“Don’t look so defeated. It shouldn’t be too hard. You’ve killed aclan leader before, and she was an ancient reaper. Anything is possible when your hands are covered with blood,” Karine murmured.
Chills ran down Elise’s spine. She knew Karine saw her as an enemy despite being a temporary ally. That Elise would lick the blood of a reaper before cleaning her hands of it just to prove she was capable of such a slaughter. She thought of the blood on her throat from Layla’s bite and wondered if Karine found her crazy for keeping it on display.
“That was not…” Elise caught Karine eyeing her bite mark once again.
“Not what? You have a fondness for blood, whether you care to admit it or not. I want to make sure, before I make an ally out of you, if you are willing to die and kill for the cause.” Karine tapped her fingers against the glass, the wild lights from above illuminating the blood beneath her sharpened nails.
Elise looked away. Surveying the room, she found a familiar face. Mayor Arendale stood around a game table with what she could only assume were gangsters. One of the gangsters turned to meet her eye. She stood out among the rest, being a young woman, but by the way she commanded herself around them, Elise wondered if she called herself their leader. Could anyone do such a thing? Would there always be blood involved in claiming a title and making a declaration?
She faced Karine again and nodded. “I’ll do it.”
***
On her way out of the Renny, all Elise could think about was Layla and this new task she had agreed to carry out. If Layla had known what Elise was planning, she would’ve offered to do it for her. But Elise could not let her. Not when Julius already expected it of her and not when Layla already believed herself to be a monster. Going against her own clan would be disastrous. In this time, where Elise didn’t know how long she had with Layla, she refused to subject her to the consequences of her own actions again.
“A friend of Layla Quinn’s? I’m surprised you are still alive.” A smooth voice with a heavy Italian accent called out to her from the end of the alleyway. Night had not yet fallen, but the sun was getting close to its final hour. With the threat of the monster rising after sunset, Elise knew better than to be out so late.
Still, she could not help but turn to face the person. “Who’s asking?” she demanded.
A young woman, the same gang leader Elise had seen inside, stepped out of the shadows. She wore a suit rather than the kind of shift dress many young women in New York wore these days. Thick leather gloves covered her hands, which remained on her hips and most likely close to the weapons she carried. “I am, of course. You have no reason to fear me unless you find yourself tied indefinitely to Miss Quinn. If you see her tonight, please let her know that if she shows her face around Harlem reaper territory again, I will take her life. Do not let me run into her.”
A chill passed through Elise as the woman disappeared back into the shadows. “Who the hell are you?” she shouted after her, butthe gangster was gone already, leaving behind nothing but an eerie promise. The whole way back to Jamie’s apartment, Elise’s mind continued to reel from the message.
She found both Sterling and Jamie standing around the kitchen counter, talking strategy for trapping and killing the monsters. Jamie looked intently at the former Saint member while he spoke, his eyes wide and bright with awe. Sterling stopped talking the moment the door shut behind Elise. He faced her, the lingering passion of his conversation with Jamie displayed in the flush of his cheeks.
“How did it go?” he asked.
Elise set the vial on the counter. Hendricks padded right up to it and rolled onto his back, his paw coming up to swat at the ribbon tied around the bottle. She glanced around, searching for any signs of Layla. “Is Layla back?”
Jamie shook his head. “She’s still out looking for Celie. Trying to convince her to stay in the lair for long enough to keep eyes on Julius.” He nodded to the vial. “What did Karine say?”
Sighing, Elise sat down on the couch across from them. “She wants a favor in exchange for Josi’s whereabouts.”
“Sounds suspicious and dangerous. Especially for a human,” Sterling said.
Elise stepped around the shiny part of the floor, where the blood from previous days had been cleaned up. “I play her game, I get what I want.”
“Or you play the game, you die. Maybe you should ask Layla for help,” Sterling said strongly.
Jamie shrugged. “She’s survived a surprising number of reaper games for being a human…”
Elise slammed her hand onto the table, frustrated. “Layla can’t help me. Some gangster just swore to kill her if she showed her face around Harlem reaper territory. Jamie, you wouldn’t happen to know—”
“I don’t know every gangster just because I myself am a gangster—”
“She’s Italian and she hates Layla. That should narrow it down for you,” Elise shot back.
Jamie squinted, his hand coming up to rub over his hair. “Are you sure she’s not just a friend of Karine’s? Adding more rules to the ancient reaper’s wicked games?”
Elise shook her head. “Whatever it is, Layla cannot be around her old territory.”
“That’s probably for the best,” Sterling said. He gestured to Elise’s map, which had new notes since her evening out. “The old Harlem reaper lair seems to be where the monster heads to most often. If we can isolate it there, we can strike. No more failed traps necessary. We use the nest against it. Before it can hunt anyone else…” A muscle feathered in his jaw while he thought.
“But?” Elise urged him forward.
Sterling pressed his knuckles to the table and shared a dismayed look with Jamie. “We don’t have the proper weaponry. Even with Jamie’s explosives and Saint bullets, it’s a tough bet. The thing seems to thrive in chaos, as evidenced by the attacks it emerges from. Weneed to find a way to control the environment and incapacitate it. If we can gain access to the Saint compounds that have been taken over by gangsters, maybe we’ll have a shot at finding resources that can help us fight this thing.”
Jamie nodded along with his words. A slight smile turned his lips upward, and he chuckled softly. “It’s fascinating, watching a trained Saint’s mind work. Have you ever thought of joining the army?”
