Page 97 of This Ravenous Fate
Valeriya scoffed. “And you wish tofixthings?” Before giving Elise a chance to respond, she laughed, her voice sharp against the room’s silence. “There’s no fixing what this country was built with.”
Elise’s finger trembled on the gun’s trigger.
“Careful now, Elise. If you kill an ancient reaper, you will have hell at your door,” Valeriya whispered.
Layla sighed. “This isn’t worth it, Elise. Let’s go—”
Valeriya interrupted, “I’m not sure that’s true. Her own father loathes her for being unable to save his firstborn after that brutal reaper attack. Now she could very well be saving her baby sister’s life. Josephine is an angel for now. But I could turn her against your grimy Saint—”
The glass exploded in Elise’s hand. Breaking the glass had taken less force than she had anticipated. Glass shards now sank into her palm and fingers, spilling her blood across the table.
Layla was at Elise’s side in an instant, pulling her to her feet. “You need to leavenow.”
But Elise stopped and watched as Valeriya dipped her fingertip into the blood, then brought it up to her mouth, sucking it delicately. Her eyes filled with light and for a moment, Elise’s heart skipped a beat.
“Humanity truly is so weak. I can almost taste the futility,” Valeriya muttered.
Elise glared. “You think of yourself as a god, but you bleed just like a mortal.”
Valeriya flashed her a sharp smile. “My blood saves lives.”
“And yet your penchant for human blood will get you killed,” Elise spat.
Another sly grin crept onto Valeriya’s lips, but it was interrupted by the slow trickle of blood from her nose. She wiped her upper lip, her breath catching as she noticed the blood. “What have you done?” Valeriya hissed. She tried to bare her teeth at Elise, but her fangs were gone. Instead, a painfully human whimper left her lips as Valeriya’s features adjusted to show the years behind her age. Wrinkles cleaved her face and arms, her back curved as her bones creaked, and she stumbled away from Elise, limping slightly.
“I took an antidote that canceled out perfectly with the remainder of Layla’s blood and venom in my system, so it did not affect me. But it seems like my tainted blood was too much for you. I thank my friend Thalia for her knowledge. She left behind a lot of useful information. The antidote alone is toxic for reapers, but when mixedwith human blood, it’s pure poison. No longer a delicacy for you,” Elise said.
Layla’s eyes, stretched wide, followed the older reaper to the massive window. Valeriya’s breath grew ragged. She reached for the shelves to steady herself, knocking books onto the floor as she went. Her eyes locked on Layla, and the reaper tried to go toward her mentor, but Elise held her back.
“No!” Layla screamed.
Blood still trickled down Elise’s fingers, but she ignored it. Her glare pinned on Valeriya.No one threatens my sister and lives. So when the ancient reaper turned weakling human lost her balance and crashed through the window, Elise felt no remorse. It wasn’t until she noticed the storm in Layla’s eyes that the cage around her heart fell away and guilt pressed into her chest.
“What the hell,” Layla hissed. Cold fury stirred in her voice. Before Elise could utter anything, Layla lunged for her, backing her against the wall, fangs bared.
Pain lanced through her cut hand and Elise whimpered. “I had to do it.”
“Be quiet,” Layla snapped. Her eyes were bright, pupils dilated. “You must leave now. If you show your face here again,you will die,” Layla whispered. “I will cover for you—”
“Your clan will hate you—”
“I can live with that. But you…” Layla swallowed and pain broke across her face as she backed away. “You need to go.”
With one last look at her, Elise ran off into the storm.
***
Rain plastered Layla’s hair to her head. Her knees were stiff from sitting in the same position in the courtyard for hours, her clothes soaked all the way through, but she kept her hand on Valeriya’s chest. It was impossibly still, and despite having been sitting with her hand over Valeriya’s heart for hours, Layla still was not used to its absence of life. It took every ounce of her will to not internalize that her second chance at a family was gone, dead before her eyes.
“Layla,” someone said gently through the rain.
“I already said no. She stays here,” Layla snapped. Her clanmates had emerged every hour or so to suggest giving Valeriya a proper send-off. But Layla could not bear to say goodbye. Not yet. There might have been animosity, but Layla could focus on nothing but Valeriya for long enough to be sure. A few cursed Layla for having involvement in Valeriya’s death, but they were too afraid to move against her. If they believed Layla was the one who killed an ancient reaper, then she would have power over them until someone challenged her for the now-open spot of clan leader. For a while, tears had stained her face, but then the rain started and Layla lost track of time as well as her emotions.
“Forgive me, but I do not recall that conversation.” This time, Layla picked up on the unfamiliarity of the voice.
She looked up to see a tall human woman with long dark hair beneath a wide-brimmed black hat and umbrella. Her face was almost completely in shadow, but Layla saw the curve of red lipsbeneath the gloom. She scrambled to her feet, fangs already emerging. “Who the hell are you?”
The woman tilted her head to the side. “I know Vex. You can trust me,” she said gently. A thick accent rode her words.
