Page 76 of Our Vicious Descent
Celie punched his shoulder. “That’s so rude.”
Layla narrowed her gaze at both men, then turned to Elise when Jamie drew the boat closer to the dock. “Elise—”
“I’m not angry at you; I’m just scared,” Elise whispered fiercely.
The tension released from Layla’s system, and her shoulders relaxed. “We’re not actually going to give Josi to Karine. I don’t think she would go willingly anyway.”
Josi balanced on the edge of the dock, her leg lifting behind her into an arabesque. Sterling held tightly to the back of her dress,though the little girl never faltered or struggled to stay upright. The sight of dance made Layla feel guilty. All those years she had dedicated to ballet, only to hang up her slippers for blood. Layla wondered where she would be if she had never given in to her rage and continued with her true passion.
Jamie sat at the helm, pulling leather gloves on while he watched everyone board his boat.
Sterling stopped beside him and eyed his arsenal of several guns and grenades. “Nice supply.” His gaze roamed to the leather gloves. “Classy.”
“Unexpected?” Jamie asked.
“Just nice,” Sterling answered. He turned to find his seat right as a small smile lifted Jamie’s lips.
The gangster pointed toward the dark horizon, where storm clouds had lowered and begun to hover over the barely visible island in the distance. “Nicoletta said it’s a fast ride. I warn you against treating this as a fun journey. If you do not hold on, you will fall off, and I will not come back for you.”
“What a gentleman,” Celie muttered behind Elise.
“I never claimed to be one,” Jamie called back. He shot a fierce look at Elise, who sat squished between Sterling and Celie. “Do not mess up the leather.”
Elise waved him off, instead looking for Layla, who had yet to enter the boat. She stood at the edge of the craft and glared down at everyone. “I would rather swim than fit into whatever this is.”
Jamie started up the engine, sending a rough rumbling throughthe boat. Elise reached across the aisle for Layla’s hand, pulling her onto the craft. The moment the boat began to move, Layla had no choice but to settle on Elise’s lap. She felt good with Elise pressed against her, no matter how much she blushed and refused to meet her eye.
Water sprayed around them as the boat sped off along the ocean. The salty sting of the heavy air whipped curls around Elise’s face, forcing her to press her face into the back of Layla’s coat. She folded her arms around Layla’s waist and leaned in to whisper, “In any other circumstance, I would enjoy this.”
Layla coughed out a rough laugh. “Remind me to take you on a boat when we are not on the brink of war.”
Elise smiled and dropped her forehead against the back of her shoulders. “Away from here.”
“Wherever you want,” Layla murmured. Eventually she leaned back into Elise’s touch and relaxed. Her shoulders slumped while one of her legs threaded between Elise’s, and she rested her hands over Elise’s arms. Even as it grew too loud to properly speak, Layla still understood all of Elise’s cues, the gentle stroke of her fingers over her knuckles and the feeling of her leg brushing against her thigh. Layla wanted to pause the moment, find some way to bottle the charged energy between them so she could save it for whenever they were separated. What she wanted was a real future with Elise. One without heartbreak and inevitable tragedy. One where they could say yes to a forever and not be disrupted by outside forces.
What she wanted was impossible. It was easier to not think aboutit at all. Otherwise her mind would circle countless infeasible ideas to ensure their future.
The thought made her heart skip a beat and crumble in her chest.
Elise’s breathing kicked up the slightest bit, and though she tried to steady it to level out her pounding heart, Layla still sensed her distress. She turned and pressed a hand to Elise’s chest. The coolness of her skin against the panic-driven heat that threatened to consume her made Elise exhale in relief. “How can you lie to Karine without her detecting it?”
Layla shrugged. “Years of learning how to regulate my nervous system to prevent blood furies, and Sena taught our clan how to lie to rogues.”
Elise let out a grateful sigh when tall concrete walls rose up around them as the boat made it to the island. Though they had passed the clouds a while ago, a thick white mist still hung around the area, washing the island in a dreary gray chill. The whole place looked far from an elite establishment intended to change their city’s fate.Hart Island. A place meant to bring entertainment and joy to people had been rendered gray and full of death once the plans for an amusement park were abandoned and much of the land turned into a cemetery.
The sour scent of rot rode the air. Layla wrinkled her nose, and she watched the younger Saint cover her mouth as they stepped out of the boat. Goose bumps rose across Elise’s flesh the moment her feet touched the ground, and she rubbed her arms, casting a doubtful glance as she searched the place. Jamie seemed less unsettled, but hekept a watchful eye on Sterling, whose shoulders remained tense and his hands reaching toward his gun. They approached a building that seemed more modern than most back home but remained modest in size and scope. Even walking inside, away from the freezing sea breeze, did not alleviate Layla’s frigid nerves. A new round of chills roused her body as she took a sweeping look over the immediate interior.
The foyer seemed to open into what could only be described as a prison. Several reapers and humans sat behind locked doors with bars over the windows. All wore metal collars, though while some sat up, watching the group with dull, lifeless eyes, others remained slumped against the concrete walls they were kept in.
Layla buzzed with apprehension. The place might as well have been a ticking time bomb. Not just for them and their visit, despite being unable to trust Karine’s intentions, but also for the captive patients subject to this ancient reaper’s wrath whenever she felt so inclined.
Josi tugged on Elise’s hand with the one she wasn’t using to cover her nose. “This is worse than the graveyard in the park.”
The thought of the countless dead bodies being disturbed in their rest and innocent reapers and humans being added to the carnage made Layla’s chest hurt. She gently brushed past Josi and looked ahead, hoping for some reprieve, but all she came face-to-face with was more concrete and imprisoned reapers.
Celie looked horrified. All blood had left her face, leaving her cheeks pale and her mouth agape. “What on earth—”
“Consider this my lair,” a dark voice announced. Everyone turned to see Karine entering the foyer from a back room. She spread her hands by her sides and gave Layla a sad smile. “You know I was always hoping to see you here, Layla. I tried to tell you so many times how much you could have accomplished if only you weren’t so afraid of a little blood. Maybe I would not have gone this route if you had done right by your lair. Instead, you chose a human. With how weak and mortal as Elise is, I’m not sure what you see in her. She holds you back, and thus your love holds every reaper in Harlem back. We deserve a better place in this world,” Karine said strongly.
