Chapter 10
Elise’s entire world might as well have come crashing down. For a long time, she could only stare at Layla and repeat one thing in her head over and over again: Not Josephine. Not Josephine. Not Josephine. Not Josephine—
“My sister is ten years old,” Elise said in a voice so quiet, she was certain only Layla could hear it. By now she had forgotten that reapers and Saints were watching them nearby, though many carried on with their operations and ignored Layla and Elise entirely.
Layla shook her head. “The last time we saw her, Valeriya’s venom had changed her. Reaperhood does not discriminate in its cruelty—”
“And what? My sister has turned into a monster capable of murdering her own mother?” Elise demanded.
Her voice had returned, and this time, she put anger behind it with enough force to burn.
“She would never do something like this; she could never be like…” Her lip curled.
It did not matter if she spoke the words—Elise knew Layla would hear them anyway.
The absence of an explicit accusation seemed sting enough for Layla.
She dropped her hand and stepped back, her throat bobbing. “You need to find her before she hurts someone else or gets someone else in trouble.”
Elise shot her a dangerous glare. “You cannot prove that this was her.”
“And your people cannot prove that it was my clan either. I guess we both understand how unfair this system is now. If you do not find her, then I will go after her myself,” Layla spat back.
With all her misery, Elise had hoped she would at least be able to take time to remember her mother and grieve her, but instead, her death had pulled Elise in even more directions.
“You should go home and clean up,” Sterling said with a heavy sigh. He was finished gathering the reapers for interrogations. “You’ve done too much today.”
Elise wanted to snap at him, but an older reaper lifted his head nearby, his lips baring to reveal a devilish smile. “You should have been nicer to Layla. It takes a reaper to understand reaper actions. Now how are you going to find your sister?”
A wave of profound sadness and rage began to break in Elise. She met Sterling’s gaze and found reassurance in the way his expression seemed to wilt at her storminess. Facing the reaper again, she set her jaw. “I know my sister. She’s still out there. I do not need a reaper’s help to save her.”
A rotten stench filled the air. Elise wrinkled her nose as she moved back, drawing closer to Sterling. “What is that?”
“Whatever they’re hiding here. We’ve found bodies in reaper lairs before. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was—”
The electric lights in the hotel winked out, throwing everything into an impenetrable darkness. There were a few murmurs of surprise, and Elise could hear the Saints discussing if they should investigate or remain guarding the reapers.
Elise tried not to let the thick tension get to her. She reached for the rifle Sterling had given her and lifted it. Even though she couldn’t see through the dark, she still tracked the shifting shadows throughout the room.
“We should fall back,” Sterling announced. “This feels like a trap.”
A protest immediately landed on Elise’s tongue. “No. They’ll use this time to escape. We cannot let them go.”
Sterling let out a frustrated huff. “And what? Let all my men die? Absolutely not. Let’s go!”
Something creaked at the edge of the foyer. Elise’s breath hitched as the familiar scent of a bittersweet poison crossed her senses. “Wait—”
A shriek tore like shards of glass through the room.
Several Saints shouted, and moments later, blood sprayed, coupled with the guttural cries of pain and the sounds of flesh tearing.
Bright red eyes flashed in the dark, and Elise found herself aiming her gun right between them as they charged for her.
She felt its breath and another gush of warm liquid on her face right as Sterling’s hand wrapped around her arm and hauled her out of the hotel.
It wasn’t until they were outside, a few more Saints following suit, that Elise felt the pain piercing her chest. She reached up, feeling a lump of metal stuck in her flesh beneath her collarbone.
As she pulled it free, the moonlight glinted on the front, revealing a bloodied Saint badge on her palm.
Then, from inside the hotel, the terror unfolded.
***
Death clung to the little spots of darkness that could be found around the city.
Layla followed the faint scent of blood down the back alley of a club that was mostly dead during the day.
No light shone through its windows, and silence wrapped around it with an eerie chill, but through the ground by its back entrance, Layla felt the pulse of the macabre lurking.
A young reaper woman let her in through the door after a slight roll of her eyes at the mention of Karine.
Layla pushed her way through the dingy club basement, passing by curtained rooms where she knew blood spilled and alcohol passed between wanting lips.
Finally, she found the largest room and ducked inside, letting the curtain swing shut behind her.
Karine’s eyes slid to her slowly, her fingers tightening around the writhing victim on her lap.
A young man twisted in her clutches. Blood smeared over her lips as she pulled away from him, her tongue tracing over the holes her fangs had left in his throat.
The man slumped against the back of the couch they sat on, and Karine untangled him from her legs, moving into her own space.
She wiped at the scarlet stain across her mouth and looked at Layla.
“Is there a reason why you have interrupted me?”
Ignoring the man proved to be rather hard.
The longer Layla looked away from him, the more she sensed his blood—its human heat almost called to her, begging to be noticed.
She forced her hunger down, swallowing the pain of the thirst emerging in her throat.
“What have you done with the youngest Saint girl?”
The older reaper sat forward, her eyes narrowing.
She hesitated on Layla at first, then turned to the human at her side and gestured for him to leave.
The man stood and did as he was told. A glassy look overcame him as he walked out of the room, his expression pale and desirous for Karine.
Layla knew this ancient reaper remained underground during the day to avoid the sunlight, but the number of bodies she racked up remained a mystery.
“What is this about?” Karine asked slowly.
Layla noted her change in attitude, the softness of her voice. “The attacks. I have reason to believe she might be involved. If I find her, I can—”
Karine laughed. “You’re so far off base, darling. She is a ten-year-old little girl—”
“If there’s a chance she’s been turned, she’s no longer a little girl.” Layla’s voice went hard. “Not quite.”
For a moment there was only silence. Then Karine sighed and shook her head.
“I swore on Sena’s grave that I would keep that little girl safe from any harm.
The reason you have not seen her is not because she’s running around, killing people in the dark.
It’s because she’s hidden to stay safe from beings like you who wish to do her harm. ”
Being accused of harming innocent individuals more than once in the span of a few hours wounded Layla more than she cared to admit.
Her remaining clan mates had only narrowly managed to escape the Clarice because of the bloody distraction that had taken out several Saint members and Harlem reapers.
A ruthless beast now claimed their lair after tearing through the two groups.
Who knew how much longer it would be before the Saints came back again, this time shooting without asking questions first?
Layla reeled back, her lips twitching and eyes shining with hurt. “I would never—”
“Oh, but you’re here, asking for her,” Karine drawled.
Layla took in a shaky breath. “Julius wants to hurt her. If he gets to her first—”
“He won’t. I have my ways to ensure that will never happen.”
Nodding, Layla dropped the topic of Josephine Saint. She spoke in a lower voice this time, offering a less accusatory tone. “Do you have any hand in the new drug that has been going around? Karma, I think it’s called.”
A small smile spread across Karine’s red lips.
“A drug that hurts the people I make money off? You’ll have to think harder than that, Layla.
And as any wise businesswoman would say, I will not give out information for free.
Especially not to someone who is becoming more and more of an enemy by the day.
If you want my knowledge, you will have to work for it. ”
Exhaustion settled over Layla’s shoulders, weighing down what little remained of her strength. “Sure.”
“This blood house needs more patrons. If I have learned anything from running this place, it’s that humans love a bloody show. Find me those who are willing to bleed.” Karine’s smile sent sparks of unease down Layla’s spine.
She nodded once more and turned to leave, but the ancient reaper’s voice followed her to the door.
“A word of advice, Layla—never turn your back on a reaper. You have shown your weakness in more ways than one this week. Your whole clan might now see you as an opportunity rather than a challenge. If you end up choosing her over them, you might as well welcome death. You must forget your human past.”
Layla hesitated by the door. She turned just enough to catch the older reaper’s silhouette at the edge of her vision.
What would have been an easy choice months ago felt impossible now.
Layla’s chest tightened at the thought of fully saying goodbye to every human part of her past and the things that remained in the present.
Her brows furrowed as she clenched her jaw. “It’s Julius…”
“And are you really so content with kneeling to a man? I would expect a reaper to make a puppet out of a human, not another reaper,” Karine muttered.
Layla clenched her jaw, and a bitter taste filled her mouth. “I want him dead more than you do.”
A low chuckle left Karine. “Take control by whatever means necessary. There is only one thing I am sure of now: this ends in blood.”
No part of Layla wanted to make this choice. Playing in blood was always dangerous, but now that she was starved, it would be disastrous.