Page 27 of Our Vicious Descent
“I can get Celie to help me convince Julius.” Layla had no choice but to agree. She could not tell them that her clan was hardly her clan anymore. Finding Josephine and settling the tensions between reapers and the Saints might have been the only way forward.
***
For the first time in months, Elise felt small in the presence of her father. Returning to the Saint home could have been more of a regression than a plan for progression. If she could not get him to listen to her or see her side, she would have no choice but to become that begging, hopeful girl who needed her father. As much as it was against her will, Tobias had become her lifeline again.
“Home again already? Consider me surprised, given the way things ended last time.” Tobias Saint leaned against a large mahogany desk in the back of his study. He had his arms crossed, his face a mask of unmoving stoicism.
“I do feel badly about that, Father. Especially now. Our neighborhood—our home—is on fire, and the Saint empire has only begun to burn with it. I was born with a duty to this family. I have to see to it that the business remains standing. There’s so much left for us to achieve. I might not be your chosen heir, but Josi…” She swallowed past the rise of bile in her throat. “Josephine deserves a chance here. We should all be coming together in these times, rather than fighting.”
Lying to her father was easier than Elise had thought it would be. Waiting for his reaction, however, was a different beast. The time in between her declaration and the shift in his expression made her palms sweat.
Her words were met with silence for a long stretch of time. Tobias pushed himself off the desk so that he stood up straight andwalked toward Elise, his hands clasped together in front of him. “And here I was believing you hated our empire and everything about its business.”
“I like the loyalty of your associates, and I wish to have that back in my life. As for how the empire moves forward, we would have to discuss that in depth—”
“So I can hear how ungrateful you are for my care. And how much you hate me and wish I was dead,” Tobias said slowly. He watched her face, no doubt looking for an obvious tell to decipher her emotions. “Is that right?”
But Elise kept her expression neutral. Even with anxiety crushing her chest and her heart slamming against her ribs, she did not break. “I was hoping to gauge whether you could ever trust me again. Because I have a proposition and I need your help.”
Her father gave her a curious look. “You really do need me.” Another smile emerged on his lips, and Elise’s stomach turned at the thought of him believing he had her again. He nodded, still moving through the room. It felt massive with his slow steps and calculated movements. Several paces later and he was still far from her, despite his words brushing up against her like poison-tipped fingers, ready to drag her down with his frayed thinking. “Trust. It’s such a familiar term, from petty situations between friends to forming global alliances. Trust between family might be what holds kin together. Trust between the Saint empire members is necessary to push our message and goals forward.” Tobias stopped by the fireplace. It sat in the back wall, empty, but Tobias looked at it as if had the abilityto compel magic to life. “Trust is not something reapers know well. Especially not with humans.”
Elise thought about Layla, who believed she was better in isolation to protect people from her monstrous tendencies. Then she thought about every reaper out there still roaming the streets with no ties holding them down anymore. She thought of the Harlem reaper clan and how they had rallied behind one another and Layla even when she was working with a Saint. The reapers never had a problem with loyalty until it was broken. Humans had solidified the importance of loyalty, then continued to ruin it for centuries.
“I believe that is something we can change,” Elise said firmly.
Her father’s lips curled into a cruel smile. “A belief is only as strong as its experience. All reapers crave blood—especially the blood of their betrayers. But they will not forget your contributions to the cause of their eradication.” Tobias finally stopped in front of her. This close up, with him towering over her, she felt their differences and distance even more. “You think working closely with one reaper will be the beginning of solving the human-reaper crisis. You think your love for her—your love for each other—will be enough to end the strife.”
Elise shook her head. “No—”
“That wasn’t a question, Elise. It was a fact. You’re sick with love, and it’s making you stupid.” He twisted his wedding ring on his finger, his hands shaking a bit as he turned back to the desk. “I would know. I’ve spent hundreds—thousands—of dollars trying to make things right. Made a deal with Mayor Arendale to help trackreapers and keep them in control as long as he helped me rebuild the empire. It was not so easy at first. Clearing my name was the worst part of it all. Then closing the mansion and halting business for a while turned out to be the only way I could stay on top of everything. I wouldn’t be in this position if I had not been tempted by the devils that walk this earth. The one reaper I tried to work with poisoned me, and I still feel the effects of it now. Worse still, your sister…” His fingers worried the wedding band again. As his eyes traveled to the glass decanter of what Elise assumed was red wine on his desk, her throat tightened.
Elise saw an opportunity at that moment. She placed her hands on the desk, leaning over so he was forced to meet her eye. “Josephine is why I’m here.”
Tobias paused. His eyes shifted as he considered his words. “What do you mean?”
Silence again. Elise chose her words carefully, not wanting to scare him into doing something destructive. “There is a new evil hunting Harlem. Neither reapers nor humans are safe. I have reason to believe it is Josi partaking in this violence. Valeriya’s venom…it’s changed her,” she muttered.
Horror darkened his eyes. He stiffened, his shoulders going tense and his hands clenching the edge of his desk so hard, his knuckles grew ashen. “My Josephine… No, Valeriya said it would be temporary.”
Elise blinked. “You knew she planned to hurt Josi?”
Tobias’s hands shook as he raised them to pull at his hair. “It wasnot supposed to hurt her. It was supposed to keep her safe. I only agreed because the beast infected me with her blood first. It sounded right in the moment, and in the end, it did keep Josi alive.” He cursed under his breath and shook his head. “But at what cost?”
“I believe Josi is okay. Beyond the monstrous being she’s hiding behind. She’s just…scared,” Elise said. “You have to tell your associates to stop the patrols in case she shows up. Tell the police too. Perhaps changing the weapons to be ones that incapacitate rather than kill while Josi is still out there—”
Her father was already shaking his head. “If she really is so dangerous, then we should be protecting the city from her and not vice versa.”
Elise’s heart dropped. She could hardly bear what she was hearing, much less the insinuation coming from her father. “No. I have a plan. We just have to find her and Dr. Gray, and we can stop her—we canfixher.”
“There is no fixing monstrosity, Elise. Once you’ve turned, you’re too far gone—”
“She’s not gone, and she’s not a monster,” Elise snapped. The moment the angry darkness returned to her father’s eyes, she regretted her tone. But Elise would never regret standing up for her sister. She held her ground as her father stared her down, his lips pulling into the most vicious scowl.
Tobias crossed his arms and spoke in a hollow voice that somehow felt scarier than a strong threat. “You have clearly been influenced for as long as you’ve been gone. I can accept wanting to helpHarlem, but understand that our actions reflect on the empire and the powerful people in the government and beyond who have invested in us. You cannot be reckless with this power and expect me to accept that.”
Elise frowned. “The treatment reapers have endured for centuries, leaving them with no choice but to hurt, corrupt, and bleed people dry also reflects on us and the government. The only difference between us and them is that they have no choice when ours are endless,” she said. Her breath left her in rough exhales, leaving her chest heaving and hot. “Will you really not help?”
Her father cast his gaze sideways. “I do not see a future where reapers and humans are ever coexisting productively or peacefully. You will always have a place here if you want to follow the way of the empire, Elise, but I cannot support this path you wish to take.”
