42

Amelia curled up in a foetal position at one end of the bed, clothes and all, and pulled the cover up to her chin, along with the thick heavy blanket she’d found in the wardrobe.

The life she had known until now was over. Someone was ready to kill because of her, and her salvation lay at the hands of a manticore – a manticore she was hiding secrets from.

And was starting to fall for… Not a man, but a beast, Amelia.

Yeah, that didn’t work anymore. She let her thoughts roar.

A murderer.

A manticore.

Her heart race accelerated.

A panic attack.

Ten.

She waited for her lungs to contract, and her stomach to tie itself into knots. Sensations she was all too familiar with. But for the first time since she could remember, her body didn’t react that way. Instead, she was just cold.

Through the window, greyish clouds were creating magnificent shapes across the sky, like paintings. Out of nowhere, the sky cleared and transformed into a vivid blue, bringing a smile to Amelia’s face.

“Hey there, little seeker,” the sky said to her.

Little seeker? The voice didn’t belong to her grandmother, but the nickname was familiar.

The figure of a young woman in an ethereal white dress appeared amidst the blue. Her body glided through the air, the edges of her dress swirling around her bare feet. Radiant black hair framed her face. Her eyelids were closed as if she was sleeping.

The image started flickering like a bad TV signal. Weird… Yet, Amelia continued to gaze at it. After a moment, everything stilled, and she could see clearly once again.

Something inside Amelia came to life – a memory, an idea. She knew the woman.

“It’s you!” She dashed to the window.

The other woman looked at her. “I am glad you recognise me.”

Amelia jumped back as if a jolt of electricity raced through her body, startled by the silvery light in the woman’s eyes. “You’re the Oracle! You were in my head the other day, when they brought me here!”

“Yes, and you misinterpreted me as a hallucination.”

“Then Mikhail transformed, and I was sure I was going insane!”

A wry smile twisted the Oracle’s lips. “Yes, you did not pay much attention to me then, either…”

Amelia glanced at her surroundings as if to convince herself she was not dreaming. “Is this real? Are you really here, or am I having another vision?”

“Yes and no. Part of me is here, part of me is there.”

The Oracle’s words only seemed to add to the overall sense of mystery.

“I was hoping we would meet,” Amelia said. “I have so many questions. Why did you send Mikhail after me? What am I supposed to do?”

“I also wanted to meet you. Alas, it will not happen, at least not in the conventional way. However, the answers to all of your questions will come very soon.”

“Just tell me one thing. Did you mean me when you told Mikhail that someone might need some help? We were thinking that maybe he mis—”

“Little seeker, he is not daft. If I had thought he would misunderstand, I could have just said, ‘Help Amelia!’” The Oracle laughed and her voice soothed Amelia like a gentle melody. Yet she wasn’t sure if her confession disappointed or excited her.

“Why didn’t you tell him so, then, and save us all the wondering?”

The Oracle stared at her with silver eyes. “And how do you think one can grow, if everything is served to them on a platter?”

“All right, then.” Amelia blinked. “Answer me something else… Why did you choose me, of all people?”

“I am sorry to disappoint, little seeker, but I was not the one who chose you. I am only the herald of someone else’s will.”

“Whose will?”

“You will find out soon enough.” The Oracle raised her palm in the air. “There are always two sides to every story.”

Amelia wondered if this was an answer to her question, or something else. “I don’t understand. What does this all mean?”

“Precisely what it means. You will never see things through a single pair of eyes.”

But I only have one pair. Unless… “Do you mean my dreams and visions?”

“To an extent. Start with the little things and you will soon come to understand the big ones. Besides, you never know where you will find a friend…”

“Are you talking about Mikhail?”

“… and where an enemy lurks. Your worldview has changed quite a bit lately, has it not?”

“I think so...”

“Worldview… A fascinating word, especially given the universe is limitless and filled with countless worlds. No one is ever alone….” The Oracle’s rambling trailed off and her gaze sharpened on Amelia. “Ask and you shall receive. Do not ask, and you never will.”

“I don’t understand a single thing you’re saying!”

The Oracle smiled, and her image started gliding backwards. “Good luck, little seeker.”

“Wait! You’re leaving?”

“Yes.”

“But I’m still no closer to understanding.”

“Oh, but you will.” Her figure began to blur. “I almost forgot! When you meet the man with bi-coloured irises, ask him for a pen and paper, would you?”

With that, she disappeared. Amelia blinked and found herself back in her bed, the covers over her head. The sky was grey again, but this time she could see no shapes. Hours passed while darkness engulfed the clouds, but Amelia didn’t dare crawl out and turn on the light.

***

At some point during the night, Amelia was roused from sleep by the sound of Mikhail’s footsteps echoing through the hallway. She was eager to ask about Dave and confess all about her dreams, visions, and conversations with the Oracle.

But what if he asked her why she hadn’t said anything before?

The truth was, she hadn’t been convinced whether she could trust him. Would he blame her for having doubts? After all, she had never wished for this ; the visions had invaded her mind without warning.

Her stomach fluttered, a sensation she could no longer deny was caused by Mikhail’s approach. She had never wished for those dreams, not at first; but the more they had intruded on her, the more she had longed to see, to understand . She’d grown hungry for glimpses of his history, of the moments that had shaped him into the complex, captivating person he’d become. And lately, it felt as if her own will was bringing them on, which confirmed she wielded power over them, to some extent – and that her connection to him was deeper than she dared to admit.

A small measure of guilt crept up her spine. Instead of stopping the visions or admitting to him what she was seeing, she had continued to dig into his past. ‘Ask and you shall receive.’ At least she comprehended this part of the Oracle’s riddles.

Suddenly, her body stiffened. What if it wasn’t Mikhail, but someone else heading for her room? Someone who was coming to kill her?

The door creaked gently when someone walked in. Fear rooted her to the bed, her limbs heavy with dread. She pressed herself further into the mattress, her body still facing the window. If she died now, she wouldn’t scream. She would imagine reuniting with her family.

Someone moved through the room. It sounded like Mikhail – the air crackled like it did when filled with his presence. Then the other half of the mattress sank a little under someone’s weight. Her pulse quickened.

“Don’t worry, Amelia. I won’t do you any harm. I only wish to protect you,” Mikhail said in the dark room.

Amelia sighed with relief. A sudden wave of heat rushed through her, followed in an instant by another, colder wave that threatened to crush her. Heat and cold started taking turns running up and down her body. It was a sensation like no other, intoxicating and sobering at the same time.

She turned towards Mikhail, finding the outline of his massive silhouette on the bed next to her. He had leaned his head against the headboard and stretched his long legs to the other end of the mattress.

“I feel weird,” she confessed.

“Weird how, exactly?”

“As if someone is constantly filling my veins with ice cubes. I feel cold, like a fever. My heart needs to pound faster and stronger until it melts the ice. The wave of warmth that follows feels heavenly, but dies quickly. Then it all begins again…”

“Are you ill?”

“I don’t know.” Amelia placed her palm over her chest. The rhythmic pulses of her heart didn’t feel torturous anymore, but resembled a dance. “Despite the intensity inside me, on the outside everything seems calm. No panic attacks.”

“How long have you felt that way?” Though he wasn’t looking at her, his gaze aimed somewhere in the room, his words enveloped her like a comforting blanket.

“A few hours. It’s probably nothing serious.” Amelia propped her head up on her elbow. “Did you see Dave?”

Mikhail nodded. “He’s good. He asked about you.”

“I would like to pay him a visit.”

“You will. Unfortunately, a Tribunal agent is sniffing around him, and I don’t know how to protect you from him.”

She winced at his words. It was not her safety that concerned her. “Dave hates the Tribunal…”

“Yes, but he was also a victim of a crime, and there’s no way to avoid him being questioned. The problem is that the agent they sent is a complete asshole. And to make matters worse, according to most members of the Council, I’m the main reason for Agent Kane’s presence in the Hospital, and therefore the ‘invasion of the staff’s personal space.’” Mikhail laughed. It was a deep sound and completely unexpected, and Amelia enjoyed hearing it. “But when you have twenty powerful creatures in one room, you can’t expect them to be placid and compliant. Each one of them needs to dominate. It’s in their nature.”

Until recently, the idea of other immortals existing out there had made her skin crawl, but now curiosity sparked. What did these Council creatures look like? Were they as threatening as Mikhail? Or just as fascinating? Did they have his rich laughter?

“Have you had trouble with them before?” she asked.

“I picked and invited each creature to be a part of the Council because of their strength and abilities. They never had another choice but to comply. Whoever doesn’t like my rules is free to leave. Things have changed, however.” Mikhail turned to face her. “I can’t make sense of anything that’s happening, and I can’t point to the perpetrator. The building is compromised, which means my leadership is threatened. They see the lack of leads and closure as a failure on my part. And they’re right.”

“That’s not exactly fair. None of this is your fault.”

“You’re young, Amelia, but you’ll soon learn. A leader’s throne is the least stable and the most wanted. Show them a cut on your finger and they’ll tear off your head. In the immortal world, the stakes are even higher and the gains, greater. That’s why success is for all, and loss is only for the leader. You fail alone, you get back up alone.”

Her chest tightened. “That sounds lonely.”

Mikhail was silent for a while before speaking again. “I founded the Hospital with a single aim – to save immortal creatures until we find the reason behind the regeneration issue. Years have flown by, the Hospital has grown, and so have our medical advances, yet we aren’t even a step closer to finding the answer to our question. We’ve grown so weak, becoming anatomically similar to humans. Before we realised it, we had got so used to this way of living, that it was no longer vital to recover our healing abilities.”

“But you never gave up?”

“I stopped actively digging for answers, so some might say that I, too, gave up. Until recently.”

Until the Oracle had sent him after her, she guessed. “Does the Council know about me?” The question had been on the tip of Amelia’s tongue for so long.

“No. Only a few of my trusted creatures know of your existence and true identity. The ones who saw you in the OR think you’re a vampire, the chambermaids think you’re a human ‘visiting’”—at that, Amelia raised her eyebrows—“the Hospital on medical duty.”

She pursed her lips. “And one of those chambermaids was murdered.”

“Yes…” Mikhail sounded pensive. “The official version is that the murder was committed by the boyfriend and the roommate, as I told you the other day.”

Amelia realised the alternating hot and cold waves had dissipated. She threw the thick blanket off herself. “And are you certain those two are the real murderers?”

“I can’t be sure.”

He was keeping something from her. She settled more comfortably on her elbow and said, “Mikhail, I was thinking… If the Council doesn’t know about me – actually, you claim that almost nobody knows about me – then how does the woman from my vision of Dave know about me? She had thoughts about you and me… Doesn’t that mean the killer is one of those trusted creatures of yours? Or that one of them is feeding information to the killer?”

“Of course, little one,” Mikhail’s voice was heavy with gloom. “There’s always a traitor. And it’s usually the person you trust the most.”

His words resonated deep within her soul, stirring a sense of empathy and understanding. She could almost feel the weight of his past betrayals, the scars that still lingered beneath his tough exterior. And as strange as she found his nickname for her, when Mikhail used that low, husky tone to call her little one , the hot and cold waves in her body roused again. Her pulse raced, her senses came alive, and it somehow made her feel braver, wilder.

“Do you suspect any of them?” she asked.

“I suspect everyone and no one… Did you eat today?” His sudden need to change the subject didn’t go unnoticed.

“No, I wasn’t hungry.”

“You’re too slim. I want you to feed.”

“Why?” The corners of her lips twitched. “Are you planning to feast on me?”

“Not yet.” He sounded serious, but the slow smile that curved his lips gave him away.

“You said you don’t eat. Do you sleep?”

“Sometimes. But don’t worry, I won’t sleep now that I’ve promised to protect you.”

“Are you implying the murderer might attempt something here? While we sleep?”

“I hope so. That’s why I’ve left the doors unlocked.”

She jerked upright. “Are you serious?”

His expression remained solemn. “You told me you trust me. Right?”

“I do.” She trusted him with her safety, that much was true. And perhaps it was time to stop hiding her true self from him. Perhaps it was time to tell him everything. Gulping, she tested the waters by saying, “I… I saw your scars.”

Mikhail’s face twisted at the mention. He wasn’t going to like hearing how much she actually knew about them.

“I thought immortals can’t have scars,” she said.

“Some wounds leave a mark. Even for immortals.” He spoke through gritted teeth, his voice harsh.

Amelia wanted to tell him that the woman who had left them didn’t deserve his love, but she sensed he didn’t need to hear those words. And suddenly, she didn’t want another woman between them, not even just in conversation.

She peered at Mikhail’s profile. The straight nose, the high cheekbones, the strong jaw radiating tension… Chaos reigned in her head. Someone was killing others to get to her, while she was lying in the bed of the same man who had kidnapped her. And yet she couldn’t recall a time in the last three years when she’d felt calmer.

She inhaled. “May I touch your scars?”

He didn’t blink, as if he had expected it. “I’m not sure it’s such a good idea.”

Ignoring him, she reached out a hand and skimmed his shoulder, her fingers traipsing the soft material of his shirt and the pronounced muscles underneath.

“What are you doing?” His breath warmed her hand when he lowered his head, following her movements with his intense gaze.

Amelia traced his collarbone next, slowly studying it with her fingers. “I’m making sure you’re real.”

Drawn to the steady beat of his chest, she then moved her hand lower. He watched her closely the entire time, as if ready to stop her at any second, but the fact that he didn’t, gave her the courage to continue.

His abs clenched when her hands inched further down. She stopped when her fingers found the rough edges of the first scar. The protrusion, about a third of an inch high, was palpable through his shirt. She followed it with her finger all the way to its end, just above his liver. Another third of an inch down, and the skin was smooth. But further down, there it was again. Another one. And another, and another. All four scars, just like she had dreamt and seen them.

“I’m sorry someone did this to you.” She raised her gaze to his. In the darkness, the golden speckles in his irises gave him a beastly radiance. The same radiance that had scared her in the forest.

Right now, she wasn’t afraid. Being this close to him sent her pulse racing, sure, but not in fear. In a world where she felt like an outsider, he was the only creature she could connect with.

Mikhail covered her hand with his. “Don’t be sorry. It was a long time ago.”

A long time ago. A hundred years? Two hundred years?

Mikhail had been born before her great-grandfather. It was so strange, almost surreal. Like a dream. The Hospital for Immortal Creatures, the encounter with the Oracle…

She sat up, supporting herself on one elbow. “I’ve been wondering, do immortals kiss?”

Mikhail slowly lowered his eyes to her lips. “Do you really want to know, Amelia?”

No. I want to know if you kiss.

If he wanted to kiss her.

Without any warning, Mikhail gently wrapped his hand around her nape and brought her closer, his breath warm on her face, and pressed his lips against hers. It was a caress, a ginger exploration as she traced the lips of the most unusual man she’d ever met with hers.

At the contact, he grabbed her by her shoulders and pulled her off him, but didn’t remove his hands from her skin. “You do realise I’m not human, right? I’m very different from the men you’ve been with. If we keep this up, you might get hurt, and not just physically.”

Amelia stared at the lips she’d just been kissing. “I’m not afraid of you, Mikhail.”

He hesitated, but she knew he was attracted to her. She’d seen it in his eyes the other day after Dave’s attack. She’d sensed it in his breathing when her fingers traced the shape of his body. She’d felt it in the urgency behind his kiss.

“You’re not afraid now .” A shiver ran through her at his husky, raspy voice, and her eyes got ensnared in Mikhail’s golden gaze. “I haven’t desired a woman in years. I thought my…appetite…was long gone.”

Amelia’s lips parted in surprise.

“Recently, I found out that I still have it,” he added.

Her heart raced even faster at his words.

“Do you understand what I’m saying, Amelia?”

He reached up to run a finger down the side of her neck. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach in response to his touch while his hand moved to her collarbone, then towards the edge of her shirt, and traced its way to the skin under it. Amelia held her breath as his fingers skimmed the cup of her bra.

“Too many years have passed since I’ve been with a woman.” His eyes were fixed on her face. “What you’re imagining will not come close to the reality. I won’t be gentle. I won’t be soft. I won’t be anything more than an animal servicing his most basic needs.”

If he aimed to dissuade her, it wasn’t working, because his touch only drew her in. Each gentle pattern his fingers traced made her feel more alive, more emboldened.

“I don’t want gentle,” she said. “I want proof that all of this is real.”

Mikhail smiled a casual, sexy, disarming smile. “Oh, believe me, this is real.”

His fingers grazed her skin, sliding between the cups of her bra like a soft caress. “And it’s getting more real with every second you’re not telling me to stop.” When his knuckles followed the curve of her right breast, she shivered. “You know, you’re a very unwise human woman. But a devilishly beautiful one.” His golden-yellow eyes roamed her face, as if drinking in every feature.

Warmth filled her lungs. She knew she had pretty features, but to hear it from him gave her a whole new level of satisfaction.

“Thank you,” she whispered, surprised by the croakiness of her voice.

“Don’t. For the more real it gets, the more impatient I’ll become.” He played with the rim of her bra cup, skimming the hot skin around with every movement of his fingers, but his gaze never left hers. “And when it gets real real, I’ll remove your clothes.”

He pulled his hand from underneath her shirt. The disappointment coursing through her was immediately replaced by the warmth of his palms gliding slowly over her hips as he shifted on the bed. He gripped her by the waist.

“And after I have you all naked and ready for me, I will make you grab onto the bed frame.”

She couldn’t breathe when he lifted her body as if it were a feather and repositioned her with her knees bent, back arched, and palms resting on the headboard.

“And then I’ll take you from behind.”

Wetness pooled between her legs. Amelia swallowed hard and her breaths grew shorter when he placed his palms on both sides of hers and positioned himself behind her. They were still dressed, their bodies barely touching, yet it was the most erotic pose she had ever been in with anyone.

He bent down to whisper in her ear, his beard rubbing her cheek and making her shiver. “I will grab you by the hair and suck your neck until it hurts. And if you cry for me to stop, I won’t hear you because I’ll be deep inside you, fucking you like an animal.” Her core clenched. “Is that what you desire, Amelia?”

She wanted him in a way she’d never wanted anyone else before, like she’d die if he didn’t touch her again. Like she’d let him take her any way he needed to. And it scared her as much as it excited her. She held her breath. “Yes.”

He grabbed her hair and pulled her head back, sending a jolt of welcome pain through her scalp. She gasped when his lips touched the side of her neck and trailed ferocious kisses on her skin. He was sucking and licking, causing her waves of equal pain and pleasure, and all she could do was squirm underneath him, powerless – and more turned on than ever before.

His large body engulfed her, his erection grinding against her ass. He was hard. So hard, it made her throb with anticipation.

A moan escaped her when he ground against her, his lips following her jawline. She wanted to kiss him, needed to see him, but he was caging her beneath his large body.

“Mm…” He groaned, and the sound went straight to her core. “Your scent is even headier than I expected.”

His hand slid down her front, between her thighs, until he was cupping her aching centre with his palm. Though he was touching her through her leggings, the soft material was thin enough for her to feel every brush of his fingers. She was fully clothed and yet she had never been so aroused in her life.

He kept grinding himself against her while he rubbed her with his palm. “I can sense your arousal,” he rasped against her ear. “It smells of citrus and geranium and I bet you’ll taste even better.”

Her core pulsated again at his words and a burning, pleasant agony spread through her belly. He pressed his palm hard against her, as if sensing she was on the precipice, and she shattered. Her walls clenched and his lips shifted from her neck to her mouth, stifling the moan trying to escape her. She shook against him while he held her tight until the last waves of her orgasm subsided.

In the dark, her knuckles had gone white from clutching the bed frame, but she feared she would collapse if she released it.

“Look at me,” Mikhail said.

Heart still racing, she turned her head and stared at his flaming eyes. In the pale moonlight, his irises had changed. The beastly golden hues were intertwined with something she hadn’t seen even during his transformation in the forest. Something dark and wild…

And it made her swallow with worry.

She wanted him, yet she hesitated. Because the man caging her beneath his body wasn’t entirely a man. His expression was too predatory to be human.

He arched a brow. “I thought so.”

“No…”

But he was already rising, putting distance between them. His expression changed. The ferocity and passion dissipated. Then, he became the ruthless man in charge of a council of twenty immortal beasts, determined to do whatever it took to pursue his ambitions.

“Go to sleep, Amelia. I’ll make sure you’re safe,” he said.

“I…”

He left the room, but remained on the floor – his steps a subtle reminder of his presence and what had almost transpired between them.