“Why? What does she look like?” Theo asks. He doesn’t sound happy.
“She’s a ghost,” I say. Then I shake my head. “No. At least, ghosts are souls. Clarissa doesn’t have a soul left in her. She’s...broken, empty.”
“What?” Theo’s voice rises.
“Calm down.” Toshi stands up. “She’s shell-shocked, yes. Anyone would be. But she’ll recover.”
“Are you sure?” I whirl around to face him. “Because I’m not.”
“She will be fine,” Sebastian says.
I point a finger at him. “You’d love to see her get better, don’t you? Because then you could fuck her since you happen to be compatible and all. After all, it’s what you’ve been wanting to do. I bet you must be happy to...”
He pushes me off and I land on the bed. I pick myself up quickly, though, going at him with clenched fists.
“Whoa!” Toshi stands between us. “Now is not the time to fight.”
“If punching me will make you feel better, go ahead,” Sebastian taunts me. “It won’t hurt a bit.”
I glare at him, my nails digging into my palms, my heart pounding so hard I fear it might burst any second.
“Guys,” Theo speaks.
Toshi grabs my shoulder. Holding me back before I do something stupid. “Easy, Kyle.”
I shrug his hand off. “What? Don’t you say I’m wrong or pretend you don’t feel the same. You all feel the same. You all just want to fuck her now that you know she’s a universal broodmare.”
“Stop it, Kyle,” Theo warns. “You’re not helping.”
“Fine, I’ll admit it,” Toshi tells me. “I want her, but then, I wanted her even before I learned all about this fucked up Eden stuff.”
Sebastian growls.
“And so do you,” Toshi adds.
I snort. “I’m her best friend.”
Toshi chuckles. “Who’s pretending now?”
This time it’s him I try to punch, but he dodges.
“Missed,” he teases, grinning.
I rub my fist. “Why, you...”
“Stop it, all of you!” Theo shouts. “We should be thinking right now of Clarissa’s safety and nothing else.”
“He’s right,” Sebastian says. “One of those Cats said someone will come for Clarissa. He said they’re too powerful and she’s too precious. We have to come up with a plan to protect her.”
“Oh, now you want to protect her,” I sneer. “After putting her in danger.”
“Kyle!” I barely even hear Theo’s shout.
“It would be nice to have the calm and smart Kyle back about right now,” Toshi says.
I glare at him.
I still want to punch him but I, too, know Theo’s right. We shouldn’t be squabbling right now. We shouldn’t let our egos or testosterone take over. As much as I hate it, we should be working together for Clarissa’s sake, to keep her out of the hands of those...monsters. They had their way with Clarissa’s mother. They can’t have their way with her.