Page 3 of Pet: Torment

“My crew can function perfectly fine without me. They know what they’re doing,” he says.

“Besides, I would much rather see that excitement on your face seeing this new world,” he says.

His words pull my attention, and I look at him. His white hair is held away from his face as he studies me with blue flecks within eyes that rival the planet I just saw. But he smiles, his hand coming to caress my jaw as he watches me.

“Choosing life isn’t so bad, is it?” he asks.

His smile drops as he speaks the words, causing unease to form in my stomach as I am suddenly aware of our proximity. His glare is intense as he tries to understand me once again. Ever since the day Remus and I bonded, I’ve been highly aware of just how lacking Remus is when it comes to emotional empathy. When he stares at me like this, it reminds me of the monster lurking beneath, curious about me because I defy his understanding.

I gently place my hand over his, warmth tingling at my fingertips as I pull his touch away from my face, returning my attention to the window. And he lets me. I don’t give him the satisfaction of a response. He knows me better than I know myself. Of course, I get excited when I see something that, as a child, I thought was only meant for astronauts. But that doesn’t erase our past.

Remus laughs softly at my silence.

“Still giving me the silent treatment?” he asks.

The natural heat he gives off washes over me as he steps closer, his arms wrapping around me to pull me against him. My skin flushes in excitement to be in such close contact with him, and I feel his lips hovering over my ears as he speaks to me in a low tone.

“Should we put that silence to good use? Maybe play my favorite game?” he practically purrs in my ear.

I tear myself away from him, my heart beating wildly from his innuendo. And as I look at him, the full smile on his lips revealing those sharp canines, and the twinkle in that amethyst gaze as he looks upon me doesn’t help.

My cheeks are on fire, and I’m about to lash out when the ship slows again, silencing me as I immediately notice Remus’s demeanor shift from the playful alien he was seconds ago to someone completely unrecognizable.

I follow his gaze, looking back to the window to see a planet surrounded by an asteroid belt. My breathing hitches when I realize the rock surrounding it isn’t an asteroid belt or even rings. It’s what’s left of the planet. It looks like it imploded, half of the planet black with a gaping hole in it.

“What happened here?” I ask.

I turn my attention to Remus, expecting him to be shocked as well at the destruction of a planet in his star system. But shock doesn’t seem to be on his face. Only a blank, emotionless expression.

He chuckles to himself, shifting his attention to me, and I tense when I immediately notice how calm his eyes are, making me rub my arms as chills form.

“Nothing to concern yourself with,” he says, effectively shutting down the conversation. I shift my attention back to the planet, or rather, what remains of it as we slowly pass by. Remus once teased me about Earth sitting alone in its star system, withno threats outside of life on our own planet. I’m curious if this planet was a threat toXyrannis.

Or worse, Remus.

I release a bitter chuckle, looking at Remus.

“Did the Leviathan do that too? I guess these guys put up a better fight than Earth, huh?” I ask.

Remus’s attention is on the planet, however, and I can’t read him.

“No,” is all he gives me.

As the ship clears the orbit again, it picks up speed, making everything disappear around us. But Remus remains silent, and his eyes stay on the glass. Finally, he moves, his attention falling on me.

“It will be a while until we have to slow again. Come. We should prepare you forXyrannis,” he says.

He doesn’t wait for me to respond as he turns away from me, expecting me to follow. I silently look back at the window, my stomach becoming a bundle of twisted nerves. We are hours away fromXyrannis. Hours away from my new life at Remus’s mercy. Mercy, which I chose to be on the receiving end of.

As I follow Remus, my mind wanders to the remains of that planet. And I can’t help but wonder if that planet was on the receiving end of what Remus himself deems mercy.

Deja vu assaults me as I sit atop the table in what I assume is a medical bay. Remus is silent as he labels more tubes filled with my blood and saliva. For the past hour, Remus has kept me here, gathering samples. He’s not his usual talkative self in these situations, and I am not in the mood to speak to him either. ButI do feel irritation at his decision to remain silent. Usually, by now, he would have explained to me why this is necessary.

Remus shifts, turning his attention to a screen as he places another tube filled with my blood in a canister. He did this on Earth during our first few weeks together. And at the time, I had no idea what it was for. I know now that he was testing my blood and using it to see if I had any family in the database of humans under inhibitors.

My problems suddenly feel trivial as I think of my brother. His entire life was shattered twice by the Leviathan race. And now, his fate is up to me. But I cannot bring myself to give Remus an answer. Not now, anyway. My brother killed Jude and gave me up to the enemy. To call him my brother after all of that is an insult to the man in my memories. And my emotions are still too raw for me to make a decision that I will be able to stand by in the future.

Remus notices my troubled expression, his temperament shifting accordingly as he speaks.