Dimitri (Immortals of New Orleans, Book 6) (28 page)

Gillian didn’t stop to remark on his crude comments. Hoping that Jake had his ear pressed to the door, she screamed at the top of her lungs, right as she shifted into her tiger. The transformation was rough, painful like she’d never known. A hot slice tore through every cell. It’d never been such agony to shift, but she kept telling herself that she was changing, her great cat dying, her wolf emerging. If she didn’t concentrate, she’d die. She’d cry later.
It’s normal
, she told herself.
I’ll get through this.

Transformed, she lunged at the thug, her powerful jaws ripping at the man’s arm. His whiskey-soaked blood gushed into her mouth as her head thrashed from side to side. If it weren’t for the adrenaline pumping, she’d have noticed the razor-sharp wolf canines carving into her hide. It didn’t deter her. Anger at Chaz and his pack fueled her attack. She registered the horrified cry of the man as she crushed through his bones, ripping his forearm from its socket.

As she spat out the appendage, she turned to the wolf, that had lodged its teeth deep into the back of her neck. Her own blood spurted from her wounds, distracting her from her initial attacker. She whimpered as he slapped a silver cuff around her right paw; the excruciating burn flashed through her body. Her naked human form slammed into the floor with a thud, her head splitting open on the red-stained tiles. The wolf continued to shred her throat, growling and scratching as he did so. The last thing she heard was gunshots, before darkness claimed her.

Dimitri shoved at the door, breaking the metal chain off its hinges. The stench of sweat and blood smacked at his senses as he plowed forward into the bathroom. He cried out as he caught sight of the armless man, pinning Gillian to the floor. As she lay face down naked, a feral wolf locked his jaws deep into her flesh and had begun shaking his head furiously.

Enraged, Dimitri stripped off his shirt, calling his wolf, yet only a whimper registered in his mind. He cursed, realizing that once again, he was losing the ability to shift.

“Gun,” he called to Jake, who’d begun taking off his jacket.

Jake tossed the weapon to Dimitri, and commenced shifting.

“Get the fuck off of her,” Dimitri ordered, taking care to aim so that he wouldn’t hit Gillian.

“Piss off, buddy,” the stranger replied with a grunt. Ignoring Dimitri, he began to try to undress so he could shift and heal. He pushed up so that he sat on Gillian’s legs.

Dimitri had had enough. He fired off a pop and the bullet traveled straight through the asshole’s head. Dimitri winced as blood sprayed against the walls. Eyes wide open, the man fell dead against the pedestal sink.

Jake had leapt upon the grey wolf, but it refused to release Gillian from its bite. Without hesitation, Dimitri advanced toward it. Pressing the muzzle into its fur, he pulled the trigger. With a whimper, the wolf stumbled backwards, a breathy rattle coming from its throat. As it shifted, a blonde male, who looked to be in his mid-twenties, came into sight.

“Get him,” Dimitri called to Jake as he knelt down next to Gillian. She lay motionless, despite no longer being mauled about by the wolf. The smell of burnt flesh drew him to the cuff on her ankle. Dimitri tugged at the locked silver, singeing his fingers. “Fuck.”

Figuring that one of them had brought the keys, Dimitri crawled to the large man, who still wore clothes. He dug through his jeans, locating the metal chain that was jammed deep into his pocket. Dimitri pinched it with his fingers, quickly yanking it free of the fabric. Wasting no time, he unlocked the shackle from her leg.

“Gilly, can you hear me?” he cried to her.

When she didn’t respond, Dimitri gently rolled her over onto her back, supporting her head in his lap. Although she was breathing, he immediately noticed the two-inch gash on her forehead as well as her bloodied swollen eyes. He curled her up against his chest, hoping she’d regain consciousness. The wounds on her neck had already begun to heal, but he knew the poisonous metal had injured her tiger, making it more difficult to shift.

Dimitri took a deep breath and fought back the rage that threatened to overtake reason. He glanced across the room, at the detached arm that lay in a puddle of blood. She’d defended herself. What he couldn’t figure out was how they’d gotten into the room. However, as he lifted Gillian into his arms, he took note of the open secret panel.

“Gilly. Please, Goddess,” he said, brushing the hair from her eyes. “Jake, leave that fucker. Give me your shirt.”

“Here you go.” Jake threw it to him and then leaned over to scoop up the weapon that his beta had tossed aside. He toed at the guy who was laid out cold. “I gotta make sure this douchebag isn’t going anywhere. He’s going to be out for a while. Lucky he’s not dead with the plug you pumped into him. Looks like it went straight through. How the hell did they get in here?”

“There.” Dimitri nodded to the open door. “They didn’t just get in here on their own. Someone did this on purpose.”

“Jesus, is she okay? Why isn’t she shifting?” Jake asked. Using his jacket, he snatched the handcuffs up off the floor. “Goddamned silver.”

Dimitri only heard half of what Jake was telling him as he held his mate. Gillian coughed; her mouth twitched but no words came. Her eyelids slowly opened, and he breathed in relief.

“Darlin’, say something,” he pleaded. His lips mere inches from hers, he cradled her head, stroking her hair.

“Dimitri,” she whispered.

“You’re safe now. I’m sorry. I’m so damned sorry.” Dimitri looked to Jake. “Grab my phone. Text Leo. I want him here now.”

“I think the whole bar probably knows,” Jake commented, looking up to the crowd that had gathered around the door. Léopold pushed through with Lady Charlotte following close behind.

“What the hell happened here?” Lady Charlotte began but Léopold unceremoniously cut her off.

“Tais toi.” Léopold held up his hand, shushing her. She crossed her arms and rolled her eyes in response, but didn’t make a move to disobey his command. “Wolves, no? But how did they get in?”

“I’d cleared the restroom. But apparently vamp lady has secret doors…doors that I’m sure only she knows about,” Jake stated, his eyes pinned on Lady Charlotte.

“You did this? You attacked Dimitri’s mate?” Léopold accused, gripping her arm.

“Of course not. Why would I do anything like this? I keep these exits…passages for emergencies. Look at me, you know I’m not lying.”

“Shut the fuck up,” Dimitri yelled.

“I’m sorry,” Gillian managed, her voice barely audible.

“Gilly, you’re gonna be okay. Do you want to shift?”

“Can’t…I feel so weak.”

“It’s the silver.”

“The wolves…where are they?”

“Don’t worry about them. I’ll tell you when we get home.” Gillian attempted to push out of his arms but he held her tight. “Wait a second, cher. Leo, find out what happened…how these wolves got in here without us knowing. If that bitch over there doesn’t know about it, go down the chain, starting with Lacey. As much as I’d like to personally kill whoever did this, I’ve gotta get Gilly home. Can you get these assholes out of here? Give us some privacy?”

“Oui.” Léopold gave Lady Charlotte a hard stare and released her, gesturing for her to go. “You heard him. Get rid of your customers. Now!”

Lady Charlotte scurried into the hallway and began ordering everyone out of the area, funneling them onto the dance floor.

“Call Logan. We’ve got to secure that fucker over there. Keep him for his Alpha. I’ll ask Leo to clean up the rest. Can you shut that door?” Dimitri ordered.

“Ya’ll broke it off the frame. I’ll just,” Jake picked up the heavy wooden door and leaned it against the doorjamb, “there you go. No one can see in. Let’s get her to shift so we can get her the hell out of here.”

“Thanks, man. And thanks for back there…I couldn’t…aw, fuck. You know.” Dimitri shook his head, reliving how it felt to call on his wolf. The deafening silence was like a knife to his chest.

“We’ll fix this,” Jake said. He put his hand on Dimitri’s shoulder and then turned away to the sink and began to wash the blood off his hands.

“Hey, Gilly. You ready?” Gillian had fallen back asleep. He gently kissed her forehead and her lashes fluttered.

“Yes,” she whispered.

“That’s a girl. You go ahead and shift right here. I’ve got ya. Just remember not to claw me up. Go easy, okay?” he joked.

Dimitri smiled as she transformed. Elated that his injured mate had gone to her great cat, he stroked her fur. She roared and licked his face, letting him know she was healed. The magic of shifting never ceased to amaze him, even after having done it himself all these years. The spectacular sight of her tiger caused him to experience both pride and regret, concerned that she’d never be able to shift after their mating. No matter how many times he told himself that she’d be just as happy as wolf, his conscience warned him not to do it.

The smell of lavender bubble bath filled the air, and Dimitri took a deep breath into his lungs, praying it would calm the tension. He sighed, his heart heavy, as he massaged the shampoo into Gillian’s hair. As he sat behind her on the stool, he noticed that her thick dark hair was finally starting to shine through, the cheap dye fading away. Contemplating the night’s events, he knew they needed to have a serious conversation about their future.

During the car ride home, Gillian had been quiet. Except for a squeeze of his hand, she’d been essentially despondent. In the bathroom at Mordez, she’d eventually shifted back to her human form. While physically she’d been healed, he immediately knew her emotional wounds had not.

Dimitri had wrapped her in Jake’s coat and carried her out to his car where they’d met Logan. After filling him in on what had happened, the Alpha went to help Jake with the lone wolf who was still alive. By the time he and Gillian had arrived back to his house, Dimitri had received a text from Léopold about who’d led the wolves to Gillian. It came as no surprise that Léopold had needed very little interrogation time to affirm the identity of the individual. Apparently the wolves had paid Lacey a considerable amount of money to get access to Gillian. Léopold mentioned that she’d accused Ilsbeth of wrongdoing but that he hadn’t given her a chance to explain. Dimitri hadn’t asked what he’d done with her, the punishment he’d given. He knew the vampire wouldn’t think twice about killing a traitor. Incredulous, Dimitri didn’t feel an ounce of pity for her as she had to have known the wolves were planning on torturing his mate.

Dimitri glanced at the gun Jake had given him. It sat on the sink counter, a cold reminder of his affliction. With his wolf unable to respond, he didn’t trust himself to be able to protect Gillian. Dimitri had asked Jake to stay overnight and expected him to return as soon as he was finished at the club.

The only saving grace, he thought, was that they’d safely arrived at his home without incident. His sanctuary, it was large and contemporary. The enormous bathroom and shower area, consisting entirely of glass walls, could be viewed through the master bedroom. An oversized tub sat centerpiece. While he rarely used it, he’d personally helped design the layout. The open area reflected his soul, no walls, no pretenses. What you saw was what you got.

“Dimitri.” Gillian’s soft voice broke his rumination.

“Lift your head up a sec,” he told her, turning on the water. He removed the hand-held faucet and sprayed away the lather. “All done, relax back.”

“About tonight,” she began, pressing the heels of her hands to her forehead.

“You defended yourself.” Dimitri wrung the water out of her hair, rolled up a towel and set it behind her head.

“They’re not going to stop.”

“That’s the idea. They’ll come to us and we’ll take care of Chaz.”

“You mean we’re going to kill him,” she said flatly.

“Yes. I’m not gonna lie about how things are. He’ll either give up and go home, which I doubt. Or he’ll come here and die on our land.”

“Lacey. She told me they paid her.”

“So I heard. You know, I’m friends with Leo, but vampires in general…I don’t trust them.”

“You slept with her.”

“Yeah, I did.” Her words burned deep, but he knew she had to get this off her chest.

“The thing is, in that bathroom, I talked to her. Lacey doesn’t want you or care about you. She reminded me a little of my mom’s cat. She’d find a mouse and she’d just kind of bat it around. She wouldn’t kill them. She just played with them for entertainment. Lacey is the same way. Tonight, she took perverse pleasure in causing you pain…for fun. What she did to me…that was about money.”

“It doesn’t matter why she did it. Sometime before she was turned, she learned right and wrong.”

“She wasn’t attached to you. She understood that you’d find a mate.”

“It was just a fling. It meant nothing. I thought that she got that. Vampires usually get it and so do wolves. Single wolves don’t make it a habit to fall for someone they’ve had sex with because they know there’s always a chance of finding their mate. There’s something innate that tells us it’s okay to fool around and we don’t get attached. It’s just how it is.”