Page 44 of Dissection of Immortal Hearts (Hospital for Immortal Creatures #3)

Constantine

Constantine examined the knives strapped to Diana’s thighs, the holster at her waist, and everything in between.

A dozen crude remarks crossed his mind, but the time for that had long since passed.

Besides, if his suspicions from the previous day were correct, their location could already be compromised.

Diana rested a hand on the holster at her waist, her stance wide. “I warned you not to pound on the wall. If you keep that up, someone might come snooping around. Do you want me to shoot an innocent person because of you?”

He smirked. “You’ve mistaken your man, dove. I stopped being a slave to a guilty conscience a long time ago.”

“Of course. How na?ve of me to have thought otherwise.”

“Diana, every second we spend in this house puts both of us at risk. We need to leave as soon as possible.”

She placed her hands on her hips. “Tomorrow, my contact will meet with the Queen and propose a deal to have you returned to her.”

“And your contact will lose his head, as will you, if you don’t listen to me and get us out of here immediately. That woman you called a reptilian bitch, remember her? Her name is Kathrine, and she has likely recognised you by now. She knows you took part in the tournament.”

Diana shrugged. “There were plenty of participants. I doubt the reptilians investigated or remembered all of us. Besides, we barely had time to show our skills. The weaker players were eliminated in the first rounds, and then the reptilians destroyed the rest.”

“You might not have been on her radar initially, but I guarantee you are now.”

“Why?”

He tugged at his handcuffs, more out of habit than frustration. He hadn’t planned to confess his torment over her in such circumstances. “Because of me. I wanted to gut her, because I believed she’d killed you.”

A brief glimmer passed through the vampire’s eyes. “You… were angry about my death?”

Constantine waved a hand in the space between them.

“As touching as this is, we don’t have much time.

Instead, I want you to consider something else.

Now that you know our charming rendezvous didn’t escape Kathrine’s notice, is there even the slightest chance she could link you to your help from the tournament?

The more I think about it, the more convinced I am that your contact must be connected to the reptilians and Antambazi.

Otherwise, how could he have known about the planned ambush over the mirror or the location of the hidden realm? ”

He gripped the bed frame, his mind racing. Damn it, everything was finally making sense. “Are your ‘help’ and ‘contact’ the same man, Diana?”

“He would never betray me,” she replied after a pause, her expression carefully controlled.

Damn it! Constantine leaned forward. “Who is he, Diana?”

“I… I trust him. He warned me about the attack on the tournament and…”

“And do you think he’ll stay silent if the Queen hooks him up to a system that tortures him to death multiple times a day? Because that’s exactly what she did to Mikhail Korovin.”

“Of course…”

“Of course not! Diana, unlock these handcuffs, and let’s go.”

Her eyes widened, her irises darkening with a storm of emotions. He could read them swirling within her – doubt, fear. Her hesitation was tangible, a fragile moment stretched thin. She was on the verge of making a decision that could either mend or shatter the delicate balance between them.

“Take off the damned handcuffs, Diana!”

The vampire glanced up at the drawn curtains, clearly weighing her options once more. Then, without a word, she rushed out the door.

“Diana?!” Constantine strained against his handcuffs, tracking her movements into the next room. She was kneeling before one of the cabinets, rummaging through its drawers. Was she searching for the key? His chest swelled with hope.

But then she returned. Confusion marred her features. “The key… is gone.”

***

Constantine

Diana kept rifling through the drawers, her movements becoming more and more frantic. “I’m certain I left it in this section.”

Constantine was about to suggest she calm down and try searching again, but a sudden realisation struck him. “These are enchanted handcuffs, aren’t they?”

Diana paused, then turned and leaned against the doorframe. Her scrutinising gaze swept over the metal binding his wrist. “Yes, from the market in Istanbul.”

The biggest gathering spot for witches worldwide. “And do you happen to remember what kind of enchantment they contain?”

She pursed her lips. “I don’t know. It’s probably not one of those extreme spells that sever limbs if you don’t have the key, but the witch I bought them from wasn’t exactly run-of-the-mill.

I spoke to her while hunting down the woman who misled my brother about the portal.

The cuffs were the only item in her shop that seemed useful to me. ”

“Why’s that?”

“Because the rest of her wares were… less practical for my purposes.”

“Be more specific.”

She placed her hands on her hips. “Love potions, jewellery to attract a desired type of man, vibrators that intensify orgasms.”

Constantine raised an eyebrow. Then frowned at once because… “Diana, is it possible that these are some kind of… sex handcuffs?”

“Hmm… I suppose they could be.” Her expression suggested she didn’t quite grasp the conclusion he’d come to.

“Romantic handcuffs are for couples ,” he emphasised. “Couples who intend to fuck. They’re enchanted, so they won’t unlock until both partners reach a happy conclusion. In other words, an orgasm.”

Her eyebrows arched into offended curves. “What kind of nonsense is that?”

He couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

Diana’s eyes narrowed to slits. “You’re lying! I’m certain you’re lying.”

He eased back onto the bed frame. “There’s one way to find out, isn’t there?”

“I’ll search for the key again!” Diana spun on her heel, ready to rifle through the drawers once more.

“Another interesting fact about sex handcuffs,” Constantine said. “Once they snap shut, the key disappears to prevent cheating – and to ensure that neither, or heaven forbid, both partners, remain unsatisfied.”

She turned to face him. “I hope I misunderstood you.”

“You understood me perfectly.” He grinned. “And now, you have a reason to indulge in the fiery attraction between us.” He patted the empty half of the bed. “Come on, don’t be shy. I don’t bite… unless, of course, you politely ask me to.”

Diana bared her teeth. “Oh, you should know how these handcuffs work! I bet you’ve been tied up with such before.”

“Are these angry outbursts part of your seduction routine? Because now everything makes sense. You kidnap me, throw yourself at me, and tie me up with sex handcuffs. Diana, you didn’t need to go to such lengths. I was ready to eat you up back in Alberobello…”

Diana pressed her palms to her temples and paced back and forth, frustration radiating from every movement.