But first, he had to survive the next six months and make sure that no one discovered what was happening to him, or they would recruit him into their army and make him fight for them.
35
MATTIE
"There he is." Petrov raised his glass as Dimitri walked over to his table. "My replacement has arrived."
Mattie set down the tray she'd been carrying and smiled at Dimitri, drinking in the sight of him. He looked better than he had any right to after what he had gone through. The pallor was completely gone, his eyes were clear and bright, and his movements were fluid as he pulled out a chair and sat down.
"What can I get you?" she asked.
"Whatever he's having." Dimitri nodded toward Petrov's whiskey.
"Coming right up."
She returned a moment later with his drink and lingered by the table, reluctant to leave. The bar had quietened since the afternoon rush, the offending immortals had thankfully left, and only a handful of patrons were scattered among the tables, and none of them seemed interested in her now that Petrov's claim had been established.
"Sit," Petrov said, pulling out the chair beside him. "Take a break. No one will question it."
Mattie glanced around the room. He was right. After the scene earlier, the other immortals had given her a wide berth. She was claimed property now, gifted to Petrov by the ruler of this place, and no one dared to question Lord Navuh's decisions.
She sat.
"You missed all the excitement," Petrov said to Dimitri, his voice low enough that it wouldn't carry beyond their table. "Mattie had some trouble with one of the patrons of this place who showed too much interest in her and behaved rudely."
Dimitri's hand tightened on his glass. "Which one?"
"Doesn't matter. He already left." Petrov waved dismissively and then leaned closer to Dimitri's ear. "I told them that Lord Navuh gifted her to me, and they bought it."
"Really? They all see you visiting the brothel."
"The objection came up, but I solved it easily, saying that I had two ladies to service my voracious appetite." Petrov grinned and tapped his temple. "See? My genius works in all kinds of ways."
Dimitri's expression softened slightly. "Thank you. That was fast thinking on your part."
"You're welcome. But I'm not telling you all of this to boast." He lowered his voice further. "You need to act accordingly." Petrov drained the last of his whiskey and leaned over to kiss Mattie's cheek. "Until later, my dear," he said more loudly. "I will be counting the minutes." He winked and got up. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have work to do."
He ambled toward the exit with the slightly unsteady gait of a somewhat inebriated man, except in his case, it was a lot. It just didn't affect his balance as strongly as it would have any other human, and his mind never seemed to suffer from all the alcohol either. He was always sharp.
Mattie watched him go with a smile, then turned back to Dimitri and frowned.
Something about him was off, making her gut clench. He was staring at his drink, not at her, and his brow was furrowed.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
Hopefully, he wasn't jealous about Petrov's performance or, worse, having doubts about their relationship.
"It's nothing."
"Dimitri." She reached across the table and touched his hand. "Is it about what happened with the immortals? Or about Konstantin pretending I was his?"
"Neither." He looked up, meeting her eyes. "It has nothing to do with you." He sighed. "Well, in a way it does, but not directly."
He wasn't making any sense. "I don't understand."
He glanced around the bar, checking who might be within earshot, then shook his head. "Later. In the lab. Are you coming to see Petrov tonight?"
Mattie would have laughed at how bad his performance was, but his troubled expression drained her amusement. "Of course." She looked around before leaning closer to him. "No one made a fuss about my sleeping arrangements the last two nights, so I don't see any reason for changing them."
