Page 40 of Deadly Reckoning (Broken Ashes #7)

Neith

W hy does he get to have weapons, and I can’t have Betty?

Security, right.

“This is the interrogation room, Dimitri is already in there, and the other door is the observation room.” He continues to explain, “There is a panic button in both rooms. The one in the observation room is obvious, the one in the interrogation room is on your side of the table, underneath the lip. You shouldn’t need it, he is the most secure prisoner we have.

He has almost every magic-dampening thing we have on him. ”

I raise my eyebrow, “He’s the most dangerous prisoner that you have here?”

The guy looks at me like I’m one sandwich short of a picnic basket and says, “Of course he is. You’ve seen his rap sheet, he’s not someone you want to mess with under any circumstances.

If I’m being honest with you, the only reason why you were let in to speak to him was because the order came from Ty. ”

“He’s in isolation?” Doc asks, an edge to his voice that says he’s not happy about it.

The guard nods, “It’s for everyone’s safety. I will leave you to it, as Ty requested. We are all on standby for when you need us.”

With that parting statement, he turns on his heel and walks back down the corridor, disappearing through the various security doors that we had to go through to get here.

“When we need them?” I ask, unreasonably pissed.

I’m so mad that I just open the door and storm into the interrogation room, the door slamming closed behind me.

“Do you know that the fucker just said when I need help?” I ask a wide-eyed looking Dimitri, “Like I’m some delicate little woman that can’t take care of myself?”

“I think maybe it’s because I’m considered such a threat, Love,” Dimitri replies.

I scoff, “Oh, please, you wouldn’t lay a finger on me.

Besides, I know you better than I know my own ass.

” I pause, “Although to be fair, I did recently learn something new about my ass, so maybe that’s not a fair comparison.

It’s also been a long time, so maybe I don’t know you at all, but still!

” I throw my hands up in the air, “When I need help, who the fuck does he think he is. I’ve a good mind to put him in isolation and see how well he fucking copes with it. ”

“Are you mad for me?” Dimitri asks incredulously.

“Yes!” I exclaim like it’s a no-brainer. Then everything catches up with me, and I narrow my eyes, “Wait, I’m pissed at you.”

Dimitri’s smile drops, and he nods.

He doesn’t say anything, he doesn’t try to defend himself, he just sits there and watches me like he’s terrified of me, and that hits me like a ton of fucking bricks.

He would never have behaved like this in recent years. He wouldn’t have just sat there while I came in ranting, raving, and quite frankly rambling about absolute shit.

He would have become really fucking nasty.

Already I’m treating him as he was, and not as he has been, and I’m not sure whether that’s a good thing or not.

My mouth snaps closed as I study him for the first time in a long time.

I see him, not the memories, not the nasty. I see my Dimitri.

His hair is such a dark red that it looks black under most lights.

Black eyes with a dark red ring right around the middle that expands outwards on those rare occasions that he calls on his hellhound watch me closely, cautiously.

He’s huge, bigger than Coen, bigger than even Reed, and wider too.

He towers over me and, quite frankly, makes me feel delicate.

His presence is intimidating enough that it can suck the air out of a room, and I have actually seen many weaker supernaturals have to leave a space because of him, and that’s with most of his power hidden.

Seeing him is like a punch to the gut.

My heart stops.

Everything comes flooding back and rushes through me with a force that leaves me breathless.

I force myself to think about something else, my thoughts don’t stray far as my eyes stay glued to him.

Dimitri has the best control of any supernatural that I know, simply because he has to keep what he really is hidden.

That means that when he gets extremely angry, when he’s under threat, or when he experiences a great amount of pain or an extremely strong emotion, he can’t let any sign of who he really is show.

Unlike River, whose eyes flash to his kitsune, or Coen, whose claws extend occasionally, or even Van, whose scales ripple across his exposed skin in certain situations, Dimitri can’t and doesn’t do that.

Which would shock a lot of people if they knew, because he’s so incredibly strong and feared as he is.

With his power exposed, it would be immense, I have only ever felt a fraction of it, and it easily matches the guys when they release their true strength, which again I feel like I’ve only really seen a glimpse of.

“Love?” Dimitri’s voice is quiet, cautious. His eyes are intently studying me, seeing every micro expression that I make, just like usual.

I tense at the nickname, even though he used it earlier while I was ranting at him.

It’s the one that both he and Coen use for me, and I fucking love it, but it’s been a very long time since it’s been on Dimitri’s lips.

Now that I’m thinking about it, he never perverted it or used it against me, in the whole time that he was spouting all the vile things, and with all the threatening behavior, he never once used that name against me.

I frown.

There is still a big part of me that is waiting for the other shoe to drop. I’m waiting for him to start cursing me out, to call me names, and, quite frankly, right now it would almost be a relief. I’m comfortable with that, I know how to react, and I can close myself off.

I clear my throat, I know that I need to be thinking about work, and there are some questions that I need to ask him to do with the case.

So instead of carrying on the way that I want to, and tearing him a new one for getting into the position where he was able to be controlled, even though I know that it technically isn’t his fault. It makes me feel better to be angry at him for something.

Instead of any of that, I force myself to switch into work mode.

“What can you tell us about Casimir and his link to HID?” I ask.

Dimitri nods and shifts in his seat, his hands moving on the table, and it’s then that I realize that he’s chained to the table.

I mean, of course he is, why wouldn’t he be? He’s in prison, and they’re terrified of him.

“It’s okay, Neith. I deserve to be here,” he says gently, his voice rumbling and deep, a smoky quality to it that I have always loved.

I frown, but look away from the cuffs, if I don’t, I’m going to do something ridiculous like break them.

“What can you tell us about Casimir and HID?” I ask again.

“Casimir is deranged, and incredibly fucking smart. He is using HID to gather supernaturals for him so that he can experiment on them and turn them into hybrids. I don’t know what his end game is, he hasn’t cared to share that with me, and I didn’t ask,” Dimitri explains with no more prompting, which shocks the shit out of me to be honest. He continues, “I can tell you where his usual places to be are, but he knows that I’m here, and while he has taken steps to ensure that I am unable to tell you things, they haven’t quite stuck like he would have liked, he doesn’t know that, but he is a very cautious supernatural so the chance of him being in any of the places that I tell you about is pretty slim. ”

“You mean you’ve managed to fight off the effects of the serum that you got shot with at the airport already?” I ask, my arms crossed over my chest, in a feeble attempt to protect myself.

His eyes widen in shock, before realization dawns and he says, “Kar found you.”

I nod, “He told me what you had told him, Coen too.” I pause as I gulp thickly, “That’s why I reached for you.”

“But you understandably do not believe me still,” Dimitri says with absolute certainty. “I don’t blame you.”

I told him when I spoke into his mind that I believed him, and I do. He showed me those memories, and I have realized that there’s no way that he could have faked them, but even so, I am cautious, and it’s because of that I don’t correct him.

I tilt my head, “Well, you haven’t screamed at me or called me a cunt yet, so you’ve at least got half a point in your favor.”

His expression darkens, and he shocks the shit out of me, making me sit up straighter as his head lowers and his eyes flash blood red. I register his power level rising, before he takes a breath, and it settles again.

His hands are in tight fists, and his head stays lowered.

His voice is dark, full of pain and death, as he replies, “It’s not enough, it will never be enough, but I am so fucking sorry for every single thing that I said to you.”

I gulp.

I don’t know how to deal with that, although I have to admit that hearing him say the words helps in a strange kind of way.

I tap on the table. He needs to get control of himself.

These people need to never know what he is capable of.

The fact that he could change his eyes, and I could feel the strength of his magic through all of the supposed blocks on it, means that if he really wanted to, he could probably escape this place.

Easily.

He’s only allowing them to keep him here because he has decided to be here, it’s not for any other reason.

A lot of people would freak the fuck out if they knew that.

Weirdly, it comforts me, and yes, I know that’s fucked up.

My tapping gains his attention, and he looks up. I tap out the simple message.

“We’re being watched,” I remind him, and then, because I can’t help it, I add with a smirk, “Sort your shit out, cupcake.”

He lets out a surprised laugh.

The nickname is something that I used to call him all the time, before everything that happened.

I thought it was hilarious that everyone freaked the fuck out whenever I called him it, and he thought it was the best thing in the world. Proof that I didn’t fear him like everyone else did.