by Lexy Timms
“What?” I ask.
“Penny filled me in on some of what Sebastian told her,” he says.
“What did he tell you?” I ask.
“He told me about Vlad and what he tried to do to you. How you were close to getting answers but didn’t find any. And Hiro’s right. The only other option we have is to go to the Council.”
“Vlad? What did he—? Penny! Seriously?”
“Settle down, and it won’t hurt as much,” she says.
“They can’t come with us. If Sebastian is even half as hurt as Toshi and not healing, they’re liabilities,” Hiro says.
“You’re not going without me.”
“We don’t have a choice,” Penny says. “If you and the mangy mutt could keep it under control for a little bit, you wouldn’t have stranded us without a choice.”
“Clarissa, I’m not leaving you.”
“It’s that constant mindset of single protection that has put you in this situation in the first place,” I say. “It’s your constant need to protect me to prove you care for me and Sebastian’s constant need to protect me for alpha wolf’s sake that keeps you guys butting heads. Now, I’m sure Theo wants to be here, but he’s not. He knows what he can tolerate and what he can’t. He’s protective but level-headed. The two of you could learn a thing or two from him.”
I can see the hurt rushing through Toshi’s eyes as his head falls back to the pillow.
“We should call him. Tell him what’s going on,” Penny says.
“Maybe he can talk some sense into these two.”
“Should I be looking for Sebastian?” Hiro asks. “Did he not come back with you guys?”
“He was upright when we walked away. I had to manipulate him into standing down. I’m nowhere near happy with him right now,” I say.
“Manipulate him?” Penny asks.
I turn my head toward her and begin to widen my eyes.
“Okay, okay. Just checking. Sorry. Okay. Um, Toshi’s cleaned up,”
she says. “It’s the best I can do with what I have.”
“When do you want to go see the Council?” Hiro asks.
I turn my head over toward the Cat standing at my side.
“Now,” I say.
“No, Clarissa. You can’t. Just give me a bit. I’ll heal and come with you,” Toshi says.
“She’s in good hands,” Hiro says. “But you can’t come with us.
You’ll hold us back.”
“This is a terrible idea. I’m not—”
“Kyle knew his place,” I say as tears well in my eyes.
Toshi’s head leans up to look at me as a tear streaks down my face. I wipe at it quickly, trying to keep my composure. No one around me can keep their emotions in check, so the least I can do is control mine.
One of us has to be level-headed.
“Know yours when it comes,” I say.
I grab my coat and head for the door with Penny and Hiro on my heels. The High Council of the Primals is on the other side of
Russia, at the epicenter of one of their largest cities. We hop a train and ride in silence as my mind swirls. Memories of Kyle and his kiss. His smile and his laughter. Memories of how he would hold me close to him at night and helped me discover my biggest strengths as my body continued to transform. I lean my head against the window and watch the snow-covered hills pass by. My mind wanders to Sebastian as fear clenches my heart.
The farther I get away from him, the greater it hurts.
The train dumps us at the station, and the three of us make our way through the crowd. The smell of Primals is nauseating. Cats and Bats and Wolves and Rats. Each with their own scent and their own emotions and their own speed. I can hear the blood rushing through their veins, and I can smell their lust for their mates.
My feet creep along silently as Toshi’s scent fills my nostrils.
Reminding me of the bond we had shared.
The way our bodies had synced as we drank and danced in that small village.
“Come on, Clarissa. Just a little while longer,” Hiro says.
“Shouldn't we have a plan?” Penny asks.
“We do,” I say. “We’ll have to split up. Once the Council knows I’m alive, they’ll stop at nothing to kill me.”
“Wait a second, you didn’t tell me that,” Penny says.
She gets in front of me and holds out her hand to stop me in my tracks.
“Move,” I say with a snarl.
“This isn’t a suicide mission, sweet cheeks. If you stand to lose your life from this, we need a plan,” she says.
“She’s right. Warriors with no plan are unwise. And unwise warriors deserve a fate worse than death,” Hiro says.
“That one of your delicate proverbs?” I ask.
“No, simply common sense. Cats didn’t evolve the way we have by being unwise,” he says.
“So what do you suggest we do?” I ask.
“With my pull on the Council, I can go through the main entrance.
Request an audience with the Council underneath the guise of an urgent manner. Penny, there’s a storm drain on the far western corner of the building. You can sneak into the building through there and find your way to the center of the building. That’s where the Council sits.”
“On it,” Penny says.
I watch her scurry off into the shadows before her opossum body runs around the corner and off into the distance.
“So how am I getting in there?” I ask.
“If you can stick to the shadows and camouflage your scent, there’s an unguarded door. At least, it’s unguarded during the evenings. Camouflage your scent, cover your tracks, and move with swift feet. You’ll have the toughest time getting to the middle, but it’s not hard. Follow the red stripe on the wall and keep a level head about you. Keep an ear out for my voice. Once I get to the center and start talking, you can use it to weave your way through the rest of the corridors.”
“This is pretty intricate,” I say. “When did you come up with this?”
“On the train. Your distraction was obvious.”
“Can you blame me?”
“No, but it is dangerous. I can only buy you so much time, so use it wisely.”
“Where’s this door I’ll need?” I ask.
“All the way around back. You have the farthest to travel, so use a temperate speed coupled with your light feet.”
“Got it,” I say.
“And Clarissa?”
I turn around as I slowly back my way into the shadows.
“Keep your head up,” Hiro says.
I nod and vanish into the crowd, calling on my Cat abilities to get me around back. It takes me no time to find the door he’s talking about, but it does take my Wolf strength to open the door. I’m worrying about the creaking sound it’s making. If it’s supposed to be unguarded, then that sound can alert Primals around me that something is wrong. I shut it calmly behind me and stick to the wall, my eyes darting around for the red stripe.
It takes me a few corridors, but I find it. Then, I train my ears to try and find Hiro’s voice. I catch footsteps and the scurrying of little feet. Whispering voices and a bit of laughter, but no Hiro. I slide along the wall, keeping quiet and camouflaging myself as I turn down the hallway. The building seems endless.
Like a maze meant to disorient. I focus on one hallway at a time, my hand grazing along the red stripe as I creep.
Slip.
Tip-toe and crawl.
I pass guards and servant staff. Giggling women and drunk men. A curious place for something that was supposed to be formal.
My ears are perked, and my heart is thundering loudly. My mind is trained on the task in front of me as I turn down what I hope is the last hallway. I’m growing bored with the creeping. I’m ready to be in front of these Primals so I can finally have some answers. Avenge my dead mate. Question them about Lord Wesley’s ties to cats and figure out why the hell Primals were sent to kill Kyle and not me.
But the
moment Kyle enters my mind, my camouflage is compromised.
My scent fills the hallway and my footsteps echo off the walls, and guards descend onto my body. Pulling me in all different directions and pinning my neck to the floor. I can feel teeth hovering over my neck, a Wolf ready to strike me dead if I fight back.
They pull me off the floor and toss me down the hallway, running after me and throwing me again. I fall to the floor only to be picked up again. Crashing and lifting. Heaving and hoeing. My face is bruising, and my bones are cracking, and I’m trying to listen out for Penny. Or Hiro.
Or anyone who sounds familiar.
“Someone. Anyone. Help me, please.”
My body is tossed down more hallways than I can recall scaling.
And soon, my face hits the cold pavement of a jail cell. Bars come crashing down, locking me into a small dungeon with nothing but a metal toilet in the corner to clean myself with. The guards are staring at me. Mocking me. Taunting me and poking their spears at me. I fight them off, snarling as anger fills my veins.
I can only hope Penny finds me.
I can only hope Hiro gets answers.
Because I don’t see a way out of this.
I don’t see myself getting out of this alive any longer.
Chapter 24
~ Theo
“A re you sure that’s what the prophecy says?” I ask.
“I’ve told you all I can. When the wind calls to you, you answer, Theo. You always have.”
“But that changes everything. I need to be sure.”
“I can only pass on what I have been told,” he says. “The rest is up to you.”
“I think I’ve found her. But I have to wait. I’m still not sure.”
“No.”
The whisper of the wind calls to me as I sit there with my clan leader. I am lucky enough for my clan leader to see me, but not lucky enough to stay and hear whatever else he has to say. The prophecy dictates a savior for the Primal race, but what he’s told me? After what Clarissa has been through? After what the two of us have been through?
I have to get to her. She isn’t safe without me.
“Thank you for your time,” I say. “I can’t thank you enough for seeing me.”
“Be safe on your journey, Theo. And be on the lookout for those bred for manipulation. They seek to destroy, and nothing else.”
Dread is pumping through my veins as I watch his face morph and his back straighten out. The wind is calling to him. Those from beyond are clawing at his mind. I know how it feels. I know that look in his eye. But the wind is thrashing the trees and pushing out the birds and causing the squirrels to race.
Somewhere, the spirits aren’t happy.
Somewhere, there is danger.
“Go,” my leader says.
“Russia, Theo. Go to them.”
I feel the hairs on my back standing on end. My heart slamming against my chest. I hear her voice, but I also hear the desperation. The selflessness. The need to protect. My Gia, with her darkened eyes and her soft features and her selfless nature and her loving soul.
Calling to me to help save someone else.
“Go!” my leader exclaims.
I’m on the first flight to Russia with no idea as to where I’m going. Where I’m headed. Where I’m needed. But I know the spirits will guide me. I know they will push me along my path. The spirits are restless. My ancestors are awake. The spirit of Gia
calls to me more than she ever has, and I can feel her fear coursing through my veins. The plane is small and rickety, dropping and creaking through the air as the harsh snowy tundra of the Russian landscape appears below me.
So many voices. All clamoring to my mind.
All with one specific message.
“Get to them, Theo. Get to them.”
It’s like they see something I don’t. Something I can’t. I step off the plane and weave my way through the airport as my heart begins to guide me. My soul begins to speak to me. Talking me through where I need to be and what I need to do. The voices are louder than ever, drowning out the cars rushing by and the snow falling to the ground.
It’s cold.
Comforting.
But something is very, very wrong.
I’m standing in front of a hotel, and the wind is practically pushing me. Kicking up from out of nowhere and blinding me with the harsh cold of the country. It shoves me near the door, and I start in, unsure of where I’m going or what I’m supposed to be doing.
I know I’m looking for Clarissa, but I cannot feel her. Sense her. Smell her.
She isn’t here, but I know something is.
I can feel the spirits dying down. The wind outside is calming, and my head is no longer clogged with the thoughts and wishes of those guiding me. Even Gia’s voice is melting away. I walk through the lobby of the hotel and make my way for the stairs, determining to take them one by one until I can feel my body being guided somewhere.
But the door bursts open and out pour Sebastian and Toshi, their eyes round and their bodies limping.
However, Clarissa is nowhere to be found.
“Theo?” Sebastian asks. “The hell are you doing here?”
“Where is Clarissa?” I ask. “Is she okay?”
“We don’t know,” Toshi says.
I can feel my chest clenching with a protective anger at his admission.
“What?” I ask. “How do you not know?”
“Toshi tells me Clarissa has left with Hiro and Penny to go to the Council,” Sebastian says.
“Why? Where in the world were you two?”
They trade looks between one another, and I know exactly what’s happened.
“I knew I should’ve been on this trip. I knew the two of you wouldn’t be able to keep it together,” I say. “What did you do?
Rip one another apart? Sink your teeth into each other’s jugular?
If Clarissa left you behind to heal yourselves, then that means—”
“We get it, Theo,” Sebastian growls. “Can it.”
“Can it? I stay behind because I think Clarissa’s protected and the spirits have to pull me from my own damn home because the two of you messed up?”
“Spirits?” Toshi says. “You’re a mediator?”
“Yes,” I say. “And they couldn’t get me here fast enough.”
“That’s how you found us,” Sebastian says.
“Clarissa went to the Council. Why?” I ask. “I thought you guys were here finding answers on the lead from Merti?”
“It didn’t quite pan out,” Sebastian bites.
“And what exactly does that mean?” I ask.
“It’s a long story, but it left us with more questions than answers. Hiro and Penny felt our only chance was to go to the Council, but I was healing from the wounds a rabid dog inflicted,” Toshi says.
“That’s what happens when you take advantage of Clarissa,”
Sebastian says.
“You what?” I ask. “What did you do?”
“We bonded. Nothing more. Clarissa had a rough time in the village with Sebastian, and she asked me to take her away to forget about it,” Toshi says.
“You synced,” I say.
“What if we did?” Toshi asks.
I can feel the heat rising in my body. I can hear the prophecy rolling around in my head. There’s so much they don’t know, and so much they still have to discover. And part of me isn’t
inclined to tell them. Doesn’t want to, in fact. I know Sebastian and Toshi weren’t happy with Clarissa and my actions, not that it was any of their concern.
“Did you do it to get back at me?” I ask.
“What? No. Cats are hardly that petty,” Toshi says.
“Then the only other option is that you exploited Clarissa,” I say.
“Or it could be because I love her, and she loves me back,” Toshi says.
“She just lost her mate,” I say. “She loves no one.”
“Yet you still slept with her. So who’s t
aking advantage of who?”
Sebastian asks.
Toshi’s claws are sharpened, and Sebastian’s growling at me. I roll my shoulders back and raise myself high, dwarfing the two of them in height. But the wind is kicking up, and the voices are coming back, and I can feel an unfamiliar presence washing over my body.
“We have to go find her,” I say. “Clarissa needs us.”
“I agree. Because if spirits guided you here, that means Penny lied,” Toshi says.
“What?” Sebastian asks. “What the fuck does that mean?”
“Penny mentioned in the room that she would call Theo to update him and possibly get him here. But if he didn’t receive a call, that means she didn’t do it,” Toshi says.
“I got a call from no one,” I say.
“I knew there was something off about that opossum. She stunk,”
Sebastian says.
“They all stink,” I say. “They’re scavengers.”
“We have to get to the Council,” Sebastian says. “With Hiro and his uninterpreted message Toshi experienced along with the blatant lie from Penny? She isn’t in a good situation.”
“How far away is the Council from here?” I ask.
“By car? Five hours. But we could hop a train and be there in half the time,” Toshi says.
I’m trying to keep my temper under control, but it’s hard. I cannot believe the two of them allowed their petty rival over a woman who isn’t ready to move on and claim another mate get in
the way of things. They wounded one another, that much is obvious. Toshi is hunched, and Sebastian is limping. And their anger and hatred toward each other’s species blinded them to how much Clarissa needed us. How she needed us to be strong for her during this journey she’s on. I clench my teeth and close my eyes, trying to pull myself away from the voices shouting in my head.
“We have to go,” I say. “We’re wasting time. We have to find Clarissa. Toshi, have you come across any idea as to what Hiro’s words in Thailand meant?”
I see realization wash over his face, and it takes all I have to not throw him against a wall.
“Hiro’s really taken a backseat during all of this, hasn’t he?”
Toshi asks.
“Did you forget?” Sebastian growls.
“Sebastian, stop it. The two of you just healed from whatever fight you thought was appropriate. We have to go,” I say.