Page 56 of Anatomy of the Immortal Species
“‘Any of this’? What exactly are you talking about?” Zacharia studied her with interest. “Could it be something… like this?”
He allowed the murky demon within him to reveal its shadowy contours, just enough for her to glimpse, to get an idea, but not enough to describe later. It was a violation of the Tribunal’s rules, a blatant attempt at psychological terror.
Stilettos held her breath, her dilated pupils fixed on him. Her posture betrayed fear, but surprise? Definitely not.
Back in his human form, Zacharia shrugged. “I’m not the finest specimen out there. There are far more refined examples – pure lycanthropes, pure vampires, necromancers, witches…”
“Shut up!” she screamed, eyes flashing. “I don’t want to know any more. I want nothing to do with your band of abominations that drove my husband insane!”
Zacharia placed a hand over his heart. “Abominations? That’s a bit harsh. Hybrids, maybe, but the pure species…”
Stilettos slammed her hand against the steering wheel. “I told you, I don’t want to know! Those fantasies destroyed my husband. That’s why he was… murdered,” she said through gritted teeth. “For years, he talked about these ‘creatures’ – immortals no one knew about. He was obsessed with them, showing me drawings, trying to make me believe this nonsense. I begged him to see a psychiatrist, but he refused… Then he stopped with that nonsense. Stopped talking to me about them… stopped talking to me at all.”
Interesting.Kaliope Gazis hadn’t just been involved with a human; she’d revealed the existence of the immortal world to him. “So, I suppose he started talking about immortals after his mistress appeared?”
“No! That whore showed up after he went mad!” Stilettos hissed. “When I refused to listen to his fairy tales, he found a stupid mistress to dump them on.”
Zacharia frowned. “So you’re saying he started talking about immortals first, and Kaliope only appeared after that?”
“Oh, I can just imagine her batting her eyelashes, nodding at every bit of his nonsense while thinking, ‘What luck I’ve got, landing this lunatic with so much money!’”
“What happened next?” Zacharia asked.
“What happened?” She laughed bitterly. “His madness not only ruined our family, but it also affected his work. He even started talking about those damned creatures to his colleagues! He was going to disgrace our entire family…”
“And you decided to have him killed?”
She scoffed. “Me? No. With the way he was behaving, he was threatening others as well. All I had to do was tell someone where he met that stupid mistress.”
“Who did you tell?”
Stilettos’ face twisted with emotion. All those cosmetic procedures she’d undoubtedly undergone could no longer hide her true age. “Petrov.”
“Who’s Petrov?”
“A general.”
Zacharia rifled through his memories, but nothing came up. “General Petrov? Never heard of him.”
“Lucky you…” she whispered.
“So you’re running from this general?”
She didn’t answer. Instead, she reached with trembling fingers for the mirror on her side and opened it to examine her makeup.
“Now you understand your husband wasn’t crazy, don’t you?” Zacharia asked.
Stilettos hissed, “If only he had agreed to see a psychiatrist instead of falling into her clutches…”
“Your husband wasn’t insane,” Zacharia interrupted, suddenly feeling compelled to defend that poor bastard’s memory. Then, deciding it was time to leave, he added, “Have a pleasant flight, Mrs. Bogdanova.” With that, he stepped out of the car.
22
The courtyard of the Hospital was a magical white expanse of hills and plains, frozen bushes, and bare trees – all silent under the heavy snowfall of the night. The scene resembled something out of a Disney movie Amelia had watched as a girl, back when she had the naïve belief that every story had a happy ending.
When she had accepted the Creator’s offer, for a moment, she’d believed it was her chance for a happy ending and atonement for the life she’d been given. But the more time passed, the more her decision shook with uncertainty.
What was she even supposed to do? Mikhail wanted her on his side to deceive the world and his enemies that he had another powerful ally. They both knew the truth, though, and they could hardly forever bask in the fame of the previous Oracle.
