Chapter 7 #2
Tracking Elise down had proven to be more difficult than she’d anticipated.
Layla had first gone to Jamie’s place, planning to warn both of them about a rumored rogue attack on the Saint property and to tell them to stay away.
All she got when the apartment door opened was a peeved Jamie and a smug cat.
She’s gone home.
Those three words sent Layla into a bigger panic than she wanted to admit.
Caring about Elise was no longer an option—not when their crossed paths had led them to more pain and destruction than resolution.
For the past two months, Layla had tried hard to not think about the Saint heiress.
Every thought sent her heart racing and her blood into a heated frenzy.
It woke in her a beast she had hoped was permanently put to rest at the Alhambra.
But now Layla wanted more than anything to find her and make sure she was still breathing.
To do so, she let hunger guide her thoughts for once.
For the past few months, Layla had tried to convince herself to forget everything about Elise, from her scent to her laugh to the sound of her voice.
But even now, steps away from the Saint estate, Layla easily caught her scent in the cold air.
It felt almost natural following the essence of Elise.
The closer she got, the more apparent her starvation became.
Blood pounded in her ears. Each breath from her heaving chest was agony from having gone so long without tasting the sweetness of Elise.
By the time Layla made it to the edge of the Saint gardens, Elise surrounded her.
Or at least it felt like it. The heiress was within reach—the closest they had been in months.
Something shifted in the shadows dancing just beyond the garden gates.
People mingled within, waiting in the pale light cast by the streetlamps for Tobias and Analia Saint to take the small stage among the perfectly manicured hedges.
No matter how hard Layla tried to block out the memory of the last time she had visited this place, it resurfaced in full force with the aroma of the countless flowers.
The gardenias, the roses, even the bubbling fountain—everything sweet reminded her of Elise.
Even now, with the flowers dead under the winter freeze and the fountain still, the instinct to devour consumed Layla.
Her fangs refused to retract, and every movement sent shocks of lightning down her skin.
A primal danger stood along the edges of her awareness.
Between the overwhelming Saint guard presence, the sensation of something unfamiliar lurking nearby, and her own waning self-control, Layla could not determine the biggest threat.
To her or any of the mortals in the area.
The longer she stood around searching for Elise, the more Layla’s own purpose faded from her hunger-stricken mind.
Memories melted into urges, and she forgot every reason that had brought her to this garden.
Crimson covered her vision, her pupils widening until her eyes looked nearly black.
The moment she laid eyes on the object of her desires, all Layla could do was freeze.
Layla sensed the spike in Elise’s blood pressure.
She felt the heat of her blood like it was her own, the soft beating of her heart swelling to a thunderous peak.
Layla’s lips moved to form her name, but a familiar scent dragged her attention away from Elise.
A young woman with pale skin and blond hair stood just a few yards away.
The delicate sound of her laughter grated on Layla’s fragile memories, taking her back to the previous night at the blood house.
Her heart skipped a beat. Sure enough, when Layla recognized the young woman as the masked patron that had paid for her venom, she noticed her lifting the vial to dump the remainder of Layla’s venom into her mouth.
Breaking her close contact with Elise tore something open in her, but Layla charged past her anyway, not stopping until she was close enough to slap the glass vial of her venom from the young woman’s hand.
Startled, the woman flinched away from Layla. Fear lit her eyes, and she scrambled to pick the vial up. Most of it had spilled into the snow, but she only dusted ice off the top, scowling. “How dare you.”
“I’m trying to save your life. Have you taken any of that?” Layla asked quickly.
The young woman scoffed. “What I do with my purchase is none of your business. And you shouldn’t be here. Should I call Sterling to come catch you again? He rewarded me quite well for giving out your location last time.”
Layla narrowed her eyes. “How do you know…?” She glanced around, noticing the growing crowd by the stage. One man stood out to her from afar—none other than Mayor Arendale. Layla looked back at the woman. “You’re working for them,” she breathed.
“Not yet. But I want them to see me. I’m not a nobody. I wanted to know just how valuable your venom is. And why everyone is going so crazy over it.” Without another word, the woman dumped the rest of the venom into her mouth.
Layla didn’t think. She just lunged for her, tackling her to the ground. The vial flew from her hand, but the venom was already in her mouth. Some of it trickled past her lips, but most of it had gone down her throat. As much as Layla wanted to help her, there was not much she could do unless—
“Layla?”
Elise’s voice made her go still. Layla barely noticed as the young woman scrambled away from her.
She turned, and for the briefest moment, her eyes locked with Elise’s.
Layla saw the whole world in Elise’s gaze.
The small second stretched on for an eternity between them.
Time might have stopped. Though they stood less than a foot apart, an icy ravine might as well have opened up in that distance, with Layla’s burning hunger trespassing the bounds.
But the fear in Elise’s eyes sent a shiver down Layla’s spine.
It had been a compromising position to be found in—her on top of an innocent human while trying to wrestle something from her.
Layla might have been able to bear disgust and fear from anyone else, but from Elise… her heart cracked at the sight of it.
People around the garden began to sense the commotion. Layla didn’t care. She stood and stepped toward Elise, hoping to explain herself and promise that she had come to make peace, not add more fuel to the burning embers of hatred between their alliances.
They never made contact. In her shameless pursuit of satisfaction, Layla had failed to notice Julius’s presence behind her.
He pulled his arm around her waist and hauled her away into the darkness.
She tried to fight, but he clamped his hand over her mouth.
Layla sank her teeth into his fingers. As he gave a choked-back howl of pain, she expected him to release her, but Julius’s grip only tightened on her waist, and much to her own surprise, the world grew hazy as his blood dripped from her lips.
Before she could register herself losing consciousness, the darkness already had a hold of her.
***
“Elise, my love?”
For once, when Elise turned, she was met with someone she wanted to see.
“Mother.” She threw herself into her mother’s arms and buried her face in her shoulder.
Analia’s body tensed against Elise at first, and she wondered if her mother would throw her off just to scold her for wrinkling her fine dress.
But to Elise’s relief, Analia embraced her back, her arms soft yet secure around her.
Elise wanted to cry, but the tears would not come.
All she could do was press her smile into the crook of her mother’s neck.
In this moment, she felt like a little girl who needed her mother more than anything in the world.
Elise wondered, if she asked, would her mother kiss her wounds like she used to when she was younger and hold her until she fell asleep?
Would she see her as the girl she’d once been and remain gentle until Elise was ready to stand on her own again?
After a long moment, Analia pulled back. One hand cupped Elise’s cheek, and she smiled, tears in her soft brown eyes. “My darling, you look like you’ve seen a ghost. But it’s just me.” Analia rubbed her thumb over Elise’s skin.
Elise placed her hand over her mother’s, nodding solemnly. “I am sorry to have been gone for so long. I missed you more than you will ever know. But with Father upset and the reapers—”
“Elise.” Analia silenced her with her own name, gently spoken like an oath. “None of that matters now. What matters is that you are here and that you are home.”
“But Josi…” Elise swallowed past her tears and the painful lump in her throat. “I’m sorry, Mama.”
Analia shook her head. Her hand, still warm against Elise’s cheek, felt like the relief of rain on a hot day. “I do not seek forgiveness from my children. I love you, and I know you love me. Everything else is nonsense.”
Elise tried to listen to her mother’s words, but just a slight look behind her led her to her father’s gaze trained right on them from several feet away.
Time and stress had sprouted new gray in his hair and lines in his face, but the visceral resentment in his eyes had not aged a day.
Acid pooled in Elise’s throat, and her stomach lurched.
Analia took one glance back before she pulled Elise into her.
“I will call our driver and take you back to the house. Let’s get you home and away from this…
” Analia continued to tug Elise through the gardens, further from the crowds.
Just steps away from the entrance, Elise’s shoe snagged on something.
She reached down, expecting a root, but instead, her hand came back up with a white ribbon. Blood stained nearly half of it.
Elise bit back a gasp. The ribbon could have been anyone’s, but the blood made her chest tighten with panic. She looked up at her mother, whose face had gone ashen.
“Josephine…” Analia whispered. Her breath hitched, and Elise reached for her arm, hoping to steady her, but Analia was already taking off. “Josi!” she screamed. “Josephine!”
All Elise could do was try to catch up to her mother.
But even with her own adrenaline, fueled by the thought of finally finding her younger sister, she remained one step behind.
The sounds of the crowd faded behind them the farther they drifted into the gardens.
Shadows moved around her, and Elise suddenly remembered the real threat of reapers.
She called out for her mother, but it was no use.
Suddenly Analia stopped, and it wasn’t until Elise looked down that she realized why.
That girl Layla had attacked sat crumpled on the ground.
She rocked forward on her hands and knees, a low moan leaving her as she sat up to face Analia.
Even from several feet away, Elise saw the blood pouring from her eyes.
Black veins spider-webbed across her face like cracks spreading through delicate china.
“I’ll get help—” The moment Elise took one step toward her mother, a massive form shifted in the darkness ahead of them.
Heavy footsteps shook the ground, and before Elise could register the danger, blood flew from the young woman’s mouth, splattering over Elise’s face.
She blinked past it, gasping at the sight of talons poking through the woman’s chest. Just above her lolling head, Elise found red eyes boring into her through the darkness.
As Elise pulled her gun from her belt, the beast drew nearer.
She opened her mouth to scream while her hand closed around the gun.
Before the words even left her throat, her mother threw her body into her.
Elise hit the ground so hard, her teeth rattled.
She looked up just in time to see the beast shove its other taloned hand through her mother’s chest. Bones snapped and muscle fibers tore as it ripped Analia in two.
The creature flung her so hard, parts of Analia’s body flew into the crowd yards away.
Blood sprayed, coating Elise with a blanket of wet warmth.
It continued to rain down for what felt like an eternity, even as the beast retreated, seemingly spooked by the sudden commotion of the guests.
Screams started in the distance, but they lowered to a faint buzz against the roar of her pulse in her ears.
She walked slowly toward her mother’s remains.
The ground beneath her boots was so slick with blood, her knees suddenly buckled, sending her sprawling in the grass.
Wrapped around her mother’s leg, like a snare holding prey, was another white ribbon, soaked through with blood.