Page 146 of Interion

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?