“Is there a reason why you’re here, Miss Saint?” Valeriya asked in a low voice.
Elise watched her trace her finger over the edge of her crystal glass, which was full to the rim with blood. A bitter taste rose in Elise’s throat and she looked to Layla, who stood by the door of Valeriya’s study. “Layla let me in. But I think you want me here.”
Valeriya lifted a brow. She took a sip of her bloody cocktail, then smiled, her teeth scarlet in the flickering candlelight. “You want your sister. Tell me, Elise, what would you do for her?”
The gun on Elise’s hip suddenly felt very heavy. She twisted the water glass in front of her, noticing the plain fear and anger etched into her reflection. “I would kill your entire clan for her.”
Layla shifted by the door. “Elise—”
Valeriya lifted her hand, stopping her. “Oh, tension between the new lovers already.” She chuckled. “You are so easy. So predictable. Tell me, Saint. If you had to pick between your darling sister and your beloved Layla, who would you pick?”
Elise’s free hand twitched by her side and her fingers closed over the gun handle. Her other hand gripped her water glass. “What do you want?” she hissed.
“I want you to choose. You cannot mix humans and reapers. I was there when the first venom was spilled. The Saints continue to spread it and you will regret your role in aiding that spread,” Valeriya said.
“I no longer wish to vilify reapers. You are victims of a system that is bigger than all of us. We all are,” said Elise.
Valeriya scoffed. “And you wish to fix things?” Before giving Elise a chance to respond, she laughed, her voice sharp against the room’s silence. “There’s no fixing what this country was built with.”
Elise’s finger trembled on the gun’s trigger.
“Careful now, Elise. If you kill an ancient reaper, you will have hell at your door,” Valeriya whispered.
Layla sighed. “This isn’t worth it, Elise. Let’s go—”
Valeriya interrupted, “I’m not sure that’s true. Her own father loathes her for being unable to save his firstborn after that brutal reaper attack. Now she could very well be saving her baby sister’s life. Josephine is an angel for now. But I could turn her against your grimy Saint—”
The glass exploded in Elise’s hand. Breaking the glass had taken less force than she had anticipated. Glass shards now sank into her palm and fingers, spilling her blood across the table.
Layla was at Elise’s side in an instant, pulling her to her feet. “You need to leave now.”
But Elise stopped and watched as Valeriya dipped her fingertip into the blood, then brought it up to her mouth, sucking it delicately. Her eyes filled with light and for a moment, Elise’s heart skipped a beat.
“Humanity truly is so weak. I can almost taste the futility,” Valeriya muttered.
Elise glared. “You think of yourself as a god, but you bleed just like a mortal.”
Valeriya flashed her a sharp smile. “My blood saves lives.”
“And yet your penchant for human blood will get you killed,” Elise spat.
Another sly grin crept onto Valeriya’s lips, but it was interrupted by the slow trickle of blood from her nose. She wiped her upper lip, her breath catching as she noticed the blood. “What have you done?” Valeriya hissed. She tried to bare her teeth at Elise, but her fangs were gone. Instead, a painfully human whimper left her lips as Valeriya’s features adjusted to show the years behind her age. Wrinkles cleaved her face and arms, her back curved as her bones creaked, and she stumbled away from Elise, limping slightly.
“I took an antidote that canceled out perfectly with the remainder of Layla’s blood and venom in my system, so it did not affect me. But it seems like my tainted blood was too much for you. I thank my friend Thalia for her knowledge. She left behind a lot of useful information. The antidote alone is toxic for reapers, but when mixed with human blood, it’s pure poison. No longer a delicacy for you,” Elise said.
Layla’s eyes, stretched wide, followed the older reaper to the massive window. Valeriya’s breath grew ragged. She reached for the shelves to steady herself, knocking books onto the floor as she went. Her eyes locked on Layla, and the reaper tried to go toward her mentor, but Elise held her back.
“No!” Layla screamed.
Blood still trickled down Elise’s fingers, but she ignored it. Her glare pinned on Valeriya. No one threatens my sister and lives. So when the ancient reaper turned weakling human lost her balance and crashed through the window, Elise felt no remorse. It wasn’t until she noticed the storm in Layla’s eyes that the cage around her heart fell away and guilt pressed into her chest.
“What the hell,” Layla hissed. Cold fury stirred in her voice. Before Elise could utter anything, Layla lunged for her, backing her against the wall, fangs bared.
Pain lanced through her cut hand and Elise whimpered. “I had to do it.”
“Be quiet,” Layla snapped. Her eyes were bright, pupils dilated. “You must leave now. If you show your face here again, you will die,” Layla whispered. “I will cover for you—”
“Your clan will hate you—”
“I can live with that. But you…” Layla swallowed and pain broke across her face as she backed away. “You need to go.”
With one last look at her, Elise ran off into the storm.
Rain plastered Layla’s hair to her head. Her knees were stiff from sitting in the same position in the courtyard for hours, her clothes soaked all the way through, but she kept her hand on Valeriya’s chest. It was impossibly still, and despite having been sitting with her hand over Valeriya’s heart for hours, Layla still was not used to its absence of life. It took every ounce of her will to not internalize that her second chance at a family was gone, dead before her eyes.
“Layla,” someone said gently through the rain.
“I already said no. She stays here,” Layla snapped. Her clanmates had emerged every hour or so to suggest giving Valeriya a proper send-off. But Layla could not bear to say goodbye. Not yet. There might have been animosity, but Layla could focus on nothing but Valeriya for long enough to be sure. A few cursed Layla for having involvement in Valeriya’s death, but they were too afraid to move against her. If they believed Layla was the one who killed an ancient reaper, then she would have power over them until someone challenged her for the now-open spot of clan leader. For a while, tears had stained her face, but then the rain started and Layla lost track of time as well as her emotions.
“Forgive me, but I do not recall that conversation.” This time, Layla picked up on the unfamiliarity of the voice.
She looked up to see a tall human woman with long dark hair beneath a wide-brimmed black hat and umbrella. Her face was almost completely in shadow, but Layla saw the curve of red lips beneath the gloom. She scrambled to her feet, fangs already emerging. “Who the hell are you?”
The woman tilted her head to the side. “I know Vex. You can trust me,” she said gently. A thick accent rode her words.
Layla’s lips twisted with confusion. “Trust you for what?”
Water dripped from the woman’s hat as she leaned forward, finally making her green eyes visible. They flickered over to Valeriya’s body. “You have no idea how valuable this original reaper is, do you?”
“Valeriya—”
“Sena,” the woman corrected her. “She was one of the first reapers. Her venom could change the world and she had no idea.”
Hearing that name again was like a punch to Layla’s heart. The letters were to no one. Valeriya had been signing her own name on those letters so she did not forget it. She swallowed. “You want to sell her remains?” Her voice hardened. “Are you working for Stephen Wayne?”
“My country hates what that man is doing. His ignorance of Sena and our knowledge of her keeps us one step ahead of him. Back home, we have evolved, and it’s getting grim. We need your help and I promise, we can return the favor.”
Layla narrowed her eyes. “We?”
The woman lowered her umbrella, and Layla gasped.
The second the fading sunlight hit her skin, it melted into an ashy gray color, her once high cheekbones sliding and sagging. Those brilliant green eyes turned red, and her hair went limp. The hand that held the umbrella became nothing more than gray bone and black talons. If decay was a person, this woman embodied it. She gave Layla a wicked smile and fangs peeked out from behind her lips. “I told you. Grim.”