Page 62 of Dissection of Immortal Hearts (Hospital for Immortal Creatures #3)

Vladislav

Vladislav threw the printed sheets onto the desk by the window with a frustrated growl. “That bloody shrew is messing with us!” he spat, shooting a glance towards the guards stationed outside. Their hulking presence ruined what had once been a beautiful view of the hospital courtyard.

Those same bastards stood guard outside his room, eager to intrude. He wouldn’t be surprised if they tried to peek in, even during his rare and dwindling moments of intimacy with his wife.

Helena rose from the bed where she’d been spending far too much of her time.

Staying indoors was affecting her worse than him.

Her face had never been so pale, her once-fiery eyes so dull.

They both repeated the mantra that they’d find a way out of this, but as the days dragged on, their hope was eroding, crumb by crumb.

Especially after the last visit from that cursed cobra, Elisanda Grace had not only gutted three skilled surgeons with her bare hands but now demanded that Vladislav study the ‘anatomy of a harpy.’ She would personally test him and report to the Mother of the Reptilians if he wasn’t up to standard.

Worse, she’d warned that the other healers would hold him accountable for any lapses in knowledge.

Helena stood behind him, her hands working to ease the tense muscles in his shoulders. “Please,” she whispered, “just do what they ask.”

Bloody hell. His strong, spirited wife was so terrified.

Vladislav turned to face her, cupping her gaunt cheek.

“Did you see this nonsense?” He gestured at the papers on the desk.

“This is another bloody insult. First, they make us perform impossible surgeries on those creatures just to test our skills, even though they’ve got a rapid-healing serum that could spare the patients so much pain.

And now, they’re shoving this rubbish in our faces!

There’s no such thing as a harpy. It must be a ploy to confuse us. ”

Helena pressed her lips into a thin line as if tasting something bitter. “The reptilians didn’t exist either – until we saw them.”

“I swear, if I ever see this winged monstrosity from those papers”—he pointed at the desk for emphasis—”I’ll bash my head against the wall first. And then, without hesitation, I’ll tear its head clean off. I’m not stepping into any bloody operating theatre for that.”

Her eyes widened. “Don’t shout. They might hear you.”

“And what? Will they shoot me? I’ve operated on creatures forced to sign blood oaths!

I’ve stood by while they murdered my colleagues!

Now, I wander empty operating rooms because that damned owl decided to suspend surgeries and waste our time on the anatomy of a non-existent creature!

Forgive me if my nerves are a bit frayed! ”

Helena’s face twisted. “Vladislav, if they kill you…”

His chest ached under the weight of her fear. “They won’t. I promise.”

***

Alex

Sometimes, Alex felt a wave of nostalgia for the days she’d spent with Callan at the Hospital. Sure, reptilians and humans had taken over the corridors, and nothing was as it once was, but back then, it was just the two of them. They’d spoken more than they did now.

Now, they didn’t speak at all . Every attempt she made to catch him alone was interrupted – either Viktor would show up, or Callan would remember something at hand.

Alex was sure there was a special connection between them, but lately, she couldn’t help wondering… Was Callan avoiding her?

She dismissed it. In this lodge, there was no one else who could engage him in an intellectually stimulating conversation quite like she could.

She pouted, frustrated that she hadn’t yet breached the platonic boundary between them. Was Callan hesitant to touch her because Viktor was nearby? After all, during their last moments at the Hospital, before their escape, Callan had admitted that he found her beautiful.

Alex needed to act. She examined her face in her pocket mirror. Thick black lashes framed her chestnut eyes, and her lips had a natural fullness. She might not be stunning, but she possessed a charm that many would call ‘adorable.’

Tilting her head, she checked her profile. Viktor treated her like a child, though she had long since passed the age where others would do the same. She noticed how mortal men leered at her when she went into town for supplies.

She jumped off the bed and smoothed out the wrinkles in her short denim shorts. Her white tank top hinted at her figure without being provocative enough to anger Viktor.

Her lips pressed into a dissatisfied line.

Over the past few months, her foster father had loosened his grip on her, but since they’d been living in the lodge, his obsession with monitoring her had returned in full force.

She obeyed his rules only because of how close he was to Vaka Hara.

However, there was one rule she refused to follow.

Nothing could keep her away from Callan.

She was heading for the door when a noise outside stopped her. She cast a casual glance through the window. Her heart skipped a beat. Callan crouched in the middle of the yard, shirtless. Bronze skin over sculpted muscles gleamed in the sunlight as he hammered nails into a wooden chair.

He looked up and smiled, revealing that divine dimple on his left cheek.

But he wasn’t smiling at her.

Alex’s stomach twisted. He was with Amelia – again.

Amelia, who should have reconciled with Korovin already.

Instead, for yet another day, Alex caught her having a pleasant interaction with her Callan.

She’d tried to tell herself there was nothing to worry about, but now Callan was fixing a chair for the Oracle, and…

Alex’s vision blurred with anger as she remembered Amelia had taken his journal. That proved the interest went both ways and, if Alex didn’t act fast, the love of her life might end up in someone else’s hands.

She hurried out of her room and skidded to a stop in front of one of the doors along the corridor. She knocked three times.

“Come in.”

She didn’t wait for a second invitation, bursting inside.

However, when she stood face-to-face with Mikhail Korovin, she recalled how imposing he was, the type of man whose presence could send shivers down anyone’s spine.

He wasn’t just the leader of the Hospital – he was her boss, Viktor’s best friend, and the last person she should be lying to.

“Mikhail… hi,” she managed, giving a small wave.

He studied her with his gold-green eyes, raising an eyebrow as if already bracing for whatever chaos she was about to bring into his life.

Her original plan had been to tell him to get off his cold ass and win back his woman before someone else snatched her, but standing in front of him now, she began to lose her nerve.

“What is it, pup?” he asked, his tone slightly easing her tension.

She fiddled with her hands, trying to find the best way to phrase her idea.

“Well, Amelia sent me to tell you something.” Mikhail tilted his head, waiting. “She… uh… she asked you to come to her after midnight. To… fix her broken furniture.”

His eyebrows shot up to his hairline. “Fix her furniture?”

Alex spread her hands. “I don’t know! She just said that you should do it when everyone else has gone to bed.”

She spun on her heel and fled. Idiot! Korovin could barely tolerate Amelia. Why would he bother fixing her furniture?

Alex rushed back to her room, peering through the window. Her throat constricted when she saw Amelia and Callan heading into the woods together.

As she replayed her own stupid words to Mikhail, she wanted to crawl under the bed.

She was a scholar. She could have come up with a better lie!