Page 90 of This Ravenous Fate
Mr. Wayne rolled his eyes and turned to Elise’s father. “This is bullshit. She could not tell the truth if her life depended on it. I had nothing to do with Dr. Harding’s malpractice. I did not know about it until Elise told us.”
Mr. Saint’s eyes darted from the doctor to Mr. Wayne. His expression looked less stern than before and almost gaunt now. He breathed hard and shook his head. “Dr. Harding, you’ve committedmany atrocities since we endorsed your practice. This will only look terrible for our reputations.”
Layla snarled. “So what will it be? Prison? Or I could just kill him and you won’t have to worry about your reputation—”
Stephen Wayne shook his head. “Now, wait a minute. He is still my friend. Nothing has to happen to him.”
Mr. Saint looked at Mr. Wayne oddly. “Are you defending him?”
Layla’s eyes sparked and she grinned.
Mr. Wayne waved his hand around, as if he could physically dismiss the accusations. “No, but we need him. We all do,” he hissed.
Elise’s brows drew together in confusion. She glanced down at the wineglasses on the desk, only then noticing that there was an extra one. “Who else is here?”
As if on cue, the door leading to the sitting room opened, and in stepped Valeriya.
Behind her, Josephine Saint.
Elise’s heart stopped when she saw her little sister. She froze, her pulse skipping several beats. Josi was supposed to be in France—Elise had seen her off at the pier.
Elise’s breath stilled as her chest constricted with realization. Josi had never gotten on that boat. The whole trip had been a lie.
She tried to go toward her, but Layla held her back, her eyes wide and body bristling. “Don’t touch her. She’s infected.”
“It’s true. She’s starting to really enjoy my venom,” Valeriya said. She held her hand out and Josi took it.
Josephine cocked her head to the side and gazed at her sister.“You look sad, Lisey.” The girl seemed distant, her eyes glassy and unfocused. Elise almost couldn’t recognize her. The whole thing felt disturbing—like a mirror held up to all the atrocities and fears Elise had witnessed over the past few weeks.
All air left Elise’s lungs. She strained against Layla’s grasp and screamed at her father and Mr. Wayne, “What did you do?”
“She’s not turned. Not yet. But she’s developed a very strong bond to Valeriya. I suppose separating them will be difficult.” Mr. Saint regarded Valeriya almost wistfully. Something clicked for Elise as she noticed his bloodshot eyes and unsteady frame.
“You too. You’re infected too,” Elise whimpered. Poison was seeping through her family at an alarming rate.
Her father turned back to her. “I can give you one more chance, Elise, to prove your loyalty to this family. Hand over the Quinn girl and the doctor. You need him to fix Josephine anyway. You have no choice.”
“No,” Layla said sharply. “You always have a choice.”
But Elise did not. Each inhalation felt like knives to her chest. She let out a sob as she looked at Josi again. Her sister was in even worse danger than before, and Elise had no idea where her mother was. She did not want to make one more wrong decision that led to disastrous consequences. She was done.
***
In the end, Saint steel and reaper blood was all it took to rein themin. Sterling handcuffed a stunned Layla and dragged her out of the room.
“We will go to the Alhambra, where Mr. Arendale is awaiting us before he departs on his final tour ahead of the mayoral election. I expect excellent behavior. For now, the Quinn girl is mine. The perfect specimen,” Mr. Wayne had announced.
Now, Elise sat in the back of the car, Josi between her and Valeriya, while Layla was shoved into another car with Sterling and several other Saint guards. Her father and Mr. Wayne headed the entire party in their own car with Dr. Harding.
Despite her anger and defeat, Elise did not cry. She stared ahead, trying not to look at her sister’s new, crass appearance. Josi sat like a statue in her seat, unmoving and eyes locked on the distance. She seemed to be in a trance. The sight of her made Elise’s stomach turn, but more than anything, she felt guilty Josi had been involved in all of this.
Valeriya gave her a smug smile. “To be fair, this was not your father’s idea. He thought an alliance with me would help him figure out a way to turn you and Layla against each other. He despises how well you work with her. But he never even noticed that I slipped my own blood into his wine. That was Stephen’s idea. He wants your empire gone. What he does not know is that I want reapers gone and his work might just be the beginning of that.” She stroked her hand over Josi’s hair. “Now there’s just one more Saint to infect before the entire empire comes crumbling down.”
“You’d work against your own kind?” Elise breathed.
“You don’t understand what it’s like to live so long with so much stacked against you. Life as a reaper is closer to hell on earth. It’s time for it to end.”
Elise said nothing for the rest of the car ride. She was the only one instructed to get out of the car when they arrived at the theater. With a painfully tight grip on her arm, a Saint guard led her to the middle of the ballroom floor. Any other day, Elise might have marveled at the grandeur of the building around her. If she closed her eyes, she could almost hear the music of some of the greatest performers still echoing within the walls. But now, all she could do was stare warily at the glossy floors beneath her and the chandeliers that hung overhead. Above her sat Mr. Wayne and Mr. Saint, who were sharing a glass of dark liquor with the mayoral candidate. It was truly a spectacle to see now—three men, with enough money to shut down a wildly popular theater for a few hours just so they could witness something sinister unfold.
