Page 83 of Dissection of Immortal Hearts (Hospital for Immortal Creatures #3)

Amelia

Amelia stood by the car door, casting one last glance across the yard, where Viktor was embracing Alex.

Death. Death. Death.

Amelia gripped the handle. Her gaze shifted to the bench beneath the nearby tree, where Zacharia was sitting – complaining that, because of his unstable condition, he couldn’t join them.

Kathrine circled him, saying something that made the hybrid laugh before she climbed into one of the cars.

She was armed from head to toe with knives and pistols.

Amelia carried nothing but the necklace and the pocket watch. Weapons would not serve her against the Queen.

“Hello,” Karo, the man who had brought her to the winery, greeted.

“Hello.” She slid into the car, wondering why the others were still lingering in the restaurant.

Karo was just settling into the driver’s seat when Mikhail appeared at his door. “I’ll drive. Find another car to ride in.”

Karo ran a hand through his hair, bewilderment creasing his features. “It’s no problem, really…”

“Find another car to travel in,” Mikhail repeated, opening the door.

The moment the agent stepped out, he took his place and started the engine.

Amelia peered into the empty back seat. “Aren’t we waiting for someone else?”

“There are enough cars.” Mikhail glanced in the rearview mirror before reversing the vehicle and heading down the slope leading to the main road. He wasn’t carrying any weapons or wearing a bulletproof vest, unlike most of the agents.

They fell into silence. Until now, she’d managed to resist replaying the previous night – no matter how hard it was. But Mikhail’s closeness brought every memory rushing back.

Once they were on the main road, he spoke. “I want you to stay in the car. Only proceed with the Sacreds if we fail.”

“Mikhail, no. We agreed on this…”

He clenched his jaw. “Does no one but me see that we’re relying on a hypothesis? What if those aren’t the names of the Sacreds? What if you can’t activate them, or the necklace doesn’t protect you?”

“My intuition tells me I’m right. That it will work.”

“ Your intuition isn’t reason enough, Amelia!”

“Is that why you got into the car with me? To make me second-guess myself when I’m already worried enough, but want to do the one thing that could stop the Queen?”

His fingers tightened on the steering wheel. He blew out a frustrated breath and glanced at her. “I got in because I remember you, little beast.”

Her retort froze in her throat. Little beast . She hated the endearment. Even more so, she hated the way her heart quickened at the sound of it.

“I remember everything we went through.” He shifted his focus back to the road, as if he hadn’t just shaken her world once again. “The Oracle told me to look after you. And I took you to my bed.”

Amelia lowered her gaze to his cold profile. He remembered her. She had imagined that, if this ever happened, she would be overjoyed. Yet, the tension in Mikhail’s jaw and the coldness in his voice made her chest tighten instead. “After all these weeks, that’s all you’ll say?”

“You’re my responsibility. I should have taken better care of you.”

Her heart pounded in her ears. “ Responsibility ? So, it was a mistake to you?”

He gripped the steering wheel. “I could never give you what you deserve.”

She pressed her fist to her mouth, swallowing the words she would later regret.

Then it struck her – she didn’t have time left for regret.

Until this morning, she’d been fooling herself into thinking she had closed the door on their past. But now, hearing his words, she realised how mistaken she’d been.

Her voice cut sharply through the air. “I’ve been through everything. A stranger to you, a potential traitor, an unidentified immortal species, and now a responsibility . Was there ever a moment when I was anything more to you than a burden? Than a woman too fragile to stand on her own?”

“I never saw you as a burden.” Mikhail looked at her, and despite his calm tone, his eyes were golden.

“It was a privilege to witness your transformation. To see how you built your strength and joined the battle I’ve been fighting for years.

How you broke down my barriers and revived emotions I didn’t even realise I could still feel. But that doesn’t change the reality.”

She stiffened. Yet, she still needed to hear it from him. “And what’s your reality, Mikhail?”

He kept his gaze on the windscreen, then faced her with an expression that said it all. “I can’t put you first, Amelia.”

In that instant, everything crystallised.

Mikhail’s anger, his memories of past betrayals, his desperate desire for revenge – all of them outweighed the moments they had shared.

His primary drive would always be revenge.

She had been a fool to think her love could free him from it.

For Mikhail, revenge was and always would be his true love.

A crushing sense of defeat pressed down on Amelia’s shoulders. “I understand.” What else could she say?

“I don’t want you risking your life today.

” His tone was once again businesslike. He was doing what he was used to – distancing himself.

“Strategically speaking, going to the Hospital is the stupidest decision we could have made. You’re the only one with any advantage over the Queen when it comes to the Sacreds.

Your death will tip the scales in her favour. ”

“That decision isn’t yours to make.”

He took a deep breath but didn’t answer.

Amelia turned her gaze to the fields by the road. A potential weapon. That was all she was to him. He would never admit that she – Amelia – had been worth the risk.

Yes, she had expected it.

Death. Death. Death.

But that didn’t mean it hurt any less.

They didn’t speak again until they reached Sofia. Once they drove up the mountain, Mikhail dialled Presiyan’s number to check if everything was proceeding as planned.

***

Amelia

The fourth hour of the twenty-first of June struck minutes after they set off along the winding mountain roads, swallowed by darkness and oppressive silence.

Amelia tensed in her seat. The closer they got, the harder it was for her to control her breathing and her rising fear. Mikhail slowed as he approached the turnoff for the Hospital – a route only visible to immortal creatures.

Preni had removed the cloaking magic for her human soldiers during the siege of the building, so it was no surprise that a group of them blocked the start of the road. Black masks covered their faces, and their camouflage uniforms blended into the forest.They aimed rifles at the car.

In the dark compartment, Mikhail’s eyes gleamed with an animalistic shine. “It’s not too late to turn back and take you home.”

“It is too late.”

Amelia opened the door and stepped outside. Mikhail did the same from his side. She glanced towards the road they had come from – no sign of Presiyan and the others. That was the plan. Despite that, it was hard for her to stop the shivers that crept up her body once she confirmed they were alone.

The soldiers parted, and from the night behind them appeared a towering figure with a golden mask over his face, depicting an enraged demon. His black leather clothing highlighted his massive, muscular thighs and defined biceps. This was Presiyan’s traitor – the one now leading the Tribunal.

Mikhail scowled at him, and the air grew thick with a threatening energy.

“Do you have them?” The man hissed through the gap in his mask.

Amelia raised her hand, showcasing the pocket watch, and pointed to the necklace around her neck with the other. He nodded and motioned for them to follow.

They walked on foot through the forest, her heart pounding faster with each step. She was torn between the urge to ambush the man from behind and tear him apart with her necrosis and the longing to escape.

And just when she least expected it, a soft touch against her fingers. Mikhail had closed the gap between them and touched her for a second. “I’ve got your back,” he said.

She glanced sideways at him, her heart twisting because he was the Lonely Prince she’d dreamt of since childhood.

At that moment, she hated that she hadn’t met him years earlier, before he’d gone through everything that prevented him from seeing her.

She hated the ring that had silenced the demons of his past and given her false hope.

She hated that when he’d regained his memories, he’d called her a “responsibility.” And most of all, she hated that she was walking to what felt like certain death, and her only regret was losing Mikhail.

Something stirred in the night, and the invisible hairs on her body bristled.

She focused on the living beings blocking the way.

A lineup of secondary forms – vampires, lycanthropes, and manticores.

A pack of enraged eyes, gleaming teeth, and sharp claws.

She’d never seen so many transformed creatures in one place.

It wasn’t unexpected – Presiyan had extracted information that they would be ‘welcomed’ by agents from the New Generation. Still, her mouth went dry at the sight.

“Good evening, recruits!” Mikhail shouted.

They responded with a growl.

“Watch out, Korovin!” the man with the mask warned. “The boys are eager to try out their new forms. Don’t let them make a meal out of you.”

Amelia tried to gauge how far the living chain stretched, but it seemed as if the entire forest was teeming with glowing eyes.

The man with the mask signalled for the agents to step back and extended his hand to Amelia. “Come on, Oracle.”

“She’s not going anywhere without me,” Mikhail said.

“My orders are clear. From here on out, she’s on her own.”

“Not until I’m sure the creatures in the Hospital are alive.”

“They’ll stay alive as long as you don’t cause any trouble, Korovin.”

Amelia shook her head. “I won’t go.”