“Which is why you can’t fight in it,” Sebastian says.
“And what do you have to say for yourself, hmm?” Clarissa asks.
“I’m sorry. My jaw is still recuperating,” I say. “Unless of course, you’ll let me speak.”
“No, actually. I won’t. Toshi’s been taken, and I’m going after him. I can’t save Kyle—”
I see her fighting back tears as she rolls her shoulders back.
“I can’t save Kyle, but I can save Toshi. Him and I? We’re synced. Marked. If something happens to him, I would know it. I would feel it. Toshi’s still alive, and I’m going after him.”
“You can’t,” Sebastian growls.
“And why not?” she asks.
“Because you’re pregnant!” Theo bellows.
“And here we go,” I say.
Clarissa’s face falls, and her eyes shoot over to mine. I hold up my hands in mock surrender, but I can tell she’s getting ready to haul off and hit me again. I dodge her attempt and grab her wrist, then twist it behind her back. My lips fall to her ear and I shush her lowly, allowing a growl to rumble from my stomach against her back.
“Let me go,” she says.
She pulls away from me and whips herself around.
“In my defense, Theo was the one who pulled us aside to tell us,” I say.
“Thanks for that,” Theo says.
“You’re the one who threw it out there like a bellowing maniac,” I say.
“And who told you?” she asks.
All of us turn to look at Theo, and I shrug my shoulders.
“We’ve got a war coming, but now’s good I guess,” I say.
“Joel,” Theo says with a sigh.
Clarissa growls as she turns her head back to the cottage. Josie and Joel are standing on their porch, their weapons in hand and their eyes locking onto us. I have half a mind to reach out for Clarissa again just to make sure she doesn’t try to kill them both.
Because I can smell her anger permeating the air.
“You’re not keeping me out of this fight,” Clarissa says. “I have to protect my child.”
“By throwing yourself into the middle of a battle?” Sebastian asks.
“No, by making sure there isn’t another battle to wage. This world has to be safe for whatever’s growing inside of me. Because, and let’s face it, we don’t know what it will be. Human or Primal. And if it’s Primal, we don’t know what powers it will have. What my delivery will be like. Nothing. We know nothing. And so long as the threat of extinction or war looms over us because of this bullshit Council, we’ll never be safe. My child will never be safe.”
“Spoken like a true mother,” I say with a grin.
“I’m going to fight. I’m going to bring back Toshi. And then I’m going home,” Clarissa says.
“You’re not going anywhere,” Sebastian says growling.
“Watch me,” she says.
She runs past Sebastian at lightning speed and crashes him into the ground. Full force. Blinding speed. And it leaves me stunned. I take off after her, no longer caring about what Sebastian and Theo decide to do. Clarissa’s going to do what she wants, and someone has to be there to make sure she doesn’t get herself killed. If she wants to fight, then she’ll have me as backup.