by Lexy Timms
“There’s someone we thought was dead that isn’t,” Toshi says.
“Sounds like the Council. Who?” Joel asks.
“My husband,” Clarissa says weakly.
Everyone falls silent as Joel’s eyes travel to her. His eyes linger a little too long for my want, and I grip tightly onto her. I watch Sebastian and Vlad’s faces whip over to Joel, and soon they are standing in front of me. Blocking his view of Clarissa.
Then, my mind loses focus. Falling back into a sea of endless voices before one emerges from the crowd.
“Help me! Let me out of this fucking thing!”
My head is ripped back, and I feel Clarissa moving in my arms. She’s scrambling up my body and clinging to my shoulders. Someone’s hands are cupping the back of my head, and I can hear Joel and Josie freaking out.
But that voice.
It’s sharp. And defiant. And merciless.
“I’ll get out of here. And when I do, all of you will die. None of you will lay a finger on her!”
“Kyle?”
The voice stops, and for a moment I think I’m going crazy. Clarissa is calling my name, but her voice is so far away. Sebastian and Vlad are arguing, and it makes me sick. Can’t they tuck it away for a little while and focus on the fact that I can feel my neck about to snap.
“Theo?”
I reach my hand up as he begins to shake. It’s like some force is trying to hold me back. But I know Clarissa would want to hear this. She needs to hear this. It’s the confirmation we all need. Vlad had lied to us.
Kyle is dead.
“Kyle. Clarissa’s here.”
“Clarissa? Can you hear me?”
“Kyle! Oh my gosh. Kyle. Where are you? We’re in Russia. We can come get you!”
My heart aches for her. I can’t talk to the living. Only the dead. Hearing Kyle’s voice in my head means he’s perished. Gone. Even if he was alive when Vlad found us, he isn’t any longer.
Tears are streaming down my cheeks as the ache in my neck grows.
“I’m underneath the Council building. There’s a corridor of hallways, Clarissa.”
I feel my brow furrowing in confusion.
“Kyle, stop it. I can’t talk to the living. Only the dead.”
“I’m not dead. I’m trapped. In some cage I can’t get out of.”
I feel hands dipping down onto my shoulders as more faces emerge in my mind. I’m looking at Clarissa as Sebastian appears behind her. Toshi to her side and Vlad off to mine. Their hands on my body, supporting me as I’m taken over by something even I can’t comprehend.
Is it possible Kyle’s communicating with me even though he’s alive?
“Kyle? It’s Sebastian.”
“And Toshi.”
“And Vlad.”
“Who the hell’s Vlad?”
“Long story, sweetheart. But I need you to listen carefully. You have to tell us exactly where you are so we can come get you.”
“I told you. I’m in the—”
Blood is rushing through my veins. I can hear myself screaming off in the distance. My bellowing roar shaking even the floor I’m sitting underneath. A power is coursing through my veins. A power I can’t control. It’s fluttering my heart at a rapid pace and bulging the veins underneath my skin. I’m shaking uncontrollably. I watch as Sebastian disappears. Vlad fades away and Toshi goes extinct, but there is one face I can still see.
Clarissa.
“What’s happening to him?” she asks.
She’s so far away.
“I don’t know, but we have to snap him out of it,” Joel says.
“We can’t do that. He’s talking to Kyle. I don’t know how or what’s going on, but he has to tell us where he is,” Clarissa says.
“And risk breaking his neck? Look at him!” Josie exclaims.
I feel myself fall backward onto the wooden floor. My back is arched, poised to break as the tension in my body grows. I feel my bones snapping and my joints expanding. I’m being forced into my bear form when I don’t want to be. Images are flashing through my mind. Dozens of moments, isolated and meant to be feared. I can see Chief and Lord Wesley and General Tera. I can see the cage and the monster within it.
The monster.
“Kyle, what have they done to you?”
“Under the building. Hurry.”
Then a deafening roar pierces through my mind and rips me from my trance.
“Theo!” Clarissa exclaims. “Get him some water. Soup. Something. Anything!”
“Josie, go,” Joel commands.
“Theo. Look at me. Can you hear me?” Clarissa asks.
My eyes are big. Sweat is dripping down my skin. My clothes are ripped. My back aches. My head is throbbing, and my bones are settling back, and the searing pain shooting through my chest is unbearable.
“What is it?” Clarissa asks as she supports my head. “What happened?”
“They’ve turned him,” I say.
“What?” Sebastian asks.
“Come again?” Toshi asks.
“They’ve turned him,” I say. “Kyle’s not—he isn’t—”
I look up into Clarissa’s eyes as tears well in them. I want to reach up and brush them again, but I can’t. They drip onto my skin and crush my soul as my body tries to mend itself from the pain.
“Oh no,” Clarissa says in a whisper. “No, no, no, no.”
Chapter 3
Clarissa
Istumble back from Theo’s head and scurry to my feet. That isn’t possible. Kyle can’t possibly be a Primal. Project Eden was targeting female fetuses and mothers pregnant with them.
Theo must be mistaken.
I feel a hand come down onto my arm and help me up. I look into the eyes of Joel, the man who has taken us all in. He helps me to my feet and leads me off to the side as my mind continues to swirl. He guides me through the small cottage and down a private hallway before he leans me against the wall.
“Better?” he asks.
“Much. Thank you,” I say.
“Can we talk now?”
“Okay?”
“It doesn’t surprise me if your friend’s telling the truth.”
“What?” I asked.
“The Council have been doing experiments for a very long time. Especially after they found out about Project Eden.”
“How do you know about that?” I ask.
“You guys aren’t the only ones searching for answers. Project Eden was on our group’s radar for a long time. We’ve been stationed out here for centuries, tasked with working our way into the ranks of the Council and taking them out from the inside.”
“And how’s that working for you?”
“It’s not,” he says. “It’s why our generation has decided to take them face-on. Clarissa, when we first learned of them enslaving and experimenting on humans, our grandfathers and great-grandfathers were outraged. But they thought if they raised a generation of young adults they could feed to the Council, they could embed within them tactics to take them out from the inside.”
“I take it that didn’t work?”
“No,” he says. “They slaughtered anyone who tried without a second thought. Primals tout that they try to live in commune with humans, but the Council means to take them out.”
“All humans,” I say.
“Yes. Now, can I take a stab in the dark as to why you’re here?”
“Sure. Go ahead,” I say flatly.
“You’re one of the results from Project Eden, aren’t you?”
I freeze as a small growl reverberates from my chest.
“I’m not going to hurt you, but it is pretty obvious. You came in with camouflage and no trail like a Cat. Then you sprayed yourself everywhere like a Wolf. But you were massive, like a Bear. It didn’t take long for me to put it together once your buddies started showing up,” Joel says.
“You said the Council’s been experimenting for a long time. What do you mean by that?”
“When the Council foun
d out what the Cats were doing, they took some experimentation upon themselves. Not everyone was in agreement with that tactic, so it split the Council into two factions. One faction believes in the natural evolution of Primals and their eventual death, and that sect is led up by their main man. The Bat. General Tera.”
I remember that man. I held his little body between my teeth.
“And the other faction?” I ask.
“There’s some dissent going on among that faction, even now. It’s headed up by the head Bear. Chief, they call him. He believes that if the experiments could help us, and if they can be done humanely, then they should be done to help save the populations of Primals who are fading out. But, there’s a sect sprouting off led by Doryu who believe that, humane or not, the experimentation should occur.”
“Doryu?” I ask.
“The Dragon.”
I clench my teeth as my memories come flooding back to me. I’m familiar with all of them. All of their beady eyes and disgusting forms and twisted ideologies.
“What experiments have the Council been indulging?” I ask.
“Project Eden was targeting female fetuses, but the Council wanted to see if it could work on male fetuses as well. But even the initial injections weren’t good. For females, the pregnant mothers were injected, and the fetus simply didn’t survive. For the males, the pregnant mothers were injected, and the fetus would literally eat the mother from the inside out. Then, the fetus would die from its own inability to care for itself.”
I crinkle my nose as bile rises up my throat.
“And this was okay with them?” I growl.
“Not for General Tera. He hates science. Won’t have anything to do with it. But Chief is a different story. He was horrified by the deaths, but he wanted the experimentation to continue. His theory was that if the serum were injected into a child already born, then maybe the effects would be different. No dead mother—”
“And possible evolution of an infant Primal,” I say.
“You’re catching on. And if that theory is correct?”
“That could be how they turned Kyle,” I say.
“You really are a smart one.”
I snarl at Joel, and he holds up his hands.
“Sorry. Trying to alleviate the tension.”
“Well don’t,” I say. “This is serious. Does the Council not think rules and morals apply to them?”
“Since they technically make up rules and morals for Primals, not so much,” he says.
“And how do you know all this again?”
“Spies on the inside, remember? At one point, that was how we were getting all of our information.”
“So where do you and your troop of humans come into play?”
Joel snickers and I furrow my brow.
“What?” I ask.
“You talk like you’re not one of us.”
“I’m not,” I say plainly.
“Yes, you are. You were turned against your will, but that doesn’t make you a Primal. You’re still a human. Simply—enhanced.”
“Will you feel that way when I morph into a wolf and sniff your carotid?” I ask.
“Yes,” he says plainly. “I will. Think of it this way. When your country enslaved all those African Americans to do their dirty work in the fields, your Constitution only deemed them three-fifths of a person. Is that true?”
“Not even close,” I say.
“They were still fully human, though people tried to convince them otherwise.”
I bite down on the inside of my cheek to keep from tearing into this man. I don’t know what it is about him, but he rubs me the wrong way. I don’t like him, and I’m not sure it’s a good idea for us to stay here. But I can hear Theo still bellowing in pain, and I know he can’t move.
None of us can move until the Council is off our trail.
“I’m not human,” I say.
“And if you believe that, then that’s okay. Somewhere along the line, someone convinced you that you weren’t any longer. But that isn’t true, Clarissa.”
I watch Joel take my hand before I yank it away.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
“Stay with us,” Joel says. “I can see it in your eyes. You’re out for blood. And if you get yourself killed, Kyle or whatever he’s been turned into won’t be able to see you again. This is a fight for your companions. For us. Not you.”
“Funny. I’m supposed to be a human, but I can’t fight the same battles humans are fighting.”
“This is dangerous, and I don’t want you getting hurt.”
I roll my eyes and take a step back from him. Is this what my life is being reduced to? Men throwing themselves at me because I somehow lure them in even though I don’t want to. I shake my head and step off to the side, brushing past him as I make my way back into the living room.
“It isn’t safe!” Joel exclaims.
“You listen to me, and you listen right now,” I growl. “I haven’t been safe since the plane crash that opened my eyes to this entire fucking world around me. Now I don’t know what your plan is or what you guys think you can do against the Council, but whatever it is you won’t survive. If they kill and experiment like you say they do, then you don’t stand a chance against them. You say this is a fight for you and my companions, yet I’m supposed to belong to one of you? Well, listen closely, Joel.”
I stand to my tiptoes and grow in height as his sister gasps behind me.
“I belong to neither,” I say.
Chapter 4
Sebastian
Ihate being cooped up with humans. They stink, their taste in food is horrendous, and it’s boring. Joel constantly talks about plans of war with his sister like this is something they can fight. Like the paws of the first Cat they come across won’t crush their skulls and coat the snow beneath their feet in red. And I can tell Joel is getting on Clarissa’s nerves. A trait which I do not enjoy. And Vlad is still trying to control himself around her, and it’s becoming exhausting to police him. Theo is still recuperating after three days, and in those three days, he claims Kyle is clawing at his mind.
I can’t wrap my own mind around everything happening.
Clarissa says the Council’s been experimenting and that’s how Kyle was turned. Injected with a serum meant for fetuses to see if he would change into one of us. But what would be the purpose? At least with females, there was a purpose. There is an overabundance of male Primals in all species. What is the point of turning men into Primals?
We already have enough clamoring for the females around us.
I sniff the air as a twinge of something akin to garlic hits my nostrils. It’s not the most disgusting scent, but it’s different. It’s not something I’ve been smelling for the past three days. I walk out of my room and head for the kitchen, thinking maybe Josie is in there making us all something for dinner.
But there are no pots on the stove.
Only Clarissa on the couch.
I sniff the air again, and it draws me closer. The scent is coming from her, but I’m not sure why. I lean down and place my nose in her hair and take a good, hard sniff.
The twinge of garlic is pungent, and it makes my eyes water.
Her scent is changing, but I don’t know why. Clarissa’s napping on the couch with her hair haloed on the pillow and I stare down at her beauty. It must be the stress. I can’t imagine what she’s going through. I can hear her thoughts swirling. Wondering when we’ll leave to get Kyle and wondering what he will be like. Images of his new form flash through her mind multiple times a day, and I try to swallow down my jealousy to be happy for her.
Her mate is still alive, which is more than what many in the room with her can say.
“What are you doing?”
I snap my head up and look at Theo, who is finally on his feet.
“Nice to see you up,” I say.
“Wish I could say the same for you.”
“Still upset?” I ask.
“You were up
set when you smelled me on her,” he says.
“Why did you do it?”
“For the same reason you did,” I say.
“Should I accuse you of taking advantage of her, too?”
I growl at him as Clarissa continues sleeping on the couch. She stirs softly, flipping over onto her side. Her hair falls into her face, and it tugs a grin across my cheeks. She’s beautiful when she’s resting. Peaceful and angelic. I smooth the hair out of her face and feel her warmth against my skin.
“She’s running a little hot,” I say.
“Hot to your touch, or hot to anyone’s?” Theo asks.
“Here. Come feel,” I say.
The moment Theo kneels at her side I see his nostrils flare. So I’m not crazy after all. He furrows his brow and puts his hand on her head, then turns his eyes over to me.
“She doesn't feel warm to me,” Theo says. “So it must be your sensitivity to her.”
“But you smell that, right?” I ask.
“I do. It smells like—”
“Garlic,” we both say.
“Is it Clarissa?” Theo asks.
“It is. Dip down and smell her.”
“What?” he asks.
“Just do it,” I growl.
I watch as Theo places his nose against her cheek and nuzzles her closely. I have half a mind to sink my claws into his head and rip him back. But I know I can’t. I have to respect the mutual bond she formed with Theo just like she formed with me.
But that doesn’t mean I have to be okay with it.
“She does smell like garlic. But the odor isn’t harsh,” Theo says.
“Not harsh?” I ask.
“Yeah. It’s almost soothing,” he says.
“You must really like the smell of garlic then,” I say.
“No, actually. I don't like the taste of it, either.”
“Then you’re going crazy.”
“That’s a possibility, given all that’s happened.”
“How’s your neck?” I ask.
“Seen better days if I’m honest.”
“Has Kyle been trying to talk to you anymore? And do you have any idea how it’s happening?”
“He has, and I don’t. He’s still telling me he’s underneath the Council building. He’s talking to me all the time now that he knows the connection’s in place. What I can’t figure out is why. If anything, shouldn’t he be connecting with Clarissa like this?”
