Page 49 of Pet: Torment

My mother senses it, pulling her fingers from my face as she looks around in a panic. The world shudders, the sky shifting unnaturally, and she shifts her attention back to me, a weapon of pure energy forming on her nails as she drives it through my chest, into my symbol.

I cry out, no longer able to feel the makeup of this world. She’s somehow cut me off from my power.

“You will only delay the inevitable. She cannot live. Or we will all suffer,” she seethes.

But I ignore her, focusing on the mental block, attempting to reach out to Iris. I try to touch her mind with all of my emotions, praying that she will understand something is wrong—that shecan warn my siblings and they will protect her. But I am on another plane of existence. I don’t even know if it’s possible.

“But first, let’s get rid of this pesky bond,” my mother says as her nails elongate into the stream of energy on my chest.

My cries of pain are amplified, and it takes all of my strength to focus on Iris, my desperation mirroring my mother’s. I hope that whatever I am sending her way is enough to help her understand whatever is about to happen. That she will continue to be the stubborn woman I fell in love with, and fight for her life—and if need be, for me.

“We’ve done this plenty of times before, my son. It will be as if she never existed. And you will be as you once were. No longer a threat.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

Iris

What is it aboutXyrannisthat is so different from Earth? How did Remus’s culture manage to create a world that looks so perfect on the outside, all the way down to the way they handle their justice system? Is it because it is run by all-powerful beings instead of elected officials who are all of the same caliber? Or is itbecause Remus does the same thing with his society that he does with me—gives them a false sense of control?

Iriel’s betrayal was not taken lightly by his society. His decision to rebel put thousands of Leviathan lives in jeopardy, and his use of the conquered inhabitants to implement his plan has added much heavier repercussions. He is a traitor to his race, and because of this, the decision was left to them to make. And even though Remus said it was a possibility, leniency was never on the table for him.

His people chose guilty and have since given him to Ezra to carry out his punishment.

I pull in a deep breath as I look out over the vast ocean on the edge of Ezra’s home. I thought that since he was only tasked with “checking in,” he would have returned me home once Iriel’s trial ended. But Ezra has been by every day to let Sky and me discover more of the Leviathan society while Remus is away.

Today, however, we opted to stay in, both of us content to sit by the shore. It reminds me of the days before I betrayed Remus on Earth, when it was just us on the beach—after the rebels almost killed me. He was so kind to me in that moment, even though I had lost everything. He went as far as to convince me to keep my mother’s necklace.

I gently grasp it, the chain tickling my neck as I lift it to look at my family in the picture. This is all I have left of my old life. I can’t believe I almost threw it into the ocean because of my anger.

I was much more impulsive then.

“You’re different.”

I’m pulled from my thoughts as Sky approaches. She’s dressed in a white sundress. Her hair is pulled away from her face in a high ponytail as she sits beside me in the sand. She tilts her head slightly as she analyzes me.

“You’re much more relaxed than when I saw you last. You’re more comfortable with this world,” she says.

I laugh as I think of everything that’s happened since we saw one another last, including Remus revealing the truth about my choice to come here. And promptly after, he used the bond to show me the depths of his obsession. It is dark and frightening, and it forced me to realize that no matter what I do, I have no choice in this. Just as the thought pops into my head, do I remember his words to me before he left.

“Hopefully when I return we can try harder to understand one another.”

Looking back, it’s the first time he acknowledged my pain without claiming his decisions were better off for me in the long run. He’s acknowledged that we’re different, and that we both have made attempts in our way ways to understand these differences. Now, it’s time for us to face one another—pain and all.

“I think I’m just understanding everything better,” I say as I look back over the ocean. It glitters with the promise of the unknown as I study it. The sea onXyrannisis paler than the ocean on Earth, making my visibility of it underneath stretch further. And as usual, I can seeLlorareflected in its waters in the distance.

Sky suddenly reaches for me, lightly tapping the pin that holds my hair back as she eyes me.

“Sure,” she says, and I roll my eyes, laughing.

Just like I don’t know her journey with Ezra, she doesn’t know mine with Remus. I’ve learned part of Remus’s love language is giving significant gifts. He doesn’t do it very often, but anytime he does, it has a deeper meaning. With this one, he didn’t explain to me the significance, but in my mind, it signifies us starting over.

I scoff to myself. Maybe I have changed. Maybe realizing there wasn’t a choice is what I needed to give up. There’s nothing to fight for, nothing to hold out for. My life will always be as Remus directs it. Even without me knowing.

“Has Ezra decided what he’s going to do with Iriel?” I ask.

Sky shrugs, tilting her face towards the sun.

“Death would be too easy. And banishing him would be too merciful,” she says.