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  “You are here for my help, so you can’t hide it from me,” he says with his hand on his hips.

  “I’m here for Theo and Toshi’s help,” I snap back. “And if you happen to be of some use then so be it, but I meant what I said back in that barn.”

  I walk forward waving my finger at Sebastian, watching him back up toward the bush. I stop, shaking my head at him, realizing that now is not the time to flip out again. I have a mission, and I need to get on top of it before whoever did this to Kyle gets away. This is no time to rehash old wounds. I look over at Penny and tilt my head to the side. I like her. She has spirit, and she obviously doesn’t take any shit.

  “Will you help me?” I ask.

  “Me?” She smiles. “Of course, I will. I wouldn’t be here on this hill catching ol’ peeping Tom over here if I weren’t here to help you.”

  “Remember what I told you,” Sebastian says pointing his finger at Penny.

  “Okay, okay,” she says, putting her hands up and leaning toward me. “This one has some serious rage issues if you know what I mean.”

  Sebastian rolls his eyes and turns around, looking in the other direction. I can tell he is still listening though, and I know that he isn’t going to let me get away with this on my own. I turn back to Penny, getting serious for a moment.

  “Have you met the others?”

  “No,” she says shaking her head. “Old Red over here won’t let me off the hill.”

  “Okay, well if he isn’t going to help, I’m sure I can sniff them out,” I reply looking around. “Most likely they aren’t too far away since they all need to get together to talk and plan their next moves.”

  “Damn, you’re so stubborn,” Sebastian growls, turning around and throwing his hands up in the air. “If I don’t help you, you are going to do this anyway, aren’t you?”

  “Yes,” I reply nodding my head dramatically.

  “And you are not the least bit concerned with what that will do to our kind?” he asks.

  “As far as I am concerned, it shouldn’t affect any of the Primals except the ones that killed my husband.” My lip is starting to quiver, but I hold back the emotion. “And I don’t care if it puts me in danger. My life was done the moment that Primal ripped Kyle’s face off his body. I won’t rest until they are dead and then whatever happens next—so be it.”

  Chapter 5

  ~ Theo

  Istand in the Chief’s quarters, nodding my head, listening intently. I know that it is dangerous coming to him, but I know no other way to get the information I need. If the council sanctioned this attack on Clarissa, I need to know. My chief is the man that will tell me straight, and I know I can trust him to not repeat our conversation. I want to know who killed Kyle but at the same time, I need to protect Clarissa. I’ve made it my mission, and I am not as sure as the others that she isn’t the girl in my prophecy.

  “Thank you, Chief,” I whisper, bowing my head.

  “Be careful, Theo,” he replies. “There are many out there who would deceive you. You know the path, and you can look to your ancestors to guide you.”

  I nod and turn, walking from the room. As I walk, I think about the circumstances that have arisen. I didn’t know if the others cared to find Kyle’s killer, but I know they are all hell-bent on keeping Clarissa safe. And that is the only reason I stick around with these fools. I would rather have her on my boat in the middle of nowhere, fishing, talking, and knowing for certain no cats were going to come lurking through the cold ocean waters.

  But that isn’t what she wants, and I care for her and want to make sure that she is safe and happy.

  The trip back to the factory is a long one, but I am used to walking, and it gives me a chance to clear my mind. As I walk across the field adjacent to the building, I can see people in the window. Instantly I am on alert. There shouldn’t be anyone but maybe Toshi back there, and Sebastian is supposed to be watching Clarissa. I creep as quietly as my big body can creep through the doorway and down the hall. As I stand there, I can hear a voice flutter through the wind, calling out Clarissa’s name.

  Immediately I turn the corner, ready to fight, thinking she is in danger, but instead I find her, Sebastian, and some short dark-

  haired girl standing in the sunlight talking. Sebastian looks irritated, but for the first time since she got married, Clarissa has a smile on her face. She looks up, and her eyes grow bright, forcing a sheepish smile on my face. She takes off toward me, running quickly into my open arms.

  “Oh, Theo.” She sighs. “It’s so good to see you.”

  “You too,” I whisper. “What are you doing here? Are you okay? I’m so sorry about Kyle. I wanted to come, to hug you so tight, but I am, let’s face it, a bit conspicuous.”

  “It’s alright.” She giggles. “I was in a dark place, and I needed time to figure out what my next plans are.”

  “And have you done that?” I ask.

  “Yeah,” Sebastian growls. “She is on a suicide mission.”

  I look back down at Clarissa and tilt my head as she turns back, rolling her eyes. She pats my chest, looking away from my eyes, contemplating how to explain. I wait patiently, wanting to hear what she has to say but already feeling uncomfortable about it.

  “Kyle was my choice,” she says, looking up at me with her big eyes. “I love him, always will, but I cannot spend the rest of my life sitting there, on my Ma’s porch, staring out at every single sunrise and sunset, hoping that my heart doesn’t explode. The world will continue to move forward, with or without me, and if it’s going to be one of those, it’s going to do it without those scumbag lifeless ass holes that killed my husband.”

  “Wow,” I reply. “I don’t like that at all.”

  “See,” Sebastian says. “I’m not the only one who thinks it’s a bad idea.”

  “BUT,” I reply holding up my hands. “I do know what it feels like to lose the person you love the most, to want to have revenge, to want to set the world straight. I don’t like it, Clarissa, but I will help you in any way that I can.”

  “Oy,” Sebastian scoffs, throwing his hands up in the air.

  “See?” the brown hair girl says. “The big man knows how to be a good friend.”

  “Thank you,” Clarissa mouths to me, reaching up and kissing me on the cheek.

  Her touch always makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck.

  She is so beautiful, so pure and being around her again feels good. Still, I know she is hurting, and this isn’t like the last time. We can’t fight over her heart because it already belongs to someone else. Sebastian turns back to the brown-haired girl and

  begins to talk to her pointedly. Before Clarissa can walk back, I reach out and pull her to the side.

  “Do you want to talk to Kyle?” I ask.

  Her eyes get big and fill with tears almost instantly, but before answering, she lets out the air in her lungs and shakes her head.

  “I think first I need to find his killers,” she says. “Avenge him first, and then I can talk to him. I don’t want to spend that time arguing over my choice, and I know he won’t be happy.”

  “I understand,” I reply. “Now, who is that?”

  I point to the girl arguing with Sebastian, getting on his last nerve and laughing the entire time. Clarissa giggles and motions for me to follow her. We approach the two and I stand, my arms crossed over my chest, unsure about someone new in the circle.

  “Penny,” Clarissa says. “I want you to meet Theo, he’s a—”

  “Bear of a man,” she says smiling and shaking my hand. “Get it?

  BEAR of a man. I kill myself with this.”

  “Nice to meet you.” I chuckle. “But what are you doing here with us?”

  “Oh,” Clarissa says. “She has some information that should help us find the killers.”

  “That’s right,” Penny says, grabbing a metal rob from a pile in the corner and turning toward the wall. “Clarissa, Theo, Rover, if you would all join around.
”

  Sebastian shakes his head and walks over, throwing me a glance. I watch as Penny begins to draw on the wall, focusing on the intricate details of a symbol of sorts. When she is done, she stands to the side, her face no longer smiling, her demeanor more serious. The crest was similar to that of the council’s, a shield with the different species of Primal, only with this one, the Cat was the largest, centered, two snakes at its feet, a crown on its head.

  “This is the symbol, the complete symbol I told Sebastian about,”

  she says. “The short symbol is this.”

  She quickly draws a box on the wall, putting two large eyes in the center and an “X” below it. I have to admit, I have never seen anything like it before, but from the look on Clarissa’s face, she has. I reach forward and put my hand on her shoulder as she shakes her head, her hand over her mouth.

  “That was at the body,” she says quietly.

  “I know,” Penny says in a caring tone.

  “But who does it belong to?” Sebastian asks.

  “Well, at first I had no idea,” she says. “I knew there was something afoot, and I snuck up in the house in animal form as the police did their work. It was the first thing I noticed, but unless you were looking for something, or had an idea that it was foul play, you would have seen nothing more than some small scribbles on the floor, dusted it off and left. I have an excellent memory, so, I went back to my place, and drew it out. I have some buddies over at the Council, so I asked them to look into it. The first one had no idea but the second barely wanted to talk about it.”

  “The Council?” I ask. “But I was just with my Chief. He told me that he has no information and has no knowledge of any move by the Council to go after Clarissa.”

  “The Chief knows?” Clarissa asks, turning around.

  “My Chief is trustworthy,” I reply. “And I need an eye in the council to make sure that nobody is talking about it.”

  She nods her head and looks back to Penny.

  “Your Chief, he’s right,” Penny says, shaking her stick. “There has been no conscious choice by the council to attack Clarissa or even any knowledge she exists.”

  “What do you mean by conscious choice?” Sebastian asks stepping forward, narrowing his eyes.

  “That’s where this symbol comes in,” she goes on. “There is an elite group of warriors, trained in secrecy, not under the control of the Council, but lead by, and this is all rumor, but lead by someone with power. Possibly even someone close to the men on the Council.”

  “Wait, wait,” Sebastian says. “You are telling me that the Council is possibly breached? I don’t know. I don’t buy that.

  This group of ‘Elite Warriors’ where are they from? Are they Primal? What would they want with Clarissa?”

  “Those are all good questions,” Penny replies. “Ones I don’t have the answers for yet.”

  “He might,” Toshi says, walking in behind us with an older gentleman dressed in traditional Japanese robes.

  His eyes glow like Toshi’s, his long white hair falling around his face. He is nimble for a very old man, and I have a feeling that I should not in any way underestimate him. I step to the side and let the two pass.

  “Oh great, another cat,” Sebastian groans. “It’s a real fucking zoo in here now.”

  I notice Clarissa give Sebastian a scathing glance.

  “This is Hiro,” Toshi says, looking over at Clarissa and winking.

  “Tell them what you told me, Hiro.”

  “The Elite force are real,” he says. “They are old-school warrior ninjas.”

  “And how do you know this?” Clarissa asks. “I mean none of us have seen them before or heard of them before.”

  “You wouldn’t,” he says. “They are underground, trained in complete secrecy, no touch with the outside world unless sent out on a mission. They are deadly assassins more well-trained than any before. They study the ancient techniques and answer to only one person.”

  “And who would that be old man?” Sebastian asks.

  “I don’t know who they answer to now,” he says.

  “Okay,” I reply. “Then who did they answer to before. Maybe we can find that person and get more information.”

  “Well, that will be simple.” He smiles. “They answered to me.”

  I look up at Clarissa and squint my eyes. There is something about this that I can’t quite put my finger on, but I don’t like the feeling it gives me. I have been the first to forgive Toshi for betraying us in the past, but I have not forgotten the ways of the cat. The bears are wise. We keep our secrets close to the chest, and we watch everything and everyone. Most importantly, we don’t forget when someone betrays us. If they did it once, then they can do it again.

  Clarissa, however, seems to not be as skeptical, moving quickly to Toshi and Hiro and plaguing them with questions. The old man seems legit, and there is no question he is a Cat, but that doesn’t make me feel any better. We all know the Cat is cunning, doing for itself, and for his own best interest. Even an old one like that would have a motive, and whether Toshi knew about it or not is irrelevant. I know I need to keep this close to the chest and keep my eye on everything from here on out. Things just got serious.

  Chapter 6

  ~ Sebastian

  Staring out the window , I think about the last time we brought a cat into the mix. He fought me on everything, stole Clarissa away for two days and we had no idea where she had gone, almost got her killed, oh yea, and betrayed us. To top it all off, he is

  still here, standing behind me, as much a part of the team as I am. It drives me nuts. If it was only a matter of the history between our kinds, that would be one thing. I could get past that. I could even get past the part where he betrayed us to get to Clarissa. I know firsthand how hard it is to stay away from the girl, but it’s not only those things. As a whole, the cat species are selfish, lazy, they only do for themselves, and they can’t even trust each other. Suffice it say, the last thing I feel like we need on this team is a cat.

  Now, I have learned to live with Toshi, even though every time I’m around him I want to rip his pointed little ears out of his skull. But now there is going to be two of them. And not two of them like Toshi, but one with a long history and a past in training fucking ninjas. Seriously? We want a guy on our team that trained ninjas. I didn’t even want to hear him out.

  “I just want to say,” I speak out loud, turning around. “I want to go on record and say that I think it is a terrible idea to bring another cat into this group.”

  “Okay, here we go,” Toshi says rolling his eyes.

  “You betrayed us. You almost got us all killed. You came back, but you fight everything, and now you want us to trust another one?” I scoff and shake my head. “I mean come the fuck on.”

  “Let me ask you, Sebastian,” Toshi says in a childish tone. “What have you done lately? Hmmm? Sit on a hill and watch Clarissa all day. Meanwhile, I am out on the streets putting my ass on the line to bring back the break we have been looking for. You brought an opossum.”

  “Hey,” Penny says pouting.

  “Sorry,” Toshi says putting out his hand. “No offense.”

  “None taken,” she says, nodding her head firmly.

  “Look, Sebastian,” Clarissa replies, walking toward me. “I know this is hard for you, but don’t you think we should hear him out at least?”

  “Fine,” I reply. “By all means hear out Mr. Miyagi.”

  “Hey, calm your racism bro,” Toshi says. “Besides, Pat Morita is way better in Happy Days. He was way underrated in that film.”

  “Whatever, get on with it.” I throw my hands up in the air and walk over to sit down on the floor with everyone else.

  I look over at Theo who is desperately trying to get comfortable on the floor, his massive muscles making it hard for him to cross his legs. We are quite the crew, the giant Bear, the idiot Opossum, the old ass Cat, and the asinine traitor. It is like a

  comedy sho
w that I can’t seem to get away from. All of it is for Clarissa though, and I can’t ever walk away from that again. I have already done enough damage in her life, and if I have to stand by and watch her put her life on the line for revenge, then I guess I have no choice in the matter.

  “A long time ago, a legion of ninja warriors was created in the shadows of the Tsubakuro Mountains near the Nagano Prefecture,”

  Hiro explains. “At the time, there was an uprising in the Primal, a fear that they would overthrow the Japanese Emperor. Now, back then the Primal had been regarded as creatures of the gods, respected, given a seat at the table. However, after they were overthrown, they were cast out, left to fend for themselves, and many perished. The Council, meeting in secret, created the legion, the Elite Force of ninja warriors that were tasked with taking down those that had put us out in the cold. Through time there were many teachers, but I was the last employed by the Council.”

  “So, the Council knows about them?” Clarissa asks confused.

  “No,” Hiro replies. “They were disbanded, taken care of, but there were a couple who managed to get away. They started a new Elite Force, and they had me train them. Back then it sounded like a good idea. They were marketing themselves as warriors of the shadows. Those who could protect the Primal that could not protect themselves.”

  “Like vigilantes,” Theo adds.

  “Yes, of sorts,” he replies.

  “So how did they go from that to Primal Ninja’s that kill humans?” Clarissa asks. “They killed my husband on our wedding night. They ravaged his body and left it there with that calling card.”

  She points to the wall behind her, a pleading in her voice. I can tell she is trying to understand, to grasp at anything that would make this tragedy intelligible. There is nothing, though. I know that already, and it kills me to see her like that.

  “I’m not sure when the exact moment was that they switched,” Hiro says. “But the ninjas I trained were not the ninjas that would do that to your husband. Someone has taken over, and they have taken this group down a dark path, one which I do not agree. They have affected many, like Penny’s husband, who was recruited and brainwashed by what is now a cult, not a righteous group of warriors.”