Primals (Reverse Harem 1)

Sebastian grabs his neck. “How did you know we’re here?”

“We knew you’d come,” the man answers. “Ever since we found out someone was asking questions, we knew you’d eventually find this place.”

“Who are you?” Sebastian asks.

The man doesn’t answer, looking at me. “You’re her, aren’t you? Eve. The only survivor of Project Eden. We thought you were dead.”

Project Eden? So, he does know those monsters.

“What did you do to my mother? To my father?”

“No men were held here. Your mother...she was wonderful. It’s too bad she died but at least, you lived. You are the hope and salvation of all primals.”

“Who are you working for?” Sebastian asks, gripping his neck tighter. “I won’t ask again.”

“They’ll come for you,” he goes on, staring at me. “They are too powerful and you are too precious.”

“Who’s coming?” Sebastian demands.

“You can’t escape your destiny, Eve.”

“Tell me who you’re working for!” Sebastian shouts.

The man falls silent, saying nothing. Nor will he. He’s dead.

I fall on my knees on the floor slowly, my vision and thoughts a blur.

I already suspected my parents didn’t die from an accident, but to know my mother was abducted, kept here against her will and experimented on? And to know that I’m...a product of some scientific experiment?

“Clarissa.” I barely hear Sebastian’s voice, the noise in my head drowning it. “Are you alright?”

As I open my mouth, the remaining contents of my stomach spew out to form a puddle in front of me.

Yeah, just fine.

Chapter Eighteen

~ Kyle

CLARISSA IS A MESS.

Not that she looks like it now, since she’s sleeping soundly on the bed, her hair a winding russet - caramel river across one of the several, huge pillows creating a fort around her, the sheets tucked up to her armpits.

But I know what I saw.

She looked like a zombie that had just come out of its grave, her hair messier than a dropped plate of noodles, her shirt torn in places, her khaki pants stained with blood. Even Sebastian looked better than her. The worst part, though, was that her shoulders wouldn’t stop shaking, and when I grabbed her to look into her eyes, all I saw past the tears that wouldn’t stop spilling over, was fear and devastation. Empty holes with barely a soul staring out.

Clarissa came to Africa to find answers. Instead, she seems to have lost herself.

I wasn’t even sure if she remembered me because she didn’t say a word to me or hug me back when I wrapped her in my arms. She just stood in them until her knees gave way, then she cried until exhaustion finally took over. Of course, she didn’t remember that I had something important to tell her when she returned.

How can I tell her now? It would be the height of selfishness to push my own feelings for her on those fragile shoulders. She doesn’t even know me right now. And truth be told, I’m not all that sure I know her.

I hunch over, resting my elbows on my knees, burying my face in my hands in frustration.

What exactly happened at that facility?

Knuckles tap on the door and I lift my head. “What?”