27. Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Iris

The moon is full in the sky, casting a beam of light over the mountainside. Without a cloud in sight, everything is illuminated beautifully for me to see. Nighttime is much more peaceful here than it was in the blight. In the blight, nighttime was when you could hear the moans of the sick. You could hear the screams of those being attacked by their own. Nighttime never brought peace. It only ever brought the fear of not seeing the next day. Nighttime here, however, brings peace. The backyard of Remus's home is surrounded by trees with warm lights illuminating the path. Sometimes, it doesn't feel real seeing the world like this.

I suck in a deep breath pulling my knees to my chest. There's a heavy cloud descending over me. I can feel myself beginning to check out mentally. It doesn't feel worth it. Nothing feels worth it anymore. I silently pull the locket up to look at my family. I no longer have the tears to cry over what has become of them. Nor do I have the strength to fight. I am utterly spent. My brother belongs to the rebellion, and my parents are dead. I am nothing more than an orphan, taken in by an extraterrestrial being for his pleasure. And once his amusement with me ends, my life will be forfeit.

I hear the door to the yard opening, but I don't bother to look who it is. I know it's Remus. He doesn't speak as he approaches where I am seated. He silently takes a seat next to me, looking up at the stars.

"I assume negotiations went awry?" he says gently. I silently drop my locket, looking out over the mountainside.

"Yes. But you already knew that," I say bitterly.

Remus laughs softly, turning away from the stars to look at me.

"Why do you think I would know that?" he asks. I shrug.

"Jude was in the room. Can't you just spy through his inhibitor?" I ask sarcastically.

Remus laughs again, and despite my hatred toward him, the sound is nice. It makes me feel like everything isn't so bad.

"That isn't how inhibitors work." He gently places his hand under mine, lifting it to his lips, and I find myself following the motion until I am looking into his vibrant gaze.

"Inhibitors are used for control. I can't see into your mind and read your thoughts. While that would be convenient, the cellular makeup of a human is much too complex to be able to hear something that isn't manifested audibly. I can only physically control you and give commands on what to do," he says .

"Then how was Margot talking to me all those times?" I ask in confusion.

"If I give the command to serve, and the host is required to speak to fulfill that command, then they shall do so."

I pull my hand out of his grasp, finding it in my heart to speak.

"Are you going to put him under an inhibitor?" I ask. Remus studies me, and I immediately notice the lack of emotion in his features.

"Usually, in this case, I would have tortured and killed him by now. But it would seem that I am once again at odds with my irrational attachments." I blink in confusion at his use of the word "irrational," but I don't ask him to elaborate. Suddenly, Remus's attention shifts away from me, sweeping over the trees. His eyes linger in certain areas, but he doesn't say anything. A smile ghosts over his lips before he turns his attention back to me.

"What would you rather me do? Not torture him and continue to look for my brother and the resistance's whereabouts?" he asks.

"I would rather you just leave our planet and let us have our freedom," I say softly. Remus laughs but doesn't respond, which is out of character for him. I look at him, and he's still focused on the area surrounding us, as if he's seeing something that I can't.

"Why do you want our planet so badly? Why not just kill the people if our resources are what you're after and be on your way? You can clearly do it," I say. Remus finally looks away from the landscape, his eyes focusing on me. Gone is his amusement, replaced with an expression I can't quite read .

"Do you truly think you are ready for that answer?" he asks. My eyes widen slightly. He's being serious. He doesn't think that I can handle the answer he's willing to give.

"I—"

"You're not ready for that answer, Iris."

He leans in close to me, grasping my chin between his fingers as he eyes me. "The day you find out the plans for humanity will be the day you truly will loathe me." His bright gaze searches mine. "And I don't think I am quite ready to enter that stage of our time together," he says with a smile.

His gaze shifts slightly above mine, and I don't have the time to register what ensues next. A loud train-like noise rushes my ears just as Remus moves at inhuman speed in front of me, holding his hand out. My eyes widen as what looks like a small missile comes barreling right at us, but it never reaches. It collides inches away from Remus's palm, a raging inferno blasting around us in a ball as he protects us from the recoil.

A circular blast lights up the night, the fiery inferno bathing the grass and house in flames. It's unfathomable as I sit behind Remus, unable to do anything but watch as he demonstrates his power once again. I am in such a state of shock that when the aftershock from the blast finally disappears, leaving a ring of flames, I can't move. Remus hastily pulls me up, his eyes frantically inspecting me.

"Are you hurt?" he asks. I shake my head, unable to form a sentence. Luckily, Remus helps me up, his arms tight around my waist as he ensures I don't touch the molten ground or flames, carrying me into the burning beams that were once the living room.

"They're attacking. It's time to go," Remus says as he gently puts me down.

"Wait, what about Cypress?" I shout as Remus grabs hold of my hand, pulling me along. I look around frantically, noticing there are no slaves or servants. The house is empty. Remus continues to pull me down the familiar hallway, and I yank my hand out of his grip, finally managing to get his attention. He narrows his gaze but answers me.

"The rebels are here to kill me. If he dies in the process, who am I to deny them their opportunity just because one of their own might get caught in the crosshairs," he says coldly. "As is the way of your kind."

"What? You want me to leave him to die?" I ask. Remus looks at me like I'm the crazy one.

"He was expecting this, Iris. They came for him—" Remus's sentence is cut short as he shifts his attention behind me. He pushes me out of the way as a spray of bullets hits the walls. He easily deflects them, visibly irritated at the change in weaponry. He then grabs me by the arm, dragging me along.

"Remus! Please!" I screech. He stops, turning to face me, and I see in his expression he isn't worried. He's irritated—like this is an inconvenience to him. His head perks up as he senses another attack, and he turns around just in time to see another missile head firing toward us. Remus pushes me behind him, his grip remaining on me as the missile explodes against an invisible barrier that I assume he is responsible for. The walls blast outward, and whatever is left intact is immediately covered in furious flames. Terror grips my body as I look around at the aftermath. We should be dead. If not for Remus, I would have been a long time ago. But even as I look at him now he is still not concerned. He seems to be looking beyond the bombs for something. Something that he finds. His eyes narrow, and I notice the corner of his mouth twitch as he fights his smile.

" Ky?n ." 1 Remus releases an irritated breath, looking down at me. He's warring with himself on a decision and finally relents, pulling me to my feet.

"This has suddenly become my fight. Go get your brother. Jude will escort you to the ship. Make it quick, Iris. The beams won't hold for long." Remus shifts his attention past me, his hand hovering in the direction of the flames. I watch in fascination as the flames dissipate per his command, giving me enough room to escape. Remus doesn't say anything else as he approaches the direction of the raging inferno from which the weapons are coming, disappearing within the flames.

I don't waste any more time, taking off to the part of the house that hasn't been destroyed yet. Smoke clings to the air, filling the halls as the fire takes hold of more material. My eyes burn and water, my lungs on fire as I run through the smog to reach my brother. As I approach Cypress's location, Jude is there to greet me, and I throw open the door to see Cypress in the same spot, his body tensed as he takes me in.

"They've come for both of us," he says with a smile. I ignore his words, making my way to where he is. I let out a cry of frustration when I realize I have no idea how to loosen his shackles. But Jude silently moves to a panel near the wall, placing his hand over it to release Cypress's shackles.

"What are you doing?" he asks.

"Saving you! We have to go. We can't stay here!" I shout. I make my way to the door just as another explosion sounds outside, violently shaking the ground beneath us. I stumble into the door, only realizing at the last second that Cypress isn't following me.

I look at him in confusion. "What are you doing?" I ask.

Cypress shakes his head. "I can't go with you. If I go, our cause is as good as dead. This is their contingency plan. They've come to ensure I don't leak information."

I move away from the door, approaching my brother. "Cypress, do you hear yourself?" I shout in confusion.

I grip his shirt, pulling him inches from my face.

"I'm not leaving you here to die!"

Suddenly, the room around us rips apart as heat and a force of power blast through, tearing me and Cypress apart. I cry out as my body is violently thrown across the room by the force of the explosion. My skin burns, and a loud ringing warbles in my ear as nothing else is able to penetrate the sound. I can't stop coughing from the smoke and debris I inhaled, and the heat burns my lungs in my chest, making it more difficult to breathe with each passing second. My eyes are swollen and blurred as I attempt to crawl around.

"Cypress!" I scream his name as another explosion sounds, drowning out my voice. I can't see anything in the room other than the blur of color from the flames. The heavy groan of wood collapsing around me accompanies the cacophony of noise in my head at the moment, and suddenly, the heat feels much worse as more piles of burning wood surround me.

I blink, trying to clear my vision, but I am still blinded by the heat. The muffled sound of my name drifts through the air, pulling my attention.

"Cypress?"

I slowly move, pushing debris out of my way as I try to rise from my place in the rubble, but the heat and flames are too much. Another tremor shakes the ground around me, and I look up just in time to see what remains of the solid beams breaking apart and falling. Everything seems to move in slow motion, and I can't move fast enough to dodge. Nor is Remus here to save me. I cry out as everything collapses on top of me. My body is immediately crushed, and I feel pain. Unbearable pain. The boards that aren't completely intact are on fire and burn viciously into my flesh, the weight crushing my bones beneath.

I scream in agony, but it comes out as a gurgled cry. Even my voice is crushed. The prickling sensation overwhelms me as the fire burns through my flesh, and I wish more than anything that I could die now. Anything to escape this pain. I feel the boards slowly lift from my body, but it's not enough. It's not moving fast enough. With every passing second, more and more of my body catches fire underneath the heated boards. I can't decipher pain from anything else, not even common knowledge.

"Iris, listen to me."

It's Remus's voice. It's particularly soothing, and although I can hear him, my mind doesn't fully comprehend what he's saying to me.

"Cypress..." I say my brother's name over and over again, hoping that he's okay. He's all I have left. The world ripples in and out of focus as my consciousness wanes, pushing me to the brink of blacking out. But the soothing voice won't let me. My mouth is dry as I desperately wheeze through my constricted lungs, and when I try to look around, the world is a blur of color.

"Stay with me, Iris." I know that voice. It's the voice that I adore. I always find myself leaving unconsciousness to follow it.

"That's it, come back to me..."

There's a hint of panic to it, though. I cry out, screaming in agony as another wave of pain washes over me, pulling me from my dreamlike state.

"Please, please, please!" I scream. I don't know who I'm begging, but I pray that anyone hears my pleas and gives in to my request. I vaguely register Remus shouting something in his language, and I can't understand it. I feel hands on my face, pushing my hair away and lightly tapping my cheek, but I can't find it in me to focus. I feel... faint.Remus's shouting becomes frantic and aggravated, and I feel sharp prickles of pain washing over me until I finally feel fingers pressing against my temple, and darkness overcomes me.

1. Translated: Traitor