Page 37 of This Ravenous Fate
“Not now,” her mother said quickly. “Your father’s coming.”
“Good morning to my beautiful family.” Mr. Saint wore a beaming smile, which Elise at first thought was for her and her mother. But her father had brought Mr. Wayne to join them. Her mother straightened up in her seat as Mr. Wayne took the chair across from her father. “Why, it’s a pleasure for you to join us today, Stephen.”
The philanthropist shared an exuberant smile with Analia Saint as he fixed his tie. Elise understood why her parents had been so charmed by him all those years ago. She supposed the combination of friendliness and money made a man especially captivating. It was strange being around him now; as a child, she had always been excused to go play with Sterling and Layla whenever he arrived for a meeting with her father.
“Elise.” Mr. Wayne nodded to her.
“Mr. Wayne—” Elise’s fork hit her plate as she picked it up and everyone looked at her. “I’m sorry!” she exclaimed.
“Relax,” Mr. Saint said firmly.
But her father’s austerity only increased her anxiety. Elise shut her mouth and went still.
Mr. Wayne clasped his hands together over his plate, smiling. “You do have a lovely family. It makes me miss mine back in Oklahoma. I’m afraid with all the ruin—it’s practically just ashes now—it will never be home again.”
He meant the race riots in Tulsa. They had happened not long before Elise had left for France, and the stories haunted her. She shivered, knowing much destruction could happen all because a white man assumed something vile of a Black man. None of it had involved the violence of reapers, but she’d heard they now lurked in the ruins of the neighborhood that had been burned to the ground.
“Those damned riots,” Mr. Wayne said. “It’s maddening to think that humans are capable of such destruction.” He paused, his voice going sharp, “This is why I’ve been interested in politics from a young age. If I ever become mayor, you can be assured nothing like that will happen here,” Mr. Wayne said. Elise noticed he hadn’t touched his food. He raised his glass for the servant hovering nearby. “Whiskey, please.”
“Thank God for you,” Mr. Saint said. A moment of silence passed while they ate.
Mrs. Saint swallowed hard and looked at Mr. Wayne. “I’m not sure if Tobias ever told you, but we had originally planned to move to Tulsa from Texas after the war instead of Harlem. To think that could have happened to us. Such uncivilized behavior.” She shook her head, eyes shining with anguish. “So many innocent people losttheir lives and I fear our community will never fully heal from such a huge devastation. Those riots wiped a thriving part of Tulsa off the map. I worry about it happening here, what with this family’s success being in the limelight. They turned one of the most successful Black neighborhoods into a place of carnage. A massacre.”
Mr. Wayne sipped his drink. “I wouldn’t call Tulsa a massacre, Analia.”
Elise’s mother put her fork down.
“It wasn’t a slaughter,” Mr. Wayne went on. “Some say three hundred died, but it was closer to thirty. The more lies we build on that day, the more likely history is to repeat itself.”
Analia Saint’s eyes narrowed. “Thirty casualties is far from what I heard and it was an atrocity regardless—”
“You know the newspaper loves to sensationalize these things,” Mr. Wayne said quickly. He set his glass down. “Your people have been through enough. With the lab and the upcoming election, I’ve put my dollar in places that will change things. No more ruthless violence in these streets. But to be frank, Tobias, there is so much tension in this empire, I fear it snapping while I align myself with it.”
Mr. Wayne’s tone unsettled Elise.Your people—as if the Black community was a herd of slow-moving beings, easily swayed.
Her father’s easy smile faltered. “This empire is far from collapsing, Stephen. I assure you, we have this murder investigation under control. With your contributions, we can get reaperhood contained and expand the empire.”
“I feel that I must be transparent with you and say that I havereceived other offers from competing organizations.” Mr. Wayne let out a rough sigh.
This time Mr. Saint frowned. “What do you mean? Who is our competition in the business of eliminating reapers?”
“It’s quite the opposite of elimination, actually. There are some individuals who believe reapers will never be completely eradicated and that they should be used to benefit our military. They have expressed interest in Dr. Harding’s research at the lab to develop reapers into weapons,” Mr. Wayne said. He leaned toward Mr. Saint and continued, his voice lower. “I refused them, of course, but you have to know there are others who want to take your business right from beneath you. There are people who want to capitalize on the man-made monsters that are destroying this world.”
Elise blinked, her mind spinning. Reapers had existed for centuries, but she had only ever known the universal desire to destroy them.
Analia Saint sucked in a sharp breath. “Do you mean…wars?”
Mr. Wayne nodded. “Potentially, yes. That’s why I refused them. We are still recovering from the last war. I can only imagine this making other countries more wary of us. Though I understand the need for self-defense, turning reapers into weapons could be devastating.”
Mr. Saint ran a finger around the rim of his glass. His frown had deepened. “The longer I live, the more people I see become death incarnate.” He lifted his glass and swallowed the last of the liquor.
“We will not let that happen anymore,” Mr. Wayne said.
“There is no hope with reapers,” Mr. Saint said. “They’ve been slipping through the cracks, as they get harder to identify and people get greedier for money. Calhoun is letting reapers work at the Cotton Club. I’ll have to cover the revenue they bring in if I want him to stop.”
Mr. Wayne shook his head. “Dr. Harding is developing a purity testing system to prevent that. His first goal with the lab is to provide resources and accessibility to the underprivileged. People who come in and offer up their blood to be tested for reaperhood will receive free meals, free medical exams, and burial insurance. That way we ensure that people are safe from reaper infection while lessening any financial burdens. All-around good.”
Elise’s mind went right to Shirley. Young Shirley, who had nothing now but the club. Elise would need to warn her about returning. Her fingers picked at the edge of her napkin. “What about Thalia’s antidote research?” she asked.
