Page 59 of Dissection of Immortal Hearts (Hospital for Immortal Creatures #3)

Amelia

Amelia clutched the necklace between her fingers. “You’ve seen it before?”

“Seen it?” Zacharia echoed, shaking his head. “It’s… quite a bit more than that… But before I explain…” A grin spread across his face as he jerked Mikhail into a firm embrace. “It’s great to see you, my friend. I was afraid that bitch of a queen had finished you off!”

“She was close.” Mikhail clapped the hybrid’s broad back. “I’m glad you found us.”

Amelia’s lips twitched into a faint smile. This different Mikhail, one she didn’t recognise, was capable of joy, after all.

However, the moment vanished as quickly as it had appeared, and tension once again hardened Mikhail’s features. “Now, tell us about the necklace before I rip it off her neck and toss it into the nearest river.”

Amelia grasped the necklace, showing no intention of parting with it.

Zacharia scratched his forehead. “I was in the home of a witch who wore an identical necklace. She had… let’s say, an unusual attachment to it.

So unusual that she refused to take it off in situations where it might have been inconvenient.

Eventually, though… she did take it off. ” His jaw tightened.

“Where is her house?” Mikhail growled.

The hybrid’s gaze flickered between Mikhail and Amelia.

“Byala Voda. She was going to locate you, and in exchange, I had to repair her roof. Long story short, I spent some time in her home waiting for her magic to work.” Zacharia ran a hand through his cropped hair.

“She kept saying someone was coming for the necklace. She was sad about it but said she’d give it away because it didn’t belong to her. ”

Amelia glanced at Mikhail. “She must have started preparing after I intruded into her mind.”

He nodded. “Creating that Middle Ages trap couldn’t have been easy.”

“I want to hear everything about what she did to you, but first…” Zacharia’s eyes locked on the twin serpent heads.

“You need to know what happened to her. She was stunning, but the moment she removed the necklace, her face darkened and shrivelled. Her skin ignited, then crumbled into ash. She screamed in agony the entire time, and I wasn’t supposed to do anything to ease her pain.

I’d promised not to interfere – not that I had the power to help her, anyway. ”

Amelia withdrew her hand from the Sacred. “Did she tell you the necklace was the cause? Could she have suspected we’d meet, knowing you’d pass on her words to me?”

“It was more like she dared to admit the necklace gave her power. But, as with all things tied to dark magic, it was a matter of time before it demanded its due. She was protected from the heavy cost as long as the necklace remained around her neck.”

Amelia tensed. “Then why did she take it off?”

“She said that whatever awaits the next wearer of the necklace is far worse than what removing it would do to her. She threw it into the hallway, saying whoever deserved it would find it, and died a few hours later.”

Amelia’s mind conjured the image of burnt skin, the stench of death, and agonised screams – the same things she’d inflicted upon the witch in that illusion.

“Take it off.” Mikhail’s voice cracked through the brief silence like a whip.

No … She shook her head. “We’re not sure the necklace caused her death.”

“We’re not certain it didn’t.” Mikhail was already behind her, reaching for the clasp. “You’re too valuable in this war for me to risk your safety over a trinket.”

Amelia’s gaze sought Zacharia. His posture – arms crossed – could have seemed indifferent, but the faint crease between his eyebrows revealed much more.

These men didn’t understand what the object meant to her!

For the first time since entering the immortal world, she’d found something she could connect with.

It felt like months of wandering had finally led her to a place where she belonged.

Yes, she was the Oracle, but her weak visions had never allowed her to embrace that role fully.

When reality had also taken Mikhail’s love from her, she’d doubted she would ever experience a genuine sense of belonging.

Until she’d touched the necklace. Its energy had resonated with the yearning part of her soul as if they had found each other. The power that flowed through her veins and burst from her hands was proof enough.

Whatever the necklace was, whatever it had done to its former owner, Amelia knew it would be different for her. Around her neck, its power wasn’t dangerous – it was a shield.

“We’ll discuss this later.” She moved away from Mikhail before he could unfasten the clasp.

“Amelia!” Her name cracked like a command. She ignored it, leaving the room with her fingers still clutching the serpents at her neck.

Her blood boiled with a vague, unexplainable fury. She stormed through the common area without glancing at the people lingering there. Just as she reached the door, a hand grasped her elbow.

“I gather the training didn’t go well,” Callan said, letting her pass through the door first before following.

She shielded herself from the glaring sunlight. “There’s a reason they say not to stay friends with your exes. They have a knack for infuriating you, even without doing much of anything.”

“Is that what they advise these days?” Callan rubbed his forehead in a gesture she found amusing, easing the tightness in her muscles ever so slightly. “You changed your mind about our walk last night.”

Amelia remained silent, still consumed by an inexplicable anger over what had happened. Mikhail had ordered her to remove the necklace as if he had any right to dictate anything to her.

“I understand,” Callan said, “but it’s not his fault he doesn’t remember you.”

She met his eyes, and for the first time, she truly saw him – not the mummified figure they’d stolen from the Temple of the Dead Immortals, nor the man she’d once feared because of a vision.

“You’re fitting right in with the twenty-first century.” She nodded at his outfit – a black T-shirt emblazoned with the logo of a popular heavy metal band, paired with jeans and trainers.

Callan glanced down at himself. “A gift from Mor. Who would have guessed that this charming man, in his everyday life, wears a terrifying mask and scares both petty and hardened criminals alike?”

Amelia smirked. “I’m still reeling from Presiyan. I half-expected him to be hiding a Quasimodo under that mask, but he turned out to be Leonardo DiCaprio.”

“Quasi who?” Callan narrowed his eyes. “And Leo what?”

Amelia laughed, letting her gaze drift over his features.

A year ago, life had thrust her into the immortal world armed with the knowledge she had from the human one.

At least she’d had some understanding, a framework for modern life.

Callan, on the other hand, had emerged from a sarcophagus into an entirely new world.

“What’s it like to wake up so many years later?” she asked.

He crossed his arms, the sinewy muscles in his forearms prominent. “Refreshing,” he replied after a pause. “A chance to rectify the past.”

Amelia’s fingers toyed with the necklace resting against her neck. Warmth flowed through her fingertips as they brushed the chain. She flinched but didn’t pull her hand away; she didn’t want Callan to notice anything unusual. Whatever this was, she wasn’t ready to share it.

Why was she so afraid to trust him?

The answer made her heart clench. Because she’d trusted another man once and was still piecing herself back together.

The signs had been there from the start.

Mikhail had kidnapped her, locked her up, and frightened her.

Yet in those rare moments when he had been less beast and more lover, everything else had faded into the background.

She had known from the beginning that life with a man like Mikhail wouldn’t be easy.

The physical scars he bore were only a glimpse of the ones buried in his mind and heart.

But she had been willing to embrace all of it for the chance to have him.

And still, it hadn’t been enough.

Callan… he was dangerous too, but in a different way. More contained. A threat concealed beneath charm and control. She wouldn’t risk another fracture in her heart – not even for the sake of friendship.

Later, under the dappled shade of the tree, she flexed her fingers, examining them with a mix of curiosity and apprehension.

Last night, she’d tried to channel her power through the bed frame, testing if she could cause the wood to decay, but nothing had happened.

Yet she couldn’t shake the sensation of power flowing through her veins.

The power of the necklace – a force she’d sensed from afar.

And she was willing to bet its hold over her wouldn’t end, even if she took it off.

***

Amelia

When Amelia emerged from the forest, she found Zacharia rummaging through the boot of his black Lexus. She approached him, pushing away the memories of when Mikhail’s heart had stopped in her hands on that same vehicle’s back seat.

“I’m glad you’re back with us,” she said.

He pulled out a duffel bag and shut the boot. His gaze flickered to the necklace at her throat before settling on her face. “Mikhail doesn’t remember you.”

His tone carried no warmth, but his eyes… Was that pity? Not from Zacharia, surely not.

“It was because of the ring.” She shrugged, unwilling to rehash the story yet again.

The hybrid furrowed his brow. “And you? Was it the same with you?”

Her lips pressed into a tight line. What was she supposed to tell him?

No, I loved him because I adored everything I saw beneath his harsh exterior.

Now I realise that what I loved was an illusion.

It doesn’t feel like a lie, though – it cuts like I’m mourning the death of someone I cherished.

And I can’t shake the sense that I’m a fraud, even if there’s no reason for it.