Page 25 of Our Vicious Descent
Elise’s mouth soured before she spoke her next words. “It’s my sister. I need your help finding her. That’s why I came here. I needed to see you.” The buzz of the watching crowd waned, and Elise grabbed Layla’s chin, forcing her eyes back to her. She let her fingers trail over the reaper’s cheek, her thumb brushing her jaw and smearing the blood pooling around her lips.
Layla’s mouth opened slightly. Her eyes grew glassy as she watched Elise, her breath hot on her thumb. “So you made yourself into bait to get my attention?” she whispered.
“It worked, didn’t it?”
A small laugh left Layla. Her smile looked almost delirious with her half-lidded eyes, drunk with anticipation. “You’re driving me crazy.”
Elise’s lips twitched, but she did not smile. “Good.” She liked being in control. Whether it was the remaining venom in her system steeling her against any improper emotions or just the confidence she felt sitting atop Layla, it did not matter. Elise had the upper handnow, and she would wield it to get what she needed. Damning her morals had never felt this good. Elise would have to be careful to not give in to such devious temptations in the future. She ran her fingers along the scar she had left on Layla’s neck the other day. Goose bumps prickled beneath her fingertips, and Elise watched as Layla’s throat bobbed with her touch. “I hope you like the scar I gave you. It matches the ones you gave me.”
Layla grabbed her hand, stopping her delicate movements. Her golden eyes pierced into Elise’s.Wicked, violent creature. How far Elise had fallen just to make herself feel something other than pain. In the end, hurting Layla had not made any difference. Elise had been flooded with guilt more than satisfaction, but she could not be sure that if circumstances were better, she would have done anything differently. Was that always how it would be? Them drawing blood and creating twin wounds? Until one gave up or someone died.
Layla’s grip tightened on Elise’s hand, bringing her back to the present. She focused on her fangs instead. A cruel craving twisted in her chest, hot and persistent like the hours after she had let Layla bite her the first time all those months ago.
“You remember how it felt when I took your blood?” Layla murmured.
Elise’s stomach fluttered at the tease in her voice paired with the visceral memory. She could never forget the pleasure Layla had brought her through tender violence. The stirring in her core had her wilting a bit, and Layla dropped a hand to her thigh to steady her.
Layla continued, her voice a breathy promise in Elise’s ear. “Youcan call me a monster all you want, but you let me at your throat and liked it.” She was impossibly close now. Her breath stirred Elise’s hair, and the tip of her nose brushed along the column of Elise’s throat. Just a few more inches and her lips would touch her skin. Elise could imagine it now—the sweet heat of Layla’s soft mouth against her throat, her fangs scraping along the delicate surface above her rushing pulse.
Layla inhaled, this time allowing her face to press into Elise. “You smell like…” Her hands tightened on Elise, who felt the possessiveness in her touch and heard the yearning in her voice.
Mine.
It offered a clear explanation for how Layla had felt her while being nowhere near her. Whatever venom Elise had consumed, Layla recognized it as her own.
Elise peered into Layla’s eyes, studying the moving shadows and frequent sparks of adrenaline, no doubt from forcing her hunger down. “I’m still so angry with you,” she muttered fiercely.
This time Layla broke into an easy smile. “Fine. If it will keep you looking at me like this, then be angry with me forever. Maybe you will hate me for an eternity. It’s why we can never work together. Forget my immortality and your mortality making a terrible pairing—it’s our strife. We cannot do this again.”
I don’t hate you, Elise wanted to shout. She glared and watched the easy amusement fall from Layla’s face. “You can’t even say it.”
“Say what?” Layla inquired.
Elise swallowed. “That you hate me.”
Layla’s lips parted. She blinked up at her.
But before she could speak, Elise straightened, determined. “Say it. Tell me you hate me and I’ll go away. You’ll never have to see me again. I won’t ask you for anything anymore. Just tell me to my face how much you can’t stand me.” Elise’s voice shook. Tears burned in her eyes. She did not want to hope for Layla’s silence, but the alternative terrified her so much more.
The reaper’s eyes flicked down to Elise’s lips, and for the briefest moment, Elise saw heartbreak in her gaze. Elise cupped Layla’s jaw and leaned in, desperate to hear her every word.
Layla opened her mouth to speak, and the world fell apart around them.
***
It was a minor commotion at first. A young woman ran into the room, blood dripping from her face and neck. She stumbled around the audience and stopped only when one of the club managers rushed toward her. “Help me—”
A cloud of smoke engulfed her as dust and splintering wood exploded. Several patrons scrambled backward off their seats to avoid the hole that had opened into the floor by the stage. The woman screamed as the floorboards fell away beneath her. Some patrons gasped, while others kept silent, anticipating the crushing sound of the woman hitting the floor below. Instead, her screams cut off, and the sickening crunch of bones and flesh tearing betweenteeth sounded from the hole.
Elise jumped up, peering over the edge of the stage and into the depths. The soft lighting from the chandeliers above hardly reached far enough to reveal anything of substance, but she glimpsed gray flesh and talons stretching through a small patch of light. Blood smeared across the floor in its wake. Elise moved back, waving her arms. “Get out! Everyone needs to evacuate now!” The building shook again as people began to rush for the nearest exit. Elise turned to Layla, who was looking around frantically, searching for someone or something. Elise stepped toward her, her lips moving to form her name, but the floor creaked under her feet.
Then the wood was splitting once more, gaping and ravenous as it swallowed the stage and its contents. Elise reached for anything to hold on to, but her hands only closed around air. Her breath left her body as she fell. For a brief second, she was weightless, her only thought surrounding the anticipatory fear of being eaten alive by whatever waited in the dark below.
Gold flashed above her, and a firm hand clamped around her wrist. Her fall stopped abruptly, and Elise dangled in the space where the light faded to nothing, her eyes wide and scared on Layla.
The reaper stiffened above her, leaning over the edge of the cracking wood. Blood circled her eyes, which were as scared and relieved as they were determined. Her muscles grew taut when she tugged Elise back up onto the floor.
Elise could only try to make herself as weightless as possible, but when her dress caught on a splintered floorboard and she felt the airmove by her dangling feet, she struggled and twisted to free herself. Finally Layla gave one sharp yank of her arm and pulled up so hard, Elise tore free and flew into her. Elise landed on top of Layla in a pile of dust and debris.
