Page 8 of Dissection of Immortal Hearts

She’d never imagined her first kiss would be with Bobby, and worse, all in exchange for a bag of blood. Shaking off the memory, she hurried with renewed determination to the Horned God. He was hiding in a modest room on the seventeenth floor.

When Alex entered, the place was steeped in darkness. His figure was visible on the bed. The moonlight illuminated one side of his face, reminding Alex why her breath always caught in his presence.

His facial features were a blend of beauty, symmetry, and masculinity. His amber eyes held a fiery glow that only enhancedthe allure of the intelligence behind them. And his body – despite Viktor’s shabby clothes – was broad and athletic. With defined muscles and smooth, lightly tanned skin, free of scars and tattoos. At least the parts of him Alex had seen.

“You got the blood. Well done,” he said.

Alex’s chest swelled with pride, but she feigned nonchalance. “It wasn’t without complications…”

The Horned God rose to take the bag of blood. “Somebody saw you?”

“No…” Alex frowned. “But I had to kiss Bobby! When we entered the blood room, he cornered me. Said he couldn’t wait any longer…”

The Horned God chuckled. “You excelled at seducing him.”

Of course!If she hadn’t done so, there wouldn’t be bags of blood. For some reason, Alex had hoped to provoke his jealousy by mentioning the kiss. “Apparently, I did too well,” she emphasised, but he wasn’t listening as he prepared to drink the blood.

Alex still couldn’t understand his true nature. He was neither witcher nor vampire, yet he possessed telekinesis and fed on blood. But then again, why was she surprised, given that he had once been a mummy retrieved from the Temple of the Dead Immortals and was now walking around as a fully formed man?

She stared at him in awe while he drank the blood. He was mesmerising, majestic, and even slightly menacing. Her type of man.

The Horned God drained the blood without spilling a single drop. A faint crease formed between his brows, accentuating his charm. “It will suffice for now, but it’s far from enough.”

Alex would do anything to please him. “Bobby will be on duty again in two days. I’ll go.”Whatever it takes.

The Horned God smiled.“Thank you.”

5

Amelia

When she reached the end of the corridor, Amelia checked both ways – oddly unnerved by the peculiar sensation of being watched. During the daylight hours, the castle buzzed with the naïve voices of the Chosen in training, but at night, it was eerily deserted.

Once inside her room, she shut the door behind her with a snap and faced the intricate wood carving on the headboard of the bed. Wooden horns extended from either side of it and supported a dark green canopy. In the moonlight, artificial green vines twisted along the posts and resembled snakes rather than decorations.

She turned away from the grotesque piece of furniture, her thoughts drifting back to the Queen’s words from earlier that evening. She hadn’t been able to determine what the two items the Queen wanted were, but it was clear that refusing her was not an option.

When Amelia pulled aside the emerald curtains, the dark mass of the city came into view. Antambazi was the most extraordinary place. Black soils that refused to bear crops but hosted massive rocky inclines. Its outermost neighbourhood – the Low – was home to the poor and despised creatures. It was separated from the rest by the riverbed.

The palace – Amelia’s current residence – stood atop the highest cliff. Behind it, the slopes were almost vertical, plunging into the depths of the Black Sea. A sea she’d swum in dozens of times as a child, yet on this side of the veil, its waters appearedblack, and according to warnings, they claimed victims.

The dark hues and jagged natural formations lent the realm an untamed air, but in truth, only the inhabitants of the lower tiers could be called wild. The Circle of Arius enjoyed modern comforts – electronics, an internal telecommunications network, and a steady flow of imported goods through the portals.

Her gaze swept over the thousands of homes. From the height of the palace, they resembled fireflies scattered across the slopes. Headlights of electric vehicles glimmered between the houses, moving sluggishly along the rocky roads.

As she surveyed the loathsome realm, she reflected on how her escape plan was getting nowhere. She needed to pretend to help the Queen until she could work out how to get herself and Mikhail out. Once they were safe and far from Antambazi, they would devise a way to reclaim the Hospital…

Her blood boiled with anger whenever she thought of the innocent beings left behind within the captured walls.

Amelia stepped away from the window. She needed information. Where she might find Mikhail… Some of the Queen’s weaknesses. More about the disrupted regeneration. Something…

Her gaze fixed onsomethingon the wooden desk at the far end of the room.

She hesitated before approaching the unfamiliar object. It was a large, bulky envelope, yellowed with time. Sealed. No recipient or stamp.

Amelia glanced around, expecting to catch someone watching her from the shadowy corners. Assured she was alone, she opened the envelope. Inside was a stack of papers. She unfolded them, held them up to the moonlight, and started reading the handwritten text.

Dear Amelia,