“I’ve been expecting you, Layla.” Karine gestured for her to come inside, and as soon as Layla crossed the threshold, she shut the door.
Layla didn’t even take in the apartment and all its luxurious grandeur before she whirled on Karine. “What have you done to Elise?”
Karine raised her brows. “You figured it out. Your proximity to that Saint girl is impressive. You would recognize her and any part of her without a face, wouldn’t you?”
Frustration locked Layla’s jaw. She swallowed past the pricklingurge to let her fangs snap out and tear into Karine’s flesh. “Where is she?”
“You don’t get to know.” A cool curiosity darkened Karine’s face. She made her way to the bar cart off to the side of the room and began pouring herself a cocktail made of clear liquid. Even with the strong scent of alcohol filling Layla’s senses, she still sensed the familiarity of the blood traces around the apartment and on Karine. While a large part of her remained starved and yearned for the taste of fresh blood more than almost anything, an even larger part of her stood in an anger so steep, her hands trembled and a red haze crept slowly over her vision.
Karine continued as if she didn’t notice Layla’s seething state. She lifted her glass, before stopping halfway to her lips. “I’m also quite impressed by your Saint girl. She came right to me and made a deal almost instantly. She seems more willing to get her hands dirty.”
Something inside Layla snapped. She lunged for her. The hunger ravaging her system made it impossible to control her anger, but Layla relished in it anyway. A blood fury was quickly taking over, and all she could do was let it happen. Layla threw herself into Karine so hard, the glass went flying out of her hand and shattered on the wall. The scent of liquor coated the room, but Layla’s senses honed in on the blood dripping from a new wound in Karine’s face. She dug her nails into the older reaper’s shoulders and slammed her into the wall again. The force of her back hitting it sent cracks into the paint and the foundation. Blood spilled from the piercing of Layla’s nails in Karine’s shoulders. She lifted a hand to Karine’s face, slapping itso hard, blood flew from her mouth. On the second strike, Karine caught her hand and wrenched it back until Layla felt the bone pop.
Layla shrieked as pain flooded her senses. Red still covered her eyes, but black dots seeped over the rage the more her hand flopped on her injured wrist. Blood filled her mouth, and it was then she realized that her fangs had sprung free and were digging into her lower lip. This time her own blood had no calming effects on her rage. Layla yanked Karine away from the wall and delivered a crushing blow to her knee, sending her to the floor. While the older reaper hissed in pain and struggled to rise again, Layla crouched over her, pressing her knee into her chest. She spat a mouthful of bloody saliva onto the floor and reached for the Saint blade in her belt with her uninjured hand.
Karine’s glowing gaze flashed vicious and angry as Layla lifted the knife above her head, poised to strike. She grabbed the swollen mess of Layla’s wrist, squeezing until she screamed.
Layla’s vision went black with pain. Her body pitched to the side, and Karine hovered over her. It wasn’t until the adrenaline subsided along with the worst of the pain that her vision blinked back to life. Glass crunched beneath her back, and Layla coughed, swallowing blood as she looked up at Karine.
A lifetime’s worth of rage simmered in the ancient reaper’s golden eyes. With her blood-tipped fangs bared and her mouth wide in a vicious hiss, Karine overpowered Layla on a bed of shattered glass. “You’re too late, Layla. I told Julius your girl is the one who killed Sena. She’s on her way right now to interrupt his business atthe Renny under my request. Poor girl thinks she stands a chance against him.”
Layla was too weak to fully take in Karine’s words. The short revelation she had let slip had the power to spark a wildfire among her clan mates and get Elise killed.
He knows.
Julius knows Elise killed Valeriya.
The look in Karine’s eyes told Layla there would be nothing less than hell to pay for her friend’s murder.
22
The Harlem reaper lair welcomed Elise and Celie with much less malice than Elise had been anticipating. Every other time Elise had visited in the previous weeks, threats had been doled out and blood had soaked every surface. She wondered how her visit would fare this time.
“How did they take to you wanting to come back?” Elise asked quietly.
The young reaper shrugged, her fangs worrying her lower lip. “Julius wasn’t here when I came last night. The others seemed fine with it, but Julius…no one is allowed to have their own opinions when he’s around.” She stopped at the entrance of the cathedral, peering into the window. “I’m glad you feel like you can trust me enough to help you here…but maybe you shouldn’t. I can’t really even fight,” she muttered.
Elise watched the shifting shadows of reapers beyond. “I onlyneed to get inside,” she barely managed to huff out before the door swung open.
A young reaper with brown skin and a charming smile met her on the other side. “A Saint…who is still alive despite my best efforts. To what do I owe this pleasure? Or trap?” A few reapers moved behind him, curiosity looming in their shadowed eyes. The cathedral continued to be lit by candlelight, the faint flickers and dated velvet furniture among tall painted ceilings maintaining its vintage appearance.
Celie gave the reaper a smile so bright, it might have been genuine. “It’s nice to see you again, Julius. I brought—”
“I assume you got word about Elise Saint’s value. She is the talk of the town now, not just in human circles, but also reaper.” He gave her a tight smile, then turned to Elise. All feigned mirth fell away while his gaze roamed her stance, his eyes growing dark with resentment. “Unless you are here to turn yourself in for the crimes against my clan, I do not wish to see you. We will give you a head start to run, of course; the chase is part of the fun when hunting.”
Elise lifted her chin. “I am here to turn myself over to you, Julius.”
A sinister smile spread across Julius’s face. “Living in a place as debauched as New York, I have learned things, Miss Saint. Reapers hiding in dance halls, waiting for drunk partygoers to stumble into the darkness so they can drain them dry, gangsters sliding bloodstained money to politicians so they look the other way, people drowning their worries in alcohol that hurts more than it feels good—I can spot a lie from a mile away.” He paused in the foyer, his voice going hard. “There are still reapers going missing andsuccumbing to the effects of karma. And you are running around with a reaper who betrayed my clan. So I will give you one more chance, Miss Saint, to tell me the truth. Why are you here?”
Elise blinked. She knew if she hesitated for too long and let his words sink in, fear would become her enemy. So she scoffed a bit, smiling. “I am not here because of Layla if that is why you are concerned.”
“My concern is you being a Saint. MissSaint,” Julius bit out. He shooed a few reapers from a nearby couch, then threw himself onto it, lounging against the gold cushions while he stared up at Elise.
“Please don’t call me that,” Elise quipped.
Celie sucked in a sharp breath while Julius lifted a brow. “Oh? Have you somehow divorced yourself from your family? Name included?”
Elise opened her mouth to respond, but Julius continued. “I do not appreciate your tone. Is it all Saints who are like this, or is it just a problem with the women? Your father, surprisingly, was very polite to me. Now, we’ve only met once, but for a man who is so hell-bent on eradicating my kind, he really knew how to turn on the charm for a half dead beast like me.” Julius nodded slowly. “You could learn a few things from him, Elise. Perhaps it’s not such a good idea for you to denounce your position as his heir.”
