Page 57 of Our Vicious Descent
Layla dropped her hand and turned to see Elise approaching the front of the stage. Their eyes met for a moment before Josi stood, the blood soaking her dance costume shining a brilliant crimson in the light. She looked like a princess of death, crowned by her baptism into violence. Josi waved a bloody hand at her sister. If the horror in Elise’s face bothered her, she didn’t show it. Instead, the little girl descended the stage steps. She cut a path through the crowd easily, with people stepping away from her and yanking their dresses and shoes out of her way to keep themselves from becoming soiled with her carnage.
“Lisey,” Josi said in a light voice.
As the sisters neared each other, Layla snapped out of her shock and followed Josi toward Elise. One of the reapers who had been at the booth with Elise emerged from the crowd. His eyes flitted from Josi to Elise, calculating, until realization settled into a cold darkness in his expression. He was closer to her—Layla realized with a panicked gasp. She moved faster, but another man came between them, this time reaching for Josi. He hauled her up by her waist and flung her over his shoulder. Josi let out a screech loud enough to make people in the crowd duck and cover their ears.
After all that Josi had done to the man onstage, Layla knew the girl was more than capable of holding her own. Meanwhile, Elisehad become surrounded by several reapers now, all watching her with more-than-hungry eyes. Whether it was greed or true craving that drove them to her, it didn’t matter to Layla. She needed to get closer.
New blood filled the air; Josi had managed to grab the arm of the man carrying her and twist it until it dislocated. As she dropped from his shoulder, she took his arm with her, tearing the remaining flesh apart as she went. Blood trailed her quick movements through the crowd. Josi passed Layla in a heartbeat, approaching Elise. The girl did not utter a word as she dropped the arm and rushed to her sister.
Layla tensed at the scene. But the two male reapers who had been pursuing Elise backed off, as if threatened by the violence Josi carried with her. Layla did not stand down until they had disappeared into the crowd. Even with the remaining audience members still screaming while scrambling to get away, the girl hugged her sister like Elise was the only thing in the world that mattered. Elise hugged her back, tears streaming down her face while she kissed her cheeks and whispered into her blood-soaked curls.
On any other day, Layla might have watched them with tender awe and slight envy. But tonight all she could think about was getting them out alive and finding Jamie and Sterling, wherever they were. Layla placed a gentle hand on Elise’s shoulder and leaned down so she could hear her. “I hate to interrupt this beautiful reunion, but we really need to leave. Our cover is blown. I give us maybe two more minutes until the police, or someone, orsomething worseshows upfor us.”
Josi pulled away from her sister, frowning. The defiant pout might have made her look years younger if it had not been for the blood of several grown men covering her from nearly head to toe. “Sena and Karine will always find me. I cannot be free.”
Free. The word sent chills through Layla. No matter how much she wanted to understand what the little girl meant by that, there was no time to unpack it. “I understand, but we are not safe—”
“We are never safe!” Josephine screamed.
Elise’s eyes, still shining with tears, widened. She looked at Layla as she stood, her hands clasped with Josi’s. “We need to find a way out.”
Josi tugged on her hand. “I know how to help.” She began pulling Elise toward one of the back doors with Layla following.
But a familiar scent filled Layla’s nose, and she stopped in her tracks. Elise looked back, concerned. “What is it?”
Layla waved her on with Josi. “Keep going. There’s someone here. You all need to get out as soon as possible. Do not wait for me.” She spotted Jamie and Sterling emerging near the doorway and waved them over. “Josi, stay with Elise. Jamie, Sterling, keep them safe. Find an exit and leave. I’ll distract the gangsters” She turned away before any of them could protest, walking back to the edge of the room. Just moments after Elise and Josi made their respective escapes—one outside with Jamie, the other downstairs with Sterling—a familiar figure emerged from behind the curtains on the stage.
Nicoletta held her hands up, glancing around the room. “Where has the show gone? I was promised excitement and delirious thrills. All I see is a nasty little monster with a death wish.” She dropped her hands and glared at Layla.
“How funny,” Layla bit out. She saw the glint of a Saint gun inside Nicoletta’s coat, and a horrifying thought crossed her mind: that all this might be for nothing and she would meet her end in this very club. It was a strange feeling, to understand the fear that filled her system during a fight. Never had it been like this; before, Layla had always felt attached to death, as if she were a part of it. The concept never scared her because she lived so closely with it, and since becoming a reaper, she knew there were much worse things to experience. But with all she had been through with Elise and all that they had promised to each other, Layla knew she had more to lose now.
The gang leader slowly walked down the steps. Layla’s heart rate slowed as she drew closer. At the end of the day, Saint gun or not, Nicoletta was just a human. Weak and frail and painfully mortal. As Layla inhaled the scent of her sweet human blood thrumming through her veins, she reminded herself of the fact. There were worse monsters than Nicoletta, and Layla had survived them all.
“I told you I would return the favor, Layla. Blood for blood, death for death. It’s a shame, really, because I am positive we could have made a great team. Your reaperhood is fascinating when you are not attempting to take the lives of innocent people,” Nicoletta said.
Layla narrowed her eyes. “Innocent people? I would not call you or your meninnocent. Nor any of the people you work with. Is thatwhat life and death are all about for you? Moral high grounds and what’s right and wrong? Because I can guarantee you, when you are faced with eternal damnation and immortality, all that becomes trivial. There is nothing you can say that will change that.”
Nicoletta nodded slowly. One hand reached for her gun and pulled it out. She aimed it at Layla, a smile stretching her lips. “Then I guess we should just stop talking.” As her finger began to squeeze the trigger, a bullet exploded through her hand. Nicoletta screamed and her gun went flying. It hit the floor smoking, a hole shot clean through the handle and barrel.
Following the line of the shot, Layla found Elise on the balcony above. The Saint heiress aimed her gun at the gangster, who was still doubled over and howling in pain. Blood dripped from her injured hand and made a mess of the floor around her.
Layla’s gaze flickered nervously from Nicoletta to Elise, who used the gangster’s moment of distraction to come down from the balcony. She was nearing Layla when a steady rumbling shook the room. It started beneath the floorboards, where she hoped Josi, Sterling, and Jamie had found an exit and were on their way to safety. Then it continued beyond the curtains. The large swaths of velvet vibrated and swayed as if they were harboring a sinister secret. Layla caught the bittersweet scent of a familiar poison before Nicoletta spoke again.
“Elise,” Layla muttered. “Leave. Now.”
But the Saint girl only pressed closer to her side. She lifted her gun again and looked toward the curtains, where the commotion increased. “No. We stay together.”
Even Nicoletta appeared alarmed by the approaching chaos. Her eyes widened, and she disregarded her bleeding hand to watch the curtains. Layla half expected them to part with their usual creaking, as if to properly open a show. But instead, rotting reapers ripped through them, tearing gaping holes in the fabric as they thundered into the room. Layla had only a split second to drag herself and Elise away from their oncoming attack. The one closest to her careened into a booth so hard, the table splintered into a mess of wood and broken glass. The evolved reapers surrounded Layla as she steadied herself against her rushing adrenaline.
Nicoletta laughed softly from the stage. “What a gift. My own men, turned, just to help me with you. Horrifying, aren’t they?” She shot the reapers a stern look and snapped, “Do not kill her. Bring her to me once you’ve gotten her incapacitated. Do whatever you’d like with the Saint.”
For the few seconds that the evolved reapers took to gather themselves, Layla considered their drastically different appearances. She had never known them as humans or regular reapers. But these modified beasts were just that—monsters. Skin, gray and sagging, hung off their enlarged bones while their eyes, red with blood and popped vessels, struggled to focus on anything around them. Even their talons seemed to have a mind of their own. They stretched, wide and long, scraping along the floor as the reapers moved. Layla stood slowly, already tensing for another fight. Her dress dragged the whole way. She had never been a huge fan of skirts, but tonight made them her enemy. When she pulled herself together after thefirst lunge, the reapers trained their gazes back on her and bared their fangs. They were wicked sharp, several inches bigger than Layla’s. She felt her own prodding against her lips, but without any weapons, all she had was her speed to aid her natural strength.
Elise fired a few shots into the reapers, but they merely absorbed the bullets and kept moving. Her lips parted in shock, and Layla buzzed with anticipation as she reached into her dress for something.
“Have fun,” Nicoletta crooned from the stage.
Layla whipped her focus back to her. If the gang leader had been able to stand around and command these reapers, then they had to have a controlled target. But with a little redirection, perhaps Layla could use their power to her advantage. She sprinted for the stage, beating Nicoletta behind the curtains. Grabbing the gangster while she was distracted and high on her early victory proved to be rather painless. Nicoletta struggled at first, reaching for her gun with her good hand while she whirled, but Layla already had her fingers locked around her throat. She kicked the gun from her hand and dragged her across the stage.
