Page 86 of Dissection of Immortal Hearts (Hospital for Immortal Creatures #3)

“Not if I’m fast enough.” A dangerous glint appeared in Viktor’s eyes. “I’m wearing a bulletproof vest. It’ll protect me. I’ll shoot at the stone, and if things get too heated, I’ll transform. Either way, you’ll be able to enter the second the barrier drops.”

Mikhail bared his teeth. Viktor was already struggling after his last transformation. What would happen if he underwent another? What if he lost himself entirely this time?

No. It was too great a risk.

***

Amelia

Amelia craned her neck, scanning the shuddering mass of the structure above her. Screams and cries erupted from the building. The Chosen barricaded the exits, preventing anyone from escaping. Harpies intercepted those who attempted to flee through the windows.

“Wrath!” Amelia cried, her voice rising above the roar, the shrieks, and the wind. “Greed! Lust! Gluttony! Envy! Sloth! Pride! I summon you and command you to stand by my side!” She held her breath once more, waiting for a response.

The Queen half-turned towards her, eyebrows raised, the Sacreds on her body gleaming like living gemstones. “Are you trying to activate the Sacreds, you little fool?” Her tone lingered between surprise and amusement. “I must disappoint you – those are not their names.”

Amelia’s heart plummeted to her feet. She had been wrong. The Sacreds didn’t respond.

Her thoughts clashed in her mind, scrambling to piece together what she’d missed. Why had Renenutet shared that story with her, then?

The Queen shifted her attention, dismissing Amelia like a weed in a garden – something to be dealt with later. A fresh burst of light radiated from the Sacreds, their beams once again targeting the Hospital. The glowing tendrils traced the facade before sinking into the earth below.

A sudden, stronger tremor shook the mountain. Desperately, Amelia looked at the only other creature nearby, but Sevar’s expression was unreadable – neither arrogant nor concerned. Unsurprisingly, he had no intention to interfere in this madness.

“Stop it! You’ll bring the building down! If it collapses on us, we’ll all die!” she shouted at the Queen.

“I want my powers back, and I will have them – no matter the cost!”

“Why do you have to kill innocent creatures? They’ve done nothing to you!”

“Nothing?!” the Queen snapped, spinning to face her. The tremors beneath the building ceased. “And what of the fact that they built the Hospital over the place where Gord buried my powers, leeching my energy for years? Is that nothing to you?”

Amelia’s breath hitched. The Queen’s powers were buried beneath the Hospital?

‘His Hospital is less significant to me than a pebble on the road.’ The Queen’s words were clear as day in her mind – her exact statement from when she’d held Amelia captive in Antambazi.

That’s why she had to connect the Sacreds here .

And that was why she had attacked the Hospital – and Mikhail – for so long, as if waging a personal vendetta.

It had never been about waiting for Amelia, as she’d claimed.

Nor about treating patients in some future war.

“The creatures inside the building know nothing of your powers! At least spare them!” Amelia pleaded.

The Queen’s eyes gleamed dangerously. “And lose the hearts I’ll use to open a portal to Surat?

Did you know that this year’s solstice is a rare event, the first time in centuries that the timelines of past, present, and future converge?

There will never be a better moment to put hearts to good use! ”

The Hospital shuddered once more. The woman wouldn’t stop until the building collapsed, and Amelia still didn’t know the Sacreds’ names. She couldn’t save the prisoners, her friends outside, or anyone else.

“You created the new species!” Amelia yelled. “With this war, you’ll destroy everything you’ve built!”

“The only thing I did was cater to the whims of two ungrateful fools!” the Queen snapped, her fury sending another surge of energy beams towards the Hospital. “Once I’m done with them, I’ll start anew. I’ll build a kingdom shaped by my ideals!”

Amelia recoiled helplessly. She couldn’t reason with this woman.

Something caught her eye on the other side of the gate. Her chest constricted with the weight of despair. He was too far away for his features to be clear, but she would always recognise him. Mikhail stood on the other side of the magical barrier.

Her throat burned. The Hospital was the most important thing in his life, and now he was forced to watch it crumble without being able to fight for its salvation.

Despite the pain he’d caused her, she could feel his anguish as if it were her own.

Mere hours ago, in the car with him, she had understood what it meant to be powerless when the thing you cared most about slipped through your fingers.

And no matter how far apart they had drifted, in that moment, their grief mirrored one another.

“It won’t work like this,” the Queen muttered.

A sudden wave of relief swept over Amelia, so intense it made her dizzy. But it didn’t last.

“I’ll activate the Sacreds!”

Amelia’s head shot up. “You’ll die.”

The Queen’s answering smile sent an icy chill through Amelia’s core. “No, dear. You’ll ensure my protection. Ayradjakli!”

The name reverberated in Amelia’s ears.

He materialised from the air itself, an ordinary-looking man in colourful clothes, his purple irises spinning in their sockets. He met Amelia’s gaze with cool indifference. No, he couldn’t side with the Queen!

The Queen looked at him with her chin held high. “Ayradjakli, I offer you the heart of the Oracle of the Sacreds, infused with witch’s blood. In return, I want magical protection against the energy of the activated Sacreds. Is it possible?”

The violet discs rotated. “Maybe. I need to smell it first.”

Amelia’s body went rigid. Her heart. They were going to take her heart.

It thrashed in her chest, as if it understood – pounding wildly, desperate to be spared.

Panic surged through her veins. She yanked against the ropes around her wrists, fighting with every ounce of strength she had.

“And in addition,” the Queen raised her voice, “I offer you the hearts of all the creatures in the building behind me to open a portal to Surat!”

The witcher gazed at the Hospital, as though assessing its architecture. “That…is very much possible,” he said at last.

“BEGIN!” the Queen bellowed, tilting her face towards the sky.

The air filled with the beating of black wings. Their movements stirred the wind, lifting Amelia’s hair. Then came the screams – horrific cries of agony.

A body fell just a few metres away. It wasn’t a harpy or anyone familiar, but a helpless woman who was still alive. A harpy swooped down and clawed at the woman’s chest until it tore out her beating heart. Holding it up as if it were a trophy, the creature flew off with a screech of its wings.

Amelia looked back at the Hospital, each breath a struggle. The harpies were flooding into the building through the windows.

“You helped to create this hospital!” she shouted at the witcher. “How can you let her destroy it?”

He had helped her once – helped her escape, helped her find the necklace.

“He doesn’t care about causes, Amelia,” the Queen shouted over the noise. “He only cares about hearts! Sevar, give me the knife!”

The reptilian retrieved a small knife from beneath his jacket and handed it to the Queen. She tucked the mirror into a strap at her waist to free her hand. Holding the blade with her gloved fingers, she stepped towards Amelia.

“I had planned to save you for a more important stage of the war with Surat, but it seems your journey ends here. You were never anything special, anyway.” She pressed the blade against Amelia’s chest. “And now, I’ll gladly make a dissection of your miserable, immortal heart.”