Chapter 8 #2
It was barely dawn, but enough light spilled into the Saint garden to expose the truly horrific circumstances Elise and her father stood in.
Blood stained Tobias’s suit and fine white shirt; dried blood flaked away by his collarbone and jaw, where he had cradled his wife to his chest and cried into her hair just hours earlier.
It had been another sleepless night for Elise, who had yet to change out of her bloodied clothes as well. Part of her felt an instinctual urge to keep them on if it meant holding a piece of her mother close to her for a little while longer.
The more she tried to convince herself that her actions were not cursed, the more she believed they were.
Every step of the previous night played in her head over and over and over again.
Had she not picked up the ribbon, her mother would have never run into danger.
Had Elise not cowered under her father’s gaze, they never would have walked into the ribbon.
Had she not shown up back home at all, her mother would probably still be alive.
The whole incident had been a blur, but more than anything, it was perplexing in a way that not even Elise’s tortured mind could rationalize.
A reaper—the biggest and most damning one she had ever seen—had entered Saint property and killed her mother.
Everything that went wrong, as simply put by Elise’s overactive brain, was her fault. She had not done enough to prevent the harm that occurred.
“You don’t really believe that, do you?” Her father’s voice pulled her from her endless reflection.
She glanced up from her hands, where her nails had picked so many previously healing wounds into bloody oblivion. “Excuse me?”
Tobias gestured to the giant bloody lotus flower that had been hastily drawn on the far wall of the garden post-attack. What had once been a symbol of prosperity and protection now turned into a macabre display of violence. “You do not believe that the Saints can be mocked, do you?”
“No,” Elise said firmly, surprising herself with her own strength. She could hardly focus on him over the chants of protesters in the distance outside the Saint estate. Cries of “Make Harlem safe again” rang out through the air over and over.
Her father turned to one of the Saint associates, who stood by a police officer. “So why have you suggested such a thing? We are not a business that can be ridiculed, so surely this lotus flower means something else.”
“Sir, while I understand your sentiment, we have reason to believe this was a planned attack specifically against your family. The symbol only supports that claim, whether you want to believe it or not,” the officer chimed in.
Several of his comrades circled the scene, some with cameras flashing every few minutes to document various angles of the evidence left behind.
What happened to be left was her mother, in two parts, and the blood that spilled from her body.
“We are to assume this was another reaper attack. It is fair to assume rogue reapers in this area would have animosities toward your family. We will have to take your wife in for a full autopsy. As soon as the coroner arrives—”
“No,” Tobias said sharply. Red lined his eyes, which had gone dark with a despair Elise had not seen since her own attack five years prior. He stepped closer to the officer and lifted a shaking hand.
“Sir?” the officer asked, frowning.
Tobias closed his shaking hand into a fist, then stretched his fingers out, his thumb twisting his wedding band. “You will not take my wife away from me. If you have to do the examination here, then so be it,” he snapped.
“Mr. Saint,” one of his associates said in a low voice. As Tobias fought to settle down, his shoulders heaving with his heavy breaths, the associate spoke quietly to the officer.
Elise stared at the white sheets dotted with crimson stains that covered her mother.
Her hand slid into her pocket, feeling for the bloody ribbon she had yet to let go of since nearly tripping on it.
All she could think about was just how much blood there had been when the attack happened and how much remained on the ground now.
Before she could consider her father’s reaction, Elise was opening her mouth to speak. “If it was a reaper, why is there still so much blood?”
The officer in conversation with the Saint associate blinked down at her. “Plenty of reaper attacks can be quite violent without the need to feed. This one appears to have been more of a demonstration to make a statement.”
“My mother was a Saint. Her blood would be considered valuable among reapers; this is too much waste, even for a cruel mastermind,” Elise said. Her fingers twisted around the ribbon as she watched the man’s expression go from doubtful to agitated.
The officer’s brows knitted together, and he sighed. “Do you believe we should risk lengthening this investigation because you want to believe reapers are smart and, God forbid, capable of making sound business decisions?”
The condescension in his tone only made Elise’s quietly simmering anger burn hotter in her chest. It had been four long hours of waiting and pretending to be okay while everyone else did their jobs.
Now she had no more energy to maintain a mask for his comfort.
Especially knowing how little he truly cared.
“I believe you should consider every angle to ensure you build the best case and find what killed my mother,” Elise said sharply.
To speak to an officer like this would have been a death sentence if her father were not the one responsible for the weapon that kept him safe every day of his job.
His hand brushed over it now, despite Elise not having moved an inch in his direction.
Her words, she’d found, were enough to make the right people uncomfortable.
A cold hand closed around her arm, and Tobias pressed into her side. “You will have to excuse her, Officer. I am afraid she has been taught to think like a reaper as of late.”
The officer nodded slowly. His eyes found Elise once more, contemplating and curious this time. “We plan to interrogate the Harlem reapers. You mentioned Layla Quinn being at the gathering last night, but we have been unsuccessful in seizing her at this time.”
“Shocker,” Elise said flatly. Anger heated her skin, and she pressed her fingertips together to keep from shaking too hard. “She’s the one who matters the most.”
Another voice spoke up. “I believe it.” Mayor Arendale had arrived at the scene. The man took up ample space, commanding his surroundings with his broad shoulders and accusing eyes. Elise hated looking at him almost as much as she hated being in the vicinity of her father.
The mayor gave her a steady nod. “You and Layla Quinn were the last to see an innocent young woman before she died last night. According to our experts, her death was consistent with the effects we’ve seen from karma.
I think we should reopen the investigation on the new drug.
If our youth are not safe, then no one is.
” He nodded to a nearly empty vial on the evidence table that had been set up nearby.
“This reaper venom was found at the scene, assumed to have been consumed by that woman. It is believed to be the main ingredient in the karma drug that is spreading rapidly through Harlem now. I know you know these reapers and how far they are willing to go to keep Saints and their allies down. Your mother and that young woman will certainly not be their last victims. Harlem will not be safe until we can neutralize this deadly agent.”
Much to her surprise, he did not ask any questions.
The man instead turned to her father, who then gave him one final nod before they watched him walk off with the police officers.
Elise felt Tobias’s fingers tighten on her arm before he turned to face her.
“I want to tell you how I need you back in this empire, but you’ve shown not a single ounce of self-control since you came here. Have you lost your mind?” he hissed.
Elise met his ire with a glare that made him flinch. “As much or as little as you have, Father.”
“Is there a reason why you showed up here last night?” Tobias whispered sharply.
A muscle twitched in Elise’s jaw. She frowned, her body tensing under his grip. “I want you to continue the search for Josi,” Elise snapped.
Finally moving away from a heated discussion with several officers, Sterling stepped up to them.
His expression was guarded. With all the tragedy surrounding them, he somehow still managed to hide his feelings.
“We never stopped. I know this is an emotional time for everyone, but your anger and tears will not bring her back,” Sterling said.
Elise lowered her eyes for a moment. It did not escape her that the last time she had seen him, he had been turning away from her after shooting a bullet into her heart.
How far their friendship had fallen in the name of a man who would trade them both for a chance at ruling the city.
Elise knew she would not get far without proper resources, but going back to her father felt like a betrayal of herself.
No amount of fear of the reapers who wanted her dead would force her back to this empire. “Clearly Sterling is not doing enough. I want to claim the Harlem lair. We can make them listen. I will make Layla listen.” Elise spoke strongly.
Her father tensed beside her. “You finally speak like a true Saint.”
“I’m doing this for Josi. Not for the empire.”
Disgust wrinkled Tobias’s nose. He dropped her arm and backed away. “I hardly recognize you. And to show up unannounced after months of leaving your mother to suffer heartbreak—she would hate this side of you.”