The syringe felt strangely light in Elise’s hand. Standing in the middle of the Hotel Clarice foyer, Layla seated in a chair in front of her, Elise tightened her grip on the syringe. Her father watched from a balcony above the room, Sterling and Mr. Wayne by his side. Some of Layla’s clan members looked on from a few yards back, murmurs few and far between. Elise had no doubt that the substance in the syringe was not a cure. Per her father’s agreement and strict guidelines, she was to kill Layla, not make her human. Even on the off chance that it could be a true cure, Elise had already decided that she no longer trusted a word out of her father’s mouth. It hurt more than anything now to see Sterling still standing by his side, staring at her with disappointment deep in his eyes.
Elise pursed her lips. She dropped her gaze to the slope of Layla’s neck. One puncture of this needle and maybe everything would be over. But Elise knew better than to take her father at his word. She had done so years ago, thinking he would end the growing reaper problem that Layla was trying to fix with her parents. But he had only assured her with hidden lies and hollow promises.
“Someone please hold her down,” Elise said quietly. “I won’t be able to if she struggles.”
Sterling descended the staircase and placed his hands on Layla’s shoulders, pushing her down into the seat. Elise waited, wanting Layla to stir, to show any sign of her usual self. But she remained quiet and unmoving.
Tears brimming in her eyes, Elise positioned the needle in place at the edge of Layla’s neck. “Layla,” she whispered. “I’m sorry. For everything, I’m so sorry.”
Then she pushed the needle in.
Elise hesitated with her thumb on the plunger. She took a deep breath and yanked the needle from Layla’s skin, shoving it into Sterling’s hand. Elise plunged the drug into him.
Sterling pulled away from them with a shriek, tearing the needle from his skin.
Layla finally blinked as blood pooled in the juncture between her neck and collarbone. She looked up, confused. Sterling stumbled away and roared as the needle clattered to the floor. Harlem reapers braced themselves, fangs emerging while Sterling approached them.
Elise clamped her hand over Layla’s wound and stepped in front of her.
Then Sterling lost control. With his eyes red as blood and his veins bulging, he tore around the room, knocking chairs over and shrieking. Elise covered her own mouth as she watched reapers throw themselves at her best friend. But even as they clawed at him, hissing and snarling like frenzied beasts, Sterling threw them off. To Elise’s horror, his nails had grown into the size of monstrous claws, and they pierced the reapers’ flesh, leaving deep scratches behind.
Something dug into Elise’s arm and she jumped at first seeing Layla on her feet, fingers clamped around her wrist. “We need to go,” Layla hissed. Her clanmates scrambled, some running for the door, others facing the scene in frozen shock. Mr. Saint and Mr. Wayne went unnoticed by the unfolding frenzy, still watching from above. Elise noticed a slight smile on Mr. Wayne’s face, and she recoiled at the sight.
Elise headed for the door, but Sterling stumbled closer as one of Layla’s clanmates charged him, blocking the exit. Layla tugged her back and quickly found an alcove beneath the grand staircase, away from the chaos. She shoved Elise in first, pressing her body into the remaining space while they watched the carnage unfold.
One clan member tried to help his fallen comrade at Sterling’s feet, but he was no match for this newly evolved Sterling. It was as if all humanity had been sucked from him. His cheekbones protruded beneath sagging, hollowed-out skin and his eyes bled red, as if every vein in his skull had burst and coated his eyeballs in the scarlet substance. He stepped toward the reaper charging him and, with one swipe of his clawed hands, sent him slamming against the wall. The reaper’s shirt fell off in bloody tatters where he was hit.
But only moments after going down, the reaper’s eyes flew open, scarlet just like Sterling’s. His hands extended into claws as well, and he released a deafening growl, purely demonic and deranged. Then he turned on his own clanmates.
One by one, they each began to turn. Elise watched in horror as reapers tore through each other. But only minutes into the destruction, they jerked upright and, with their claws still clinging to dripping flesh, crashed to the floor. The rampage ended almost as soon as it began, leaving nothing but blood and bodies littering the foyer. Sterling was the only one left standing, his chest heaving as he stepped over the fallen reapers, finally calming down.
In that moment, something whistled through the air and Sterling jerked back, having been shot with something.
“Sterling.” Mr. Wayne’s voice rang out around the room. He turned to Mr. Saint, lowering his own gun. “The antidote will start working in a bit. Just give him a few more moments. In the meantime, he can search for the girls while he’s still craving blood.” Mr. Wayne grumbled and looked around the room. “I intended for Layla to do all the destruction. But it seems your daughter has more of a brain than we anticipated. Wherever the hell she is.”
Elise whimpered and Layla clamped a hand over her mouth.
Mr. Saint was eerily quiet. “This is no cure, Stephen.”
“I know. But this is something better. I knew you would never approve if I told you, so I had to show you. I can explain everything back at the house, I promise,” Mr. Wayne said.
Mr. Saint said nothing. He just gave one more look around the room, scowling, before leaving.
Just as Mr. Wayne had said, in a few moments, Sterling collapsed, breathing into his humanity once more.
“I want you to find them,” Mr. Wayne commanded.
Sterling let out a grunt as he stumbled out of the hotel with her father and Mr. Wayne, his body still twitching with the effects of the poison.
Even after they were gone, Layla kept Elise in the alcove until they were sure no one was coming back. Minutes passed, then, finally, Layla released Elise and they stepped out of the alcove.
“It’s them,” Elise muttered shakily. “Dr. Harding mentioned a poison spreading, and it’s Stephen Wayne spreading it. My father…” She gasped. “Maybe this could explain the dancers at the Cotton Club incident? And Theo too. Close contact seems to spread the poison.”
“But Theo scratched me and I didn’t turn. It could be spreading the way it usually does: Sterling’s blood must have gotten into my clanmates when he attacked them. And if the poison works on humans, too, then he’s not only targeting reapers. He’s turning them into weapons. Everyone is in danger,” Layla breathed.
She walked through the lobby, looking over the fallen reapers. With each body she passed, her face grew more and more ashen. After examining all of them, Mei included, Layla straightened up. Her expression fell blank, but her voice came out raw and conveyed a deep hurt. “The mutations from the poison are gone. They’re all human now. How cruel.” She let out a weak sob.
Elise took a shaky breath. “I’m sorry, Layla. I’m really sorry.” Her voice broke. “I’m sorry—” But Layla suddenly rushed toward her. She threw herself at Elise, wrapping her arms around her in a tight embrace. Shock stole Elise’s breath. It took her a moment to hug Layla back, but when she did, for the first time in forever, everything felt right.