Page 174 of Dissection of Immortal Hearts

“They’ll stay alive as long as you don’t cause any trouble, Korovin.”

Amelia shook her head. “I won’t go.”

The masked man grabbed her shoulder and shoved her onto the path cleared by the agents. She flew forward, her body hitting the ground with pain shooting through her elbows and knees.

“Amelia!” Mikhail rushed towards her, but the agentsencircled him, blocking his path.

“I saidalone,” the masked man growled.

Amelia scrambled to her feet, her eyes widening at the beasts trapping Mikhail. “Leave him!”

The masked man lunged at her and wrapped his arm around her torso like a vise, stealing her breath. “Tear him apart!” he ordered the agents.

The pack closed in on Mikhail.

Amelia kicked and screamed, but that didn’t stop the masked man from dragging her away. Only the impulse to destroy the Queen kept her from the burning desire to unleash her necrosis and turn the masked man into black remnants. And even though everything was going according to their plan, her cries were genuine. Mikhail didn’t know it, but they would probably never see each other again. The weight of that realisation made her scream with all her might.

Growls and shrieks filled the night.Mikhail will manage. I have to do the same.

As the tree canopies thinned, the massive bulk of the Hospital loomed against the sky. Amelia braced herself for what lay ahead, but the sight struck her harder than she’d expected. The entire façade, with its arches and towering columns, teemed with harpies. They perched like gargoyle statues, their glossy black wings occasionally shifting – a subtle, menacing reminder they were alive and poised to strike.

Her heart was heavy, but her resolve remained unshaken. With each step closer, a sharp current coursed through her body, electrifying every nerve.

The masked man’s claws dug into her shoulder, forcing her to halt. “You don’t want the magical barrier to fry you, do you, blondie?” he growled, pulling a black stone from a pouch on his chest. “Let’s move.”

He guided her through the gate, keeping her close to his side.Once inside, he turned back, stepping between the two metal pillars to usher in two lycanthropes who’d followed them along the path. Once the agents crossed, they reverted to their human forms. Amelia glanced at their blank faces and noted the simple black clothing they had layered to endure the transformation.

The masked man lunged at one of the agents with startling speed for his bulky frame and pushed him towards the gate. The unseen threads of magic latched onto the agent’s body, as if eagerly anticipating a feast. His body went rigid, his lips unable to scream. His hair bristled, the barrier crackled, and the magic seared him alive. Then, as if dissatisfied, the barrier spat his charred corpse onto the courtyard.

“It’s always smart to double-check after a disruption,” the masked man remarked, a note of satisfaction in his voice.

Amelia’s gaze dropped to the lifeless body.

A magical barrier.

Presiyan had told them – the only means of disabling it lay with his traitor.

Her pulse quickened. Mikhail and the others stood no chance of breaking through the magical barrier. They couldn’t breach the Hospital.

She… was all alone.

Her hands trembled as she faced the courtyard. Beneath the glow of a tall lamppost by the building’s entrance, the Queen waited, her form shrouded in shadow.

***

Mikhail

He was following the plan to lure the agents into the trap.

But it wasn’t just the rush before battle – something deeper was twisting inside him, driving his pulse into a jagged, painful rhythm. At first, Mikhail couldn’t decipher it.

While he was racing through the forest, fragments of the past few days fell into place, fitting together like pieces of a grim puzzle.

‘But if this is my last night alive, I want to spend it with you.’

The memory of Amelia’s parting words hit him hard. The way she had looked at him, the raw sincerity of her scream, and the heavy hopelessness that lingered afterwards.

Those weren’t the actions of someone expecting to return. It was a goodbye.