Page 59 of Pet: Genesis

“You always use such strange emotions to try and figure out my feelings. I don’t hate humanity. I am indifferent toward it. I watched it for years. I watched them destroy their home, their people, their very own kind. The history of this planet is riddled with the blood of its own.”

“But you are doing the same—”

“Even now, you defend them. You cannot compare what I do to your own, Iris. These are not my people. This is not my race. I am an outside entity. And I would not do this to my own. Your people fight and fight for something as simple as physical attributes, for something among you that should be celebrated and set you apart, you chose to mark as flaws.”

He takes in my features, and I can see that his words are sincere.

“But not all of us are like that,” I whisper.

He laughs softly, tucking a stray hair behind my ear. “I know. And that is why you are here.”

“If I had not found you when I did, you would have been a casualty of war. Another innocent taken away because the majority of your people couldn’t live for more than themselves, even at the most critical point in their lives,” he says.

I look into Remus’s eyes.

“So... what about the rest?” I ask.

“I think you already know the answer to that.”

My heart sputters in my chest to hear the words aloud.

“What?” I whisper.

“Your planet is rich in resources. It is much too valuable to leave alone. Once the Earth is free of its pests, it will make its way into the Leviathan empire for the resources it produces. Its inhabitants, however, will be nothing more than a former society that once roamed.”

It feels like the wind has been knocked out of me by his revelation, but I try my best to remain unaffected.

“But... what will happen to us?” I ask.

Now it’s Remus’s turn to be confused. He looks at me as if I’m the one being unreasonable.

“Humanity will remain as they are. They will be intelligent servants to serve any of the eight galaxies within our empire. Had humanity had better ideals as a whole, they may have been given an invitation to that empire,” he says casually.

Remus stands, letting me take in everything he just said, his eyes roaming over me in fascination. I see no emotional attachment to the people whose lives he is ending. He’s more terrifying in this light than I’ve felt for a while. At the back of my mind, I knew he ran this race, but it was easy to ignore that when I was seeing the extravagance of his society. Now, I see the horror that is their leader.

Remus holds his hand out to me, watching me with a soft smile. I can see something in his eyes, something that I can’t quite decipher yet, but it’s there. And it’s for me and me alone.

“Come. It’s time for you to eat.”

Remus is here with me. For the first time, he isn’t working or looking at maps. He seems to be simply enjoying his time in my presence. It makes me uncomfortable, especially since he revealed his plans for the inhabitants of Earth. It fuels my inner fire even more, forcing me to realize just how imperative it is that I can help the resistance end his reign.

He silently sits across from me on the terrace of his city home, his gaze looking over the outstretched city that the Leviathan have established. He has a blissful expression on his face, and I find myself thinking of his sudden possessiveness. He’s been saying things a lot lately that signify he’s beginning to see me in a different light. However strange it may be, it’s the truth. And it may be something to use to my and the resistance’s advantage.

Remus’s eyes shift to mine, and I immediately look away, embarrassed at being caught watching him once again. A soft chuckle fills the air, and he looks back over the city. I hate the way my body reacts to him. I loathe him, and yet I find myself fascinated by him. I’m constantly curious about his way of life and origins or how he overall functions. He may be my enemy, but he is an enemy that no one on Earth could have imagined.

He’s truly unique.

“What do you think of this society?” he asks, breaking the silence. I focus my gaze out on the city beyond us. I’ve always admired its beauty. My gaze shifts to Remus in confusion, and as if sensing my gaze, his eyes meet mine.

“You can be honest,” he says.

“I think... physically, it’s beautiful. But the way that your society has built itself is wrong,” I say, matching his gaze. Remus angles his head slightly as he studies me with a raised brow.

“No society is perfect, Iris.”

I don’t respond, but Remus seems to be in an uncharacteristically talkative mood.

“However determined you are in your perception of the Leviathan, Leviathan society was never built on the backs of slaves. My mother offered her knowledge and power to improve it, and once other planets within our star system saw how much Leviathan’s thrived, they wanted the knowledge and power as well. After having to defend the planet for centuries, I decided it was time to conquer. You never have to defend yourself if you arepowerful enough... or if you live in an uninhabited solar system,” Remus finishes looking at me.

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