Mattie’s timid appearance was a guise meant to fool condescending immortals. She was a fighter, but she was smart about it. She didn't pick fights she couldn't win and went out of her way to steer clear of them, yet she didn't back down when she believed she was right.
They dried off and dressed, Dimitri pulling on his usual work clothes while helping Mattie into a loose shirt and the cotton pants with the elastic waistband. He unwrapped the plastic from her hand and checked the bandage for dampness.
"It's dry," he said. "Hungry?"
"Yes."
"Then let's eat."
They walked out into the hallway where their breakfast waited. In addition to the trays, Petrov had left two mugs for them. Coffee for Dimitri, and tea for Mattie. The man might drink enough vodka to pickle his substantial frame, but he was endearingly considerate and thoughtful when it came to Mattie.
Dimitri set up their chairs and finished unwrapping the trays. It was the standard fare of eggs, toast, and sliced fruit, but it was pretty good, and he didn't complain despite it being the same every morning.
He cut Mattie's toast into pieces and set the fork next to her left hand. She'd been practicing with her nondominant hand and had progressed from launching food across the room to only dropping it on the dresser, which was a significant improvement.
As she speared a piece of egg, scoring on the first try, Dimitri ran his tongue along the inside of his upper gums and felt the throb that had started last night.
It was a deep, persistent ache that radiated from his canine teeth through his entire jaw, as if the bones were rearranging themselves from the inside. Which was exactly what was happening.
His canines were loosening. He'd felt it when he brushed his teeth this morning, the subtle give in the root, the way the teeth shifted when he pressed his tongue against them. Within days, maybe less, they would fall out, and in their place, fangs would appear.
The thought sent a mix of dread and fascination through him. He'd studied the immortals' physiology extensively since arriving on the island. The fangs were hollow, connected to venom glands in the throat. The glands were the source of the ache in his neck that had been building for two days now. It had started as a slight tightening that he hadn't paid attention to, but it had turned into a burning tightness that made swallowing uncomfortable.
Last night, the pain had been bad enough that he'd taken two of Mattie's painkillers after she'd fallen asleep. He needed to stop by the clinic today and get a fresh supply, ostensibly for her. Hopefully, no one would question a request for analgesic medication for a woman with a crushed hand.
The real problem wasn't the pain, though. He could manage it.
The real problem was hiding the transformation.
If Losham or any of the soldiers saw him with missing canines, they would know immediately what was happening. Immortalson this island transitioned at puberty through the venom bite, and every one of them had gone through the process of loosening canines, then living with the gap for a few days after they had actually fallen out, and finally, the emergence of fangs. It was as recognizable to an immortal as a growth spurt was to a human.
He would need to keep his mouth closed around everyone but Mattie and Petrov. No broad smiles, no yawning, no eating in front of anyone else. Perhaps he should stay in his and Mattie's room, claiming he was sick. After all, he was supposed to be human, and humans got sick from time to time.
That would buy him a few days, and it might be enough, or it might not. He needed to ask Dave if the rapid healing also meant rapidly growing fangs and venom glands.
"Dimitri?"
He blinked. Mattie was watching him with a smile. "Where have you gone? You seemed miles away. Was it somewhere nice?"
He was glad that her sense of humor was back.
"I was just thinking."
"About Dave and their proposal?"
"Among other things." He took a sip of his coffee. "How's the hand this morning?"
She flexed the fingers of her injured hand just enough to test if she could, and winced. "About the same. The pills help, but they wear off too quickly."
"I'll stop by the clinic and get more. I took two of yours during the night."
Her eyes widened. "Why?"
"My throat hurts. It's the venom glands. Also, my canines are getting loose."
"Oh." She set her mug down and picked up a piece of toast, but she didn't eat it. She was pressing her thumb into the soft center, leaving little dents in the bread, and staring at it the way she did when her mind was somewhere else.
"What's going on?" Dimitri asked. "And don't say nothing, because you've been poking holes in that toast for two minutes and you haven't eaten any of it."
