneak aboard."
Mattie's eyes widened. "Today?"
He chuckled. "No, not today. Today, we only take notes. The ships come and go. They bring supplies, they take away exports, they connect this island to the rest of the world. We need to figure out the schedules, routines, and whatever else we can learn. Information is power."