Page 109 of Anatomy of the Immortal Species
When she slipped under the canopy of palm trees, her skin blended with their colours, the green and woody tones of her backpack melding with the surroundings.
The island wasn’t vast, so Kathrine had no difficulties in navigating to Al-Hatib’s cosy two-story estate. The lower floor opened into a beautiful garden with exotic flowers, while the upper one had a terrace with a pool. Palm trees reached for the sky on either side of the house, casting breezy shadows over the wide-open windows of the second floor.
Al-Hatib’s guards patrolled the area around the residence, but the palms were left unguarded. Kathrine couldn’t blame them for their negligence – known immortal species weren’t capable of blending into exotic surroundings, much less climbing tall trees without special equipment.
Kathrine emptied the backpack and assembled her weapon. Then, she had no trouble climbing up the palms. Entering the house through an open window, she padded into a spacious bedroom in wood and white. The satin bedding was ruffled, and sounds of running water came from behind a closed door.
A couple of minutes later, the steady flow ceased, and the Arab emerged with a towel wrapped around his waist. The hand he was raking through his wet black hair froze in mid-air. His eyes narrowed to slits, scanning the stranger in his room.
Kathrine broke the silence. “I’m here for the mirror, Mr. Al-Hatib.”
He laughed. “Of course, you’re here for the mirror. Everyone’s here for it.” His gaze ran an appraising path down the curves of her reptilian body. “What are you, anyway?”
“Someone with no time to waste. The mirror, please.”
The Arab sighed in annoyance and went to the wall safe. “No time to waste, eh?” he muttered. “I don’t know how you got in here, but I guarantee you won’t get out. The safe has a security system programmed to activate if the mirror is removed even a day before the end of the tournament. No one can take it out without setting off the alarm – not even me. The moment it’s triggered, the signal will be sent to the players on all the other islands, and I guarantee none of them will let you leave the territory. And even if you somehow manage to escape”—he nodded towards the camera in the far corner—“the Tribunal will immediately be on your trail and will know exactly who to hunt, thanks to that camera over there. Do you really want me to take out the mirror, or would you rather leave now, and we’ll pretendI never saw you?”
“Open the safe,” Kathrine said.
“Foolish creature…”
He entered the code on the panel until the lock mechanism clicked. When the door opened, the mirror flashed, all alone inside the safe.
Al-Hatib scowled. “If I take it out, the tournament’s over. The chaos that’ll follow—”
Kathrine fired three successive shots into his heart and one into his head. His body collapsed to the ground. She stepped around it and reached inside the safe for the mirror. The moment it touched her hands, a deafening alarm burst across the island.
Al-Hatib was right. The alarm would, indeed, spark his guards into action. It was also the signal for the other reptilians to kill all the participants and ensure she got out of there with her prize, and no witnesses left behind. After all, the Queen’s orders were to be abided by.
Kathrine stowed the mirror in her backpack and crawled back out through the window. She crouched in the treetops, waiting for her team to take her off the island.
42
The twentieth floor greeted Amelia with an oppressive silence. Her footsteps echoed off the walls. The mark from the Creator’s whip still burned on her thigh, though the physical evidence of it had already healed.
At least Dave was unharmed. She had found the phone number for the family with whom the boy lived and confirmed that none of it had been real – for him. Her punishment, however – the pain and the blood – had beenveryreal.
Dark shades dominated Mikhail’s room, yet familiar warmth spread across Amelia’s skin. Her eyes wandered over the shadowy walls and the tall, pointed windows until they rested on the wardrobe. She opened it and ran her hand along the entire inner surface. As before, she found nothing.
It had to be here somewhere…
Amelia had been on the floor many times since Mikhail’s arrest, but tonight, for the first time, she moved with the certainty he wouldn’t appear from behind one of the doors and catch her in the act. This was her final attempt to find the ring. Tomorrow, she would tell Constantine everything and hope they could handle Ana. She was done staying up all night wondering if hell was about to break loose in the Hospital.
But tonight, she came with a heavy heart, ready to accept that she wouldn’t see Mikhail one more time before revealing the true reason behind her return and forever earning his disdain. Until now, she had believed she still had time with him – time to convince herself she could give his ring to Ana, no matter howmuch it would hurt him. Time to have her fill of him.
Her gaze fell on the solid mahogany wood of his empty bed. Over the months she had spent exploring this new world, its creatures, and their relationships, she had learned one thing – though love was a weakness, she did not want to be alone. She needed someone to share everything her mind and body were going through. Someone she could trust to be by her side every single day. Amelia yearned for that person to be Mikhail, while also understanding that because of everything in his past, he would never allow himself such closeness – suchvulnerability.
She stepped back into the corridor and entered a random door, finding herself in a space with wooden floors and dingy white walls. Kneeling on the floor, she searched for a hidden compartment, inch by inch. Desperation weighed down on her. If such a compartment existed and it was sealed with magic, the same way the Hospital was hidden from human eyes, how would she even detect it? What if there was no secret compartment at all?
She was halfway through the room when, outside, the floorboards creaked.
Amelia froze. Who could be here at this hour? Stella cleaned during the day, and Viktor had said he would work all night in the lab. So, Zacharia? Constantine?
Amelia crawled to the door and pressed her back against the wall beside it. Luckily, she hadn’t turned on the light, so whoever was outside wouldn’t see a glow beneath the door.
The footsteps seemed to be getting closer. A door squeaked open in the corridor. More footsteps. Slow, heavy, confident steps. Amelia wrapped her arms around her knees, pressing herself further against the wall.
When the door opened and a figure stepped into the room, the faint light from the window illuminated him. He was tall, dressed in dark clothes, with shoulder-length hair that hungaround his face, hiding his profile. He shifted, revealing some of it, and –
