Page 60 of Hospital for Immortal Creatures

Viktor pursed his lips. “I wish! This beast here doesn’t want to get married!”

Mikhail confirmed Viktor’s words with another snort – it was becoming his ‘character’s’ go-to mode of communication. Where the hell had the lycanthrope come up with that ludicrous couple story?

“Sooner or later, every beast gets tamed,” the witch said with a kind smile. “It took two hundred years for me and my she-wolf. Now she’s wondering why she waited so long for a relationship.” She turned to Mikhail. “If he’s the love of your life, don’t let him go. His pretty face must surely draw a lot of admirers.”

Mikhail had no idea how to respond to the unsolicited advice, so he nodded with yet another snort and rested his elbows on the bar, pretending to be the savage he was supposed to be. At least now he understood why Viktor had chosen this particular approach.

The lycanthrope cooed. “I know he seems like an ass, but I swear he has the soul of a kitten.”

The witch laughed. One of the drunk guys approached, wobbling between the stools, and leaned against the bar. The alcohol fumes coming out of his mouth could knock down an immortal. “Vodka martini, darling. Make it a double,” he ordered, staring at her chest.

She served him with a smile and received a very generous tip.

“Dear friend, I cannot believe you serve humans. They’re so horrid!” Viktor said with a disgusted grimace.

Mikhail snorted in support of that statement.

“They’re not that bad, really.”

Throughout the next thirty minutes, the witch – whose name was Lilly – loosened her tongue. She told them about her partner, a wayward wolverine who she’d caught cheating on her once with not one, not two, but three vampires! Viktor took the cue to show indignation. Mikhail snorted. But in the end, the witch had forgiven her one and only, because true love conquers all. Then Viktor decided to tell the story about how he’d won Tom (Mikhail) over a game of cards from his crazy master, who had intended to sell him as a slave to a gang of African nymphs (it was the witch’s turn to express outrage).

The night went on with Lilly preparing drinks, Viktor and Mikhail drinking a few more rounds, and The Witch filling up.

Then Viktor said, “Lilly, darling, may I be honest with you?”

By that point, they were calling each other by their first names – or, in Mikhail and Viktor’s case, their fake first names.

“Of course, Ken.” The witch smiled.

“The truth is, Tom is dying.”

Her eyes grew wide. “What do you mean?”

“Those nymphs he was promised to? Well, they were very disappointed when they missed out on their reward, so they’ve been hunting him down ever since. Now they’ve found him.”

“Goodness gracious! Have they done something to you?” Lilly’s face twisted with sympathy for Mikhail.

He snorted in despair.

“Let’s just say he’s got nymph venom running through his veins as a result. But…” Viktor lowered his voice and leaned over the bar. “We heard there’s a witch here who can help us.”

Lilly’s eyes darted around before she whispered in the Southeast language, “Why don’t you try the Hospital? I hear they can cure almost anything.”

“You said it yourself.” Viktor shook his head. “Almost anything…”

She hesitated, her eyes flickering between them. “Who sent you?”

Viktor’s shoulders sagged. “No one. A lycanthrope I met on the Champs-Élysées a few years ago told me a story of a friend of his who was run over by a train and his wife had brought him here, to a very powerful witch who could do just about anything…”

“Hush!” Lilly interrupted as she plastered on a smile to greet another drunk tourist. After she served him his beer, she spoke in a hushed tone, “You can’t just go to her, without having been sent by somebody.”

“Then let’s say a friend sent us.”

“Doesn’t work that way. You have to prove it. Whoever sends you always gives away something precious that belongs to them. That’s the only way she knows you’ve been sent by someone she can trust.”

“Someone she can trust?”

“Only her closest daughters, aside from all of us here, of course, know where she is.” Lilly jumped back as if regretting her words. “I shouldn’t have told you that. Leave, boys. You’re very cute but I can’t help you. May the gods be with you.”

---