Page 16 of Pet: Torment

I quietly approach the glass as I study him. He’s sitting in the snow, his back to me, as he meditates. He’s been like this for the past hour since we returned, his body barely moving even as he breathes. But I do notice his hair gently floats at the ends. It reminds me of the times he released his true power on Earth—when he wiped out the rebels and when he took down the resistance.

I chuckle to myself as I watch him now.

It’s terrifying to think something like him exists. We are all at the mercy of his patience. I move to the edge of the glass, pulling on my boots before motioning the gesture Remus taught me, and the glass shifts, curving so that it opens in an arch big enough for me to move through.

I flinch as the chill in the air whips around me. It sinks into my skin much faster than it would on Earth, stinging my flesh.

“Remus,” I say his name, but he doesn’t hear me.

“Remus,” I try again. He still doesn’t respond. He’s eerily still. I slowly move around him, my eyes falling over his unmoving form. It’s unnerving seeing him like this. He’s like a statue as I study his blank expression with his eyes closed. I note his lashes are white as well as I study him meditating. And as I slowly movemy fingers toward his face, I release a soft gasp when there’s a slight resistance against my fingers, like an invisible force field.

“Ah!” I scream as Remus suddenly grips my wrist, his eyes opening. An audible gasp escapes my lips as his eyes meet mine. They’re pitch black. The inner circle is so dilated that the purple sits in a dark corner at the edge of his gaze. Slowly, his eyes shift back to their natural form until he looks at me in confusion.

“What are you doing out here?” he asks.

He barely waits for a response as he pulls me quickly back inside, making sure the glass is closed before turning to me. He pushes my hair from my face, his eyes roaming over me in a panic.

“I told you not to go outside unless you are covered up,” he says in irritation.

“I was just—”

“Doing as you pleased,” he snaps.

Silence passes between us as we glare at one another, and Remus breaks first. He takes a deep breath, lowering his hands.

“You cannot just do as you please here, Iris. You could lose your life because of it. I know you think I am doing this as a punishment, but, unlike you, I care about what happens to you,” he says, his eyes narrowing. “Just…listen to me for once in your life.”

He doesn’t give me a chance to respond as he moves away from me. I watch him depart in confusion as he is once again distracted by something, leaving me alone.

Chapter Seven

Iris

I don’t know if it’s the bond or if I’ve suddenly become hyper-aware of Remus’s moods, but something is bothering him. Distracted is a word reserved for others, not for Remus. Since our return to the capital for a celebration, he has been silent anddistant. And not in a closed-off, brooding sort of way. Something is on his mind.

I twist once again in the mirror as I admire the design choices of the Leviathan. The gown I’ve been given looks to be one of a kind as it clings to my body in a texture that doesn’t exist on Earth. The sweetheart neckline is accompanied by fabric that mimics the look of sea foam as it wraps flatteringly around my body. It is accompanied by sheer sleeves and a slit that allows my leg to escape the excessive fabric. It’s more beautiful than anything I’ve ever seen, the neckline going out of its way to reveal the symbol Remus, and I now share.

And like everything that involves Remus, the dress is all white.

I lean forward in the mirror as my attention once again falls to the symbol. It pulses calmly. I haven’t looked at it since it was revealed that it was given to me. Part of me feared what acknowledging it would mean. As I study it now, more questions form in my mind at the unnatural movement within it even though it is on my body. But asking Remus about it is out of the question at the moment, especially since he is so agitated lately.

He still hasn’t spoken to me since berating me in the snow. I study my fingers as I recall the resistance against my fingertips when I tried to touch him. There’s still so much I don’t know about Remus. I’ve been so focused on everything that I lost since arriving toXyrannis. It hasn’t occurred to me until now just how much of himself he kept at bay on Earth. By nature, Remus has always been a reserved being. But after his anger at me for stepping outside, I’m curious just how much of that reservation is attributed to the power he wields.

Suddenly, the familiar feeling in my body I’ve come to associate with Remus’s presence appears. And as I turn to look in the doorway, Remus is already leaning against it with a smile as he takes me in.

“I never grow tired of seeing you like this,” he says as he enters the room.

He’s fully dressed in clothing native to this planet, and his smile makes me feel like I am the most precious thing he’s ever laid eyes on. I’m curious if he’ll ever grow to regret his decision to take me from my home world and make me part of his. But as he pulls me into his arms, I can see that his obsession has grown so deep that he doesn’t see this for what it is.

“You’re watching me as if I am about to eat you,” he says with a grin.

His eyes drift to the visible symbol and as he reaches for it, it tingles upon his touch, earning a gasp from me from the intensity of it. Remus leans into me, his lips gently tracing my collarbone before settling on my throat as he murmurs.

“Though you do look ravishing in this dress,” he says.

My body once again reacts to his proximity, heat washing over me, settling in my cheeks as the dress suddenly feels too tight, and I step back from him. Remus doesn’t let me get far, though. His hand grips mine, pulling it to his chest where his symbol lies beneath his clothing.

“You don’t have to be so frightened. You are mine, and I am yours. No matter how you feel about that fact,” he says gently.