Page 83 of Our Vicious Descent
All the heat that had been flushing Elise’s cheeks dissipated, and she groaned as chills shook her body. “In sickness and in health.”
“’Til death…” Layla muttered, her eyes falling to Elise’s shivering form. She unthreaded their fingers and pulled Elise closer to her. She pressed her face into the heated junction between her chin and chest, sighing with relief as her warmth chased away her frigidity.
Layla still had brutal nightmares that involved Elise dying in every horrific way imaginable all because she failed to save her. She woke up with Elise’s French words in her mouth, choking her like sawdust coating her throat.
Laisse-moi mourir en premier.
Let me die first. Let me die first. Let me die first.
“What if there were a way to escape this, but it meant abandoning all that we’ve started?” Elise said softly.
Layla peered up at her, curiosity returning the light to her eyes.“A Saint wanting to abandon her responsibilities? Do enlighten me.”
“Your last name becoming ours is the only responsibility that matters now.” Elise smiled, and Layla felt her heart crack at the sight.
Maybe there was a better way to think of things. She could live in blissful ignorance and assume that neither of them would die. Never mind the fact that Layla was a guaranteed immortal unless she got caught up in a fight against immeasurable Saint steel and poisons capable of starting wars. Never mind the fact that she and Elise had been through more near-death experiences in the past few months than most others had in a lifetime. Never mind the fact that Elise was a fragile thing in this war of malevolence and incomprehensible powers. As far as Layla was concerned, their separation was a matter of when, not if. There were very few things that could be done to keep them together for a time that Layla would find ample. She did not want Elise to be a small part of her life. She had known her since birth. All parts of her were tangled with Elise, her essence deeply interwoven with the threads of her life. She could not hear the piano without thinking of her; she could not drink blood without thinking of her; she could not laugh without thinking about how she laughed the most with her.
There was no life without Elise Saint.
42
With Saints, reapers, and gangsters gathering in a holy place, Layla began to believe they were indicative of something greater. That perhaps they all did have something better than death to look forward to.
Dr. Gray stood at the front of the room with a syringe and a small glass test bottle in her hands. “The idea behind this science is that the poison acts as a sort of controlling agent to make anyone who ingests it angrier and more volatile. It would work in a similar way to reaper venom, where once a human is bitten, they are drawn to the reaper who bit them and feel an indescribable urge to serve them.” A few murmurs of disgust and apprehension rumbled through the crowd as Dr. Gray paused. When she continued, they fell silent again, attentive and fully engaged. “After witnessing several attacks and responses to the poison, I have reason to believe that tethers will make the poison survivable. If a reaper takes the poisonafter having fed from a human, their tether to the human will keep them alive, even after the effects of the poison wear off. Karine was mostly using Sena’s blood to raise the dead and turn reapers and humans into worse creatures. She will use her own blood now, even if it means her life is more vulnerable. So as long as we can get to her and neutralize her blood, or any potential human tether she is using to ground herself, maybe the war will not be so devastating. My research—including a newer working cure—remains at the lab. We need Karine gone so that I may continue to work on it and hopefully help Harlem heal. That being said, our partnership is imperative. You might be able to overcome an army of evolved reapers and raised dead by allowing yourselves to descend into the viciousness you’ve fought so hard to not become.”
An eruption of disbelief seemed to barrel through the room. From reapers to gangsters, everyone had a different option to voice. None of whom were particularly thrilled. Layla made her way to the front of the room and stood beside Dr. Gray. Her presence acted as a calming agent. The crowd went silent while they watched her, eyes still hopeful and whispers still begging for a better alternative.
“I know this is terrifying, but we have to be receptive to some ideas. Karine is already closing in on Harlem. Many of our own have died at her hands, and she will continue if we do not stop her.” Layla gestured across the crowd. “Every reaper needs to find a human to pair with.”
There was hesitation at first, but eventually, everyone complied. Layla sensed Elise’s nerves while she pulled her sleeve back to allowDr. Gray to insert the needle in her arm. They had shared a moment beforehand, where Layla had taken the smallest amount of blood from her. She’d kissed her neck afterward, smiling as Elise blushed at the red still staining her lips.
Layla nodded to Dr. Gray, who brought the poison over in a small glass bottle. Elise cleared her throat and turned her attention back to Layla. “Remember when you used to crave my blood?”
Layla eyed Elise, and her face softened after noticing the badly hidden disappointment in her eyes. “Not just your blood. I craveyou. Don’t worry—I can go back to making you my personal blood supply if that’s what you want.”
“Shut up,” Elise scoffed, but a smile found its way onto her face. She swallowed while Dr. Gray drew closer with the needle. “Are you sure about this?”
Layla glanced over at the waiting crowd, stopping on Sterling and Jamie by the front. Jamie hovered over Nicoletta, who stared up at him from her relaxed position in her chair. Sterling stood beside the gangster, his hand brushing down Jamie’s arm while Nicoletta smiled at them both. Her crew took up space behind her, all of them looking rather impressed with the level of willingness in everyone.
“It’s a smaller dose, so she should have no side effects,” Dr. Gray assured them.
Layla shoved down all her doubts—each measure of conflict untangling in her eyes. She settled her gaze back on Elise and nodded.
One by one, every reaper bonded to a human by blood made the transition. And just as Dr. Gray and Layla had theorized, theysurvived the poison. For a long, heart-stopping seven minutes, reapers turned into evolved monsters. But they remained more sentient than the evolved reapers Layla had fought before. Under Stephen’s poison, Layla had wanted nothing but blood. Now she could think more clearly and curb most violent urges that arose with the effects of Dr. Gray’s new poison.
Chest tight and brow damp with sweat, Layla settled beside Elise after turning back to her regular reaper state. “Are you okay?” Her eyes lingered on Elise’s hand, which had gone still while hovering over her bite wound.
“It’s just…strange,” Elise said quietly. “Knowing Karine will start a war the moment that sun goes down.”
Layla took her hand and kissed her knuckles. “To war then.”
43
As the sun set, Elise prepared for death. She gave herself a few hours to settle with the feeling before she pulled some paper and a pen from one of the cathedral rooms and sat beside her sleeping sister. There were a million things that Elise wished she could have said to Josi over the next few years, but tonight, she had to settle for all that she could fit on a few pages. The most imperative message, with important instructions, was left on top of the pile.
When Dr. Gray came in with a vial and a small syringe that would help wake Josi, Elise leaned over to kiss her sister’s forehead. She stroked her fingers over her face, watching the gentle flutter of her lashes against the tops of her cheeks. Once done whispering a quiet goodbye, Elise stood and faced Dr. Gray. “Please wait to do it until after I leave.”
Dr. Gray nodded. Her eyes filled with warm sympathy, and Elisefelt almost compelled to hug her. “I will take good care of her.”
