Page 96 of Pet: Genesis

Cypress smiles, jumping on his bike. It comes to life with a roar, and everyone else follows suit. I quickly strap myself in, pulling my helmet on. The bike jerks and takes off through the streets of Leviathan City with the other rebels in tow. I feel excitement blooming in my chest. I feel hope and joy, and along with thepeople around me, I release a battle cry of excitement. Remus was wrong. He was wrong about it all.

Cypress came back for me.Me.

The rebels all fan out in a planned formation on their bikes as we speed through the city. They all know the way, no doubt, from their infiltration of the society. I note that the rebels who aren’t driving are holding their weapons as they wait for an attack, and I follow suit, my finger hovering over the trigger.

“We’re almost to the edge of the city.” I hear Cypress’s voice through the mic of the helmet. But I don’t respond as the rebels next to us seem to have lost control. I look at them with wide eyes, my chest squeezing in fear as something unnatural happens. The bike and its inhabitants are crushed.

“Shit!” Cypress screams just as another one of the rebels is pulled at an inhuman speed ahead of us, their bike never reaching our attacker as it shatters into splinters of blood and debris. I shift my attention ahead of us to see a figure standing in the center of the road. His white hair billows menacingly around him as he glares at us with a sinister glint in his glowing purple gaze. Their plan of distracting him with the port has backfired. He is here, and he is out for blood.

“Cypress?” I scream.

The other rebels have noticed our situation and have begun firing their weapons at Remus, none of which are doing anything to harm him. They’ve also slowed their advances. I take in the failing situation, as whole explosives are fired at Remus and do nothing to him. It’s like the attack at his home. He only deflectedit, the weapon destroying the area around him but leaving him with not even a scratch. There are so many weapons firing at him that it illuminates the area surrounding him like a beam of light.

“Shoot, Iris, shoot!” I hear Cypress screaming at me, but my brain is working faster than I can process. Remus isn’t someone you can fight head-on. We’ve seen this on many occasions. I wrack my brain for a solution as the rebels halt their bikes, Cypress as well, and continue firing at Remus.

“Iris, shoot!” Cypress screams. I lift the weapon, eyeing Remus as my finger hovers over the trigger. It won’t work. Remus can deflect any attack or just stop it. And that’s if he doesn’t kill us first from this distance. Remus’s eyes shift in my direction, looking at me directly through the scope. I release a gasp, lowering my weapon.

“Dammit, Iris!” Cypress yanks his weapon from me, walking toward Remus with it aimed, and Remus’s eyes glow brightly in excitement at the prospect of killing my brother in front of me. I sprint toward Cypress, ready to sacrifice myself to save him, and my mind immediately shifts to my earlier conversation with Remus.

“You would do anything to protect those you care about. You care about what happens to them more than what happens to yourself... It is a trait we both share.”

I take off toward Cypress, pulling my helmet off so that I can have better aim.

“Cypress, stop!” I scream as I reach him. I use all my weight to wrench his arm at an uncomfortable angle, using his momentum to flip us just as I saw Zaya do that day during training. Cypresscries out in pain, but I manage to get the weapon from him, using my foot to hold myself up on the ground. I look through the lens, aiming at Remus just as he begins his terrifying stride toward us. His smile widens as he takes me in, shaking his head at my decision.

I suck in a deep breath, feeling my last piece of innocence dissolve as I shift my weapon away from Remus, aiming it at a building. A building filled with life. Leviathan life. Tears brim my eyes as the reality of what I’m about to do hits me, making me no better than the alien who approaches me with the intent to kill.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper.

Shock crosses Remus’s features as I fire the weapon past him, and he realizes the direction of my aim. A beam of light shoots from the weapon, firing toward the building. Remus doesn’t hesitate as he turns in that direction, his features filled with rage as he holds his hand out to stop the projectile from hitting innocent Leviathan.

I throw Cypress’s weapon down, reaching for his bike to find the newest weapon he bragged about. I hold it up, locking onto Remus through the scope, and I release a calming breath to steady myself as I fire.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Iris

My chest aches. The feeling is coming from within, like an emotion. I feel... betrayed. The emotion swims around my head, squeezing my chest as it’s swallowed up by rage. I don’t know where the feeling is coming from, but it’s suffocating me until I can do nothing but gasp for air.

I jolt awake, flying up in the bed I’m lying in, clutching my chest. A heavy coat of sweat covers my skin as the room around me shifts into focus. I blink rapidly, trying to figure out where I am and what is happening, making it difficult to catch my breath. There is an IV in my arm, and I immediately rip it out, pulling at the electrodes that are glued to my chest.

“Iris!” I tense when I feel hands on me, immediately swatting at my attacker in panic.

“Iris, calm down. You’re safe!” The hands roughly grip my arms, steadying me until I am looking into the face of my attacker. Tears spring into my vision as I take him in. It’s Jude. He’s here.

“Jude?” I whisper. I hesitantly reach out, touching his face, and he places his palm over mine to reassure me. His hand is warm, his gaze gentle as he smiles, nodding his head.

“Yeah, it’s me,” he says softly.

“I thought—but I saw you—” I can’t finish my sentence as I take him in, and he understands, pulling me in for a hug. My tears pour even harder as I squeeze him to me, running my fingers in his hair and over his back to make sure he’s actually here and not brought back into my life as a slave under Remus’s control. I quickly pull away from him in fear as the thought washes over me. My eyes meet Jude’s with fear.

“Remus,” I whisper.

My gaze swiftly runs over the room but it looks nothing like the rooms Remus held me in. The lights are dim, and the room itself has sheetrock instead of fully finished walls. It looks thrown together and falling apart. I also note that my bed is far from comfortable and extremely scratchy against my skin. Something that was never an issue in Remus’s care. It takes me a moment to realize I’m in a makeshift hospital. There’s a small sink in the corner and even a mirror on the wall; the double doors are closed, but I can see the shadows of people passing by on the outside.

I look at Jude with wide eyes, and he’s still watching me with a cautious gaze.

“What happened?” I whisper. The last thing I remember is escaping the celebration... My eyes widen as the memory of what occurred after hits me. I attacked him. I attacked Remus while he was trying to save his own people... because of me. I shot at him with a weapon that killed Zaya and was made especially for his downfall. I look at Jude with wide eyes, a feeling of terror washing over me.

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