Page 9 of Anatomy of the Immortal Species
She could try to talk to Mikhail, to explain Ana’s arrival and what she’d proposed, but he would never understand. He wouldn’t trust her. He’d already branded her a fraud, despite his apology – which he’d delivered onlyafterhe’d realised she was the new Oracle.
And if she stole his ring, it would solidify his opinion…
Her stomach lurched. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
Nothing to do with him, Amelia. You wantnothingto do with him. There is nothing between you.
And yet, was she willing to incur Mikhail’s wrath again to savehis Hospital – even though he wouldn’t know the real reason for her actions?
She snuggled into her long puffer jacket and looked around, standing in the middle of a deserted path with no memory of how she’d got there after parting ways with Ana. The bare branches on either side of her didn’t even twitch.
She trudged down the alley. She had two days to decide.
3
The car’s dashboard clock read 4:27 a.m. when Kathrine arrived in Antambazi. She stepped out of the vehicle’s backseat. The headlights illuminated her auburn hair as her eyes took in the sight of her homeland, partially visible through a gap in the cliff.
Antambazi was a placeonEarth, and at the same time,outof it. The realm was cradled in the bays of the Black Sea, hidden from the rest of the world by a veil, with threads stronger than magic. It was a land of cliffs and poor soil, wintry days and even colder nights, order and discipline, shades of grey and monotony. Many longed for Earth for its vivid colours, but to Kathrine, no night sky was more beautiful than the one above Antambazi. Here, the sky was always predictable, and during the bleeding days, when the sea reflected the Ninth Moon of the month, the entire land glowed in blood-orange hues, as if the earth were on fire and flames blazed along the cliffs.
Sevar was waiting for her at the edge of the cave. His familiar face always brought her a sense of relief upon returning home. He had her leather coat folded over his arm and a bouquet ofannies –rare purple flowers with a heavenly fragrance – in his hand.
“I like this place less and less by the minute. It’s fuckin’ freezing!” Kristo, her alternate – a high-ranking soldier – hopped out of the front seat, buttoning up his coat. The SUV engine died behind him.
“You speak as if you’ve spent your entire life in the earthly realm.” Lina, the driver, stepped onto the ground, still wearingher sunglasses.
“Hello, violet love,” Sevar greeted Kathrine. Her cheeks warmed at the nickname – because of her violet-coloured eyes. He helped her into her coat, then handed her the bouquet of annies. Kathrine wrapped her fingers carefully around it – annies’ thorns were potent enough to knock down a horse – but soon realised Sevar had removed them. She inhaled the familiar fragrance of her favourite flowers, grateful for his thoughtfulness.
“Do you need us for anything else, Commander?” Lina asked, using the nickname that irritated Kathrine to no end. She was a leader of their team, but didn’t see herself as superior to any of her friends.
“No. Rest well,” Kathrine dismissed them.
As soon as the rest of her team disappeared into the darkness, Sevar took her hand. “Did you miss me?” he asked in that rich, sensual voice that always made Kathrine’s heart skip a beat.
Sevar was incredible – a gentleman with seductive lips, a quick mind, and all of it wrapped in six-feet-two-inches of power and influence. There were rumours that women from the lower classes still fought for him, even now, when it was well known he had committed to Kathrine forever.
“I always miss you.” She missed him, and she missed Antambazi. Outside of Antambazi, Kathrine feltalien, as the Earth dwellers liked to say.
“Kiss me and show me how much you missed me,” he said.
Kathrine stood on her toes and lifted her chin to meet Sevar’s lips. While she waited for the kiss, she gazed into his black eyes and found herself once again unable to read them. Had she not known him so well, she might have mistaken his lack of obvious emotion for impassivity. But Sevar had shown his feelings time and time again through his actions, and they were anything but passive.
It was dangerous to show emotion on Antambazi, and Sevar was far too experienced to reveal his weaknesses. As the Queen’s right-hand man, he had to maintain a stony composure.
Kathrine brushed his lips with hers and then pulled away. “I’m tired.”
“She’s waiting for you, love.”
“Now?”
Sevar smiled. “I’m sure she missed you as well. Let’s go, and later we can figure out a way for you to get some proper rest.”
They exited the cave and soon found themselves in the dusty territories outside the city. Every encounter with the gloomy hillsides of Antambazi filled Kathrine with a sense of pride. The realm was misty during the day, but at night, when the peaks of the cliffs blended seamlessly with the sky, the city resembled a black veil glittering with a myriad of stars. At the uppermost part of the veil, like a golden brooch, sat the royal palace. The road to it was steep, but once there, the hills offered a breathtaking view of the neighbourhoods of Antambazi.
The ground beneath Kathrine’s boots felt ice cold and unyielding while she and Sevar walked along the cliffs, which stood tall like guards before the outermost houses of the city. The Black River flowed from the cliffs in the south, twisted around the city in a crescent shape, and emptied into the waters of the Black Sea.
The small stone buildings of the suburbs, with their tiny windows and sharp-tipped roofs, housed those who had lost the Queen’s favour. Separated from the rest of the city’s inhabitants by the deep basin of the Black River, these outcasts were prohibited from entering the heart of the city. Being sent across the river was considered worse than a death sentence by some because, beyond the river, there was nothing.
Sometimes Kathrine wondered if these outcasts weren’t, in fact, blessed with the freedom to escape the Queen’s loftyexpectations. Yes, they lived in poverty and would be abandoned here afterthe migrationto Earth – as was the Queen’s plan for the rest of the reptilians. But at least these poor wretched souls owned themselves, unlike the creatures on the other side of the river, who were privileged… prisoners.
