Page 66 of Dissection of Immortal Hearts (Hospital for Immortal Creatures #3)

Kathrine

Kathrine had once again fallen victim to Sevar’s lies. What stung even more? It had taken seeing the necromancer’s desperation to save the vampire for her to finally recognise it: her fiancé was many things, but devoted wasn’t one of them.

All that talk about a future home in Antambazi? Just another tactic to wear her down, to make her drop her guard and reveal everything she’d learned about the necromancer. She could wager Sevar and the Queen had sensed she was hiding something. And now, she wasn’t.

Thanks to that, the necromancer and the vampire had been caught.

And just like that, Sevar’s gentle demeanour had disappeared. Until the next time they would need Kathrine to be compliant.

Sevar. He was the instrument the Queen used to manipulate her.

For years, Kathrine had watched the Mother of Reptilians tug at his strings, playing upon his greatest weakness – his unbridled ego.

And all the while, Kathrine had wondered about her own soft spots, the ones the Queen exploited to keep her subdued.

Her weakness was Sevar. For his rare displays of tenderness and attention, she would destroy worlds – time and time again.

She entered his study, letting her fingers drift across the scattered papers on his desk.

Even if they held secrets, he wouldn’t have bothered hiding them.

His obedient fiancée would never dare to rifle through his belongings.

He trusted that if Kathrine uncovered anything untoward, she would not betray him.

Just as she hadn’t when she discovered Sevar had been responsible for imprisoning Mikhail Korovin in Prokaliya.

Now, she was looking for nothing in particular.

Perhaps she wanted to do something no one expected of her.

Most of the documents detailed influential figures from the mortal world – individuals they planned to recruit in the next phase of the war.

A partial exposure of the immortal world’s secrets seemed inevitable, but someone had to manage humanity’s response to avoid complete chaos on Earth.

A handwritten note caught her eye. She picked it up and read an address beyond Antambazi’s borders. There was no context, no explanation. Yet, something about it tightened her gut.

She left the papers on his desk without attempting to hide her intrusion. What more could he do to her now that she hadn’t already suffered?

Returning to their quarters, she found Sevar seated on the edge of their bed, his shirt unbuttoned at the collar and his tie discarded on the duvet beside him. His dark hair was tousled – a clear sign he was troubled.

The sight of him made her tense up.

Sevar offered a smile, though devoid of warmth. “Caught sneaking out of my study, my violet love. Did you find anything intriguing?”

“I was looking for you.” Her voice was steady and her gaze unwavering – skills honed over years of necessity.

He frowned, running a hand through his hair. “Whatever it is, it will have to wait. There’s an issue in the catacombs that requires our attention.”

Her eyebrows knitted in concern. Had the necromancer done something? “What sort of issue?”

Sevar exhaled heavily as he rose. “Just come with me, and you’ll see.”

She followed him down the corridor, her gaze fixed on his back. There was an unusual tension in his posture that reignited her curiosity. He suddenly reached out and took her hand. “You know I’ve always loved you, don’t you?”

Kathrine swallowed hard. Days ago, those words would have warmed her heart. Now, she recognised them as a foretaste of another demand.

She forced a smile. “Me too.”

An emotion flickered in his eyes. Her stomach twisted into knots. Sevar never showed emotion. If he was letting her glimpse his inner turmoil, then something truly grave was weighing on him.

“Is everything all right, Sevar?”

His response was delayed, his tone clipped as they descended the underground galleries. “We’ll find out soon enough.”

Her heartbeat quickened for no apparent reason. Intuition warned her that whatever awaited them in the tunnels would not be to her liking.

Once they were deep within the stone beneath the palace, she asked, “Is there something I should know?”

Sevar paused, facing her. The faint light illuminated his sharp features. “I don’t think there’s anything to worry about, love. It’s just a ‘situation,’ as I mentioned.”

Neither spoke again until they reached the metal grate marking the entrance to the tunnels. Sevar descended first, and by the time Kathrine followed, he’d already lit the dim corridor.

She surveyed the empty tunnel lined with dozens of small chambers.

It had once held the necromancer. A glint against the wall drew her attention – her sword.

The blade’s curved edge reflected the pale lights, unmarked by Lina’s blood, which had stained it mere days ago.

Kathrine suppressed the heaviness rising in her chest at the memory.

She’d cried her tears over Lina’s death in the shower.

Her eyes lingered on the serpent’s head adorning the sword’s hilt.

The face of the comrade she’d killed on the Queen’s command would one day fade, but her conscience would never settle.

Anger coiled in her ribs, sharp and slow-burning, as another truth clicked into place.

Her sword was a gift from Sevar. It was one more tool to mould her into an obedient soldier, into a blade that always followed its duty.

A sardonic smile twisted Kathrine’s lips when Sevar’s eyes, dark as death itself, landed on her. “Who do I have to kill this time?”

“Kathrine…” His voice faltered.

Her fiancé – so resolute, so arrogantly confident – was hesitating. That alone was enough to set alarm bells ringing in her mind. “Sevar?”

He leaned forward, wrapping his hands around the hilt of her sword, allowing the blade to hang loose by his side. “How many times have I warned you, Kathrine?”

Her attention dropped to the sword. ‘ This is a blade meant for severing heads, ’ he’d said the day he’d gifted it to her.

Her heart clenched in pain.

Fool. Fool. FOOL!

No, it couldn’t be…

Sevar stepped closer, his tone tinged with an unsettling calm. “Violet love, the world we live in is cruel. Why did you have to make such a foolish move? Why, for heaven’s sake, did you decide to steal from her ?”

“What?”

“I covered for you when you helped the former Oracle escape. I protected you when you shared sensitive information with Korovin and his group. But this theft? It wasn’t my secret to keep – she found out from someone else.”

Her gaze flitted between his face and the sword in his hand. Sevar was swift, too swift. One misstep, and he’d have her head.

“After years of lies and manipulation, you’ve decided to get rid of me?!” she cried out.

His expression remained impassive. “You have no idea what this is doing to me.”

A mad laugh bubbled from her throat. “What it’s doing to you ?”

“I’ll ask you again – why did you steal from her?”

“Sevar, I don’t know what you’re talking about!

” Her voice echoed through the underground tunnel.

He wasn’t the only target for her anger.

She was also mad at herself. Hadn’t she expected it all along?

Not necessarily at Sevar’s hand, nor with the ease with which he executed every command from the Queen, but still…

A crease formed between his eyebrows. “Don’t bother denying it, Kathrine. Your fate is sealed.”

He stepped closer.

Her fate was sealed?

Rage flared in her chest. The Queen had ruled over her childhood, shaping her behaviour to match her mould, and had forced her to kill. Sevar and the Queen had dictated every decision she’d made.

Would she now also allow them to decide the manner of her death?

“Don’t do anything stupid, my violet love,” Sevar growled, raising her sword.

He’d trained her to surpass everyone – except him. He held the blade, the physical strength, and the advantage of surprise.

Adrenaline coursed through her veins. Kathrine spun on her heel and bolted down the tunnel. Sevar was better in every way, but that didn’t mean she would meet her end on his or the Queen’s terms.

The tunnel split into two paths, and she veered right. Both routes were dead ends, and both led to her death. But at least she would die under the open sky.

Darkness enveloped her as she went further into the tunnel. The air grew thick with the smell of salt, accompanied by the distant sound of crashing waves. Her footsteps echoed, matching the rapid beat of her heart.

Rounding a sharp bend, she came upon the metal gate. Cold air brushed her skin when she reached the iron bars, the open night sky beyond drawing her gaze. Below, waves roared and smashed against the cliffs.

Beyond the gate, freedom lay.

“I thought you were smarter than this.” Sevar’s bulky frame filled the tunnel behind her. “That gate’s been locked for years. No one’s ever managed to open it.”

But she wasn’t trying to escape. Her last wish was to breathe in Antambazi’s essence – the realm she cherished above all else.

Kathrine whirled to confront him, adopting a defensive stance.

“This could be quick and painless.” His footsteps echoed off the walls. “Or it could drag on.”

She glanced around, desperate for anything she could use as a weapon. There was nothing.

“Why did you propose to me?” she asked. He approached, the sliver of moonlight illuminating his face. “Because she told you to, didn’t she?”

“Kathrine…” His chiselled features, sharp as a sculptor’s masterpiece, had been a source of wonder since her childhood. But now, her fiancé was no longer the most handsome man in Antambazi. He was the greatest of traitors.

In a flash, Sevar was upon her. The blade whistled through the air. Kathrine crouched and sprang back. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something dark fall to the floor.

When he stooped to pick it up, she recognised her braid. She touched her scalp, discovering the remnants of her once-high ponytail.

Damn the heavens . If she’d hesitated a moment longer, her head would have been hanging from his hand.

Sevar pocketed the braid. His eyes were an abyssal emptiness – a void in which, for years, she’d foolishly imagined emotions.

The blade arced again, forcing her to retreat. The gate loomed just behind her, and the tunnel walls boxed her in. She feinted to slip past him, but he’d expected the move, striking her with his forearm. Before she could regain her footing, he kicked her square in the stomach.

Her body hurtled backwards, slamming into the gate. A metallic clang reverberated through the tunnel.

Could it be…?

Kathrine’s fingers grasped one of the bars. She pulled, and the gate creaked open, revealing the gaping chasm below.

The gate was unlocked.

“Jump and you’ll crack your skull,” Sevar’s voice coiled behind her, as cold as the night air. In seconds, he would swing again – and this time, he wouldn’t miss.

Kathrine leapt to her feet, savouring the salty breeze. She wished to preserve its essence forever. Without breaking eye contact with her fiancé, she took a hesitant step backwards.

The curve of his lips mirrored the lethal arc of the blade in his hand.

“You don’t have the nerve, violet love. If you did, you’d have left Antambazi long ago. But you’re not one of those, are you, Kathrine? You prefer underhanded tricks. Cowardly tricks…”

She took another step back. Her heel met only empty air, and the weight of her body caused her to teeter into the void. Sevar’s smug expression was the last thing she saw.