Page 56 of Hospital for Immortal Creatures

He tapped his finger on the couch. “I wasn’t asking specifically about this, but overall.”

She shook her head. “No. Not that I recall.”

He looked down at his knuckles. As a manticore, he could take advantage of his enhanced senses even in his human form. They guided him through darkness, but also turned him into a lie detector. Nine times out of ten, he could sniff out a lie.

Just like now.

She’d had strange dreams.

The discovery made him bristle. After all, a part of him was predatory and he had a trail to chase. One he was eager to follow… But his human senses reminded him that a flight awaited him in an hour. It wasn’t the best time to dig, so he let it go. For now.

“I’ll see you soon, Amelia.” With that, he left.

***

“Save me a spot in the car tonight.” Alex clicked send.

“And don’t forget to change the beartoothy water. It’s not a plant humans or even most immortals know about, so you may not understand the importance of my instructions, but it’s crucial the seeds soak in three different types of water for twenty-four hours each, to release their poison. I want to be able to use them when I get back. Go over to the urology ward and drop by that lycanthrope with the horrible pains. The one whose kidney the witches took. God knows what else they did with their twisted magic. I gave him a sedative—”

“Yeah, yeah, Vik. I’ll do everything.” Alex glanced at her phone.

“The club will be full tonight. Put on something sexy,” Maya texted back.

Alex pursed her lips. There wasn’t anything in her wardrobe that could be deemed sexy!

“Can I borrow a dress?” she replied, then added, “All of mine are at the dry cleaners.”

As if Maya would believe that. Whatever.

Viktor paced around the lab, running a hand through his untameable raven-black hair. He was usually an embodiment of peace with his welcoming eyes, easy-going expression and voice as smooth as silk. He dressed like a monk, if anyone asked her, and yet he often became the centre of women’s attention, which he always deflected with a smile and excellent manners.

He was also the most level-headed, pedantic and steady creature she knew; his word was law and non-negotiable. And he applied the full force of said law to prevent her from leaving the Hospital. She was only ever allowed to go out with the chambermaids for food and clothes, and even those outings were limited.

He meant well, she knew that at the back of her head. And even while watching him rummage around the lab – as if the world would end if he forgot something – Alex imagined how upset he would be if he found out she intended to party all night long.

Anxiety twisted his features every time he had to leave the Hospital. Today, his hair was wilder than usual, and his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, revealing the tattoos that started on each forearm and ran all the way up his shoulders and down his back, slowly expanding until they met at the base of his spine. The lines of symbols, when looked at from afar, resembled a rhombus. Upon closer inspection, it was made up of hundreds of intertwining symbols. Alex had glimpsed it only a handful of times, as Viktor always kept it hidden. The little lines were incomprehensible to her. She’d asked him once about their meaning, but he had replied that he didn’t know and ended the conversation.

Alex wondered yet again how a man like Vik had got such a tattoo. She’d always suspected it had something to do with his abstinence from turning. Viktor was among the very few immortals who had voluntarily given up on their secondary form.

‘Some beasts must never be let loose,’ he’d told her.

She didn’t understand it. As a New Generation creature, she couldn’t turn, but that didn’t mean she never felt the desires of the animal inside her. Sometimes it was downright impatient, persistent and hot-headed.

“I want you to be very careful,” he said in his parental voice. “The Hospital is not the safe place it once was. I don’t enjoy leaving you with so many tasks, but there was no way I could refuse Mikhail. He asked me to go to Italy with him.”

Another text message came in from Maya. “Colour preference?”

“In fact, if all goes smoothly, I might be back tonight.”

Alex jumped in her seat. “Don’t worry, Vik. I told you I could do everything on my own. In fact, if you want, why don’t you stay there for a while? I’ve heard only good things about Southern Italy.”

They were going to Italy to invite some witch to join the Council, after Kaliope Gazis had apparently refused to participate any further. The trip couldn’t have come at a better time, and Alex was tempted to send a gift to Mikhail for taking Viktor with him on this journey.

Viktor, however, didn’t appear as thrilled with the invitation. “Now is not the time for rest.”

“Black,” she messaged Maya, while rolling her eyes in annoyance at Vik. Not the time for rest… If she heeded Vik’s every word, she’d die of boredom and never experience life.

“Where’s your brother?”

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