Page 82 of Pet: Genesis

“Everyone out.”

Petra’s assistants immediately scurry from the room, but Petra takes a step closer to me.

“Everyone,” I reiterate.

I wait until she leaves the room to approach Iris’s body. Her eyes are closed, her breathing deep from the lack of consciousness. She has a deep scrape on her cheek, her lashes stuck together from the tears. I lean over her body, placing my hand against her cheek as I find myself becoming more aware of my emotions regarding her. She’s become more than a source of amusement. And if she dies, I don’t know what I’ll do.

“Come back to me, Iris.”

I study her silently before placing my lips over hers, offering a piece of myself to save her.

Iris

I must be dead. I have to be. There’s barely any pain, but I know what happened. I was crushed. I was blown to pieces. I was dead. The pain is a dull throb compared to what it should be. My eyes peel open, and I have to blink rapidly for them to adjust to the blinding bright light surrounding me. The entire wall ahead of me is a window that opens to reveal the ocean. The water reflects the clear sky perfectly, and the color is vividly blue as it washes up on the sand before descending back into the ocean.

My arms and legs are encased in a foreign material that emits a comforting aura onto the top layer of my skin. Somehow, I am alive and in as little pain as possible. My mind shifts to the reason I’mhere in the first place. The rebels attacked. Cypress said they had come for the both of them and now I have no idea if he’s dead or alive. The last I saw of him, the room was blown to bits, and the ceiling collapsed on top of me. I fight the wave of nausea as I relive the pain of the weight and flames burning my flesh. I never want to feel that again.

“You’re awake.”

The sound of Remus’s voice pulls me from my thoughts, and I turn to see him entering the room. He has a gentle smile on his lips as he takes me in, and I feel a sense of unease at the sight. He is once again watching me with that strange expression. He’s dressed in his signature white, though his clothing is more oriented toward the tropical weather, the material light. Even his hair is pulled entirely out of his face, held in place on top of his head instead of his usual low ponytail.

He takes a seat next to the bed, immediately placing his hand against my cheek as he studies me. His thumb rubs lightly over my skin before moving to the coverings on my limbs. He still doesn’t speak as he pulls back the material, checking my skin for remaining damage.

His eyes remain focused on his task as he speaks. “The humans did this. They attacked with no regard for the humans that were in my home.”

His eyes shift to meet mine.

“They were willing to sacrifice your life for a plan they had no idea would work or not. Are those the people you want to fight for?” he asks.

“Where’s Cypress?” I ask ignoring his question. Remus doesn’t respond immediately, forcing tears to spring into my vision as the words he just spoke echo in my brain. My breathing hitches in my throat as panic comes over me. Remus notices my panic and offers me a comforting smile.

“The rebels retrieved him and Zaya’s pet. Don’t worry. They are both safe from my wrath for the time being,” he says sarcastically. He’s watching me as he speaks, studying me. I shake my head in confusion at his words.

“But Cypress said they were there to kill him, to make sure he didn’t give up important information,” I say.

“No. If that were the case, your brother would have killed himself before I could catch him. They were there to kill me. Once that plan backfired, they retrieved their comrades and left. It’s much wiser to retrieve members that have survived so close to me for intel rather than kill them. Don’t worry, Iris. They are safe,” he reassures me.

The confidence in his tone gives me comfort. My brother is once again safe from Remus’s wrath, and so is Jude.

I look at Remus as a question forms.

“But Jude’s inhibitor,” I say. Remus shrugs.

“Iriel has given the rebels plenty of information on how to disable them. And like I told you before, they are only for controlling. Nothing more. Your brother will return to try and win his planet back.”

“Why didn’t you stop them? Why let them escape with your informant and your leverage?” I ask.

Remus smiles softly, looking away from my legs to me.

“If I did that, I wouldn’t have been able to save you.”

My eyes widen at his words. He gave up information on his brother’s whereabouts and the only leverage left to keep me in line. He let the rebels take them to save me. After a moment, his eyes drop to focus on his task, and he doesn’t say a word. But my mind is running in overdrive as I try to understand this powerful being in front of me and what the meaning of his actions could entail.

Remus keeps his gaze locked to mine, and I notice the blue flecks within his gaze begin to burn bright as he watches me.

“So what do we do now, Iris? I assume you still want me to spare the lives of the ones that tried to take yours?” he asks.

I open my mouth only to close it again, my mind shifting to his words before we were attacked. He spoke as if everything he’d held off on was for my sake. I vaguely recall the panic in his tone as he tried to coax me away from death when I was injured, and now he sits across from me with a heavy look of possession in his gaze. I look down at my limbs, unable to keep his gaze any longer as my thoughts take a wild turn.

---