Page 45 of This Ravenous Fate
The thought of Josi and her best friend spending time together in their favorite spot made Elise’s heart warm. She sat back, her lips lifting at the corners. “So you’re the reason she was including Voltaire quotes in her letters to me while I was in France. I was wondering how her handwriting improved so quickly.” Elise laughed.
“The quotes were her idea. I simply helped her write them,” Sterling said, smiling.
She pulled a book from the shelf and cracked it open. “Let’s continue the tradition, then. I haven’t gotten a letter from her yet.”
“She’s probably busy having fun. Not everyone can be a dullard like you, spending all their free time perfecting their craft,” Sterling said.
Elise smacked him with the book.
20
“It doesn’t make any sense,” Layla said under her breath.
The lights of the morgue glared down on the two bodies before her, turning their ashen brown skin a sickly shade of dark green. Even though the blood in the bodies had gone putrid, and the stench burned her nose, the main thought in her mind was how her friends, who had been reapers just twenty-four hours ago, were now human.
Elise stood over her, arms crossed. “It never does,” she sighed.
Layla pulled Giana’s mouth open, checking once again for the enlarged canines that indicated reaperhood. Those same teeth that had been bared for her a day ago, glistening with fresh blood, were gone. A normal set of human canines sat in her mouth, as if the extra reaper teeth had never existed.
“Have there ever been instances of reapers turning human in death? Maybe there are ancient cases—”
“No,” Layla said. Her tone was stern, but without malice. Shehad entertained this question herself many times. But every reaper understood that their fate as a reaper was final. Until now. Nothing made sense anymore. Layla pulled her hand out of Giana’s mouth and got to her feet. “There have always been people and reapers looking into cures. We’ve never been lucky enough to find one,” she said.
Elise merely raised a brow. She had always been a master at hiding her true self; Layla hated it. Once, she had loved being the one person Elise allowed in to see the real her. Now she resented ever having been that open with her at all. She knew all of Layla, as much as Layla hated to admit it. Years ago, that had been a thing Layla treasured, but Elise had burned their abundance to ashes.
What Layla once loved could kill her as easily as blood passed through a vein. Swift, fluid, and without a conscious thought. It intrigued Layla as much as it infuriated her.
Elise still watched Layla, doubt twisting her features. Layla rolled her eyes. “I’m sure you have plenty of books in that fancy library of yours to consult if you want to. I won’t be participating in that research.”
“Because of your allergies?” Elise asked.
The question caught Layla off guard. She blinked several times, confused. “No?”
“Oh. Well, I just thought…you know, because when we would sit in the—” Elise stumbled over her words so badly, it actually pained Layla to watch.
“I know,” Layla whispered. Tempted to keep that glimpse of thereal Elise shining through her tough exterior, Layla hesitated in interrupting her. But the little relieved sigh Elise let out when Layla stopped her made the corner of her mouth tick up. “I no longer have allergies since becoming a reaper. I have no afflictions, actually,” Layla said.
A tight smile spread across Elise’s face. “Well. No afflictions except for…you know.”
Cold resentment froze Layla’s amusement. “Shut up.” She zipped the body bags and pushed the drawers back into the wall. “So we’ve found ourselves back at square one with this stupid investigation. The newspapers failed to report on two dead Black girls, despite the crimes being at a popular club. It’s clear no one will believe a damn thing I have to say. So why don’t you announce to your father that it was not only reapers attacking the club, but also humans,” Layla said dryly.
Elise followed her out of the morgue and into the hallway. She remained quiet for so long, Layla started to get irritated. She turned, waving a hand in front of Elise’s blank expression. “Hello? Partner? Do you have any suggestions?”
Elise smacked Layla’s hand away and glared. “I do. You could be more cordial.”
“No,” Layla snapped back. “My friend has died.Again. My clan and I could be next. If not dead, then arrested under suspicion of attacking humans. I’m not kneeling to your petty demands when we have more pressing issues to figure out.”
Elise pursed her lips, sighing. “How is your memory?” she asked.
“You’re really going to mock me right now? I’m not losing my humanity as we speak—”
“But what if you were?” Elise countered.
Layla’s shone with anger. “Excuse you?”
“I’m not trying to mock you, Layla,” Elise said quickly. “I know you said you could not remember anything the night of the murders, but consider when reapers experience memory loss. It doesn’t happen unless they experience blood fury. Back in the club, Giana looked at you like she didn’t know you. Like her memory of you was gone.”
A heavy breath rattled through Layla. Her face had gone ashen as Elise spoke, jaw clenched so tightly, it ached. “Something came over her. And I think the same thing came over Theo the night of the murders,” she murmured. “It could not have been a blood fury. I know for a fact Giana had fed.”
