Archaic

by Lexy Timms

  “I have to go to the restroom,” he says, patting my shoulder.

  “You are a good one. Not like the others, but their end is coming.”

  “What does that mean?” I ask.

  “Nothing,” he grumbles drunkenly. “I’ll be back.”

  I furrow my brow and watch him stumble off to the bathroom, trying to decipher what he means. I turn and sit up to the bar, staring off into space, mouthing what Hiro said. It doesn’t make any sense to me. What does it mean that their end is coming? What end is he referring to? The biological or the forced? As I sit there pondering the ramblings of an old man, I don’t even notice the girl that is walking up and pulling out the stool next to me.

  “Hey, handsome,” she says, leaning forward to show me her titties.

  “Uh.” I can’t speak. Her tits are too amazing, and it has been way too long since I have had sex with anyone.

  “How about a little fun tonight?” she asks with impeccable English compared to the others.

  “I am flattered by your day job,” I reply with a smile. “But no thanks. I don’t need a prostitute.”

  “Your loss, sweetie,” she says turning and walking away.

  I pick up my glass and motion to the bartender for another. I don’t know what is wrong with me. Back home, prostitute or not, I will at least flirt with girls that come-on to me. But it just seems like a waste of energy at this point. The truth is, I no longer have any taste for girls now that I’ve met Clarissa, and definitely not ones I have to pay. From the first time I met Clarissa, I knew there was something about her, and I can’t shake my desire for her. Now, I am left wanting, waiting, and wondering if when she heals, she will pick a new mate.

  Clarissa is halfway around the world right now, trying to find her husband’s killers. All the while spending more time with Theo and generally moving further and further from my grasp. I have always known I wanted a girl like her. What I didn’t know, though, was the girl that I want as my mate, was not going to fully ever be a cat. Still, I don’t care. I love her. I want to be with her. I want her to finally choose me, even if it means I am not her first choice. Kyle is no longer a sense of tension in my life, and though I never asked for his death, it did create a hole in her life I might be able to fill.

  In the meantime, I’m running all over the place trying to find a group of killers that are specifically trained not to be found.

  The only advantage I have or thought I had, was that they are cats. However, after meeting Penny and hearing about her husband, I now realize that anyone could be out there training with the ninjas and learning the ways of the past in a completely different setting under a diabolical leader. I lift my glass and look at the liquid, knowing this is the last drink before I become inordinately wasted.

  I throw the alcohol back and put the glass on the table, nodding my head in pride as the fire flows down my throat and into my stomach. Alcohol will never solve a single problem, but at least I am having a bit of fun with the locals. I look over as Hiro shuffles back toward me, nodding his head at the bartender. I put up my hand and shake my head no, not wanting any more to drink.

  I’ve had enough. I can’t even see straight.

  I wander back out into the street, leaning against the wall, the day turning to evening. Hiro doesn’t seem to have a problem at all. He is just hanging out. I take a stroll, meandering through the people, wobbling at the tables, feeling like getting drunk was a terrible idea. Clarissa keeps rolling through my mind, where she is, what she is doing, who is rolling through her mind.

  I want to be with her right now like we were in Japan, but I can’t because I am standing in a busy Thai street, smelling the waste, staring at the people, wondering when I am catching my flight back.

  I sigh and keep moving, thinking maybe I will find something nice at one of the stands for her. A gift from me, like Theo did, only I’m not going to fucking whittle something out of wood. Bears, overachievers in every way, making the rest of us look like beggars. It is what it is. The romance of the cat will be lost, but I still won’t let her go without a gift from Thailand. If we came here together it would be like Japan all over again, only I would end up seeing things I have never seen before, viewing the world with her for the first time.

  If she was mine, we would see the world, travel from place to place, stay in exotic hotels, hike through the jungles, discover everything for the second time. I can almost feel her in my arms, wrapped in my warmth, sitting on the edge of the world, looking out together. I would make love to her in the grasses, kiss that sweet skin, and make sure that her body and her mind never needed for anything. She is the mate I want, and drunk it feels like a tragic love story, one that I will never recover from.

  I’m a survivor though, and I know that the time will come when I will be useful. When my ideas will be pertinent. Then, she will need me to whisk her away to some beautiful place, to protect her from the world even though right now she refuses to see that she needs to be protected. A life as a Primal, or half-Primal in her case, is not an easy one. It’s one that takes patience and a careful step. She will eventually come to understand a cat’s touch is exactly what she needs.

  For now, though, I will wobble my furry ass back to the bar and collect Hiro. We both need a good nap, laying in the sun somewhere, to melt the alcohol from our systems. Maybe when we get back, I will talk to Clarissa again, tell her about all the places I want to go, try to implore reason. I walk around the corner, and the bartender laughs, Hiro is laying in his own slobber, snoring. I shake my head and lean against the doorframe.

  I guess I learned my lesson.

  Chapter 14

  ~ Sebastian

  “H awaii. So romantic . I wanted Gus to take me to Hawaii.”

  Penny’s voice is grating on my nerves. It is bad enough I have to be shoved next to her on a plane ride halfway across the world from where Theo and Clarissa are. But hearing her incessant talking is enough to drive me wild. The smell of an opossum is rancid, at best. They are scavengers. Rustling in the bushes and scrounging around in trash cans. No one can trust an opossum.

  They are known for manipulating the circumstances toward whatever their heart desires.

  And with the betrayal Toshi brought down upon our heads in the past, my guard is up.

  “I don’t like airplanes. Do you?” Penny asks.

  “Not really the flying type,” I say.

  “So tense. Do you want me to sing to you? I can sing, you know.

  It’s what drew Gus to me. Or so he says. Well, said.”

  I look down at the woman beside me and watch a sadness fall upon her face. It’s not fair to her that my guard is up. She’s hurting like the rest of us are. But she’s an opossum. I know she has something up her sleeve.

  “No. No singing,” I say.

  “Suit yourself.”

  The clouds float by the plane as we begin to descend into Hawaiian airspace. I can smell the salted water and feel the electricity of the town rolling against my skin. My senses are heightened. On alert for anything that can point us in the direction we need to head toward. All we have are three X-like markings on three separate territories on a map that is practically disintegrating.

  Nothing to clue me into where the hell I need to go.

  “Not a fan of descents?”

  My eyes peer down at Penny as she smiles up at me. She looks like a kid sitting next to me. With her big round eyes and her wild hair. I roll my eyes and buckle myself up, preparing myself for the swirling this massive slab of metal would do before we hit the ground.

  No, I was not a fan of descents.

  Or of flying, for that matter.

  We walk off the plane, and Penny is gravitating closer to me than usual. She tries to stay in line with my steps rather than walking in front of me. Opossums are confident manipulators. To

  come across one that takes a back seat means something is brewing in the air. I look around the airport and take a deep whiff, then focus my ears on the sounds
around me.

  The squirting of ketchup. The cussing of angry passengers missing their flights. Voices over the intercom rattling off flight numbers, and the padding of heavy feet on the floor.

  I feel Penny press into me as her hand slips into mine.

  “Get me out of here,” she says. “Please.”

  My predatory instincts are in full swing. Whatever is happening at the airport is freaking Penny out. I weave her through the crowds of people and keep myself alert. The only thing I have to go on are the Primals that might be around me. So I can’t afford to miss a single one of them.

  Especially if I can catch them acting as suspiciously as Penny is.

  We step out of the airport, and I can feel the tension leave her body. Her heart rate is slowing down, but her grip on my hand doesn’t loosen. I shake her hand away from mine, and she looks up at me, throwing me those big, round eyes of hers.

  Apparently, opossums have puppy dog stares, too. But there’s something different about her stare. I feel—tugged.

  I don’t like it.

  “Come on,” I say, shaking her off me. “We have a lot of ground to cover.”

  “Do you know where we’re starting?” Penny asks.

  “No, but I have a good idea of where we should.”

  In the Primal world, Hawaii is known for two things. Rodents and vacations. It is the only spot in the world where Primals can safely vacation. The rodent population in Hawaii is the highest in the entire world. They and the bears are the only two species not dying out from the lack of female mates. And if there is any place to start our hunt for Cats, it will be there.

  I hail a cab, and Penny gets in beside me. She presses herself against me a little close for my liking. A low growl emanates from my chest, warning her of her advances. I know what she’s doing. I’m not oblivious to her actions. And while Primals of different races can mate, the stench of an opossum is not one I’m willing to stomach to get a pathetic release.

  Besides, I’m already attached to Clarissa. And keeping her safe is the only thing on my mind during this journey.

  The cab drives us out to the ferry, and we load to cross. If there are any Cats on this island, we will know. Cats hate water, which means they don’t vacation very often out here. And if they do, it must be for one of two reasons.

  One, they really need a break.

  Or two, they really need to hide.

  I can’t stand how slow the ferry is going. It’s inching along the water like I don’t have somewhere else to be. Penny is standing on the edge, practically hanging herself over the water. We hit a small wave, and she flails, and before I even think my hand snatches her away from the side.

  “The last thing I need is you getting killed,” I say with a growl.

  “I didn’t know you cared so much,” Penny says.

  “I don’t. But Clarissa does. She seems to like you.”

  “And you don’t?”

  “You stink.”

  “Hey. I don’t like the tone of your racism.”

  I bite back another growl as we approach the island.

  The hairs on the back of my neck are standing up. I can feel my blood pumping through my veins. The wind whipping off the ocean is riddled with the smell of Cat. Something I did not expect out in the middle of the sea.

  We are in the right place.

  My body senses it.

  “Do you feel that?” Penny asks.

  “Do you?” I ask.

  “Opossums do more than riddle through trash,” she says flatly.

  “We’re in the right place.”

  “Good. About damn time.”

  I stride off the boat, leaving Penny in my wake. I don’t like the way she’s acting, and I want this trip to be over. The sun is beating down on my back, and the sand is soft beneath my feet. I hate it. I can’t get traction if I have to run after someone. My eyes dart around, looking for any signs of activity.

  Anything that can point us in the right direction.

  “It’s so beautiful out here.”

  I roll my eyes at Penny’s lilting voice.

  “Stop for a second. Take a look.”

  “We have a mission,” I say. “Then I’m due to get back to Clarissa.”

  “She’s really got you hooked, hasn’t she?”

  I turn my gaze slowly down to Penny as she looks up at me with her wide eyes.

  “What is it about her that gets your inner doggo going?” she asks.

  My eyes narrow to slits as she takes a step away from me.

  I’m not about to answer her question. About how I bonded myself to Clarissa by healing her wounds. Just the thought of it alone sends jolts of electricity to my cock. I can feel my inner animal coming alive at the remembrance of her lips on mine. How her soul begged me for more, and how I had somehow peeled myself away from her.

  Even now, I still don’t know how I managed to get away from her electric tug on me.

  “For Gus, it was my eyes. He loved how wide they got when I was after something,” Penny says.

  I don’t like the way she’s looking at me. Nor do I like the way she’s reaching out for me.

  “I miss his touch,” Penny says. “I miss the feeling of his arms wrapped around me.”

  Her hands slide up my chest, rippling over the divots of my muscles. Her stench is overwhelming. Dripping with a lust that I will not fulfill for her. The wind kicks up and pushes Penny closer to me, and to keep her from falling I wrap my arms around her.

  She takes it as a move and buries her face into my chest, pressing kisses to my skin.

  “I can give you what she won’t,” Penny says, wrapping her arms around me.

  “No,” I say.

  But my arms stay around her.

  “It’s not forever,” Penny says. “I don’t know if I could ever do forever again.”

  My lust is overwhelming. My mind is battling between what is right and what it wants. My hands dig into Penny’s back, and I can feel her hands turning to claws. Raking down my back and tying us together. And in any other moment, with any other person, I might have allowed myself to cave. Maybe I could have sucked up the smell of her long enough to relieve myself of the deep-seated ache implanted into my bones the moment my tongue touched Clarissa’s skin.

  But Penny doesn’t feel like her. Doesn’t sound like her.

  And certainly doesn’t smell like her.

  I grab onto Penny’s shoulders and pull her away from my body.

  Master manipulators. That’s what opossums are. Her eyes were round and full of want. Practically bulging from her face as her claws clamor for me. She’s out of control. Lost in a world where her loneliness and her anger collide. She’s wanting to fuck her rage out. Not wanting to wait to get her claws around the neck of the person who took her husband away from her.

  I’m familiar with both emotions all too well.

  “Stop,” I say.

  But Penny still struggles as I hold her at arm’s length.

  “Penny, I need you to stop.”

  “Just a hug. A small, little hug,” she says.

  “I’m not Gus.”

  “You feel like Gus.”

  “You don’t feel like Clarissa, so there is no way I feel like Gus.”

  A large tear falls from her eye as she stops fighting me. Her chest is panting and sweat is breaking out on her forehead.

  Fighting against that primal lust is a hard thing to do. I have gotten used to it over the years, but Primals who are married and have their mate don’t have to. There’s a good chance Penny has never had to fight that urge.

  Until now.

  “We’ll find them,” I say. “And when we do, you’ll get your revenge.”

  “I don’t want revenge,” Penny says breathlessly. “I want Gus.”

  “Then we’ll find Gus,” I say.

  I release her shoulders, and she settles herself onto her feet.

  The two of us begin to walk the shoreline as the waves crash against our feet. Clarissa would
enjoy a place like this. With sun and wildlife and clear waters to take in all the fish.

  Maybe I could bring her back here once this is all over.

  Suddenly, the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. The wind whips in another direction and the smell of Cat is stronger than ever. I watch Penny crouch, her entire body becoming alert as I turn my head inland.

  They’re here.

  And I can smell their fear.

  Penny takes off in front of me, and I’m hot on her heels. She’s running, splashing everyone with sand as she scurries away from me. Fuck. She’s quick. If I’m not careful, I’m going to lose her.

  And Clarissa would not be happy with me if I lost her.

  I keep sniffing the wind as the two of us rush through town. The scent of fear is getting stronger. So strong I can feel my fangs protruding. Fear energizes a Wolf. We don’t simply prey upon it, we seek it out for our own strength. A Wolf is trained to harness their adrenal glands for a purpose instead of flight. We use it to power us instead of turning us into cowards.

  But this Cat is scared.

  And I’m hungry for his screams.

  We follow the scent into a thicket of brush past the bustling city of the island. My legs are moving as fast as I can, and soon I’m out in front of Penny. She’s panting. Heaving. Gritting her teeth and digging her nails into the ground. If she isn’t careful, she’ll morph. And neither of us have bags of clothes with us to change into.

  The direction of the scent changes and I lunge to my left. I can hear the Cat’s paws pounding the ground. I can hear how fast its heart is beating. I can feel the whimpers as it moves as fast as it can. But the cat is old. Not moving with the kind of speed and accuracy Cats are bestowed with.

  I grin at the idea.

  This would be easy.

  Penny lunges by me into a bush, and I hear a commotion beginning.

  Penny is hissing, and there’s this low growl that causes me to

  stop. I jump for the bush and toss Penny to the side, ignoring her protests of anger.