Chapter 10
~ Clarissa
The flight to Barbados is nice, quiet, and everyone has their minds in the right place. Theo is talking quietly in the back to his spirits while Sebastian chats with Penny kindly for the first time since she has arrived. Toshi is in a playful mood, tossing a small ball around as Hiro sleeps in the seat next to him. We chartered a small private plane to get us to Barbados, not feeling like dealing with the chaos of a commercial flight. It isn’t anything fancy, but it’s just us, and that is safest at this point. The last thing I want is to be attacked, midflight, with a plane full of humans. No one would make it out alive on that one.
As we slowly begin to descend toward Sir Grantley Adams airport, I can see the beauty of the island even from high up as we are.
It is a place I will be coming back to for a vacation if I survive all of this. I buckle my belt and brace myself for landing, knowing these small planes can be bumpy. Sebastian looks over at me and smiles sweetly sending a flash of heat to my chest. I look away, not wanting to think about that right now. I have to keep my focus.
Once we land, we are ushered out the front where we take a cab to the less touristy side of the island. That is where the remaining rainforest grows, untouched by the sugar plantations, still brimming with life. It is hot here, but sunny and beautiful and I
look over at Theo, smirking at the sweat pouring from his strong brow. He really wants to protect me, willingly coming to these hot locations, that is for sure. He has to be about a million degrees on the inside.
Penny and I follow along at the back, keeping a lookout for followers and allowing Sebastian to cut us a way through the thickness of the forest. As it was in the last forest, the thick trees and wild vines lay waste at the foot of a large structure, this one not as old as the other, and seemingly more well-kept.
Sebastian puts his hand up and motions for us to take the edge of the forest, unsure if anyone is still inside the structure. Toshi stands in the back, taking off his clothes and morphing into his cat, this time larger than before, and much fiercer. I have no idea he can pick what size he wants to be. He saunters over next to me and rubs his big furry face against mine before pouncing from the shadows and running into the tunnel in the front.
My hand runs along the ground below me, and I look down, staring at something furry and fuzzy. It is a tiny little caterpillar, its back looking like a set of eyes. I smile watching it inch along, no worries in the world except what is in front of it. It would be nice to not think about where I have been, only to look forward to where I am going. Then again, without my past on my mind, I would never be able to understand where I am going in life. Unfortunately, my only issues aren’t limited to finding food and shelter. It would be nice if they were.
I look up at the sound of Toshi’s paws patting across the cement.
He morphs back into his human and dresses, nodding over at Sebastian.
“It’s all clear,” he whispers. “But we only missed them by a day or so, so let’s keep our ears perked.”
“Got it,” I whisper.
Carefully we make our way through the tunnels, bringing us into an enclosed arena, much like the other, only covered, and with little decay to the building. This place is smaller, only two other rooms, one looking like a bunking area with pads on the floor, and the other a private quarter of some sort. Everything is empty except for a couple trinkets and old weapons on the ground.
“Gus,” Penny gasps.
I whip around to see Penny leaning over and picking up a letter off the ground, holding it to her chest, and she instantly starts weeping. I don’t understand what is happening. She looks over at me with tears streaming down her face.
“This was a letter I sent him in training,” she gasps. “He was here.”
My heart instantly breaks for her, and I take a step forward, ready to comfort her. Before I can, though, Sebastian walks over, and I watch as Penny throws herself into his arms. Immediately I turn away, feeling a twinge of jealousy in my throat. I hate that I feel that way, that I can’t just let it go. This is the way all of them felt when I was trying to decide who I wanted, who I was even. It isn’t fair of me to ask more from any of them, especially Sebastian who had gone against his instincts, pulled away and then sat quietly by, yearning for me as his mate.
I turn to my left, noticing an indentation in the wall with a large round circle next to it. Something is etched into the stone, something that as I draw closer looks more and more familiar. I stop in front of it and run my hand down the stone, realizing that it is the same symbol found at Kyle’s body. I look to my right, but no one else is there so I press the stone button, pushing it inward. As the wall begins to shake, I step back, watching the dust fly up. What I thought was an indentation is a door, which slides open to reveal a dark room inside.
Carefully I step forward, feeling the wall for any kind of lighting source. My hand runs over a small round switch that I turn, stopping as a loud motor whirls in front of me. The lights flicker above my head, and I realize that what is in front of me is a generator pumping energy into a secret office.
I gasp, walking into the room looking around at the books stacked on the shelves. They must have had to leave in a hurry, surrendering the contents of the room. I walk over to a large desk, mostly empty, with three maps set across the top. On these maps there are three separate places circled, Norway, Thailand, and Hawaii. I pick up the maps and examine them further, noticing that there is a bullseye on each one. These places had to be of significance, whether they were training facilities or the location of someone or something important.
“ There’s a secret passage on the Northwest corner of the building. Look for the light. Bring everyone. I’ve found something,” I communicate with Sebastian.
“ On our way ,” he replies.
I look up at the walls, staring at pictures of Japan, old Japanese proverbs scrolled across the bottom. They are all in Japanese, and I can’t make them out, but from the pictures, I assume they have to do with battle. I walk over and touch one of the woven cloths on the wall. It is so beautiful, so meticulous, and I wonder who took the time to create it. The tapestry is certainly not from this time period, and probably not meant for this evil version of the Elite.
“They are ceremonial robes, pieces of them,” Toshi says entering the room with the others. “They are probably part of the ones taken when the original Elite murdered the dynasty humans.”
I pull my hand away quickly, now noticing the red stains on the edges of the cloth. Evil or not, the men of the dynasty were murdered by these ninjas, and I’m not sure whether my allegiance should be to the humans or the Primal. Both had done me wrong in life, both had changed me, but where I fell on the spectrum was somewhere off the charts. I turn and set the maps down, telling myself it isn’t time for a philosophical conversation.
“I found these,” I say, laying them down on the desk. “They look to be important. Thailand, Hawaii, and Norway are all circled. I think this is the ne
xt clue to where we need to be.”
I look up at Hiro who bows his head in agreeance. I don’t need confirmation, but he is the closest to these men that it gets. He knows how they work, how they train, how their minds are sewn.