Page 28 of Our Vicious Descent
Elise’s throat burned with unshed tears. She nodded anyway, knowing she had done all that she could to involve her father in this fight for her sister and a better future. Despite confronting what she had tried so hard to avoid and not be afraid of for the past few months, she had still come up against a dead end. “Right.” Elise began to turn away and head out of the room, but his voice stopped her as she crossed the doorway.
“Elise.”
She faced him again, already wary of what would come next.
Tobias had the decanter in his hand and was already pouring some of the red liquid into his matching glass. “I know you will go back to Layla, and I want to know why. There are so many otheryoung women who you would match with much better. Layla…while I adored the joy she brought you as a child, those days are long behind her. I guarantee she’s keeping more secrets than you could ever guess. Don’t be so gentle with her this time.” He took a sip of the liquid, its unnerving ruby red staining his lips upon contact.
Elise had no idea how to respond to his words. She liked to think she had no choice but to trust Layla now, whether she wanted to or not. There was no one else to cling to in these unprecedented times. In a place like Harlem, where the shadows held hell with poisoned fangs, there was no time to keep secrets from a beloved.
Without another word, Elise pushed out of the study and almost stumbled into Sterling, who stood blocking the hallway.
“Elise—”
She whirled on him, ignoring his pleading tone and the way his eyes filled with hurt. “Did you know?” Elise put every ounce of strength she had into the glare she gave him.
Sterling blinked. “Excuse me?”
Elise raised her voice. “Did you know they were poisoning Josi?”
The life seemed to rush out of him at once. Sterling paled, shaking his head, and held his hands up in defense. “No, Elise, I never—I never wanted her to be a part of any of this. They’re monsters, and they’re not to be trusted. I thought your father knew what he was doing.” His throat bobbed, and Elise saw the devastation in his eyes.
Conflicting words popped into Elise’s head.He does, but he never does the right thing. But she couldn’t say them out loud. Because that would make them truer than she was ready to admit to herself.Though Sterling’s words almost drove her to a state of breathlessness, the irritation never left her. She inhaled sharply, shoving the new emotions back down. “You have to choose. You cannot side with him and also help me. He only hurts me. Do you understand?”
Sterling stared at her, wide-eyed and perplexed. Elise couldn’t wait for his answer. She turned and left, the embers of her anger igniting more with each step.
16
“Absolutely not. And frankly, it disturbs me that you feel so comfortable coming back here after all the chaos you’ve caused. You abandoned your lair and lost your opportunity as a fair fight for clan leader when you sided with the Saint girl. I told you to stay away,” Julius warned.
Layla stood in the cathedral vestibule, facing the new self-appointed Harlem clan leader. It was hard to look at him without malice, but she forced her expression to remain neutral while he stared down at her, knowing hostility would only hurt her chances at getting him to agree with her proposal. “The beast is attacking both humans and reapers. We would be smarter to fight it together.”
Julius glanced back at the rows of pews leading up to the dais, where a few reapers sat and listened to their heated conversation. “You know how manipulative humans can be. They’ve created unspeakable horrors and committed violences that our world willnever forget, but you expect me to believe they are small in the face of this beast? What, we do the work in protecting Harlem for them, and then they just go back to treating us like demons? I thought you were smarter than this. But suddenly because it’s Elise Saint asking, you are willing to damn your reaper morals to help her and all the humans who have hated us for centuries?” he hissed.
His points were difficult to argue against. Layla knew exactly how he felt. Why should reapers lower their defenses and accept another partnership with humans after the devastating way things had ended last time? Why should they heed to their needs when reapers had been living beneath the mortal boot since they were conceived out of their selfish malevolence? Still, Layla could not give up so easily. Celie’s tear-streaked face and pained cries flashed in her mind, along with the lingering scent of Laure’s blood as she had been dragged away by the beast. It was not just a human problem. The whole of Harlem was in danger—reapers included.
“Helping humans helps us too. We need their numbers and their weapons to defeat something like this. The Saint—” she began, but Julius cut her off.
“I already said no,” Julius snapped. “I do not give a damn if you find a friend in this Saint girl; she will never be ours. You bring her around here, or I catch a whiff of her on you again, you’ll both be dead.”
Layla could only stare after him as he walked away, back into the long shadows of the old building around them. A small figure emerged from behind him, and Layla caught Celie’s eye. She lifted her chin, hoping for a sign of their loyalty to each other still beingalive. But to her dismay, the girl only shook her head and continued after Julius.
The cathedral felt colder than it did holy. Layla was glad to finally leave it and step into the sunlight outside. However relieving it was, the feeling was short-lived as a familiar scent floated over to her in the breeze. She tracked it down with ease, then groaned when she found Elise Saint waiting for her in a covered alleyway at the edge of reaper territory. The Saint heiress leaned against the wall, one hip popped and displaying the gun strapped to her body. Layla would have to get used to seeing her carrying a weapon so confidently. When Elise had been using Sterling’s gun months ago, the girl had been almost as uncomfortable as she was around the schoolboys who’d crushed on her when they were younger. The memory nearly made her smile, but then Layla noticed the way she straightened and instinctively reached for her weapon when she saw her.
“You shouldn’t be here,” Layla said coldly.
Elise dropped her hand and lowered her shoulders. “I’m assuming he said no.”
“I can’t blame them. Last time we tried to work together, it was a disaster,” Layla muttered. She still warred with herself over whether working this closely with Elise on her own was a mistake.
“Things have changed. We’re all in danger now. Does it really seem wise to hold on to grudges when there’s something bigger than all of us threatening our lives? Are reapers really all so stubborn—”
“Stubbornness is a human trait. Reapers live too long to care that deeply,” Layla said.
Elise rolled her eyes. “How much longer untilyoustop being stubborn?”
At this, another smile almost found its way onto Layla’s lips. She looked away, her voice dropping as reality set in. “One hundred more years at least.”
Elise’s blood seemed to cool at that admission. She swallowed, her throat tensing. “Right.”
