Page 69 of Dissection of Immortal Hearts (Hospital for Immortal Creatures #3)

Amelia

Amelia rose from the sofa, too anxious to stay in one spot. Kathrine’s appearance just an hour ago could change everything.

A second later, Presiyan strolled into the common room. “Jasmina has searched the area with Mor and Viktor. There are no signs of reptilians. Still, they’ll do another round. Zacharia and Alex are watching the woman, Kathrine.”

Mikhail moved away from his position by the window. “It’s a trap. I still don’t understand what kind of trap, but there’s no way she stumbled on the coordinates by accident.”

Callan rested his elbow on the arm of the sofa. “It doesn’t matter if she’s lying. They know our location. We must evacuate.”

“I’m willing to trust her,” Amelia said. “We must take advantage of her appearance…”

“You trust her?” Mikhail raised his voice, stirring that familiar irritation within her. “And because you trust her, you expect us to let a snake into our den?”

Amelia straightened her shoulders. “Kathrine is ready to tell us everything about the Queen and Antambazi.”

“And what’s the guarantee that she won’t lie?”

“She’s helped us before.”

Mikhail laughed. “And she’s also caused just as much harm. Don’t tell me you’re so na?ve to believe that the Queen wouldn’t come up with this kind of plan to infiltrate one of her protégées among us.”

She forced herself to maintain a neutral tone.

Her reactions were so sharp because the opposition wasn’t just anyone, but from Mikhail.

Their relationship had been swinging between two extremes in seconds.

From trusted allies to enemies and back again.

“I was in Antambazi. Call it intuition, but I don’t think Kathrine is lying. ”

“I was also in Antambazi, Amelia. And as charming as your newly developed intuition might be, I prefer to rely on logic in this particular case.”

Could it be that Mikhail had always been this obnoxious, and she hadn’t noticed because of her infatuation?

“I can tell when a woman’s been broken and betrayed,” she said.

“You two…” Presiyan stepped between them. “We’re wasting valuable time while you’re biting each other’s heads off.”

With a stony expression, Mikhail crossed his arms. “We’re not biting. We’re discussing.”

She pressed her lips together to refrain from replying.

Presiyan continued, “I’m expecting a few cars in an hour. It’s risky because the reptilians might ambush us on the road, but if we go on foot, we’ll be much slower. And let’s not forget, this mountain is reptilian territory.”

“That’s why I chose it as a hideout.” Callan half-smiled. “They’d never suspect we were hiding right under their noses.”

“Someone has suspected, and I’m very curious who whispered the idea in their ear,” Mikhail said.

The firstborn didn’t flinch. “You’re not implying that I’ve revealed our location, are you, Korovin?”

Jasmina burst through the door, nearly tearing it off its hinges. Her cheeks were flushed as if she’d been running. “Something’s coming this way! We’ve only got a minute.”

Presiyan wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her against him. “ Something , babe?”

Her eyes widened even further. “I don’t know what it is, but it’s big, and it’s coming through the air.”

The necklace on Amelia’s neck started to burn. She looked down at her hands – and the black energy emanating from the tips of her fingers.

“Are you all right?” Callan asked, having moved closer to her without her noticing. She nodded.

“They’re coming for the Sacreds. Maybe we should hide them,” Mikhail said.

Callan tilted his chin towards the necklace. “The Sacreds are safest with their owners. Where’s the watch?”

Amelia glanced at the wide-open door. The others had already left. “Hidden in my room, but…”

“Take it with you.”

“And then stay with Viktor and Alex, whom I’ll send to guard the back door of the cabin. Be ready to run if things go south,” Mikhail said, rushing towards the door.

“Mikhail, I can help!” Amelia raised her voice to stop him.

A second before he went through the door, he turned to her. “Go to Viktor!”

***

Zacharia

“A thousand fucking devils!” Zacharia shouted.

Dark wings, as black as shadows, filled the sky.

From a distance, they resembled a vast flock of crows, but even before he outlined them, Zacharia was sure they weren’t ordinary birds.

He watched from the first line of trees as the enormous black mass moved in unison, conquering the clouds, drawing closer to their shelter.

Only when his unusual stupor passed did he focus on the reptilian – Kathrine. He was responsible for her while the others decided how and where to evacuate. The sky invasion, however, changed the plan.

Kathrine remained motionless, her gaze fixed on the seamless transition from daylight to dusk above.

“Let me guess, you don’t have a bloody clue what the hell that is?” Zacharia asked.

She faced him. Her eyes were black pupils with thin purple rings around the edges. “I know what they are, but I never suspected there would be so many. Nor… that they could actually fly. These are harpies. The Queen created them.”

His muscles tensed.

“Give me a weapon!” Kathrine shouted.

He hesitated. Could he arm a woman who might as well be a Trojan horse?

“They outnumber you! You’ll need all the help you can get!” she said.

Zacharia glanced around for Alex, even though he’d long since ordered her to head for the cabin’s shelter. Damn it. Was he seeking moral support from an inexperienced, new-generation lycanthrope to arm Kathrine?

“I can help!” she shouted. “I’ve been trained to kill.”

He drew his gun and threw it at her. “Make sure you kill the right creatures, then!”

She nodded, determination written all over her features.

“We need to warn the others,” Zacharia said, rushing towards the cabin, with the reptilian following behind.

And then the screams started.

***

Amelia

They’d told her to stay in the cabin, but damn it, she was not going to sit on the sidelines again while the others fought. Not when energy was radiating from her fingertips, coursing through her veins and quickening her heartbeat.

Her power wanted to manifest.

She tucked the watch into the pocket of her anorak and fastened it, while behind her, Viktor was scolding Alex. She stood in front of the window and surveyed the empty grass outside the cabin.

Mikhail, Callan, Presiyan, and Jasmina were downstairs, waiting for the attack. Still, so far, there was no sign of Mor, who’d been searching the area for reptilians after separating from the others more than an hour ago.

Her gaze swept the terrain again when Zacharia and Kathrine burst from the forest, racing towards the cabin. In the next moment, the hiss of hundreds of black wings and cries filled the sky.

Zacharia and Kathrine dug their heels into the dirt and looked up. Maybe they’d believed they would reach the cabin in time, but the giant birds – or whatever these creatures were – had caught up with them. They simply circled high above the cabin, as if surveying the area.

Gunshots rang out, and several figures fell to the ground. Amelia froze – the bodies were female…with wings. Just like the drawing she’d seen.

One of the birds swooped towards Zacharia. Before it could reach him, someone shot it down. Then the rest of the creatures descended with deafening shrieks.

Amelia raced down the stairs, ignoring Viktor’s shouts.

***

Zacharia

The air hung thick with the stench of gunpowder and the growing sense that something was terribly wrong.

Zacharia had witnessed numerous atrocities in his life, but a winged female creature aiming to tear him apart with her claws…

That was new. And who the hell knew how many more were circling above their heads?

The metallic taste of blood filled his mouth when a pair of wings hissed past his face, and a heavy fist struck his jaw.

He could do this, too. The harpy was fast but somewhat inexperienced. He waited for an opening and snapped her neck with his bare hands. Her body crumpled to the grass beside the empty pistol, its magazine long spent.

One less . He spat blood, taking advantage of the brief lull to survey his surroundings.

The grass was strewn with shell casings and lifeless bodies, resembling fallen angels of death.

They all bore the same faces: vacant eyes, sharp noses, thin black lips.

They wore tight clothes with wing slits along their spines.

The only way to tell them apart was by the spots on their bodies where the fatal bullets had struck.

A movement drew Zacharia’s attention, and he spun around – finding yet another surprise.

Kathrine, now in her reptilian form, was far from a damsel in distress as she fought off the harpies’ assaults.

Her body, lean rather than muscular, moved with remarkable agility and strength.

Green-brown scales, speckled with subtle flecks, shimmered under the dim light.

Between her striking violet eyes, her flattened nose lent an oddly appealing quality to her reptilian features.

“Behind you!” she shouted.

He turned in time to neutralise the harpy charging towards him. “Thanks!”

A sharp pain in his ankle made him look down. One of the fallen harpies had latched onto his ankle like a vicious dog. He shook his leg to shake it off, but this one had a pit bull’s grip.

Kathrine closed the distance in a single forceful leap and snapped the harpy’s neck.

Zacharia prepared for another attack, but no one came for him. All the harpies had converged on the cabin, surrounding the building like a black curtain. Not that they weren’t meeting resistance.