Page 282 of Interion

When he finally got permission to visit her, he entered just in time to see the last doctor leaving the room. He sat beside the bed, watching his partner with adoration, astonishment, and concern. The scenes from the battle were still fresh in his memory, and he couldn't calm down. He couldn't forget the sound of bones breaking; Kyller's screams when she was mutilated; Kiara's yelps as she charged into the battle to defend her and nearly died.

His hands clenched into fists, and he struggled to breathe. He hadn't been able to act, had been left outside to watch the carnage, and it had nearly driven him insane. He still couldn't believe they were both alive. That's why he checked Kyller's heartbeat on the monitor every minute and kept glancing at his phone, waiting for any update about Kiara. He needed to focus and be patient. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Once, then again, and a third time.

He remembered Kyller recognizing the voice in her head as part of a memory. He mentally shook himself. He felt so stupid for not noticing this before. She'd had déjà vu countless times, had reported hearing an insistent voice during dangerous situations, had felt like she'd seen things she'd never actually witnessed. He rubbed his face once more and went back to pacing the room.

“How blind I was,” he repeated to himself.

It had been right there in front of him—the same symptoms he had, the same feeling that there was something he should know but couldn't remember. However, Zion wasn't an idiot: he'd learned that Serguei never did anything without a purpose, and despite his terrible methods, the psychic tried to care for the people he liked. And he liked Kyller very much. Perhaps she was the only one he ever showed affection for.

Still, he wanted to kill the man for hiding something so important. The memory his partner had transmitted to him replayed in his mind: a little girl in a tree, watching her mother be killed by another woman. That face. The face he'd grown up seeing on his father's apartment wall. He couldn't believe Serguei had hidden something of that magnitude. He desperately wanted to understand why, and he couldn't stop thinking about the face of the woman who'd given him life. That Ravena was alive—or at least her body was—was impossible to comprehend. He avoided dwelling on the words spoken within the memory about the archangels' connection, which Serguei's book referred to as Kyller's lineage. Could that be real?

However, all these questions would have to wait, because now there was another matter to deal with. Zion had ordered his men to take Zafira safely to the palace. So when Elitium woke up, the psychic sent him a single message:

“Don't look for me, because I'll be on 'vacation' in the special room. You'd better not show up here, boy.”

That only complicated the situation further. The “special room” was a place lined with iron, which would limit Serguei's powers. That meant he could no longer help Zion with information and espionage. The phone rang in his pocket, and the general left the room to answer the call. He was a bundle of nerves waiting for an update on Kiara's condition.

“Yes?”

“Hello, General.” It was the receptionist from the veterinary clinic. “Dr. Owen is still with Kiara. He's asking you to come in.”

“How is she?”

“That's something Dr. Owen should discuss with you.”

He looked through the glass at the bed where Kyller still slept and sighed.

“Can't we talk over the phone? I'm at the hospital and can't leave here.”

“The clinic's protocol requires authorization from a responsible party for major surgeries. In this case, only you or Miss Kyller can sign. Dr. Owen asked me to let you know it's urgent.”

Zion looked back at his partner. He didn't want to leave her, but he couldn't abandon the chimera at the vet either. Both mattered deeply to him, and logically, his partner wasn't at risk of death. Kiara was.

“I'll be there in ten minutes,” he murmured into the device.

“The AnimalVet team thanks you. We'll be waiting.”

Zion ended the call and walked into the room, stopping beside the bed. He reached out and caressed the woman's face. She was still unconscious. Relief washed over him as he noticed her skin was already returning to its normal color. He typed a message to Ambrose, letting him know he needed to see Kiara. The elmedic replied that he'd come up when he could to stay with her.

Then he kissed Kyller's forehead and stepped away.

Δ

The general pushed open the door, and the irritating little bell jangled against his sensitive ears. The attendant smiled when she saw him and led him through corridors that reeked of dog, alcohol, and medication. The veterinarian was in his office, staring at the computer screen. When Zion entered, Owen jumped to his feet and thumped his fist against his chest in a formal greeting.

“Good thing you came quickly!”

“How is she?” The general returned the salute with a fist to his chest and got straight to the point. He had no time to waste.

“Come see.” Owen led him to his desk and turned the old computer screen toward him. Two graphs filled the display. Zion wasn't a doctor, but he understood the image showed levels of organic components—sodium, potassium, calcium. “The first graph shows Kiara's results from a month ago. See, only the sodium is a little elevated, but that's normal for her.” He pointed to a blue bar that exceeded the limit line. “Now look at the new exam—we drew blood just a little while ago. Look at this.”

Zion studied the graphs and felt his heart start racing as he saw that everything was off. Every component had spiked dramatically.

“What does this mean?” Unfortunately, he already knew the answer. He just wanted confirmation.

“It means if she were a normal animal, she'd already be dead. But she's a chimera, and these creatures behave in ways we don't understand. Apparently, she's not going to die.”

“Then what's happening?”