Page 112 of Pet: Genesis

The door once again opens and Xion and I both look away as Ezra enters the room. Xion immediately stands tall as she strides across the room. Her hand comes up to roughly snatch the back of his neck, and she uses her brute strength to force him to the ground.

“What the hell were you thinking?” she hisses. I stand, making my way to the two of them to wrench Ezra out of her grip. Ezra rubs his neck in irritation, eyeing her.

“I knew what I was doi—”

“No. You didn’t,” I say. Silence comes over the room as Ezra realizes just how irritated both of us are. I’ve rarely seen Xion angry with Ezra. She’s always defending him, doing whatever it takes to soften the blow. But not this time, and he sees that.

“We’ve been worried sick. I thought you were in danger,” I snap, eyeing the bruising on his arms that still has yet to heal and his now sheared hair. He opens his mouth to defend himself, but I’m speaking before he can.

“What you did was irresponsible, Ezra,” I growl out.

Ezra purposely got himself captured by the resistance, giving them false information on how to harm Leviathan. He faked the pain with certain tests and prevented himself from healing. Had Iris not wandered into the resistance, he would have eventually destroyed it on his own. But it would seem that the information Iris gave them also had some effect on Ezra. And I showed up before he had his moment to crush their hopes.

“I was never in any real danger,” he snaps.

“But we didn’t know that!” Xion pipes up.

“You didn’t think to let us in on your plan? So that we wouldn’t be worried about you? You didn’t think that your little puppet show would get your people seriously hurt?” I ask.

“If I had let you in on my plan, you never would have let me go through with it,” he says.

Before I can respond, Xion is screaming.

“Of course not, Ezra, look at you! They tortured you! Iriel never liked you, and you gave him the perfect opportunity to hurt you! Zaya is in a coma because of you. She could die! And Remus and I were left once again cleaning up your mess. You don’t think about the consequences your actions will have on others!” she snaps.

“That’s enough,” I say, eyeing Xion. Ezra now doesn’t know how to respond. He looks to me and back to Xion, but she’s nothaving it. Xion would die for us as we would for her. And the thought of our younger brother being in danger is enough to make us both angry. Ezra sucks in a deep breath pulling out a piece of paper.

“I did think of that, Xion. But if it weren’t for my little puppet show, you wouldn’t know the location of all the resistances across this planet as well as their mining sites and manufacturing sites for their weapon,” he snaps, holding the paper out to me.

“You also wouldn’t know the signature of the false inhibitors.”

I silently take the paper from him, opening it to read its contents. I suck in a deep breath forcing myself to calm down. Ezra has always done what he does to win my approval, and this time is no different. I can see it in the desperation of his gaze, how he’s trying to convince us both that he isn’t wrong.

“Okay,” I say.

Both he and Xion look at me like I’m crazy.

“You’re right. Your plan did help, and if Iris hadn’t shown up, I wouldn’t have found this place for a while since they were using the cloaking technology you developed.” I place my hand on his shoulder, offering him a smile.

“What you did was reckless and stupid... but I’m proud of you, Ezra.” His eyes widen, and he smiles. I look at Xion, who still has her arms crossed but finally softens, pulling us both in for a hug.

“We were just worried,” she murmurs. She sucks in a deep breath, squeezing us both.

“The divine three back together again,” she says softly.

I can’t help but smile. In my years being here, I forgot how much I missed seeing my siblings daily. So I laugh along with her, pulling them both in for a tight embrace, for once forgetting about any and everything that has me stressed.

Chapter Forty-Two

Iris

No...No.

My consciousness is peaking into the dark abyss that I’ve grown comfortable in. My worries, my stresses, and the worst of my emotions cloud the dreamless slumber that was so mercifully bestowed upon me. Memories bathe the inside of my skull as I come alive. The betrayal, the lies, the death, and the destruction... all of it permeates my inner thoughts, and I seem to have no reprieve from it. My body shivers as I try and fight the consciousness. I don’t want it. I don’t want to be pulled back into the reality of my world.

“Open your eyes, Iris.”

That voice. I know that voice. My instinctual mind is screaming at me to avoid it, but a primal part of me leans into it. I want to follow it out of here. It offers me ease. My senses slowly come alive, but I try my best to prevent it. Even when a small breeze caresses myskin, pulling me toward it. I don’t want to wake up. Bitter agony sweeps over me until I feel the slow drip of a tear roll down my cheek, followed by the warm press of a thumb, wiping it away. My eyes fly open from the contact, and I’m met with a vivid pair of purple eyes. I try and suck in a breath, but pieces of my body are still paralyzed.

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