Page 76 of Hospital for Immortal Creatures

“I’m new.”

He pulled from his cigar and threw the bud in a nearby bin. “I’m headed out for some supplies. I can drop you off.”

“Thanks.” Amelia wrinkled her nose at his demeanour and rough tone.

Without another word, he walked to one of the vans and climbed in. When Amelia didn’t budge, he leaned across the passenger seat and pushed open the door from the inside. “What’s the hold-up? Jump in.”

Amelia forced her legs to move and slid into the passenger seat, shutting the door.

“Where to?” he asked, starting the engine.

In close quarters, his breath reeked of alcohol and tobacco. Some of his teeth were missing, and the skin underneath his red eyes was puffy. Amelia wondered if he was human. Weren’t they the only species dumb enough to poison their lives with alcohol and cigarettes?

“Just drop me off anywhere,” she replied in a cold tone.

He drove down the alley past the Hospital wing, through the yard and to the gate. Reaching it, the van stopped.

A sense of unease rushed over Amelia. “What’s going on?”

“I’m waiting for them to open the gate.”

Five seconds passed, then, twenty, sixty, ninety… The man honked in irritation.

The two parts of the metal gate swung open and the van left the Hospital’s premises.

26

The plane lifted off the ground and Mikhail’s headache intensified. He glanced over at Viktor sleeping in his seat, back in his human form, secured with his passenger seatbelt and handcuffs around his wrists.

Damn it! Mikhail’s head was about to explode. He had taken so many hits it was a miracle he could still stand up straight. For the first time in years, he wished there was alcohol nearby. He would need a whole barrel to feel at least a tiny bit better…

It had all gone to shit. He couldn’t comprehend the witch’s hostility towards them. The vampire showing up. Viktor’s turning. Everything that had happened.

They left the city in chaos. The collapse of The Witch had triggered a thunderous wave of panic. Humans ran in terror, some shouting ‘Earthquake!’ and others ‘Bomb!’

Yet, the darkness and ensuing turmoil allowed the four of them to escape.

Soon after, Viktor had blacked out in his human form. The fight didn’t seem to have wounded him, but his clothes had not survived his transformation. So, as Mikhail was trying to flee the scene unnoticed, covered in blood and beaten nearly to death, he’d had to carry Viktor’s naked body on his back.

It would be a fucking miracle if nobody reported them to the police. Although humans were not able to identify them, the Tribunal could, and the two institutions were known to work together. And Mikhail’s transgressions were piling on.

At some point, they had been forced to split up. Mikhail had managed to find his way to their rental car, toss Viktor in the back seat and drive to the airport, while Constantine had remained with the vampire. They were supposed to meet up a few hours later on the highway to Bari.

Only, the plan had changed. Just as Mikhail had started up the Fiat, his phone rang. He thought he’d lost it during the underground melee, but instead, he fished it out from under the driver’s seat – it must have fallen out of his pocket earlier. It was Zacharia, calling with yet another set of bad news, so Mikhail had headed straight for the airplane. On his way, he had called Constantine.

“I’m already on the move,” the necromancer had said when he’d picked up.

“The vampire?”

“With me.”

Mikhail had about a thousand questions for her, but those would have to wait. “I need to go back to the Hospital immediately,” he said instead.

“Is there a problem?”

“A new murder.”

“Another Council member?”

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