Chapter 16
“Absolutely not. And frankly, it disturbs me that you feel so comfortable coming back here after all the chaos you’ve caused. You abandoned your lair and lost your opportunity as a fair fight for clan leader when you sided with the Saint girl. I told you to stay away,” Julius warned.
Layla stood in the cathedral vestibule, facing the new self-appointed Harlem clan leader.
It was hard to look at him without malice, but she forced her expression to remain neutral while he stared down at her, knowing hostility would only hurt her chances at getting him to agree with her proposal.
“The beast is attacking both humans and reapers. We would be smarter to fight it together.”
Julius glanced back at the rows of pews leading up to the dais, where a few reapers sat and listened to their heated conversation.
“You know how manipulative humans can be. They’ve created unspeakable horrors and committed violences that our world will never forget, but you expect me to believe they are small in the face of this beast?
What, we do the work in protecting Harlem for them, and then they just go back to treating us like demons?
I thought you were smarter than this. But suddenly because it’s Elise Saint asking, you are willing to damn your reaper morals to help her and all the humans who have hated us for centuries? ” he hissed.
His points were difficult to argue against. Layla knew exactly how he felt.
Why should reapers lower their defenses and accept another partnership with humans after the devastating way things had ended last time?
Why should they heed to their needs when reapers had been living beneath the mortal boot since they were conceived out of their selfish malevolence?
Still, Layla could not give up so easily.
Celie’s tear-streaked face and pained cries flashed in her mind, along with the lingering scent of Laure’s blood as she had been dragged away by the beast. It was not just a human problem.
The whole of Harlem was in danger—reapers included.
“Helping humans helps us too. We need their numbers and their weapons to defeat something like this. The Saint—” she began, but Julius cut her off.
“I already said no,” Julius snapped. “I do not give a damn if you find a friend in this Saint girl; she will never be ours. You bring her around here, or I catch a whiff of her on you again, you’ll both be dead.”
Layla could only stare after him as he walked away, back into the long shadows of the old building around them.
A small figure emerged from behind him, and Layla caught Celie’s eye.
She lifted her chin, hoping for a sign of their loyalty to each other still being alive.
But to her dismay, the girl only shook her head and continued after Julius.
The cathedral felt colder than it did holy.
Layla was glad to finally leave it and step into the sunlight outside.
However relieving it was, the feeling was short-lived as a familiar scent floated over to her in the breeze.
She tracked it down with ease, then groaned when she found Elise Saint waiting for her in a covered alleyway at the edge of reaper territory.
The Saint heiress leaned against the wall, one hip popped and displaying the gun strapped to her body.
Layla would have to get used to seeing her carrying a weapon so confidently.
When Elise had been using Sterling’s gun months ago, the girl had been almost as uncomfortable as she was around the schoolboys who’d crushed on her when they were younger.
The memory nearly made her smile, but then Layla noticed the way she straightened and instinctively reached for her weapon when she saw her.
“You shouldn’t be here,” Layla said coldly.
Elise dropped her hand and lowered her shoulders. “I’m assuming he said no.”
“I can’t blame them. Last time we tried to work together, it was a disaster,” Layla muttered. She still warred with herself over whether working this closely with Elise on her own was a mistake.
“Things have changed. We’re all in danger now. Does it really seem wise to hold on to grudges when there’s something bigger than all of us threatening our lives? Are reapers really all so stubborn—”
“Stubbornness is a human trait. Reapers live too long to care that deeply,” Layla said.
Elise rolled her eyes. “How much longer until you stop being stubborn?”
At this, another smile almost found its way onto Layla’s lips. She looked away, her voice dropping as reality set in. “One hundred more years at least.”
Elise’s blood seemed to cool at that admission. She swallowed, her throat tensing. “Right.”
Layla studied her face, taking in the narrowing of her cheeks and the hollow bruises beneath her eyes.
Despite her recognizable scent, the heiress’s essence seemed off.
Something else wrestled within her, and Layla sensed it to be more than just her mental state.
“What did you do?” she asked before she could think better of it.
The Saint’s gaze flicked to her. “Pardon me?”
“You seem less afraid,” Layla said.
Elise blinked. “We all have to grow up eventually. I figured you would appreciate me crying and complaining less. Jamie certainly does,” she muttered.
Layla shook her head. “It’s not that. You do not care about your life.” She remembered Elise reaching for the gun when she entered the alleyway. Perhaps her sense of danger only arose when it came to Layla. A sinking feeling took over her chest, and she suddenly regretted asking Elise anything.
“My life does not matter anymore.” Elise shrugged. “There’s not much to look forward to nowadays, is there?”
Her words reminded Layla of herself. There had been a time, years ago, when Layla’s own life had become collateral in her own motives for vengeance.
The path she’d taken had brought her to darker places than Layla ever imagined.
The thought of Elise taking the same descent scared her.
If Layla had hardly survived it as a reaper, there was no hope for Elise.
“You don’t have to worry about me. We’re in this together only until we find my sister,” Elise said.
Layla narrowed her eyes. “That’s exactly why I have to care. You are my ticket out of here. So you cannot be reckless with your life because you have to stay alive long enough to vouch for my immunity after all this is over.”
Elise pursed her lips. She hesitated, her mouth twisting while she thought.
Finally, she nodded slowly and spoke again.
“Allow me to be reckless once more. The last few attacks have been in places where public officials and Saint associates were around. If Josi really is targeting those people, we can set a trap for her.”
A long sigh left Layla as she pressed a hand to her forehead. “You want to be bait again, don’t you?”
“I would not say it’s what I want, but it does seem necessary. We have no support outside of each other. Let’s make the best use of ourselves.”
***
Layla insisted on walking Elise back to more neutral territory, despite Elise’s protests. “This is unnecessary.”
The reaper looked up at the setting sun and shook her head. “It’s almost sundown. If what you said is true about the new beast, that sunlight deters it, then you’ll be vulnerable when the sunlight disappears.” They turned to go down a covered alley, a shortcut that would save time.
“If what I said is true…” Elise rolled her eyes. “What will it take for you to just take my word for it? I do believe if we are to be partners again, you should trust me. I have no reason to lie to you now.”
“I’ll trust you when you stop lying,” Layla said sharply. She stopped walking and gave Elise an expectant look.
There wasn’t much Elise could say that wouldn’t make Layla treat her differently.
Jamie and Sterling already looked at her like she was losing her mind.
She didn’t want to further strain their partnership before it properly began.
“We do not have to make this personal. The less emotional investment you have in me and the decisions I make, the better the outcome will be when we inevitably have to part ways again. Would you not prefer that?”
Layla stiffened, and Elise sensed the striking fear she had made a mistake. The reaper held her hand up. “Shut up.”
“Excuse you—” Elise started, but a shadow loomed from behind her.
She began to turn, her hand resting on the grip of her gun.
Before she could face the threat, Layla was slamming her into the nearest wall.
Elise tumbled several feet away, rolling to a halt in a crouching position.
A gasp of surprise tore from her as she spotted Layla with a massive chain thrown around her neck.
An unfamiliar reaper held the other end, and while the metal dug into Layla’s throat, burning her flesh until it melted into her collarbones, the reaper holding it had no reaction to the Saint steel.
Elise tried to stand, but someone pushed her into the wall, their forearm pressing into her throat while she pulled her gun from her holster.
Julius loomed over her, his eyes dark and furious.
“You two just cannot resist each other, can you? I’ll give you one chance to tell me what you’re planning before I rip your throat out. ”
“I thought you did not want to be involved?” Elise rasped. Her throat ached beneath the pressure of his arm, but he was too close for her to get her gun out.
“I want the Saints to stay out of reaper business,” he spat.
Julius removed his arm only to clamp his fingers around her throat.
His nails, sharp and unrelenting, dug into her flesh.
Blood leaked from the new cuts, pooling in her collarbones.
“You’re poison to Layla, and she’s spreading it to my clan. ”