Page 59 of Our Vicious Descent
Josi cried harder. She reached for Elise’s hand and tried to pry her fingers away from her face. Even with her new strength, her grief seemed to overpower her. Elise kept a firm grip on her chin to the point that red indentations began to form along Josi’s jaw. “You’ve ruined everything. Do you understand? You’re cursed,” Elise screamed again. Fear struck across Josi’s expression then, but with every furious emotion overtaking Elise now, she had no will to stop. She might have continued if it weren’t for Sterling throwing his armsaround her waist and hauling her away from Josi.
“That’s enough,” he gritted into her ear.
Elise wrenched herself out of his arms and picked up the bullets she had left on the ground. “Take Josi home. I’m going to get Layla—”
“You don’t even know where she is—” Jamie started.
But Elise was already halfway out of the alleyway. She heard Sterling mutter something about going with her and the shuffling of feet before Jamie was by her side again. With one final stormy look at her sister, Elise tore out of the area, leaving the calamitous death behind.
28
Layla dreamed of her again. This time she spun around an empty dance floor with the angel of death that had haunted her rare sleeps since she had made the violent transition to reaperhood. Layla stared into Elise Saint’s brown eyes with soft affection even as she swung her across the ballroom and lowered her into a swaying dip. Despite it all—the eeriness of the quiet environment and the grace with which they moved to the point it seemed like neither of them was actually touching the floor—Layla loved every second of it. For so long, she had dreamed only of the haunting music Elise had composed and the back of her while she sat at the piano and refused to turn no matter how much Layla screamed for her to look at her. All those years of her begging for Elise’s attention, and now she had it so wholly. Things might have been perfect.
A searing pain exploded in her thigh, and Layla’s legs buckled beneath her. Elise tried to hold her up, but the floor had openedup underneath her, and suddenly their fingers were slipping apart and Layla was falling, falling, until all she could see of Elise was a tiny speck of light amid the darkness. The fall should have been endless. In dreams, they usually were. But Layla’s head slammed into something so hard, her ears rang and black dots danced along her vision.
She jolted upright, gasping as her surroundings came into focus. Slowly, four metal walls materialized around her, and she breathed easier, her heart rate settling just the slightest bit. Salt stung her nose on each inhale, and the room swayed despite her sitting still. While no windows covered either of the walls, Layla knew she had to be on a boat. She tried to move and get a better look around her, but her thigh screamed in pain and chains cut into her wrists behind her.
Looking down, her eyes caught sight of a ragged white fabric tied around her thigh. Blood seeped through the tie and began to drip onto the floor beneath her. In her struggle, she must have loosened the tourniquet—the pain of her wound circled her mind now, crushing her thoughts and any previous ideas she’d had about freeing herself. Still, Layla tried to move again. Her wrists burned against the hot metal cuffs, and she winced, her muscles throbbing with the exertion. Hunger too, Layla realized, with a slight panic. Her memories returned to her in a flood, slamming into one another as she tried to concentrate on something other than the misery in her thigh. All the blood she had lost at the Nest Club—it would need to be replenished before she did something she regretted. Layla triedone final time to switch her position, but the sharp movement only tore at her shoulder, causing a new ache to worry about.
“There’s no use in fighting. It’s Saint steel.” A voice called out nearby.
She stopped struggling and lifted her eyes to the small door at the other end of the room. Nicoletta stood in the doorway, her arms crossed and face fixed with a smug expression. The hand Elise had shot back at the club looked completely healed, much to Layla’s shock. Her gaze swept the room, passing over the chains and other holding spots Layla had failed to notice in her freshly awoken state. If she trained her attention more, she could hear the panic and frenzied activities of nearby reapers. The scent of their blood seeped through the walls around her, creating a hotbox of suffering and torture.
Bile rose in Layla’s throat. She looked away and clenched her jaw, her throat burning as she fought to keep her disgust down. “What did you do?” Layla managed to grit out once the nausea had finally passed.
Nicoletta shrugged. She stepped farther into the holding room and leaned against the wall opposite Layla. “You put up a decent fight, but in the end, it wasn’t enough.” Nicoletta tapped her chin, as if pondering. “All your allies and your Saint girl and her family…they have suffered worse fates by now. Look at the mess you have caused.” Nicoletta chuckled, and the sound sent a burning fury through Layla’s body.
Her heart pounded at the thought of Elise and everyone shehad left behind at the club. While her memories were still piecing themselves back together, she could not help but borrow grief from simply not knowing enough. Whether Elise and Josi were okay. If Layla had left them to die an even worse death than she had narrowly escaped.
A slow smile spread across Nicoletta’s face. “You’re worried about your girl. While I cannot assure you that she’s okay, you should know that she knew you tried to save her. Valiant efforts, truly.”
Layla glared. She wanted to lunge forward, strike her, tear into her throat—anything at all to get her to stop talking. Her words were a far worse torture than the slowly healing wound in her thigh. “I’ll kill you. If you touch her, I’ll kill you and your entire crew just like I killed your brother.”
Her words seemed to hit Nicoletta. The gang leader finally frowned.
The sight of her true self revealed beyond the layers of brute strength made Layla smile. “I enjoyed watching the life leave his eyes and feeling his blood run between my fingers. I’m curious to know if your blood is as bitter as his.”
Nicoletta raised a fist to the door and banged on it. She shouted something at passing workers, but Layla could only focus on the growing knot of hunger in her system. The sound of Nicoletta’s fist against the metal rattled Layla’s head, making her wince and sit back as the severity of her starvation emerged once more. Her ears continued to ring even as the room fell quiet once more, and every time Layla blinked, it spun.
Somehow Nicoletta appeared in front of her and spoke loudly enough to stop Layla’s ravenous desires. “I thought about convincing her to keep you alive, but you’ve lost your chance.” The gang leader left, slamming the door after her, leaving Layla with a never-ending ringing of hell, before she could even ask who Nicoletta was referring to.
Ignoring the searing pain, Layla pulled her knees up to her chest and leaned her head against her thighs, hoping and praying for death to come swiftly.
***
Elise eyed the ship leaving the port. She had arrived just as the departure had been announced and was held back by Jamie before she could execute a hasty decision to chase after it.
“In the short time I have known you, you have had many terrible ideas, Saint, but I believe this might be one of the worst ones. Especially without backup,” Jamie murmured as they crouched behind some shipping crates just beyond the dock.
Rolling her eyes, Elise checked her revolver once more to ensure that she had at least a few rounds of ammunition. After she snapped it shut, she looked up at Jamie with a slight frown. “I actually think it’s a much better idea for me to do this on my own. I’m not sure why Sterling sent you.”
Jamie blinked. “Because he doesn’t want you to die, Elise. Whether it’s to stay in your father’s good graces, or whether it’s because hegenuinely cares about you, I don’t know. But now I’ve been dragged into things, and you’re giving me orders like I asked to be here. I will have you know, I never let my men speak to me like this,” he huffed.
Elise studied his exasperated expression. A small fleck of dried blood stained his chin, but beyond a few droplets, she found him to be quite spotless for someone who had witnessed a near massacre. “I find that very hard to believe. I’ve never seen you raise your voice at anyone—”
“You’ve never seen me with my men,” Jamie said. He glanced over his shoulder as if expecting someone’s arrival.
“I guess I will see you in action tonight.” Elise already had half a thought as to what he had planned during their trek to the port. She had a plan of her own, and even though Jamie had insisted on calling his men to assist, she had refused simply because he could not agree with her on one condition.
