Page 55 of Hospital for Immortal Creatures

“A mission?” Her eyes sparkled.

He had sized her up correctly, then. Some women were impressed by compliments and presents, but she was one of those who had a thirst for stories.

“Yes. I need to take something from someone,” he said.

“You go outside of this building? Into the human world?”

“Of course, although I do it rarely.” The world didn’t only belong to humans, but he didn’t correct her. “There are some things I need to personally take care of. This means that I can’t take you to the OR today, which is a shame, as we have a very interesting case. A vampire whose head is partially severed at the neck.”

Amelia’s gaze narrowed. “What will happen to him?”

“We’ll stitch him up.” Mikhail smiled at her utter disbelief. “Send him home after that.”

“And he’ll survive?” The corner of her lips twitched.

“We’ll see. Everything is possible for immortals. I’ve been amazed more than once by their ability to survive even in the current circumstances.”

“About that…” She placed her hands in her lap. “I was thinking about the things you told me, and showed me. I was wondering if you’ve ever done genetic tests? Surely you have the resources.”

“We have, but they gave us no useful information. We know what’s different between mortal and immortal DNA, but we can’t discover the reason for the slowed regeneration.”

“What’s the difference in DNA?”

“Human DNA is coded by four nucleotides, whereas ours has six,” he said. “At least, that’s what they told me. Genetics isn’t my strongest suit. And it’s still a fairly recent area of medicine.”

“But very useful.” Amelia pursed her lips. “Have you tried comparing the DNA of a human, I mean creature, that has lived before 1744 with that of a creature that lives today?”

He shook his head. “There’s no point. Whatever year you were born, everyone is impacted by the Changes.”

“No, no. I mean a creature that died before those changes. I imagine that even then, there were creatures who died from various causes? Otherwise, the world would be full of them… I guess…” She trailed off, but her eyes were filled with keen interest.

He was surprised by his eagerness to answer. “Of course, they died, but it was harder. Decapitation, rare deadly artefacts, and things like that worked. But never old age or human diseases. But there are no such bodies to test because every creature who dies gets cremated.”

“Hmm… that’s not good.” She took a moment to ponder the information. “How long has the Hospital been active?”

“Since 1850.”

Amelia was quiet once again. From the expression on her face, Mikhail was convinced she was calculating something.

But it was his turn to question her. “Now that you know about the immortal world, do you recall ever encountering circumstances that didn’t seem entirely… human?”

Her blue eyes met his. “I’m sorry, but no.”

“Have you ever had visions?”

“No. Never.”

“Have you ever done strange things?” At her clueless expression, he explained, “Like move objects with your mind? Or see ghosts?”

“Regretfully, no.”

“Have you ever had strange dreams?”

“Define strange.”

Was there a slight tension in her jaw? “Prophetic, too detailed, almost real…”

“I have never had dreams related in any way to your disrupted regenerative abilities,” she said.

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