Chapter 31 #3
“Because we figured you'd know, and if you didn't, that would actually be better. It's best not to feel pressured during surgery.”
“Pressured? Lorenzo, what if this woman had died?” I paced back and forth, worried sick. “What if the brain doesn’t return to normal? That man will have his guards execute me right here.”
“Calm down, Kyller. Everything will be fine—the patient was sent for a CT scan. We’ll know soon enough if she’s okay.”
I kept pacing back and forth, going nowhere.
“By the Gods, Lorenzo. Yamamoto’s daughter almost died in my hands—do you have any idea what that could do to my résumé? If she comes back with brain damage, no hospital will ever hire me.”
So that’s what Serguei had tried to warn me about. On second thought, it was better he hadn’t said anything, or I would have frozen during the surgery.
“You said it yourself, Kay. Almost! A big almost. She didn’t die, and look on the bright side: if everything goes well, your résumé gets a gold star recommendation.
That could make any employer overlook your ancestry!
Not to mention you’ll be known as the only elmedic in the world who pulled off a neural surgery with a 10% chance of success.
You reconstructed half a brain, Kay. That alone is a miracle—the most Ambrose ever managed was 30%.
Even if her brain has some glitches, it’s still a win. ”
Lorenzo’s eyes shone with anticipation, and I could picture the future he was painting for me. Even so, I was terrified of things going wrong, and I felt tired to the bone.
“I hope you’re right, Lorenzo. Gods willing, you’re completely right.”
I ran my hands over my face and let myself breathe for a moment. But soon another question came to mind.
“Why was it the father who came here instead of the mother?” I asked, a bit confused. Gorgon society was matriarchal, and after a child was born, she never stayed with the father—she was immediately taken to the gorgon clan.
“This one’s different. The mother died the day the girl was born, and Yamamoto hid the child until she was old enough to take care of herself.
” Lorenzo held my gaze for a long moment, and I noticed a certain caution in the way he pressed his lips together and glanced around.
He moved closer and lowered his voice. “She’s a bastard.
Yamamoto had the child outside of marriage.
The matriarch of the Vinturian clan killed her mother while she was pregnant, as punishment for breaking the laws between fae and gorgons—the law that says a gorgon cannot procreate with a married man.
They would have killed the child too if they’d known she was cut from her mother’s womb and survived.
So he raised her until she was old enough to duel for her life and earn the approval of the five matriarchs. ”
“And she won?” I asked, astonished.
“She won. She defeated the five best gorgons from the five nations and won her legal emancipation. She doesn’t answer to any clan but still follows gorgon law.”
My jaw dropped—an emancipated medusa was something I’d never seen. All of them were supposed to belong to a clan, to be supervised by the matriarchs and receive their feeding rights in exchange for work.
“If she’s not part of the clans, how does she feed?” I asked, trying to make sense of it.
“I don’t know either.” Lorenzo shrugged. “But she’s the second-in-command of Interion’s army—earned the position on merit. Maybe she feeds on some willing soldiers.”
With every passing second, I found myself more and more shocked by this girl. She was Zion’s second-in-command, the second most important person in the army. But that still didn’t explain why she seemed so familiar.
“What’s her name?” I asked.
Lorenzo gave me a reluctant look, like he didn’t want to have this conversation.
“Kaori Yamamoto.”
I froze for a moment and let out a surprised breath. The photo on the sideboard filled my mind—a young girl, maybe sixteen at most, hugging Zion.
“Kaori, Zion’s best friend, sister of the late Akira,” I stammered in surprise. Now the necklace made sense, and so did the feeling that I knew her from somewhere. I never imagined the girl in the photo was a medusa.
Lorenzo sighed and gently touched my shoulder.
“It’s a long story, but I think you need rest right now. Go change and I’ll take you home,” he said, pointing to the locker room next door.
“Is Zion around?”
Lorenzo clicked his tongue, like he’d just remembered something.
“Where’s my head? Zion notified the hospital that he was heading to the attacked medical base. He and the 1st squadron are searching for the animals that carried out the attack.”
Animals attacking—that was unusual. They couldn’t be any normal type.
“Could they be chimeras? Has anyone heard anything?”
“Nothing yet, but a forensic team was sent out. They’ll arrive tomorrow afternoon, so we should have something more concrete then.”
I nodded on autopilot, and we walked to the locker room while Lorenzo ran through all the surgeries they’d done that day. I changed quickly and was ready to go in ten minutes.
Ready, exhausted, and curious to learn more about Kaori Yamamoto.