Page 79 of This Ravenous Fate
Elise’s eyes flickered up to hers, as if checking for any sign of a lie. “You couldn’t possibly know that.”
Layla knew the song from top to bottom; she knew Elise’s playing and musical tendencies like she knew the back of her hand. She knew how Elise chewed on her lip while passing through a particularly difficult part of the music, she knew how Elise’s fingers tensed up when she wanted to play, but couldn’t, and she knew how lost she got in the music when she fell in love with the notes and they fell madly in love with her back. Because how could anyone not love Elise Saint?
A painful lump rose in Layla’s throat then. “You didn’t finish the song.”
Elise narrowed her eyes at Layla. “How do you know—” Her face went ashen. “You…”
The lump twisted and Layla’s chest constricted as she came to a full realization. Elise had played that song because she thought no one knew it. She thought she could get away with making mistakesbecause no one would be able to call her out on them. But Layla knew that song. And even if she had stumbled over a few notes here and there, it was perfect because it was Elise. Every note, composed from her brain, by her heart. It was so wonderfully, maddeningly Elise. And she had mapped her heart out so precariously in this song, she had not wanted to show it to anyone.
“How do you know it,Layla?” Elise stood then. The tears in her eyes were no longer that of an overwhelmed, exhausted young girl, but they were angry, storm-filled clouds, threatening to burst at the slightest provocation. “Tell me.”
“Layla’s Night.” Layla whispered the title of the piece, as if it were a spell that could break either one of them if spoken too roughly. “You wrote it for me. I found the sheet music years ago and choreographed a dance to it to surprise you before I turned…”The song has haunted me for years.
Elise scoffed. “I didn’t write itforyou.” The dismissal in her tone might have cleaved Layla’s heart in half. But when she spoke again, her voice was softer, although still heavily on guard. “I wrote itaboutyou. There’s a difference.”
Layla’s eyelids fluttered. The difference was lost on her. As far as Layla was concerned, Elise Saint had poured her heart out into a composition about Layla, meant for Layla, centered on Layla. She looked Elise right in the eye, past all the self-doubt and the hatred and the dark depths of her disdain. “It was perfect.”
“You’re a liar and a thief,” Elise seethed.
The words stung. Layla’s hand twitched by her side and, lookingdown, she saw Elise’s fingers clenched into tight fists. They glimmered in the faint light, as if she held a flickering ember against her palm. But minutes later, as Layla left the room, wiping the dust from her fingertips, she realized it was just crushed glass.
Another illusion beneath all the dust.
33
Documents in hand, Elise burst into her father’s study. She had run all the way home from the Cotton Club in a torrential downpour that had not deterred her one bit. After her argument with Layla, she had torn through the club’s management office until she had calmed down. Eventually she’d found records that showed a connection between one of the gangs and Dr. Harding’s lab. So when her father glanced up at her from his desk with an irritated scowl, she did not hold back.
“Do you know what was going on in the Cotton Club?” Elise asked, breathing hard while she slammed the now-damp contract on her father’s desk.
He glared at her sopping form. “Heavens above, Elise, you are making a mess.”
“And you might be making an even bigger mess by working with someone who is distributing reaper venom to criminals,” Elise said strongly.
Mr. Saint snatched the pages from her. He studied them for a long moment, jaw tight while his eyes moved back and forth. Finally, he set the papers down and his glare deepened. “This arrangement is old. And the Diamond Dealers are dead.”
“But this indicates that Dr. Harding lied about turning down the offers to sell reaper venom—”
“Sometimes bending the truth is necessary—”
“You’re not listening to me.”
“I always listen—”
“Dr. Harding’s medical license was revoked!” Elise screamed. She breathed hard as her father stared at her with startled eyes. “He’s practicing illegally.” Moments passed, and when he still did not speak, she continued, voice shaky and quiet. “You shut out Thalia’s mother for creating a failed cure. You should cut off Dr. Harding for lying about his medical certification.”
Mr. Saint moved slowly through the room, going to sit at his desk while he looked at his watch.
“Father—” Elise started.
“That’s enough, Elise. You’re dismissed. We can talk later,” he said sternly.
Elise’s shoulders slumped. She stared in bewilderment at her father, but he was unmoved. Swallowing down her frustration, Elise stormed out of the room and slammed the door after herself.
***
The glass shards dug into her flesh as Layla scrubbed at her hands in Jamie’s kitchen sink. She started to get aggravated when her skin began to peel and tiny glass flakes still clung to her fingertips.
“You’re running up my water bill,” Jamie huffed as he emerged from his bedroom. Hendricks trotted after him, nose high in the air, tail swishing with what Layla knew was malice.
