Page 83 of Hospital for Immortal Creatures

“No need.” He glanced at her in the mirror. “Why did you try to run away? Did you forget we had a deal?”

Amelia figured it was pointless to lie. “I don’t believe you’ll do as you promised.”

Mikhail’s jaw tightened. “Do you know how careless it was of you to take a stroll through a building full of immortals? Or do you have a death wish?” Though he continued speaking in an even tone, something about his expression warned her she was on thin ice.

“Death wish? I was trying to save myself.”

“Right. Save yourself.” His tone changed, but he lowered his gaze again, and she couldn’t decipher his mood. “You know what I find interesting? This hospital has existed for decades and there has never been a single murder here. And yet, you show up and now there are two.” Mikhail raised his voice at the end, forcing her to take a step back.

Murders? She frowned. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

He faced her. “A thousand-year-old witch was decapitated a couple of weeks ago. Her head was delivered to me in a box at the gate. Today, a chambermaid was killed. Strangled. And all of this started after the Oracle gave me an unclear message, connected to you, which led to a series of events that made me bring you here.”

His words reached her ears, but they didn’t actually register. Mainly because once Amelia caught sight of his chest, her knees gave out. “You…”

The nausea came back tenfold when she stared at the four deep cuts along his torso. Old scars. From his left collarbone, through the chest and to the area of his liver. They were the same scars she had dreamed of. How was this possible?

“Or maybe I’m wrong and you have nothing to do with any of it. Maybe you really are as useless as you claim to be.”

His words hit her like a slap across the face, snapping her out of her stupor. “I never asked to come here. I never came here. You had your goon abduct me!”

“You know what, Amelia?” Mikhail’s expression was stone-cold. “I don’t want you here, either. But I have to heed the Oracle’s words.”

She rushed out of the bathroom and back into the room she had woken up in. Her heart was pounding, and she couldn’t get the sight of his scars out of her mind. She closed her eyelids and envisioned them.

Mikhail had truly experienced everything she had witnessed – the betrayal, the pain.

The loss.

It was something she could easily relate to.

Not a man, but a beast, Amelia.

He had been rude and had forcefully taken her to the Hospital once again. What was she supposed to do now that he would probably be more cautious around her? Now that she had proved her dreams meant a lot more than she had suspected? Should she tell him or should she stay quiet, hoping that he would accept she wasn’t connected to his cause – or the insane chain of events he had just brought up?

But what if I’m connected? Could she simply leave this place and forget about the suffering of hundreds of creatures? A few hours ago, she had believed she had the answer, but now, her stomach somersaulted at the thought.

She recalled the memory of her father. That day, many years ago, when Amelia and he had edged into the Haunted House, her father had held her hand the entire time. With confidence and authority, he had explained the secrets behind every ‘horror’ they’d encountered. The bogeyman behind the prison grid? Just an actor with great makeup and an excellent costume. The screams echoing through the space? Simply a recording, blaring from large speakers. The blood-stained claw marks on the walls? Paint. And for the grand finale, darkness was used to amplify the effects and enhance the overall ambiance.

“Don’t be one of those silly girls who believe in everything they hear and see,” her father had said with annoyance.

His work as a lawyer made him suspicious of everything and his forthright character left him unwilling to accept anything beyond the conventional. He had instilled his ‘common sense’ in Amelia and, over the years, she had stopped believing in bogeymen, ghosts, and all the other creatures her grandmother had told her about.

How she needed to hear her father’s explanation for everything that was happening now.

How would her old-fashioned, stubborn father, with his round glasses and classic grey suit, explain Mikhail Korovin?

28

That same night, Mikhail summoned the Council. It would be a lengthy gathering, since he had to explain the reason for Kaliope Gazis’ replacement and announce the chambermaid’s murder.

He strolled into the meeting concealing his pain. His body had recovered to some extent and most of the wounds were manageable, but the four claw marks burned beneath his loose cotton shirt. Those damn scars had a life of their own, like a parasite inside him that woke up every time it sensed he was the least bit vulnerable. As if he needed a reminder of their presence.

“Good evening, creatures.” He took his seat at the head of the table. The remnants of the scars on his face would not stay unnoticed for long. So, he got ahead of any questions and pointed to his face, declaring, “I had a bear encounter in the woods.” The statement would not convince any of the members of the Council, but neither of them probably cared.

Jaguar was first to break the silence. “It must have been a very vicious bear, my friend.”

Mikhail nodded and leaned back in his chair. The emptiness of Viktor’s seat next to him gnawed at him, like the loss of a limb. Constantine’s vacant chair at the far end of the table reminded him further of the void he was sinking into. Kaliope’s place in the middle was already taken by Helena Nyavolska, the new member of the Council of the Twenty. The choice of members was one of the few things the Council didn’t vote for as a group but was instead decided solely by Mikhail.

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