Page 72 of Dissection of Immortal Hearts (Hospital for Immortal Creatures #3)

Amelia

“I know what you’re thinking,” Callan spoke for the first time since they had set off. Amelia hoped he was only guessing because what occupied her mind was not pleasant.

Destruction, she mused, was far simpler than salvation. Impulse, decision, action, death. Done and dusted. The brain releases dopamine. That fleeting sense of satisfaction.

“You don’t,” she said.

“Guilt weighs on you.”

She lowered her gaze to the dried blood beneath her nails, despite having stopped at a petrol station earlier to clean up. No, Callan was wrong.

“In war, there are no innocents. Anyone who steps onto the battlefield forfeits their innocence,” the driver of the car said.

Amelia noticed him only then. He was a solid man with a modern haircut and an eyebrow piercing. Of course, she’d seen someone driving the vehicle before, but hadn’t registered his presence for more than half a second.

“What’s your name?” she asked.

“Karo, madam.”

“You’re right, Karo. Whoever can’t stomach blood shouldn’t pick up a knife,” Callan said.

The man nodded and started humming along with the heavy metal music blaring from the speakers.

Callan took advantage of his distraction and leaned towards Amelia. “How long have you been able to do this?”

Their bodies were close, but instead of unease, the nearness sparked a quiet warmth in her chest, tempting her to open up her soul. And yet, she wasn’t ready to reveal herself to him. “Since I took it,” she said, brushing the two snake heads.

Silence fell once more. They were driving along a three-tiered road between Sliven and Nova Zagora when they veered towards a low hill and parked in front of a wooden arch.

Behind it stood a spacious multi-storey house built in the traditional Bulgarian style, with a stone facade and a tiled roof. Armed men patrolled the grounds.

“Welcome to At Presiyan’s winery!” Presiyan announced as they got out of the cars. “Everyone, settle wherever you like best. There are rooms and drinks for all. My boys patrol around the clock and will shoot anyone daring to enter without my permission.”

“Is that a swimming pool ?” Alex stuck her head out of the lowered car window.

Jasmina stood in front of Amelia and nodded towards the winery. “Come. I’ll show you the room. I left you some of my clothes.”

Amelia was already following her when Zacharia stepped out of the car with Kathrine’s help. His face was pale, with sunken cheeks and cracked lips.

“Wait!” Amelia ran to him. “Are you all right?”

“Nothing a bag of blood can’t fix.” Zacharia tried to move, but his legs gave way, and he had to lean on Kathrine for support.

Kathrine frowned. “He’s lost quite a bit of blood, but…”

“But he’ll be fine in a few hours,” Zacharia said.

Mikhail approached. “What’s going on?”

“Recovering from the fight, brother. Nothing to worry about.”

“Seems like you’re not doing so well if you’re using the reptilian as a crutch,” Presiyan interjected. “I have something like an improvised medical room. We’ll check you there.”

Amelia blocked Presiyan’s path. “Who will examine him?”

“One of my boys …”

“I’ll do it,” Mikhail said.

Amelia crossed her arms. “I’ll come, too.”

Presiyan raised his open palms. “Of course, doctors. I just assumed you both might need some rest after the fight. No offence, but you both look like pigs who’ve rolled in mud.”

Mikhail shook his head. “As if you weren’t with us in that mud. Where’s the medical room?”

“I’ll show you.” Presiyan stepped closer and lowered his voice. “Feel safe anywhere in this building, but keep your eyes and ears open. You’re no longer in the cabin. Here, we’re exposed to many creatures. We can’t be sure that someone won’t shift their loyalty at some point.”

Mikhail nodded. “I’m aware. Thank you for everything.”

***

Amelia

The ‘medical room’ was a simple space with bandaging materials and medicines on a small table against the wall. Zacharia removed his blood-soaked T-shirt and lay face down on the camp bed.

Amelia grasped his belt and said, “I’ll pull the trousers down a little to examine the wound.”

“Go ahead!” he said.

The metallic scent of blood made her frown as she bent to inspect the damage.

Two deep furrows ran parallel along one side of his spine, the edges jagged and raw.

It wasn’t hard to picture how the winged creature had driven her claws into the muscles and pressed inward, as if trying to grip the vertebrae, and when she had reached the desired depth, she had released poison, slicing the flesh downward. “It looks bad…”

“Thank you,” Zacharia said.

Amelia faced Mikhail. “It’s still bleeding. Maybe it should be stitched?”

“This is a nymph scratch,” he said. “We don’t stitch them. It will scar, but within a few days, it should be fine…”

“I don’t see how it will heal without stitches.”

Mikhail moved to the other side and bent down to examine the wound. “How many nymph attacks have you seen, Amelia?”

Only his. More precisely, the leftover scars. “I haven’t dealt with nymph poison, but I’ve studied medicine, and I know that for a wound to heal well, the tissue edges need to be approximated as closely as in surgical closure.”

As he examined the gash, his eyes flicked up to meet hers. “Are you quoting your surgery textbook to me?”

Yes, but she didn’t need to admit that. “If we align the edges, we can stitch it and speed up the healing process.”

“And possibly spread the poison,” Mikhail said sharply, then, pointing to Zacharia’s back, added in a softer tone, “For now, it’s localised in the muscle. The good news is that, most times, our bodies can handle the poison on their own.”

He went over to the makeshift medical table and picked up some gauze. “I’ll finish this.”

“What will you do?” Amelia asked.

“Stop the bleeding.”

“I can help.”

“No need, Amelia. You can go. You must be tired.”

“I want to make sure he’s all right.”

“Go.”

Zacharia pushed himself up on his elbows. “Friends, I get it that my bare ass is your favourite view, but would you mind postponing your debate for later? I’m a bit hungry.”

Amelia held Mikhail’s gaze. He was angry with her, and she had a good idea why. She was tempted to argue with him, but that wouldn’t do Zacharia any favours.

“Sorry,” she said to the hybrid and left.

***

Amelia

Jasmina showed her to a guest room and let her settle in. Amelia surveyed yet another unfamiliar space she’d been forced to occupy over the past few months.

Pressed against the wall was a double bed, and opposite it stood a wardrobe, a vanity with a mirror, and a TV.

It was nothing like the tall, pointed windows and fairy-tale details of the rooms in the Hospital, but at least it was bright, unlike the oppressive darkness of Antambazi, and far more modern and well-maintained than the cabin.

The touch of human hands was clear in the choice of rustic landscapes for the wall paintings.

Amelia wondered how Presiyan had acquired this winery.

When she opened the wardrobe, she discovered several pairs of tight trousers and cropped tops in Jasmina’s style, with underwear on the middle shelf and boots at the bottom.

She took a shower and changed before heading back downstairs.

Amelia found the spacious room on the lower floor where Jasmina had said they’d gather in the evening.

Her boots clicked against the stone floor as she walked past wooden tables and benches.

A long bar with bottles of wine stretched along the right wall.

All the tables were empty except for one. Presiyan and Mikhail were talking loudly.

“Where is everyone?” she asked.

“Zacharia is resting. Viktor will be here soon. Callan is…away on some business .” Mikhail rolled his eyes.

Amelia waited, expecting him to elaborate, but Presiyan slapped him on the back playfully. “Let the boy have some fun! I’m sure he’s catching up on lost time.” He winked at Amelia. “Bet you the ladies of the twenty-first century are just his type.”

Amelia had suspected Callan was ‘catching up on lost time’, but she’d imagined it would be through books, languages, places, and events – not with ladies.

“I’d throw a feast if that were the case,” Mikhail said.

Amelia shot him a look. “What’s that supposed to mean?

Are you implying he’s plotting with the Queen behind our backs?

If so, why would he give me the watch? Not to mention, if his goal had been to kill me and take the necklace, he could have done so on any of the past nights, with no need to attack me with harpies. ”

Presiyan grinned. “Maybe he was worried you’d roast him with your hands?”

She hopped over the bench and sat down opposite them. “He didn’t know I could.”

“Neither did I.” The reproach in Presiyan’s tone didn’t escape her.

Amelia frowned. The two of them seemed to be competing for the title of Most Annoying Man, each obsessively trying to control everything.

“Because we figured it would be better not to tell anyone,” Mikhail said. “Today wasn’t the day for sharing, either.”

Amelia stared at him from across the table. “Today didn’t seem like the best day for a mass slaughter of harpies, but I’m not the one deciding.”

“All right, all right.” Presiyan raised his palms. “You did a good job, regardless of your reason for keeping this recent development a secret. The cat’s out of the bag now.”

Amelia shrugged. “There was no way to hide something like that forever.”

“We also don’t need to be as cautious anymore,” Mikhail said, “since you’ve clearly learned to control yourself. It was dangerous when you had no control.”

She wasn’t sure if she had control now , but during the fight earlier, she’d felt as if she did.

Presiyan pulled out his phone. “Bring the reptilian,” he instructed someone.

Amelia took the opportunity to ask Mikhail about Zacharia’s condition.

“He’ll be fine,” he said.

The coolness of his tone irked her. “He’s my friend, too, you know?”