Page 86 of Pet: Torment

“That your family?” I tense, looking up to see Ezra standing in my reflection. He’s dressed in their signature white, his style less regal than Remus’s. His features as well. Though he has the traits of his siblings, he doesn’t quite resemble them as much as they resemble one another, I realize. He’s much easier to look at than Xion in this situation. His attention is focused on my open locket, and I quickly close it, hiding my family from the eyes of one of the aliens responsible for their deaths.

“Yes,” I say as he enters the room.

He takes a seat on the chair nearest the window, looking at me, his peculiar gaze making me feel a little easier about this.

“Sky told me about your brother. She said she worked closely with him until Iriel came along. I’m sorry he…you know,” he says.

I laugh, shaking my head.

“Don’t be. I’ve accepted it. There’s no point in dwelling on it now,” I say.

“You sound like my brother,” he scoffs.

His smile drops slightly as he realizes what his words mean, shifting his attention back to the sky. His mother’s rings twinkle brighter than before, easily visible in the daylight, making me curious if Remus did something different when he replaced them. Or how he even put them there in the first place.

“And I know my brother. So…why would he remove the things he believes keep us protected out of nowhere? And not even tell us about it?” he asks.

He finally turns to look at me, angling his head. “Then just…put them back?”

I take back what I said about his gaze not being intimidating. It still shines with the promise of power beyond my understanding. And as he slowly stands, his gaze narrowing, he reaches for the hairpin.

I take a step back before he can touch it, my heartbeat giving me away.

“What did you do, Iris?” he asks.

“I didn’t do anything,” I say, determined to keep the truth from him.

Ezra studies me intensely.

“You do know Xion and I are your only allies, right?” he asks.

I scoff, shaking my head.

“Xion is already sick of me. She just wants things to return to normal,” I say.

Now Ezra scoffs.

“Things will never be normal after this. Even if you died tomorrow, we could never go back to the way things used to be. Not knowing what we know,” he says.

He sounds resentful.

“But you wouldn’t know. She would make sure of that. So what difference does it make?” I ask.

Ezra doesn’t respond. He knows I’m right. If I die, Remus won’t even have questions. The only reason he does is because I exist here and in his memory. And if his siblings bring it up, their mother will just wipe their minds as well. Sky is right. She is evil.

“Well, we’ll just have to get stronger so that can’t happen, right?” Ezra says, giving me a smile.

“Right…” I say as I come to a realization about the dynamic between these three. Xion may have hesitancy in fighting their mother, but not Ezra. He’s determined, making me remember Remus’s speech about his siblings that day in the mountains.When he was explaining how different each of them was. He said that Ezra was desperate to prove himself and I see it even now.

Ezra may be cruel, but his loyalty to his brother knows no bounds, and I’m curious why that is. His personality has definitely shifted in the time that Remus’s memory has been wiped. He’s stepped into the role of protector in his brother’s place, following his last order to him.

“If it came down to it, do you think you could actually fight your own mother?” I ask.

Ezra’s expression darkens as he thinks.

“Yes.” He’s quiet as he moves to the doorway, as if he knows more about his mother than the facts laid bare. Before he leaves, I’m calling to him.

“Whatever happens, thank you for being my ally. Even though I am mere human,” I say.