Page 52 of Pet: Torment

I’m still in his home.

The warm beige tones that stretch to the furniture calms me somewhat, as does the sound of the ocean that sits beyond the glass. I take it all in with desperation as I try to force my body to calm down, though from what, I don’t exactly know.

I shift my attention back to Ezra who is watching me cautiously, shaking my head in confusion.

“What—” I break into a coughing fit from the soreness of my throat. I must have been screaming for hours before I even woke up.

Ezra looks away from me, calling to Sky.

“Bring her some water,” he says.

Still, his tone is gentle. Even his touch is gentle as he helps me to a sitting position on the couch, just in time for Sky to bring me a glass of water. Her expression is cautious as she hands the glass to me. She was there to witness what happened on the patio before the world went dark. As the memories assault me, I quickly bring the water to my lips, hoping it will calm me down before I have to face reality. It’s soothing, cooling thefire burning in my throat. Ezra takes it from me when I finish, handing it off to Sky, asking her to bring me more.

I’m trembling as I relive everything that happened, including the visions I had before I passed out. The woman reaching for me, killing me with her touch alone…I know it was their mother. I recognize her from the portrait at the celebration. But as I remember it, I can’t distinguish if it was something I was actually experiencing, or Remus was seeing.

It felt so real.

“What happened?” I ask.

My voice is still hoarse, and Ezra purses his lips as his expression grows even more troubled.

“I was hoping you could tell me,” he says.

I look away, pressing my hand to my forehead as I try to staunch the throbbing headache that assaults me. Each time I close my eyes, I see her so clearly. I feel what it’s like to have my life force drained. I feel Remus’s fear.

“I think…Remus is in trouble,” I say, looking at Ezra.

Ezra’s expression doesn’t change, but I know he’s attempting patience as I share my concerns with him.

“That’s impossible,” he says.

I shake my head.

“Everything that just happened, what I justfeltwasn’t me. It was Remus’s emotions. I felt his panic. He was scared. He felt like everything was a lie. He felt betrayed,” I say.

My voice is trembling as I think of the raw emotions that bombarded me. Remus and I have barely used the bond. And when we did, the intense emotions that I felt at that moment were nowhere to be found. I only ever felt his desire for me, his obsession to be by my side. But never fear—never from him and never directed toward anyone else.

Ezra stands, turning his back to me as he thinks.

“I don’t doubt that you felt something, but it couldn’t have been Remus,” Ezra pauses as he considers telling me what his brother must have told him not to reveal to me. “Remus is safe. He went to see our mother—”

“‘She’s taking it from me’,” I say.

Ezra turns to face me. I know he remembers me saying it as well.

“Those weren’t my words,” I say, remembering how it felt to speak words that do not belong to me. It was terrifying, having something forced from my lips with no control over it. But what’s even more terrifying are the emotions that came with it. It only makes sense that Remus was sending a warning.

A warning that involved his mother.

“He was referring to her. Your mother is the one who is hurting him,” I say.

Ezra narrows his gaze, taking a threatening step forward. Sky hesitantly reaches for him as she stands behind us with a cautious expression but decides against it.

“Be careful, Iris,” he says.

I ignore the chill rippling up my spine as I stand up to Ezra. I know what I felt. And I know what I saw. I also know that Remus never spoke of his mother positively. Or rather, he never spoke as if he had a relationship with her. Ezra may be close to his mother for some reason, but Remus is not. His mother quite literally raised him to be a weapon with no personal desires of his own.

“I know what I saw,” I say.