"Exactly. We survived the unknown, which is even more reason to drink." Petrov downed his vodka in one long swallow and immediately poured himself another. "Or don't drink. More for me."
Dimitri set his beaker on the nearest workstation and reached for Mattie's hand. "I'm going back to sleep. It's too early for this, and there's nothing we can do."
"Suit yourself." Petrov was already refilling his improvised drinking glass for the third time. "I'll be here if you need me. Drinking away my existential dread."
"Try not to drink yourself unconscious before noon."
"No promises."
When they got to Dimitri's room, he closed the door behind them and leaned against it. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I guess so." Mattie sat on the edge of his bed. "My adrenaline was already high after the nightmare, and the explosions just added fuel to that." She smiled. "Perhaps I should have taken Konstantin up on his offer and drunk some vodka."
Dimitri sat beside her, their shoulders touching. "For what it's worth, I don't think we're in any immediate danger. Whatever happened, it was at the mansion, not here, and the guardsseemed more concerned with containment than with hunting down enemies or rebels." He put his arm around her, pulling her close. "Try not to worry."
Easier said than done. "I'm scared, and not just about the explosions. It's everything. You becoming immortal, what does that mean for us, whether we'll ever get off this island…"
"I know." He pressed a kiss to her temple. "I'm scared too. But being scared doesn't change anything. We just have to keep going, one day at a time, and hope that eventually things will get better."
"That might never happen." She turned to look at him. "I'm trying not to be a pessimist, but it's hard given our circumstances."
"True, but nothing fundamental has changed since before the explosions." He kicked his shoes off and pulled her down onto the bed, settling her against his chest. "Let's go to sleep."
Mattie closed her eyes and let herself relax into his embrace, the steady rhythm of his heartbeat lulling her to sleep. The nightmare still lurked at the edges of her consciousness, waiting to hijack her mind, but she pushed it aside.
Dimitri would never be like Tarik. Whatever changes were happening to his body, what really mattered would remain the same. Immortal or human, he would always be the wonderful man she was falling in love with.
2
LOSHAM
The backyard looked like a war zone.
Losham stood at the edge of the collapsed area, watching the devastation he'd caused. A crater had opened in the manicured lawn, swallowing the carefully tended flowerbeds and decorative pathways that his father had installed during the mansion's last renovation, which had been done not too long ago. In fact, it had been completed just recently, and then only because the mansion had gotten priority over nearly everything else that had been damaged during the rebellion.
Luckily, Navuh wasn't around to see this because his rage would have been one for the ages.
The edges of the hole were still crumbling as Losham watched, more dirt and debris sliding into the darkness below.
At least the mansion was still standing. It was damaged, with cracks running up the exterior walls, and one of the decorative columns flanking the back entrance was toppling, but those things were superficial and easy to fix. The collapse had beenlargely contained to the basement area directly beneath the backyard, where the glass enclosure had been built.
Small mercies.
"My lord." Rami walked up to him, a tablet clutched in his hands. He'd already removed the bandage from his forehead. The deep gash inflicted by flying debris from the explosion was mostly healed. "The structural engineer is requesting permission to begin his assessment. He has two assistants with him."
Losham nodded. "Tell them to be careful."
The engineer was human, and Losham didn't want any more casualties.
"Yes, my lord." Rami made a note on his tablet. "There's also the matter of the damage to the main house. Plaster has cracked in various locations, and some of the granite floor tiles have split. The engineer is saying that the foundation may have shifted."
Losham waved a dismissive hand. "This house is built like a bunker. This is less damage than what it suffered during the rebellion."
"Yes, my lord." Rami shook his head at the crater they were standing next to. "The backyard suffered a lot of damage back then, and now it's destroyed again."
Losham's thoughts turned to the tunnel beneath the mansion and the enhanced soldiers his father had entombed there after their failed coup. They were still down there, buried under tons of concrete and steel, and he wondered whether this collapse had affected their makeshift tomb.
It was an unsettling thought.
