Remus by Madison Stevens Read Free Book Online Page B

results.”
    She huffed loudly from the other side of the room.
    “You’d do well to treat me with a little more respect, Harold,” she said, her voice low and laced with venom.
    Harold laughed loudly, which surprised Rem to no end. The man seemed about as far from brave as a person got.
    “I’m the one conducting the tests,” Harold said to her and glared across the room. “Who do you think is the least replaceable here?”
    She might have seemed calm, but Rem could tell she was anything but. Her pulse quickened, and he could taste her sweat in the air. Despite his small stature, Harold had balls. Had to give him that.
    Agatha huffed loudly again and made her way to the door. The sound of her heels clacking on the floor echoed through the room. When the door had shut behind her, both men seemed to relax.
    “Well, she’s just a bowl of sunshine,” Rem said to Harold.
    The older man looked over to him as if he was thinking along those lines and gave a weak smile.
    “She wants a spot in the Inner Circle,” Harold said and shook his head.
    Rem had heard of them. They were the elite few who held the keys to the kingdom in their world. No one had ever seen them, and the only path was to become a Council member. It all seemed like a lot of smoke and mirrors in order for them to have some inner politicking, with each person kissing just enough ass to make it to the next rung on the ladder.
    “And you don’t?” Rem said.
    Maybe this was his chance for information. Harold was more open than the other Council members. After all, he’d been the only one to even take off the hood on his robe. Rem had a feeling that with enough pushing, he might be able to at least create some sort of neutral understanding. Nothing much, but it might give him the chance later to do what needed to be done.
    “I didn’t get into this for that,” Harold said and turned around to look at him.
    Rem glanced at the table behind the man. Several syringes with various shades of liquid lined the table. He grimaced. It seemed like there was always something new they were testing on him. Mostly just to see how his system would react. As far as he could tell, he was damn near indestructible.
    A hint of something blue reflected on the stainless steel table.
    “What did you get into this for?” Rem said, his eyes fixed on the instruments of his torture.
    Harold paused. He looked uncertain and seemed to be teetering on whether to tell or not. It was all the sign Rem needed.
    “I mean,” Rem continued and looked over to Harold, “you just don’t really seem like the rest of them.”
    Harold puffed up with pride, and Rem knew it was enough to get the ball rolling.
    “I’m not,” Harold said and wrinkled his nose. “They are just users,” he said and glared at the door Agatha had used. “They don’t even seem to understand what we’re dealing with here.”
    Rem frowned a little. “And what would that be?”
    “Well, gods, of course.”
    Shock overwhelmed Rem.
    “Gods?” he said. The word seemed thick in his mouth.
    Harold shook his head and turned back to the table.
    “They really do keep your kind in the dark about all this,” he said and turned around with a bright blue glowing stone. The color was so bright and pure, it made Rem ache inside to look at it.
    “You feel it don’t you?” Harold said and moved closer with the stone.
    A hum buzzed from the stone the closer it got. It was calling him. He wasn’t sure how, but he knew it was.
    “What is it?” Rem said, never taking his eyes off the bright jewel.
    “It’s the essence of the gods,” Harold said and held the stone as if it were the most precious thing in the world. “The birth of your people.”
    The words met his ears, but none of it made sense. Gods? It wasn’t possible. How could it be? He knew that many in the past believed their gladiator ancestors were descended from or blessed by the gods, but to think that in this age, well, it was just crazy.
    “I came from