Page 79 of Pet: Torment

“Ezra will be by to pick you up in a little bit,” she says.

I’m shocked to hear that Ezra of all people will be spending time with me today. He’s around when he needs to be, but generally has avoided me.

“Why?” I ask.

“He’s going to take you to a fitting. The council is hosting a celebration at the end of the week,” she says as if it’s a suitable answer.

“Isn’t that dangerous for me? What if your mother comes back while we’re there? Or what if Remus tries to—”

“It’s safer for you to be in attendance with us instead of unprotected at one of our homes. Our mother won’t be there. She doesn’t attend these things, nor does she hold interest in the day-to-day of Leviathan society. As for Remus, he won’t harm you in front of Leviathan,” she says.

I bite my tongue as the urge comes over me to tell her he could just transport me from the party. If his mother caught wind of my existence, she could more than likely do the same. There are so many questions I want to ask her in regard to Remus. He obviously keeps things from anyone he thinks isn’t fit to hear the information.

“Why can’t you take me? Ezra isn’t exactly eager to be around me these days,” I say. Xion glares at me, reining in her patience. It’s funny to me that this is the same woman who ripped throughthe resistance and hated my guts up until recently. I never would have dreamed of questioning her before all of this. But it has placed all of us into a situation where we have been forced from our comfort zones.

“Were you this disagreeable with Remus?” she asks.

I shrug, moving past her to a chair.

“Remus encouraged questions,” I say.

“Well, I don’t. Ezra will take you. End of discussion,” she says.

And she means it, storming out of the room to leave me with Noah. I shift my attention to him in confusion.

“Did I do something wrong?” I ask.

“Cut her some slack. Each day that this goes on is another day she’s warring with herself and everything she knows,” he says.

I grunt in irritation as I join him at the table.

“I told you, these beings aren’t something we should have encountered. Look at what one simple human has caused,” he says, watching me.

I narrow my gaze. “Are you seriously blaming me for this?” I ask.

He shakes his head.

“There’s no one to blame, really. No one that it would benefit. I’m just saying, all of you could consider that there is no solution to this—none where everyone is happy,” he says.

He and Xion obviously have conversations behind closed doors. Conversations where she is weighing the results of what could happen if Remus regains his memory.It’s obvious from her reaction this morning that she doesn’t like the possibilities she is seeing.

“I didn’t ask for any of this,” I say.

“I’m not saying you did. I’m just saying—”

“That I sacrifice my life for the sake of their feelings?” I growl out.

Silence passes between us, giving me my answer. I release a bitter chuckle, standing.

“Has it not crossed anyone’s mind that maybe it’s their mother who should be the one to sacrifice something?” I snap. “Or have they been so brainwashed that they can’t even see that she is the villain in all of this?”

Noah laughs, shaking his head. “Obviously it’s the latter, Iris.”

Chapter Thirty-Five

Iris

The last time I had a fitting, I was nine years old. It was for my elementary graduation. I was finally moving into intermediary, or fifth grade. My mother thought it was ridiculous to give a ceremony for kids who were only moving up a grade, and not actually graduating. But my father thought it was a big deal. Hetook me to the dress shop and let me pick out whatever dress I wanted to wear under my graduation gown.