The folder falls out of my hand as I fall to the floor, clasping my hands over my mouth as I let out a silent scream.
Toshi wraps his arms around me. “Shh.”
“It says here that your mother was one of the...participants of Project Eden,” Sebastian says, reading from the folder, though his words seem to float in and out of my head. “It was an experiment designed to...”
He stops.
“What?” I ask him, barely able to speak.
Sebastian closes the folder and swallows. “The experiment was conducted to create human females who could become mates for primals.”
“What? How?”
“A serum was administered on females who were carrying female fetuses.”
In other words, pregnant women were experimented on, including my mother.
I throw up.
Toshi, studiously avoids looking at me, but hands me a handkerchief all the same.
I take it, wiping my mouth. “Thanks.”
“You were one of those fetuses,” Sebastian continues, as he continues reading the file.
His eyes meet mine, which grow wide as realization sinks in.
No.
Suddenly, Toshi stands up. “They’re here.”
Before I can ask who they ar
e, a leopard pounces from the darkness, followed by others. In the blink of an eye, Toshi transforms into a huge, black cat, Sebastian turning into a Wolf before he leaps in front of me.
I run. There’s nowhere to hide in this room. The next offers a desk. It’s not much but it’s somewhere to go. The men hold their ground behind me somewhere. They’ll face whatever this is head on.
Just stay put.
Sebastian’s warning is unnecessary. I’m not going anywhere.
Outside in the hallway I hear the fighting get into full swing. Growls and hisses fill the air. I hear bodies crash against the walls. Furniture breaks. Instruments clatter to the floor. How many of them were there? Will my two be able to hold? What if they get hurt? What if they die and all I’m doing is cowering under a desk. Useless. Unnecessary. I look around for something to use as a weapon but come up blank. I don’t know how to fight, but I need to learn.
I hear a yelp. Like an injured dog. Sebastian? I reach for his mind but draw a blank. It’s like he’s not even there anymore.
I’m going to be sick.
I don’t have time.
The desk above me suddenly disappears, tossed away by a man in black, a mischievous grin on his face.
“Found you.”
He points a dart gun at me.
Clarissa!
At the last second, I manage to move, avoiding the dart by an inch.