Chapter 37
I woke to the sound of two cell phones ringing at once—one of them mine. I jumped up and bolted downstairs since I’d left my purse in the living room. Above me, I heard Zion answering his phone in his room.
“Kyller speaking!” I answered breathlessly. It was Ambrose’s number.
“Good morning, sleepyhead! I’ve got two pieces of news for you!”
There must have been tons of adrenaline coursing through me, because I could barely stand still.
“Good morning, Ambrose! For the love of the gods, I thought no one would ever call. Did the patient wake up?”
I paced around the room, biting my nails. My heart was in my throat, and I wondered if the two wanted to trade places.
He laughed on the other end.
“Congratulations, my dear! Kaori woke up an hour ago and all her tests came back normal,” he announced excitedly. I heard clapping on the other end of the line. Lorenzo was celebrating.
The words filled my mind, spreading relief through my chest.
“Just a moment, Ambrose!” I said, putting the phone on mute.
Then I grabbed a colorful pillow from the couch, buried my face in it, and screamed at the top of my lungs.
I poured all my worry, anxiety, and adrenaline into that pillow.
A husky laugh drifted down from upstairs.
I pulled the pillow away, set it in my lap, and took one last deep breath.
Then I composed myself and returned to the phone.
“By the gods, Ambrose!” I was so anxious I couldn’t keep my hands still, running my fingers across my forehead as I continued. “I can’t believe it. Is she talking? Acting normal?”
“All brain functions are working perfectly, Kay! No lasting effects. Dr. Liríope monitored her thoughts through mental mapping, and everything’s in place. Kaori even remembers the seconds before she was hit and lost consciousness.”
“I’ll believe it when I see it, Ambrose! I’m going to get ready and I’ll be there soon.” I headed toward the stairs, but Ambrose interrupted me.
“No need to rush! The other news is that the phantom pain is intense and she wasn’t handling it well. Obviously, half her brain was blown apart. So I put her under—the family agreed to keep her sedated for a week while her brain recovers from the trauma.”
I went back to the living room and sprawled on the couch, letting my heart settle. Kaori was whole, and I’d done well.
“Thank you, Ambrose! Thank you for taking care of everything for me! Anyway, I’m heading to the hospital now—I want to talk to you.”
“I’ll be waiting, my love! I want to know all the details of the surgery—I have so much to ask.”
“See you soon!” I hung up and stared at the ceiling.
By the gods! Everything really worked out.
No lasting effects. This surgery would go down in history, and my name would be recognized throughout Jupiter.
I heard the click of footsteps across the living room and stood up smiling.
Kiara was wagging her tail—she seemed to understand what had just happened and was euphoric.
“It worked, Kiara! You’ve got a friend who’s excellent at neural surgery!
” I said, opening my arms for her to come rub against me.
Seeing her so excited made me even happier.
But instead of coming toward me, she headed to the kitchen, tail wagging frantically.
Then she came back, pushing her enormous food bowl with her nose.
“She says you promised her two bowls of food if the surgery went well.”
I heard Zion’s voice from the top of the stairs and slowly lowered my arms as understanding dawned. Then my eyes narrowed in her direction.
“You little opportunist!” I went to the cupboard, pulled out the bag of kibble, and poured it into her bowl.
Zion came down the stairs already dressed, a half-smile on his face. I crossed my arms as she attacked her food.
“She’s happy for you—she just thinks food comes before hugs,” Zion said, sitting on the kitchen counter. I stretched as he looked me over, then closed my white robe to hide the blue mini nightgown. “Did you sleep well?”
He placed a cup in the coffee maker and pressed the button. I pretended not to notice the hint of irony in his question.
“Very well, General. And you?”
“Wonderfully,” he replied with a crooked smile, fastening his watch. “They called from the hospital to say Kaori woke up. Again, thank you for taking such good care of her.”
“You’re welcome, General.” I curtsied, lifting the hem of my white robe.
He studied me as if trying to make sense of the outfit, then took a sip of his coffee. He glanced at his watch again.
“I have to go to the medical base to assist the forensic team. Cauê will lead the afternoon training—I’ll be back for the evening session,” he explained, downing his coffee and standing. “I’ll expect you here at 8 p.m.?”
Yesterday’s Zion had vanished. The man looking at me now was the general of Interion’s armies.
“Did something happen?” From the slight arch of his eyebrow, I didn’t think he’d expected such a direct question.
“Today’s going to be difficult.” He gave me a somber look. “We’re going to collect the bodies of the men who were attacked at the facility.”
“I'm sorry you have to do this. Do you know yet what attacked the base?”
“Not yet. We're collecting samples today. Maybe by the end of the week we'll have some answers.”
“Any guesses?”
“Based on what the men described—shadows and footprints—it looks like a pack of chimeras. Maybe three of them, judging by the mess they made.” Kiara lifted her head and watched us closely.
A chill ran down my spine. “But if they are chimeras, they were made differently. Maybe with modified animals mixed in, or something else entirely.”
“If the army finds these chimeras…” I swallowed hard and looked at Kiara. “Will they kill them?”
Zion looked sad when he answered:
“Yes. If they really are chimeras, we'll hunt them down and exterminate them.
They're nothing like Kiara, Kay. War chimeras—once they're taught to hunt and kill—don't go back to normal.
They undergo complex physical mutations, and their minds turn violent, especially when they're trained to kill people.
Years ago, we had to deal with ten of them.
It wasn't easy—a lot of people died. There's no saving them once they reach that point.”
The chimera and Zion exchanged a look, as if having a silent conversation—she'd grown serious too.
“When I found Kiara, she was still a pup, but they were already teaching her to hunt and kill smaller animals—rats, rabbits.
When she came to Interion, she was mutating, and soon the wings appeared.
After the labs were destroyed, she was the only one I managed to save and train.
So we don't know what to expect from these mutations, since we were able to domesticate her.
These other chimeras might be a new type—I've never seen footprints like those.”
Zion loved animals. Just watching him fidget, I could tell he was troubled by what he'd have to do if he found them.
“I'm sorry, Zion. I hope you resolve this soon, for the sake of all the soldiers still out there.” He nodded, attempting a weak smile that didn't reach his eyes. He glanced at his wristwatch again.
“Anyway, I need to go, Kay. See you later?”
Now he was studying me as if I might bolt at any moment.
“Yes. We're set—8 p.m. here.”
The ice in his eyes melted a little when he bent down and kissed the top of Kiara's head.
She watched us curiously, waiting for her next bowl.
He straightened and gave me a tender smile, then took a step toward me.
Something shifted in his eyes, like he was about to do something—but then he stopped himself.
“See you later, Kay.” Zion dematerialized, leaving me with a knot in my chest over the chimeras on the loose. Then again, if they really existed, they were the ones who should be afraid.
I poured more food into Kiara's bowl, scratched her head, and headed upstairs to get ready.
Δ
The morning at the hospital was hectic. Every doctor wanted to hear how the surgery had been done, and after hours of explaining—without mentioning Serguei, which made everything even harder—I finally managed to escape the questions and do my work in peace.
I discovered in less than four hours that I didn't enjoy the attention all that much, but I answered everything Ambrose asked and was impressed by his account of the double surgery.
Apparently, things were starting to return to normal at the hospital, and fifteen of the injured patients had already gone home.
Ambrose also told me the hospital was giving up on the sliced patient Zion had brought in nearly dead the night he returned to Interion.
We'd found nothing about his condition in the neuroscience books, and I'd really combed through the entire encyclopedia collection.
The only good news was that they'd managed to identify him.
The man was an elmedic soldier from Interion who'd been working temporarily in Yonser—and whose disappearance they hadn't reported, fearing Interion would judge them irresponsible for losing one of the few mid-level elmedics still in existence.
The real mystery was how this man had made it to the walls alone, on foot, without being attacked by lamias.
With so many questions, at least one thing was resolved: the cuts on his skin and the missing limbs might have been the chimeras' work.
Still, things seemed strange. Why had the man traveled to the wall alone?
Why hadn't he taken the electrokinetic train that connected the nations?
Why hadn't he let anyone know he was coming?
Now the patient was being kept in the basement medical wing, near the morgue. Either he'd die, or he'd wake up on his own—we'd done everything we could for his mind.
Last but not least, I needed to visit Kaori.