Page 26 of Our Vicious Descent
Layla exhaled roughly. Her hand fluttered by Elise’s waist, and she glanced into her eyes, where desirous hunger still lurked. “Okay?”
Still flustered from her near-death fall, Elise could only nod shakily. She rolled off Layla and forced herself to her feet. A small patch of blood stained the front of her dress where she had torn herself free. It was a feeble price to pay for her survival. Even if it meant the reaper who’d saved her would look at her like a prized bit of prey for the rest of the night.
“Celie,” Layla breathed. She brushed past Elise, still searching for someone.
Just then the gray beast launched into the room through the cavernous hole. It lunged for Layla, who was preoccupied with a young reaper cowering in a corner.
“Layla!” Elise screamed. She reached for her gun, but it was missing from its usual thigh holster beneath her skirt. So much for that security.Thanks a lot, Sterling, Elise cursed under her breath and ran for Layla.
Another figure flew past her, between the beast and Layla. The gray beast plowed right into the intercepting reaper and sank its talons through her chest. Layla watched with horror, her body shielding Celie from the sight. Blood sprayed across the floor and the walls, but the reaper continued to fight around the beast’s claws.Her nails dug into the floorboards, scratching while the creature dragged her back to the hole. They disappeared into the darkness, leaving the room still and soaked in blood.
Layla shot to her feet. “It’s back.”
Elise thought back to the chaos at the Hotel Clarice. She cast a wary glance at all the carnage and whispered, “Its hunt is starting.”
15
Layla watched Elise pace back and forth across Jamie’s living room. She still wore her torn and bloody dress from the club and made no attempt to remove it despite the overwhelming scent of death clinging to its design.
“So, you’re saying there’s a new type of reaper hunting in Harlem? But no one knows exactly what it is—not even other reapers?” Jamie asked. He raised a finger. “Have we considered asking around?”
Elise grumbled under her breath, and Layla dragged her gaze away from the Saint heiress to look at the gangster. “Do you have people in mind you’d like to ask?” she inquired.
Sterling rolled his eyes. “The Saints won’t help anymore. According to your father, it’s not quite a pressing issue since it’s mostly affecting reapers. My guess is we turn to the police and the mayor—”
“No,” both Jamie and Layla said at the same time.
“Like they would care at all. There was a massacre at the club, yet the police are citing it as usual reaper violence. Never mind that humans died there too, and they are holding something captive in the basement—you people don’t give a shit about anyone but yourselves,” Layla spat.
Sterling glared and stepped forward, his hands fisting by his sides. “I went to the club and found nothing in that hole you mentioned. And I’m here right now trying to help, aren’t I?”
Layla matched his ire and met him in the middle. She stood several inches shorter than him, but her own fury was enough to keep her strong in the face of his. “Only because of your own personal interests. If it were anyone else involved, you wouldn’t care. But because it’s Josi—”
“That’s not true,” Sterling seethed. “Even if Elise does not see herself as the true heir to the Saint empire, her actions still reflect on it and all government parties and powerful individuals associated with us. Someone has to keep her in line. I’m here for the greater good of Harlem as a whole.”
Layla’s body further heated with anger. She clenched her jaw so hard, her teeth began to ache and her fangs snapped out on impulse against the pain. “Bullshit.”
Jamie pressed a hand to his face, sighing. “This is going so well already. Miss Saint, do you care to step in here? Since you’ve brought all your friends into my home and they are now giving me quite the headache.”
“This is all wrong,” Elise said. She stopped her incessant pacingand turned to face everyone. “We have to tell my father Josi is involved. Even if anyone else stepped in to help, they would stop at nothing to see her dead. I cannot let that happen.” Pain shook her voice, and though she spoke with clarity, tears welled in her eyes.
Layla regarded her with pity. Her gaze softened, and she moved closer, her body itching to be near Elise. “It might be too late to save her. She could be too far gone.” Layla spoke quietly, as if dealing such a lethal blow in a gentler voice would make any difference.
The Saint heiress reeled back and shoved past Layla, cursing. “No. She’s not. Josi will be fine; we just need to find her and Dr. Gray, and we can fix her.” Elise pointed at the messy map on the floor. “I found a pattern in the attacks. Shipments of karma must come to certain clubs at certain times. We can figure out which club is next and intercept it there. My father can mobilize his associates to help. If he knows about Josi, he will have to.”
A painful lump rose in Layla’s throat. Before her stood a girl on the edge of ruin, whose own thoughts were not in her control. Layla did not have the heart to tell her that if Tobias could be responsible for these things happening in the first place, why would he step up to fix anything at all? All she could do was nod as Elise kneeled by her map and began to put the pieces back together.
Jamie cleared his throat, and when Layla turned to face him, he gestured for her to leave the room with Sterling. Once they were out of sight and hearing range of Elise, Jamie shook his head. “We can’t do this. There is a monster that is close to running rampant on thestreets of Harlem, and she wants to not kill it but catch it? I’ve seen what that thing does to people. There’s no way in hell any of us will survive it.”
Images of the man severed in half at the dock resurfaced in Layla’s mind. She understood Jamie’s perspective—especially as someone who hardly knew Josi. Why rush headlong into danger for something that might not even be worth saving?
“I honestly don’t think she’s thinking clearly anyway. It’s been months of this. You two have not seen how unwell she’s gotten,” Jamie muttered.
The thing was, Layla did see it. She saw the shadows that ran deep beneath Elise’s eyes and the haunted look that never seemed to leave her face. She smelled the blood from the aggressive digging of her nails into her palms and peeled-back skin around her fingers. Layla wondered if she would bleed herself out without proper assurance.
Sterling crossed his arms. “Josephine is her sister. She’s already lost one. We have to try.”
Jamie fell silent for a long moment. Finally, he nodded, albeit with hesitation. “If you can get the Saints on board”—he looked at Layla—“and you can get the reapers involved, I will join in with my men.”
