Page 80 of Hospital for Immortal Creatures

“She reached the tunnel and asked one of the drivers to take her to the city.”

“And he informed you?”

Zacharia appeared entertained by that prospect. “No. He believed her when she told him she was a nurse. He’s one of the Three Idiots I demoted to driver after yet another slip-up. The twin sensed that something was off, so she defied Nyavolska’s orders and went inside, looking for the human. When she couldn’t find her anywhere, she realised where the woman could have gone, but by the time she got there, it was already too late. The human had left the premises with that idiot, according to another driver who witnessed the whole thing.”

Mikhail pressed his lips into a thin line. “Where is she now?”

“Somewhere on the road heading to the city, in the van. The twin called to ask if she’s allowed to use any force necessary to bring her back.”

Mikhail was about to order she do exactly that, when another thought struck him. “No. I’ve got a better idea.”

27

Amelia curled up inside the stolen jacket and stared blankly at the forest closing in on both sides. The van was roaring on its way down the mountain, its lights piercing through the night.

She was nauseous again. The man’s proximity made her uneasy. Thank God he wasn’t chatty. She didn’t dare look at him, afraid he’d take it as a cue to start a conversation. Instead, she focused on his hand gripping the gear lever—the tight tendons, bulging veins, and the octopus tattooed on the back of his hand, its tentacles extending to his fingertips. The car was devoid of personal items, except for a lighter and a pack of Marlboro nestled in the dashboard compartment.

“Are you from Orthopaedics? I think I’ve seen you there,” he said all of a sudden and met her gaze.

A jolt of awareness ran through Amelia – she had been wrong about his species. The colourful gleam in his irises meant that not only could he see better than her in the dark, but he also wasn’t human.

“Yes,” she replied.

“They wanted me to be a doctor, but I told ‘em that stuff’s not for me. Gimme cars, speed… You mind if I light up?” He reached over for the pack of cigarettes. “So, I was part of the security team until recently but… boring as hell. Ah, who is it now?!” He grasped the wheel with one hand and shoved the other in his jacket pocket, fishing out a phone ringing and barking into it, “Yes!”

Amelia held her breath. She had no reason to worry, everything was going according to plan…

“Yes. Got it. Okay.” The man nodded. “All right.” The van slowed down. “Yes, yes, of course.”

The call ended. The van pulled over.

“What’s happening?” Amelia asked.

“We’ll be a while, sister. They forgot to give me something that needed to be driven into the city, so we’ll be going back up. Won’t take more than fifteen minutes.”

A set of brake lights flashed by them as the man shifted into first gear and twisted the wheel.

Amelia opened the door and leapt out. She had been lucky to reach this far, and no way was she wasting her advantage by returning to the Hospital.

“Hey, what’s wrong with you?!” the man yelled after her.

She darted out into the thick forest and didn’t stop running until she’d counted to a hundred. Only then did she dare to glance back. The man hadn’t chased after her. She slid down next to the trunk of a big oak, fear racing through her heart.

Ever since she was a little girl, she knew that fear was usually unjustified and could be overcome by willpower and knowledge. It was a lesson her father had taught her, and one she hadn’t forgotten.

Once, her father had taken her to an adventure park that had been newly set up in town. It wasn’t as impressive and magical as the ones she had seen on TV, but it had a Ferris wheel, a carrousel, a gondola, and even a little rollercoaster. They had experienced every attraction, eaten ice cream, then they’d done it all over again. When they’d been about to leave, Amelia had noticed they’d missed one spot – the Haunted House.

“Do you want to go?” her father had asked.

Amelia had inspected the house covered in spider webs with red-stained windows and a crumbling façade. The front door was hanging on one hinge, open wide enough to hint at the darkness inside. A woman in a black coat and a tall pointy hat beckoned passers-by to “take a stroll through her lovely home, if they dared” and then chuckled. In the eyes of a five-year-old child, it had been frightening to behold.

Amelia had shaken her head. “I don’t want to go.”

“Why not?”

“Because… I’m afraid.”

Her father’s forehead had wrinkled. “Of what?”

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