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.

“Today’s meeting will proceed without Viktor Volk and the necromancer,” he announced. “Viktor is not feeling well and Constantine is away on business. And as you have already noticed, a new member has joined our Council, replacing Kaliope Gazis.”

He gave a brief introduction before diving into the grim details. As he recounted the story of the beheaded witch Kaliope Gazis and the strangled vampire Mary Clare, he withheld only one detail—his visit to Mada.

While he spoke, his eyes kept wandering towards Helena. He wasn’t sure if her addition to the Council had been the smartest move. The nymph listened attentively as Mikhail explained about the head in the box. Whatever thoughts swirled in her mind remained hidden behind her neutral expression. Even when he described the gruesome discovery, Helena remained stoic, unlike some of the others, who gasped when he revealed the blood-written message inside the box. Helena only sneered – a reaction he wasn’t sure he liked. Then, when he gave them the details surrounding the chambermaid’s murder, Helena turned her head to the side and stared out the window at Sofia, as if already bored.

The other members weren’t as subtle in their reactions.

“Is that why I’ve been following all the stupid rules for years?” one of the witches yelled. “To be slaughtered like an animal. Like a human!”

Mikhail told the Council the same story he planned on selling to the Tribunal – the box had arrived a few days ago, but he had opened it only an hour after he had found out about the murdered chambermaid.

“This has nothing to do with the rules,” someone wiser chimed in.

Platinum pursed her baby-pink lips, twisting her beautiful face into an evil grimace. “I’m sure it was for revenge. Nobody except humans would dare to fuck with us.”

“Most people don’t know that we even exist.” Jaguar glanced at her from his place to Mikhail’s left.

“Most…”

“Really? Are they truly so few and as harmless as we believe?” Elisanda Grace pointed a finger at no one in particular. “We’ve been working alongside humans for years. Maybe one of them gave us up.”

Jaguar exhaled. “Gave us up to whom, exactly? Other humans?”

“You think it’s not plausible?” The nymph winced. “Well, kitty, they have guns, armies and—”

“And I still don’t believe they could dispose of the old witch so easily.”

“If it’s not humans, who, then?” Elisanda looked around the room as if to challenge the others. “ Who ?”

Mikhail was asking himself the same question.

“I heard Babyhand isn’t so thrilled about Constantine’s last visit. He lost his good hand, too,” Vladislav joined in with a casual shrug.

Everyone turned their heads towards the necromancer’s empty seat.

“The witch’s head arrived before that,” someone replied.

“Yes, but the chambermaid was killed after .”

“And she happens to work on the fifth floor, where the Blood Bank is…”

“She didn’t work there. Someone called her over.”

“The killer!”

“Babyhand was in the Hospital?!”

“The vampire-chambermaid may have been the one who stole our blood reserves and delivered them to that asshole…”

“Well… It’s not that unexpected. They don’t call them bloodsuckers for no reason…”

“Hey!” Vladislav yelled in response to the insult. “We already caught the bastards responsible for the missing blood, and they weren’t vampires. They were witchers!”

Platinum waved a dismissive hand, focusing back on the killer. “Oh, no. Babyhand? That scumbag wouldn’t dare.”

“Of course,” Elisanda agreed, “it was humans.”

“This is where the stupid rules got us.”

“We should have demonstrated our superiority a long time ago…”

Mikhail leaned back in his chair, allowing them to talk it out. How did they fail to grasp that those very rules had kept them safe all this time? Every creature was bound by a strict set of universal and mandatory regulations; without them, chaos would reign. While the human world had its judiciary, executive, and legislative branches, their supernatural world had the Tribunal. And the Tribunal had zero tolerance for power plays. Breaking the rules was the surest way to ignite a war with the human species—a war that would doom the immortals, especially given their current vulnerabilities.

Mikhail crossed his arms over his chest, feeling both guilty and ashamed of what he was doing. He intentionally let them believe that a human hand was involved in Kaliope’s murder. If he revealed everything about the portal and his trip to Italy, he feared it could spark a war among the immortal species—perhaps exactly what the enemy intended.

But wasn’t it already too late? Had he fallen into that trap himself? Someone had set Mada against him and, in retaliation, he had destroyed an entire witch clan. A few staff members from The Witch had survived and had seen them – him, Viktor, Constantine, Diana… Well, it would be a while until anyone identified them, if they ever did. He could only hope that if this ever came to light, it would fall into the doing-harm-out-of-necessity category, which exempted any creature from responsibility in the Tribunal’s eyes.

But how the hell would he calm the witches down, if they sought revenge?

When the voices of his Council colleagues didn’t settle down, but instead grew increasingly irate, he cleared his throat. Once he had their attention, he said, “I know you’re worried, but we checked the Righteous. He’s clean. Besides, the murdered vampire, Mary Clare, has never been linked to embezzlement. She was a hard-working creature living by the Hospital and immortal world rules. Let us respect her memory.”

He made everyone pay their respects with a minute of silence for the two women who, although very different from each other, had lost their lives in an equally violent way.

Then, he continued. “We have reason to believe that Mary Clare’s murder was a personal matter and no one else is in danger. As far as Kaliope’s death is concerned… We are doing the best we can to solve it. Thus, I propose we inform the Tribunal and take advantage of their resources.

An expected wave of outrage followed.

“You want to call them here?”

“Those fuckers will be sniffing around?”

“Those are the rules.” Mikhail realised he was being a complete hypocrite, preaching about the same rules he was so eager to overstep. “They might be useful. Wouldn’t you like to know who is responsible for these murders?”

Platinum spoke up first. “Don’t you get it by now, Mikhail? The Tribunal agents don’t help. They just throw accusations around. No proof, no nothing. They arrest scapegoats, not the real culprits.”

Mikhail was well aware of the hatred the nymph felt towards the Tribunal, after her husband had been hunted by them. They hadn’t managed to catch him alive, however, and although they couldn’t have been involved in his death, Platinum kept insisting it was their doing.

“I believe they will impede our work in the Hospital,” Elisanda added. “You know how threatening their agents can be. I mean, they’re not the most considerate.”

“Can’t the necromancer get in touch with Kaliope and Mary Clare’s souls and find out who did them in?” Silvester offered, laying his hands on the table. His hair today was brocade silver, and he wore a bowtie and vest in the same colour, paired with a white shirt.

“Unfortunately, Constantine couldn’t make contact with either soul,” Mikhail replied.

Lyla laughed. “Does the Consumer of Souls have a hard time getting it up?”

A few creatures around the table giggled.

“My friends, I am confused,” Jaguar said. “Why would someone leave the witch’s head in front of the Hospital with such a message? Surely the one it was meant for knows what all this means, right? But for the rest of us, we’re left wondering who left it there. And why this witch? During our last Council meeting, we voted against the murder she wanted to commit to save some young witches from a pack of hoodlums. Could that be why she was targeted?”

“That’s still being investigated,” Mikhail lied. Zacharia had already checked. Kaliope had not gone forward with her plan, but that would be announced to the Council after a day or two. “And although the Tribunal tolerates some transgressions, mainly those that protect immortal creatures, I do not believe that Kaliope’s intentions and the readiness of the Council to support her should be shared with their agents.”

“Now that’s something!” Lyla Lee stuck out her tongue that, for some reason, was stained purple.

Braba cleared his throat, attracting everyone’s attention. The plump lycanthrope, with his worn leather jacket and his tiny glasses, spoke so rarely that almost every creature at the table listened to him with curiosity. “Do you have any idea how many humans are on staff at the Hospital?”

“Thirty or forty?” Dimitri suggested.

“What are you getting at?” Elisanda asked.

Braba looked at the others expectantly. “Can every single one of you swear that they trust each of these thirty or forty humans?”

Platinum flung her hair over her shoulder. “Ha! I don’t even know who they are, let alone trust them.”

“I don’t know them, either,” Zyah, the only female lycanthrope in the Council, chimed in.

Vladislav yelled over the others, “Well, I know them, but I dunno if I can swear!”

Mikhail knew them as well and he also wasn’t completely certain about them. But admitting that now wouldn’t be helpful. If anything, it was bound to fuel the flames Elisanda was so aptly trying to kindle. “Humans here don’t leave the premises. Ever.”

“And yet some of them do…” Elisanda muttered.

Mikhail could only think of one such case. “A rare, controlled exception.”

“If you trust them…” Lyla said.

Mikhail had no intention of digging deeper into the topic. “Yes, I do,” he said in a manner that made it clear this was not up for debate.

“I suggest we gather all humans that work here and torture them until someone confesses!” Platinum exclaimed with a smile.

Jaguar focused his gaze on her. “I’m not sure that’s such a good idea, given the Tribunal’s presence, which will probably be felt as early as tomorrow.”

“And we sure wouldn’t want to upset the Tribunal – not when they value humans over all other species!”

“I wouldn’t say that…”

“Oh, please, I know what they’re up to.”

“Give them over to me and I promise they’ll be done with when I’m, um… done with them.” Lyla resumed her lunatic laughter.

Mikhail interrupted her giggles. “Only those with something to hide should be worried about the Tribunal’s presence.” He continued with some reassurances about how they would soon catch the culprits and everyone would once again be safe.

For the first time since the Council’s inception, he felt compelled to withhold the truth of all that had happened. As their leader, honesty was his duty, but instead, he had opted for a plausible deception to buy time and solve his problems on his own.

A sense of remorse overwhelmed him. When had he started to distrust these creatures?

Maybe it’s not a lack of trust, but weariness.

Finally, they voted on the matter of the Tribunal.

“Ten to eight. The majority supports the idea to call the Tribunal, so I’ll be doing it tonight,” he finished. “If anyone wants to take over from here, please go ahead.”

Lyla burst out laughing again. Was there some sort of contagious disease among witches that caused them to giggle uncontrollably?

“Did I say something funny?” Mikhail asked her.

“You’re done?” She opened her mouth wide. “Like the message accompanying Gazis’ head?! Come on, fellas! This is clearly some twisted joke. We can never be done!”

“And yet, it looks like for at least two of us, it’s done,” Jaguar noted.

Vladislav Nyavolski jumped to his feet. “Brothers and sisters, I must share something with you,” he said with his hand on his heart. “We encountered a problem in one of the ORs. A malignant cancerous tissue in the body of a vampire…”

Mikhail leaned against his chair’s headrest. Guess this Council meeting won’t be over any time soon…

***

At sunrise, Mikhail decided to pay someone a visit.

Elisanda Grace opened the door after the first knock, dressed in blue jeans and a T-shirt although they were in the East Wing Intensive Care Unit where creatures rarely wore anything but scrubs. “Mikhail? I didn’t expect to see you…so soon.”

“I would like to talk. Now.” He immediately forced a smile, to take the sting out of his words. He didn’t mean to be rude.

However, she shouldn’t have been at all surprised to see him so soon.

Elisanda glanced back over her shoulder, then returned his smile. “No problem. Come on in.”

Mikhail stepped forward. Not once in all the years since Elisanda had been living in the Hospital had he visited her private room. Most of the furniture was modern, but everywhere around the room – by the window sills, the black leather couch legs, tables and cupboards – were hints of the typical Hospital décor. Also, there was no bed. The nymph must have a separate bedroom.

Elisanda invited him to sit on the couch.

“You’ve settled well here,” he said.

“There were other doctors who stayed here but they all moved to the living quarters, so these rooms became available. I merged them into one big apartment,” she explained.

“It looks good,” Mikhail said. “You deserve to have your space. After all, you’re one of the first doctors in the Hospital and among the few Council members who live in the building.”

Elisanda’s entitled smile irritated him. He had been genuine but what made her think she had the right to make herself this comfortable when most of the creatures in the Hospital lived in tiny rooms? She could at least show a little gratitude.

He caught his anger before it escalated. He couldn’t lose it in front of innocent creatures, let alone those who had been supporting him for years.

“Why are you here, Mikhail?” Elisanda asked as she settled on the opposite couch and crossed one elegant leg over the other.

He didn’t want her to feel like she was being questioned, so he started easy. “I expected you to make a comment at the meeting.”

She pursed her lips. “I don’t have a comment. I found a body. That’s it. I didn’t know her… It was too late to help.” Mikhail kept staring at her. “It was a terrible thing, Mikhail. I can’t believe someone would do something so horrid to a young and defenceless woman. In the Hospital, no less.”

“How do you know how young she was if you didn’t know her?” His tone was sharp.

Elisanda tilted her head to one side in response to his accusatory statement. “I figured only a young creature would accept to work as a maid.”

“I disagree.”

“Then I’ve guessed wrong. Does it matter? Death is never pretty.”

“You’re right. It never is.” Mikhail forced himself to sound more approachable. “Would you mind going over the events one more time? Of how you found her.”

“I already told Zacharia everything… But, fine. I suppose I can go over it again.” She paused to think for a second. “I went down to the fifth floor to hand over some blood samples. We needed those results fast since the patient was about to be operated on. Instead of sending one of the orderlies, I decided to bring them myself.”

“You picked a very bad moment.”

“A bad moment, indeed.” She shook her head.

“Did you see anyone along the way?”

“A few creatures.”

Mikhail leaned back. “More specifically?”

“Well…” Elisanda mimicked his movement. “I don’t know, truly. There were two women in white scrubs in the lobby. I don’t know their names, but I’ve seen them in the cardiac care unit, I think. I met Miranda at the door, and we exchanged a few words.”

“The head nurse?”

“Yes. She was just coming back from the lab herself.”

“All right. Anyone else?”

She stared at the wall, her symmetrical profile a picture of beauty. Her shoulders, feminine and graceful, sloped gently downwards. His gaze lingered on the nails of her dainty fingers which, although tucked away now, had the potential to maim.

When piercing through flesh, a nymph’s nails dug deep. Once they reached their target, they released poison that not everyone recovered from. Mikhail, fortunate or not, had survived his ordeal with one such set of nails. He would always be suspicious of nymphs, even if the creature before him had proven to be among his most loyal companions.

“Oh! I remember now! As I was talking to Miranda, I saw a man at the far end of the hallway. He came out of a room and quickly entered another. He moved fast and I noticed he wasn’t wearing scrubs,” she said.

“Did you see anything else?”

“I don’t think so. Tall, skinny, nothing extraordinary… Actually, there was something. His hair was short on the sides and long at the top, styled like a mohawk – one of those modern cuts.” She ran a hand over her head to illustrate.

“You didn’t tell Zacharia about him.”

She shrugged. “I didn’t think it mattered. I figured he was some disoriented nurse.”

“Without scrubs?”

“Maybe he was rushing to get changed. That’s when the new shift starts, right?”

So she was aware of the schedule. Mikhail leaned forward, resting his palms on his knees. “Tell me how you found the body.”

“I went to the lab but the assistant wasn’t there, which I found weird because just moments before, Miranda had told me that she was with him. I decided to go search for him. I entered the nearest staff room and she was there, on the floor…”

“Mary Clare?”

“Yes, her…”

“Did you know her?”

The nymph’s irises glowed with frustration. “I already told you and Zacharia – no, I didn’t know her.”

Mikhail took a closer look at her face. It was hard for her to conceal the irritation his questions provoked, but Elisanda was a nymph, after all. Nymphs were famous for their pride. Being interrogated about a murder must be harmful to her ego.

A new emotion twisted her features. “The poor girl.” She cleared her throat. “Her neck was broken, there was no pulse. I knew it was pointless, but I gave her CPR. Alas… to no avail.”

Mikhail narrowed his gaze. The annoyance, he had expected, but sorrow… “Elisanda, how long have you worked here?”

She jerked her head back. “A long time? I don’t really know…”

“I do. A hundred and fifty-three years,” Mikhail said. “You’ve seen a lot of deaths, right?”

She stared at him confused. “Yes?”

“I just find it strange that you’re feeling sad about this particular vampire’s death. It’s unusual for a creature like you.”

Her mouth fell open. “A creature like me ?”

He shouldn’t have said his next words, but he did, nonetheless. “Your kind is not the most sensitive, right? That’s why you’re so good at your job. Nothing can affect you. It’s an important quality for a doctor. Imagine if you cried after every patient – wouldn’t be practical.”

“I’m not following. I know nymphs aren’t famous for their virtues but those are things of the past—”

“I wonder, is there a valid reason for a nymph, a member of the Council with a high rank in the Hospital, to murder some chambermaid she doesn’t even know? Unless she did know her.”

“For crying out loud! I didn’t know her and I didn’t kill her!”

“Thanks for your help.” Mikhail stood and headed for the door.

Elisanda followed him in the hallway, the flush on her cheeks matching the colour of her hair. “Am I a suspect?”

His irritation subsided. “No. Not to me, anyway. However, I’m not so sure what the Tribunal agents might think.”