Page 87 of This Ravenous Fate
“I know. But this is something better. I knew you would never approve if I told you, so I had to show you. I can explain everything back at the house, I promise,” Mr. Wayne said.
Mr. Saint said nothing. He just gave one more look around the room, scowling, before leaving.
Just as Mr. Wayne had said, in a few moments, Sterling collapsed, breathing into his humanity once more.
“I want you to find them,” Mr. Wayne commanded.
Sterling let out a grunt as he stumbled out of the hotel with her father and Mr. Wayne, his body still twitching with the effects of the poison.
Even after they were gone, Layla kept Elise in the alcove until they were sure no one was coming back. Minutes passed, then, finally, Layla released Elise and they stepped out of the alcove.
“It’s them,” Elise muttered shakily. “Dr. Harding mentioned a poison spreading, and it’s Stephen Wayne spreading it. My father…” She gasped. “Maybe this could explain the dancers at the Cotton Club incident? And Theo too. Close contact seems to spread the poison.”
“But Theo scratched me and I didn’t turn. It could be spreading the way it usually does: Sterling’s blood must have gotten into my clanmates when he attacked them. And if the poison works on humans, too, then he’s not only targeting reapers. He’s turning them into weapons. Everyone is in danger,” Layla breathed.
She walked through the lobby, looking over the fallen reapers. With each body she passed, her face grew more and more ashen. After examining all of them, Mei included, Layla straightened up. Her expression fell blank, but her voice came out raw and conveyed a deep hurt. “The mutations from the poison are gone. They’re all human now. How cruel.” She let out a weak sob.
Elise took a shaky breath. “I’m sorry, Layla. I’m really sorry.” Hervoice broke. “I’m sorry—” But Layla suddenly rushed toward her. She threw herself at Elise, wrapping her arms around her in a tight embrace. Shock stole Elise’s breath. It took her a moment to hug Layla back, but when she did, for the first time in forever, everything felt right.
Act Four
The Reunion
40
“I am not running a hotel here. I’m going to start charging rent if you keep bringing more people into my apartment,” Jamie grumbled. He slapped a pillow onto the couch and stalked out of the living room. Hendricks stared up at Elise from the rug, his tail swishing in satisfaction behind him.
Elise gripped the end of Layla’s borrowed shirt. She was not particularly fond of cats, and the way this one stared up at her was starting to make her feel stranger than she had felt when Layla proposed they stay with a gangster for the night.
“I have no idea where Valeriya is, and Sterling is still out there looking for you. You need to hide. It’s just until we figure out what to do,” Layla had insisted as they hurried out of the Clarice and into the storm outside.
Elise had stopped in the downpour, rain pounding against her head so hard, she was certain she had heard Layla wrong. “Are youinsane? It could take days to figure out what to do next! You want me to sleep in the same apartment as a criminal?”
Lightning struck, and thunder shook the area around them. Layla grinned at the fear that dashed across Elise’s face. “If you want to stay out in this storm, or return to your father, be my guest.”
Elise had never run harder after Layla. But when Jamie had opened his door for them, Layla had hesitated.
“I need to find Dr. Harding. He can give us more information.” Layla touched Elise’s cheek, her eyes fierce. “Do not leave this apartment and do not open the door for anyone.” Then, before Elise could protest, Layla was gone.
Now, Elise stared down at this gray cat, who had not stopped following her around since she arrived.
“Layla thinks he’s evil,” Jamie said. He nudged Hendricks with his foot and he hissed, then finally trotted out of the room.
“No wonder he likes me, then,” Elise muttered. She hugged her arms around her chest and sat on the couch. She had not been expected to sleep anywhere but a four-poster bed since France, when she went out with friends on weekends and fell asleep wherever there was an available spot.
“The world is full of sin. I’m more surprised when people aren’t evil. You’ll be just fine,” Jamie called as he walked down the hall to his room.
Elise took one more look at the couch, then got up and crept to the first door in the hallway. Layla’s room. The tension in her body eased up as if Layla was beside her right then, gentle hands ofassurance guiding her to the bed. When she laid down, Elise pressed her face into the pillow and smiled. It still smelled faintly of Layla.
***
The lab was something of a haunted spectacle at night. Shadows stretched across the linoleum floors, the white tiles dim and gray in the faint moonlight that filtered through the windows. Layla crept through the clinic first, which felt unnervingly dead at this hour. She made her way to the back rooms, where she hoped to find offices and did.
Layla pushed the door labeled “Dr. Harding” open, then threw herself against the wood as a bullet rushed past her.
“Oh, Christ!” Dr. Harding ducked behind his desk, gun still pointed toward Layla. “I thought you were Stephen!” he whimpered. “Please don’t kill me. I swear, I didn’t want to do any of this. He made me!”
Layla lifted her hands, coming away from the door. Luckily for her, the man only had regular lead bullets loaded into the gun. “I’m not here to hurt you. I just need some information about this poison you mentioned to the Saints. Stephen Wayne gave my friend a cure, and she ended up dead. I still don’t remember what exactly happened.”
