Page 69 of Pet: Genesis

“She is,” he says softly. He finally releases my face, and I feel like I can breathe again. The Leviathan takes me in one last time before saying something in their native tongue. Remus studies me for a moment before shaking his head, giving the Leviathan a terse response. The Leviathan then steps away from Remus, his smile widening before making his way in the direction of the house I have yet to see.

Remus watches him leave before turning his attention back on me. I hear footsteps entering the room, and I don’t have to look to know it’s Jude. Remus wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me in so that I am flush against him.

“You can explore if you’d like... the boy will watch you,” he says cruelly.

I feel what little resolve I had slowly crumbling as Remus taunts me. He gently places his finger under my chin, lifting my face to pull me in for a kiss. His lips are warm against mine, and the kiss is so soft as if Remus himself is afraid he’s going to break me. My mind is a swirl of emotion as I try and find it in me to remain strongagainst him. I pull away, a gasp escaping me when a sharp pain suddenly forms on my bottom lip. I bring my fingers to my lips, eyeing Remus in shock, but he’s watching me with a wicked grin, my blood on his lips.

He licks his lips, tasting the blood he drew. “Don’t wander too far.”

Remus eyes me once more, and a soft laugh leaves his lips before he steps away from me and heads in the same direction as his general.

Remus

“We’ve picked up strange movement near the edge of the village. Usually, it would be nothing to worry about. It could be stray wildlife or one of our own, but since you put us on high alert regarding the resistance, we’ve begun monitoring the movement.”

I raise a brow as I look at the pulsing red signature on the border of the village.

“What is strange about this?” I ask. Iriel steps to the furthest border, where the red signatures are more erratic and numerous.

“These are human signatures. Usually, we attribute these to our own sending the humans under their control on an errand or something of that nature, but the heart rate read on the inhibitorsspikes every so often. We assume this is because the human is not under the inhibitor’s full control,” he says.

I lean back in my seat, my smile already forming as I calculate what’s happening. Humans are posing as slaves to move within our society.

I chuckle aloud.

“Clever... very clever,” I say in amusement. There is definitely a Leviathan helping them. There’s no way humans could figure out, re-engineer, and place an inhibitor on themselves. It’s much too complex. Iriel continues speaking, pulling me out of my thoughts.

“We were planning on setting up a perimeter in the following weeks to tail them—”

“No. I will take care of it,” I say, eyeing the map. Iriel nods in understanding.

“How long have you been stationed here, Iriel?” I ask, my thoughts shifting. He looks slightly taken aback by my question but responds.

“Five years,” he says. I nod, looking back at the map.

“This activity has only just appeared out of the five years you’ve been here?” I stand, making my way to the map. There are multiple signatures around the borders that are stationing themselves into households and businesses. Iriel is silent for a moment before finally responding.

“We just never thought to check the signature of the inhibitors,” he says. I keep my gaze trained on the map until, finally, it wafts over me—the scent of fear. I personally choose and train mygenerals. I know each and every one of their tells and scents. It’s a very small trace, but I can smell it.

I look at Iriel, offering him a grin.

“How unfortunate,” I say, studying him. He doesn’t move. On the outside, he looks calm. But on the inside, he’s beginning to crumble. I’m unsure if he’s solely responsible for helping the resistance, but he is somehow involved.

“May I ask what you plan on doing if not following them back to their hideout?” he asks.

“They won’t be going back to their hideout. They’ve been living amongst us, gathering information. If you set up a perimeter, you’ll just alert them to stay in their roles. I’m sure if they’ve learned how to use the inhibitors to their advantage, they have a system in place for when their plans are in danger.” I look back at Iriel.

“I will only be observing their patterns—no more. I’ll leave within the week. We have more important things to be concerned with than a few humans who are willingly acting as slaves,” I say in amusement.

Iriel nods, bowing before turning away from me. If he’s involved, he will alert the resistance to my plans, and their pattern from the map will drastically change within the week. They will remain within their roles, none leaving the perimeter. What he doesn’t know is that if he warns them, he will doom the entire operation.

After Iriel leaves, I go in search of Iris. I have an idea of where she’ll be. I caught her a few times this morning looking at thenature that falls beyond where we’re staying. I find her quickly, just as I predicted. She’s sitting near the water, her knees drawn to her chest as she gazes at the scenery. She’s far enough away that she won’t notice my presence, causing me to think of all the times I’d entered the room, and she didn’t notice until I said her name.

It’s bewildering to me how vulnerable humans are.

Their senses, strengths, intelligence, everything about them is fragile and weak. If I wanted to, I could take her life right now, and she would never even know. She shifts slightly as the wind blows, tilting her head back to enjoy the warm breeze. Her hair has grown since she was first taken. Because of the damage, I had to remove most of it, so it only fell to her jaw. And now, it reaches her shoulders in loose waves.

Humans have unique traits that I’ve come to admire. Their physical beauty ranges in ways I have yet to see on other planets. They have different hair textures, skin tones, eye colors, and body types. Until now, most planets have similar traits that don’t go beyond textures and tones. Either that or they share most traits. Humanity’s evolution is beautifully daunting. It’s strange to me that instead of celebrating these differences that make them each unique, they chose them as reasons to exterminate one another.

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