51

The night sky above Sofia burst into a spectacle of lights, shaping whimsical figures that disappeared within seconds, as if devoured by darkness. This time, the fireworks would last longer. It was New Year’s Eve.

Mikhail had always considered the human habit of celebrating each year’s end ridiculous. This was yet another useless attempt to control time. Or maybe one more occasion to get drunk.

But tonight… How he wanted to go to the city and join one of these elated crowds! To drink himself numb until he couldn’t feel anything any longer. Then, perhaps, his mind would erase the memory of all his past mistakes.

The new year was a chance to make things right, wasn’t it? It was a time of change, promises, and inspiration. A time of shedding all the dirty clothes, bathing oneself in alcohol, and awakening brand new for the days to come.

Mikhail had lived through many New Year’s eves to know bad habits didn’t go away with the “fresh start.” And if the average human, led by na?veté, easily fell prey to such beliefs, Mikhail was too old and jaded to believe even for a moment that he could ever change.

He wanted to blame the animal for everything. To say that it wasn’t him, but it who had found perverted pleasure from the physical and verbal torture he had put Amelia through. But it had been him. Only him.

The days after the Hospital’s creation hadn’t changed him. What had happened with Amelia had proven that. The previous Oracle had trusted him with caring for her during her transformation, and what had he done? Abducted, threatened, horrified, seduced, and lied to her, all the while convincing himself that he was doing it for the greater good.

No wonder Amelia had disappeared after leaving the Hospital. Zacharia had driven her to the city and after that, Mikhail had been unable to track her down. Deep inside, he sensed she was not in danger but was hiding somewhere. From everything. From him. She would never look at him the way she had before. Maybe she would neve r look at him again, period.

Mikhail didn’t understand her transformation into the Oracle, but in all fairness, he didn’t care about it. All he cared about was the real Amelia and whether she was still out there somewhere. The unreasonably daring, funny, riddled-with-panic-attacks Amelia. That’s who he needed, not the Oracle. But he feared that facet of her personality had ceased to exist once she had become the Oracle.

His phone vibrated, reminding him it was time. The Council was waiting. Mikhail gathered his thoughts. He was still head of the Hospital and the Council, and he had to act like it.

After he had given them a culprit for the murders, things had returned to almost normal. They were still struggling to find a cure for the impeded regeneration. Still expecting insight from the new Oracle, Amelia. Still dealing with the problems of the immortal world. He still had his four scars.

Only now, he couldn’t stop thinking about a woman he could never have, and in the world of the immortals, never was a damn long time.

This may not be such a big problem.

Because he already knew what he was facing.

‘The stakes are higher than you think,’ the old Oracle had told him just two months ago, and yet it felt like years.

Elisanda had confessed everything about her allies. They were as described in Alex’s book and drawn by Diana’s brother. A coincidence? Only humans believe in coincidences. This whole time he had thought the battle he’d be facing would be against immortal ageing, but it had turned out to be for their very existence.

He’d intentionally provided vague information about the culprit and the eighth species to the Tribunal, meaning Agent Kane was still sniffing around.

Mikhail headed to the great hall. The words Amelia had whispered to him right before she’d left trailed him like a dark shadow.

‘You will lose your life in this war.’

Mikhail ignored them now the way he did every time they barged into his head, determined to crush him.

The stern faces of the Council members tracked his movements when he entered the Council room and took his seat at the end of the table. Although his influence had been stabilised after Elisanda’s confession and punishment, there was still talk among the creatures in the building. He was deemed unstable, and more irritable than ever.

He probably was all these things, but nobody would dare challenge him directly.

Mikhail glanced around the table. “Good evening, creatures.”