Page 51 of Anatomy of the Immortal Species

“This man is possessed!” someone shouted, pointing a finger at him.

People were staring at him.

“DEMON! DEMON!”

Viktor ran until he lost them and slipped between two buildings. Having control over his body did not make him feel lighter. It was as though gravity had doubled its grip on his bones, every move a monumental effort. How would he be able to live in the vessel the wolf had used to commit his wrongdoings? Because of a lucky coincidence, he had bested him today, but how long before the wolf took over once more?

Only Death could put an end to it. Viktor had longed for his dark touch for a while now – even before he’d sunk into the nightmare of Vaka Hara – but the wolf would never allow him to kill the body that served him so well. His survival instincts had always helped him prevail over Viktor when their joint life was hanging by a thread. So, Viktor did the only thing he could to restrain him – he tortured himself. His body always recovered, but at least in those few hours, the wolf couldn’t use it.

Viktor followed the street down to a market and blended in with the crowds of people, all blissfully ignorant of the monster roaming among them. He stayed away from those who would spark the wolf’s interest. Viktor knew his tastes well by now. The animal was waking up and there were plenty of spoils around.

“Lost, are you?”

Viktor turned towards the voice. A young man stood by the window of a nearby pharmacy. His relaxed posture suggestedindifference, but the sharp glint in his eyes betrayed a keen curiosity.

“Are you talking to me?” Viktor asked.

The man nodded, studying him. “You’re looking around like you don’t know which way to go.”

Viktor gave a bitter smile. The stranger had no idea how right he was. “You’re mistaken.”

The man’s gaze narrowed, but it was his next words that made Viktor freeze. “You’re not human.”

Viktor’s eyes widened. “Who are you?”

The man stepped closer and extended his hand. “They call me Raphael, the Healer.”

Viktor remained still. “If you know I’m not human, then consider this a warning: A dangerous beast is living inside me and he will kill you the moment he awakens.”

“What’s your name?” Raphael asked, as if Viktor hadn’t spoken.

“Viktor…”

“Viktor…” The man smiled. “Well, Viktor, if I showed you the most terrible things you could do to yourself, would you try to save yourself? Or would you be tempted?”

Now, the memory of Raphael was the only thing keeping Viktor standing after what he’d seen on the autopsy table.

The door creaked open, and he glanced over his shoulder. Mikhail entered with Amelia, both of them lost in thought and ignorant of the tension tightening every fibre in Viktor’s body.

Because no one cares about you, wretch. And perhaps that was for the best.

“You said you found something.” Mikhail cast a quick look at the corpse.

Viktor wiped the sweat from his brow with his forearm. “Yes. This female lycanthrope was found dead near Sofia. Tribunal agents brought her in because they found a fresh wound onher abdomen, with stitches still intact. They thought she might be one of our patients, but Nyavolski was already here and confirmed she hadn’t been treated at the Hospital – at least not in surgery. But judging by the incision, she recently underwent abdominal surgery.”

Amelia leaned over the body. “I thought there was no other place where immortals could be operated on.”

“There isn’t,” Mikhail replied. “Perhaps she had surgery in a human hospital?”

Viktor nodded. “It’s not entirely out of the question… But why would she risk exposing the immortal world and breaking Tribunal laws when she lived less than thirty minutes away by car? Her wallet contained an ID with a human identity, listing her residence in Plovdiv.”

“So she has connections with the human world.” Mikhail’s eyes narrowed in thought. “She wouldn’t bother creating a human identity otherwise. There were rumours of nymphs practising modern medicine somewhere in the Rhodope Mountains. Could they be involved?”

Viktor wrinkled his nose, gesturing towards the corpse. “Unless modern medicine has moved to caves, I doubt it. Even if they’ve modernised, this doesn’t look like their work. This wasn’t surgery – it was butchery. Her stomach is missing. The oesophagus was directly connected to the intestines. I suspect the ‘surgeon’ didn’t intend for her to die, but they lacked skill. They didn’t know what they were doing. The anastomosis was clumsily done but held together. The problem was with the ligatures. They came apart, and she bled to death. I have no idea how she ended up where they found her.”

Amelia circled the table, inspecting the lower part of the body. “There are wounds on her feet.”

Viktor needed to sit. His head was about to burst from the beast. It had been scratching, whimpering, howling, and tremblingwithin his mind ever since he had seen the corpse.