15

Hours later, Mikhail found Viktor Volk in the lab, bent over something on the table, dark strands of raven hair falling across his face.

At his approach, Viktor threw him an intrigued glance over his shoulder. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”

The stained lab coat of the lycanthrope suggested he was deep in some potion.

“Am I interrupting something?” Mikhail pointed to the chopping board in front of Viktor, where a thin, long plant with yellowish leaves lay.

Viktor waved his hand. “Silphium. It’s believed to be extinct.”

Mikhail pulled up a chair and flopped into it. “And it isn’t?”

“Exactly.” Viktor started taking the plant apart, separating the root first. “In the past, they used it primarily as a contraceptive. Quite idiotic, if you ask me. This plant has many more potent qualities. Lately, I’ve been using it to cure flesh wounds.”

The lycanthrope cut the root into minuscule pieces, which he then gathered up with care using his knife and transferred into a small leather pouch. Mikhail had always admired Viktor for his ability to tame his mind. To keep his temper. But he also knew the price he was paying for it.

Mikhail waited for the lycanthrope to chop the plant before he said, “What’s going on, Vik?”

Viktor placed the knife on the chopping board and turned to face him, cutting to the heart of the matter. “It’s not like we didn’t see it coming.”

Of course, Vik had already figured out the reason behind this visit.

“And now what?” Mikhail asked. “I have to cut open every creature that comes through here to check for cancer?”

Viktor leaned against the lab desk. “Calm down, brother.” His composure was unnerving. “This particular patient is a New Generation vampire who hasn’t unlocked his secondary form yet. I believe this detail lays at the foundation of all this.”

“Many creatures haven’t unlocked their secondary form. Does that mean every subsequent immortal generation will suffer from all kinds of diseases?”

“Yes, but they won’t exactly be immortal.”

Mikhail stood and started pacing up and down the length of the lab. A few moments later, he asked, “Do you remember what I told you about my meeting with the Oracle?”

“Yeah, that she sent you to help a woman who had nothing to do with the immortal world.”

Mikhail stopped pacing and stared at the lycanthrope. “Well, you could say that now she does…”

Viktor’s lips twitched at the edges. “What do you mean?”

“I kidnapped her. She’s in the building.”

Viktor’s face didn’t show the surprise Mikhail had expected it to. He didn’t go into lecturing mode, either.

The lycanthrope grabbed a pen and scribbled something in the notebook that was lying open next to the chopping board. “Sorry, I just got an idea about the new potion I’ve been working on… Anyway, are you saying you stumbled upon something that forced you to kidnap the poor woman?”

“Not exactly.” Mikhail sighed and told Viktor everything that had occurred.

When he was done, Viktor asked a single question. “So, who is Amelia, if she doesn’t belong to one of our many species?”

“Beats me. As far as I’ve been able to uncover, she’s just a regular human who has no idea about the existence of the immortal world. Believe me, Vik, she really has no clue what’s going on here.”

“Then why is she here? And why would you risk so much?” There was the lecture Mikhail had been expecting. “I know that Presiyan is your friend, but that won’t stop him from summoning you if he senses you’ve breached the Tribunal rules.”

Mikhail didn’t need a reminder of the Tribunal’s leader uncompromising and ruthless character.

“I’m well aware,” he said. “But someone tried to kill the Oracle right after she sent me to Amelia. It doesn’t seem like a coincidence.”

Viktor’s frown deepened. “Tell me about this Amelia.”

“A student from Sofia, twenty-five years old, nothing interesting in her past. I already regret getting involved with her. I would get her out of here in a heartbeat if something wasn’t eating me up inside… Oh, I also turned in front of her. And, just my luck, Constantine isn’t available to tweak her memories a bit…”

“Say what?” Viktor’s face twisted in a grimace that Mikhail had witnessed when he was scolding the twins.

“What didn’t you get?”

“You turned in front of her? Have you lost your marbles? Humans can die from simply seeing a turned immortal. Some sights are too incomprehensible to a mortal brain. You’re lucky she’s still alive. And you say the Oracle sent you to help her.”

“I haven’t laid a finger on her,” Mikhail said, not mentioning he’d drugged her numerous times.

“You sent Zacharia to kidnap her!”

At that, he could only shrug. “I had a hunch that she wouldn’t willingly come to the Hospital, even with kind words and gifts. She lives a solitary life. Lost her family. Zacharia sent one of his boys out to make contact with her in the park she runs every morning. He tried to talk to her but she just ignored him.”

“Of course, she wouldn’t agree willingly . She’s a human! Are you feeling well, my friend? You seem a little… strange, lately.”

“I’m fine.” Mikhail slumped down in the chair.

Viktor was quiet for a moment. Then, with a sigh, he offered, “Let me talk to her.”

“No need.” The manticore’s voice sounded harsher than he’d intended. He looked up and, softening his tone, added, “Besides, I’ve got everything I can out of her. She’s a dead end. The Oracle sent me on a wild goose chase, nothing more.”

Viktor eyed him with suspicion. “Don’t be foolish. The Oracle is never wrong.”

“You’re not hearing me. I already asked Amelia if anything strange had happened to her lately, and she said no.”

“Was that before or after you turned in front of her?”

“I promised her I’d keep her safe.”

“Before or after you kidnapped her?”

Mikhail said nothing, because Viktor was right. Every one of his actions had been reckless and impulsive. Add the witch’s head and the discovery of cancerous cells inside an immortal to the mix and... Yes, he definitely wasn’t thinking straight.

“I think you need to take a breather,” Viktor said. “The Oracle told you to help the woman…”

“Actually, she just sent me out to help someone ,” Mikhail admitted. “Never clarified if it was Amelia.”

The lycanthrope grabbed his chin with two fingers as he pondered this. “I imagine this part, you’ve got right. Assuming you were at the right place at the right time. One thing is for certain – the Oracle always speaks the truth. If she sent you there, then it was important for you to be there. It’s a whole other question if you were meant to take further action.”

“Most likely not. The moment Constantine returns, I’ll ask him to erase her latest memories and bring her home.”

“If you think there’s no use for her here, that’s the wisest thing you could do.”

“Do you think there could be something more to her?” Mikhail locked eyes with the lycanthrope, desperate for the answers he sought.

Viktor shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m just thinking out loud. That’s why you’re here, isn’t it?”

“And yet, all you’re doing is confusing me.”

The lycanthrope ignored this with a wave of his hand. “By the way, you’re not keeping her in a dark room and tossing a bit of food at her every now and again, right?”

“Why not?”

Viktor shook his head and tsk-ed. “The times are different, my friend. In order to preserve the immortal species, above all, we need to maintain peace with the mortals.”

“I know, Vik. I’m only teasing. She’s in a room on the second-to-last floor. She has everything she needs – food, water, clothes. The chambermaids are forbidden from talking to her. Nobody knows who she is, and none of them would dare blab about it, either.”

“If the Council learns about this, someone can leverage it to question your leadership.”

Coming from anyone else, the words could have sounded like a threat.

“And that someone would lose their head. By the way, if questions arise, I’ll say that Amelia is in the Hospital because you needed help in the lab. I’ll be off now.” Mikhail rose and left.

Later that night, he stepped onto the small terrace and took in a deep breath of fresh, cold air. Details of his surroundings crashed into him like a bullet train while his senses heightened. But soon everything calibrated when his body and mind settled into his more powerful secondary form. In this state of being, he could perceive every minuscule element of the night – elusive sounds and subtle aromas, footprints hidden in the darkness, the slightest unevenness under his feet.

The flavour of changes to come.