Casmas Clan: Josiah and Clara
Chapter Sixteen

~ Present: Clara Clara came to a stop when she reached the playground and blinked several times. 'What the hell was the old coot doing?' An elderly man in a bright red Speedo was attempting to do breaststroke in the south side sandbox. She felt nauseous just staring at the sight.

Turning away, Clara headed in the direction of the food cart and small dining area. She hadn't eaten anything all day, and even though the old man had made her nearly ill, she had to eat something.

Clara stopped several feet away from the food cart. Josiah sat in the small dining area, looking around at everyone inside the park. She wanted to talk to him, demand to know why he had dragged her along all those years when their time together never mattered to him. Lifting her head higher when his gaze finally landed on her, Clara turned on a heel to leave the playground. Guess she would just return home, deal with her father, and grab something to eat while she was at it. After that, she could also start draining the basement. She remembered seeing a five-gallon bucket in the attic, it should do nicely.

Clara hadn't made it halfway down the sidewalk before someone grabbed onto her arm and swung her around to face them. Clara had to look up, way up, to glare into the face that had been haunting her dreams this past month. Anger filled Clara. How dare he treat her this way after the bullshit he had pulled? Clara yanked on her arm to force him to release her. She wouldn't let him treat her this way when they were still together, she damn sure wasn't going to let him do it now either!

"Let me go, Josiah. You have no right to touch me. No right to treat me this way."

"I don't?"

Josiah raised a cocky eyebrow, causing her anger to snap. Since he still refused to release her arm, Clara rose up on tiptoes and slapped him as hard as she could. The damn man still didn't let her go.

"No, you don't! You were the one who decided we were nothing. You were the one who said I couldn't be anywhere around you. Or talk to you. Let me go, and leave me alone from now on."

"It's not going to happen, Clara. Now come, we need to have a discussion."

As if he gave her any choice in the matter. Josiah gripped her arm tighter, to keep her from attempting to escape, and led her down the sidewalk to an empty, newly built house across the walkway from her own. The paw print beside the door made her balk.

"What are you doing, Josiah? This is the Casmás Den!"

"Don't worry, Clara. It will be ok."

~ Josiah Josiah led Clara into the middle of Dermet's house. The entire floor was completely exposed; it only held a few columns here and there to support the second floor. Making the place airy and open. Stopping beside a pillar, Josiah turned to stare down at Clara. He had screwed up his relationship with her so badly; he feared she would never forgive him.

Josiah closed his eyes and sighed deeply. How was he supposed to know that day two months ago that Harvey wasn't there to harm Clara? That the Clan had known for some time he was with her? Or even that the Clan knew of his impending fatherhood long before he did, all because Clara's OB-GYN was a member of the Clan?

Josiah opened his eyes as he shook his head. Man, he screwed up so badly. His only defense, if you could even call it that, was he hadn't known how the feline Clan dynamic worked. He didn't know they accepted, and even welcomed, relationships with humans. Josiah had felt so stupid when Dermet went off on him shortly after he broke up with Clara. Hopefully, he could fix his mistake and she would take him back.

Josiah raised both hands to Clara's cheeks as he brought his forehead down to hers.

"I'm sorry, Clara. So very sorry for hurting you the way I did. I had never thought I would, or ever wanted to. You're everything to me."

"Then why did you? If I mean so damn much to you, as you claim, then why did you tear out my heart and shred it to pieces?"

Josiah flinched; he couldn't help it, at the agony in her voice. He had caused all that pain within her. No one else, just him. How could he have allowed this to happen? Why did he allow his past to interfere with his relationship with Clara? "I thought the Casmás Clan would kill you for being with me. I broke it off with you, so they wouldn't know how serious our relationship actually was."

~ Clara Clara's face lost all color and she felt faint. Why would the Casmás Clan want her dead for being with Josiah? It just didn't make sense. He was human, why would they want to control him? Wait, was he human? She tilted her head back and stared up into his agony filled light brown eyes. There were a couple of times when she would look into his eyes and swear something else lurked within them. That didn't matter for the moment, she would demand that answer later. There was a more pressing question for now.

"Are they going to kill me?"

"No, they won't. But we are going to. And we're going to enjoy every second of it too."