Page 189 of Interion

“I can't believe you gave Kyller's collar to this plucked parakeet. This is an insult!” In the blink of an eye, she lunged at Kaori on the bed, pinning her down with two heavy claws.

The Immediate screamed. Her eighteen serpents, sensing the danger, stretched out from her scalp. They'd once been fifty centimeters long, but had shrunk to five after the haircut—the minimum length for her race. They thrashed wildly, whipping the animal's snout while the gorgon cried out in desperation, struggling to keep her snakes from biting the chimera.

Within seconds, Zion was on top of both of them, pulling Kiara by the collar, trying to drag her off. The creature seemed crazed, drool dripping as she snarled with hatred. Yet despite lunging for the girl's neck, she didn't bite or hurt any of the snakes. With one last yank—which dragged Zion along with her—she managed to sink her teeth into the gorgon's neck, clamped down on the necklace, and ripped it off with an audible crack. In the process, her wing struck the side table. The vase of flowers wobbled and crashed to the floor with a thud, scattering glass shards, water, and blue flowers everywhere.

When Kiara released her, Kaori threw herself toward the edge of the bed. She would have fallen onto the shards, but Zion caught her before she hit the floor. He lifted her, holding her firmly, and moved out of the chimera's reach. The creature glared at them with hatred. To everyone's misfortune, at that exact moment, the door opened, and Kyller appeared on the other side, wearing a lab coat and high heels.

“What's going on here?”

Chapter 48

I woke up early to the sound of my phone vibrating. Two messages from Ambrose. The first let me know Kaori had woken up, and the second asked me to stop by his office before visiting her.

I was so happy and anxious I barely finished reading the messages before I started getting dressed. The news was so good I decided to dress up more than usual, already thinking about the extra attention I’d receive for Kaori’s recovery. Sometimes, when a doctor accomplished something unprecedented, reporters from other nations came to cover the story. I believed this case would be reported across the entire continent. So I applied a heavy layer of makeup to cover my freckles, put on plenty of mascara, and fixed my hair, pinning it up in a sophisticated bun style commonly worn by Interians. I chose white high-waisted pants with gold buttons and paired them with a pink shirt covered in ruffles across the chest. The goal was to look as much like an Interian as possible and less like… myself.

At the hospital, I walked through the familiar corridors without paying much attention to my surroundings. The truth was, I was anxious to meet Kaori. Not because she was my best medical case or because she was a gorgon—and the gods know how much I wanted to meet one of them—but because she was the only person Zion called a friend. I felt stupidly silly, but I wanted to make a good impression.

Ambrose had said he needed to talk to me first, but I was too anxious to wait—I decided to make the visit first and leave the conversation for later. On the fifth floor, I passed a noisy group of volunteers who usually visited the hospitalized children. When I reached door number 054, Kaori’s room, I put on my best warm smile and turned the doorknob. The moment the door swung open, a glass vase shattered on the floor and I froze in shock.

What I saw was a hospital-grade horror show. The room was a mess—a bouquet of flowers on the floor, shards everywhere. The bed was a tangle of dirty sheets marked with Kiara’s paw prints, and right in front of me, she was growling furiously at Zion, who held Kaori in his arms, transformed into a gorgon. I felt my smile waver and wilt like a deflated balloon. I stood frozen in the doorway, my smile crumbling as if it had shattered and I couldn’t tell if it was dead or alive.

“What is going on here?” I asked, staring at Kaori’s hand splayed on his chest. Her serpents, now cropped short from the cut, were hissing.

The three of us exchanged confused, alarmed looks.

Zion was looking at Kiara as if he were going to eat her for breakfast. Then, snapping out of his trance, he carried Kaori to the bed and set her down carefully. She seemed to be staring at the chimera in fright. Kiara had approached and dropped something on my shoe. Still perplexed, I bent down and picked up the shiny chain she’d brought. It was my sinil necklace. Confused, I raised my eyes to the three of them. The woman on the bed looked shocked.

“Kiara?” I called, and she looked at me, satisfied with her trick. I stepped aside to clear the exit and pointed to the hallway.

“Stay out there and wait until Zion leaves before you go.”

She got up cheerfully and trotted into the hallway, but growled one last time at Kaori before leaving. I closed the door, trying to absorb the situation.

“Why is she like this?” I asked Zion.

Neither of them said a word, which only made my discomfort grow. He looked me up and down, seeming distracted for a moment, then finally walked toward me.

“It’s a long story.” As he passed me, he didn’t meet my eyes. “When we get home, we’ll talk about it.”

I opened my mouth to demand an answer about why Kiara was at the hospital, but outside, people started screaming and something metallic clattered to the floor.

“I’m going to take Kiara home and let you two talk,” he said, casting a meaningful look at Kaori, who was still staring at us in shock.

“See you at the funeral?” she asked.

“Yes, see you at the funeral. Take care, Kaori.”

Zion passed by me. His scent—night and sandalwood—enveloped me, stirring up my mate instincts even more. Before leaving, we exchanged a confused look. He seemed nervous, and I was just trying to process all the chaos.

As soon as he left, I stared at the door for a few more seconds, then finally turned to face the destroyed room. I walked over the shards, hands in the pockets of my lab coat. My heels made small cracking sounds as I stepped on the shattered glass covering the beige porcelain floor. I studied the woman in front of me, and she studied me with equal care. Her eyes were still like those in the photo—large and black, as beautiful and sharp as polished obsidian. Her serpents remained agitated even though they couldn’t move much due to their cropped length. They were turquoise blue, so beautiful they didn’t even seem real. Bluish scales covered her temples, outlining her forehead, descending to her nape, and replacing what should have been her scalp. When she noticed me staring at the scales, Kaori closed her eyes and concentrated. Soon the metamorphosis ceased. The serpents retreated behind her head and the scales vibrated, giving way to smooth, soft skin. I had never witnessed anything like this, and despite being confused by everything I saw, I felt euphoric watching the transformation. During my years in college, we never got permission from the matriarch to study a gorgon’s metamorphosis.

“Hello, Kaori.” I tried for my best charismatic doctor voice, but the words came out dry and scratched my throat.

“Hello, Kyller,” she said, equally fake.

I looked around at the pile of fallen flowers, then bent down to gather them all, careful not to ruin any. Her family must have left them earlier—they were too beautiful to waste.

“I'm sorry about Kiara. She usually behaves well in public—I don't know what got into her today, but it was stupid of Zion to bring her here.” I held out the flowers, and she took them without hesitation. “Are you hurt?”