Chapter Seventeen

Whoever was behind this meant business, but so did Dmitrei.

He breathed in and released another icy blast, this time on the heavy rain around him, freezing the droplets and sending them flying at high speeds like daggers in every direction, focusing on the men along the walls in particular. Those who didn't duck or jump for cover were given something to remember him by. Thankfully, these men seemed equipped with armor and other protective gear, so unless he made a point of killing them, they would survive. Probably.

The men in the vehicles below them drove in wide circles, moving fast and trying to stay clear of the talons at the ends of their wings. Then, without warning, Dmitrei felt explosions going off around him, some flying wide and missing, but others detonating dangerously close as men fired from weapons mounted on the tops of the Humvees.

Unlike Elric, Dmitrei didn't have invulnerable skin, though his enhanced healing made it so he was hard to hurt for long, let alone kill.

He stamped down and swung, throwing off a car that came to close. Suddenly, to Dmitrei's right, a huge, green tinted figure slammed into Elric, pushing him into a wall that cracked and groaned under the force of the impact.

"You didn't think I would miss out on all the fun, did you?" Aloys sneered, his beast not quite as big as Elric's, but still formidable.

"So you were thinking about me?" Elric grunted, a low rumbling sound, as he pushed Aloys off and swiped at him.

"Thinking of ways to end you, yes," Aloys replied viciously, dodging back and then squaring off with him, bright-yellow eyes focused on his age-old nemesis.

Elric could handle Aloys. Dmitrei needed to clear a path so he could go look for Elena. The only thing that mattered was knowing she was okay, knowing she was safe. The only way h could be certain of that was if she were in his arms. He focused his energy on the sky above them, moments later huge boulders of ice came falling down, crashing into the last few parked vehicles and ripping through walls and windows. Where there was water, there was hail. Where there was hail, Dmitrei could make bigger hail.

Most of the men still in the courtyard ducked for cover beneath the onslaught of raining destruction. As they scattered, Dmitrei moved through them, tossing them like rag dolls or freezing them in place and immobilizing them. To the left, a large door opened and a tightly packed group of men marched toward him, wielding tall, gray shields and long, forked poles that clacked and popped with electricity. Dmitrei breathed a long cone of ice on them, but somehow the shields remained unfrozen, totally unaffected.

That was definitely a first. Whoever created the technology made it was gargoyles in mind.

Ignoring the swipes of their electric spears, Dmitrei charged headlong into the group, letting his talons do the talking instead. The men shrieked and dodged, to no avail, most were caught by the assault and thrown back through the door, piling into each other or hitting walls with incredible impact. Despite all of the collisions, Dmitrei didn't think he had killed anyone, based on the energies around him, and that was an exhilarating feeling. To have power and control.

With the newest group cleared, by now most of the fighting was starting to quiet, and only the sound of the rain and a few hysterical, fleeing men could be heard, punctuated by loud thuds and crashes as Elric and Aloys duked out their ancient grudge match. But just as Aloys and Elric were clinched, wrestling and swinging their huge talons, Aloys leapt back with a muttered curse, looking skyward.

"I'm being called back," he said, looking supremely disappointed. He shot up into the air and hovered for a moment, glaring down at Elric. "I'll have to kick your ass later."

With that, he beat his wings, rising into the sky and disappearing into the thick storm clouds close above them.

"Come back here, you bastard!" Elric said with a roar, breathing his dark diamonds into the sky in vain, the rainclouds too near and too thick to see through.

"Sorry to disappoint. Another time, another place," Aloys said, his voice calling faintly across the distance.

Elric huffed and turned back to Dmitrei. "I'll take care of the stragglers. You go get your mate," he said, swiping away a roaring, snarling shifter that was viciously biting and scratching at his leg. Apparently, the guy failed to receive the message that the fight was basically over.

Dmitrei shifted back to his human form as he began running toward the biggest doors he could see, ones that lead into what looked like the side of one of the mountains surrounding the compound. Behind him, he could hear Elric let out a roar of triumph as he cleaned up. Whatever Aloys's crew were planning, they would know they needed more than that to take on gargoyles.

He ran down a long, metal-lined corridor, trying to pick up on the scent of his mate or hear her thoughts.

Dmitrei. Dmitrei, are you out there? Are you okay? Stay safe.

Her thoughts touched him. Even after what she had been through, even after their fight, she was worried for him. Thankfully, she was apparently doing well enough that she could. Elric had been right. Aloys wouldn't hurt his mate. Perhaps there was something redeemable about him.

Dmitrei made a left turn, astonished at the sheer size of the place despite its relatively low profile from the outside, and came upon a pair of guards in front of a large, steel door. As he approached, the bored-looking soldiers eyed him suspiciously. Then one man's face contorted in surprised and recognition as he walked up to them.

"Hey, that's the guy we're supposed to--"

The man's exclamation was cut off as Dmitrei swung a powerful punch into his jaw, sending him flying into a stack of metal crates that clattered with an incredible noise. The other man immediately charged, but Dmitrei picked him up and tossed him into the neighboring wall, where he ricocheted off and landed on the ground with a grunt.

"Dmitrei, is that you?" Elena called from the other side of the door, muffled through the thick metal.

He pressed a red button that looked like it might operate the door, but a small screen displayed the words Access Denied in neon red lettering. He tried again, and got the same response. Screw that.

"Yes, it's me. Get clear of the door, okay?" he said, followed by the sound of footsteps moving away from the door on the other side.

With a grunt, he pulled at the doors, wrenching them open despite their size and weight. As they yielded an inch, then two, he could see inside a small room full of panels with bright-colored buttons and TV screens. In the center of it all, his mate, Elena. Seeing her invigorated him more and he pushed against the doors, one hand on each, beyond grateful for his preternatural strength, since the corridors would be far too small to fit his full form. Once the doors finally ripped open, the supports holding them giving way and shattering, he stepped inside and Elena rushed forward to meet him. He caught her in his arms and held her tight.

"Are you all right? Did they do anything?" he asked, worried to death something might have happened in the time it took him and Elric to fly there.

"No, I'm okay. You got here soon after us," she replied, the sound of her voice the most soothing thing in the world at that moment.

"Are you certain?" he asked, still paranoid and over the moon to have her with him once more.

"I mean, aside from Douchebag, or Aloys, doing that freaky mind control thing to bring me here, nothing else happened."

Dmitrei added stomp Aloys silly to his list of things to do when next he saw the gargoyle. No one got away with doing anything to his mate.

"Honestly, though, I'm fine. Are you? It sounded like the apocalypse out there," she said, her arms wrapped around his abdomen, the height difference between him and his curvy mate all the more apparent.

"Now that I have you," he said, picking her up in his arms, "everything is better." He walked back in the direction he entered the compound earlier. Elena rested her head against his shoulder as he quickly trotted along the path and into the courtyard. When they arrived, the scene of chaos was worse than Dmitrei remembered, and Elena gave a gasp of surprise.I

"Did you do this?"

"With my friend's help, yes," he answered her question, nodding to the huge, black-ish gargoyle looming over a pack of cowering soldiers with their hands above their heads.

Everywhere there were boulders of ice, piles of rubble, or patches of frozen ground where he had breathed ice. As they came up to Elric, the dark gargoyle looked over and smiled, the row of pearly white, razor-sharp teeth doing nothing to improve his terrifying appearance.

"So this is what gargoyles look like?" Elena squeaked in shock. "Is this what you look like?" she asked, turning her head toward Dmitrei.

"Not exactly. You will see shortly," he said, placing her onto her feet for the moment. "What are you planning to do with these guys?" he asked Elric.

"I called the Oracle. There was a pair in the area, so they will be here any minute to join me. You just get your mate home and let us take care of it."

"You did all this… for me?" Her expression was mild horror.

"We didn't kill anyone," Elric said. "Then again, they were all shifters, so it is easier. But Dmitrei here did good keeping himself in check. He was precise while still being a total monster."

She hooked an arm through his. "My monster."

He gazed down at her, unsure if he had ever heard anything more wonderful than being claimed as hers. "Are you ready to fly?" he asked as he turned to her.

"Fly?" she inquired, clearly confused.

Dmitrei backed away from her until he was a safe distance, then shifted one last time to his beast form, towering and immortal. Below, he saw Elena's eyes widen in shock and awe, then delight as she walked up to him and ran her fingertips over the muscles of his side.

"Wow. So this was really you the whole time? That's kind of hard to believe," she said softly.

"Yes. I'm sorry I didn't know how to tell you sooner. I--"

"It's okay," she interrupted him, holding up her other hand before he could babble on. "Let's go home."

"Yes. Home," he agreed, picking her up gingerly and tucking her against his chest. "You okay? Hold onto me, I will make sure you don't fall."

"Okay," she said, anxiety pricking her voice but her grip on him tightened.

Dmitrei let out a roar and pushed off the ground, heading into the sky, his wings dispersing the once black rainclouds before them, revealing the clear, blue horizon they were headed toward. Home would never come fast enough.