Page 43 of Ravaged Devotion

“What the hell was that?” Esti whispered, she and everyone else in the room frozen.

“It…” Cosima cleared her throat, still trying to take control of the situation despite how she was shaking, “looked like a bear. We have them up here. Animal control will also have to be contacted—”

“Are you fucking kidding me?!” Esti turned on her. “That guy went out there because we can’t call anyone, and now you’re telling us there’s also a bear on the loose?!”

Uriel grunted. “That wasn’t a bear.”

“It was,” Cosima insisted, glaring at his back.

“Absolutely not.” Darae got to her feet. “What kind of establishment are you running here? First your employee goes on a murderous rampage, and now you’re saying there are wild animals out there? No. I refuse to stay here a moment longer.” She snapped her fingers at Esti, then moved to the end of the couch and grabbed her daughter’s wrist. “Go pack your things. We’re leaving.”

Esti looked like she wanted to argue, but then glanced back at all the carnage and ended up agreeing instead.

“The bus is in the lot,” Darae reminded Eulalie as her daughter left. “Do you know what room the driver is staying in? We should all go.”

“You can’t see through this fog,” Cosima reminded, interjecting. “It isn’t safe—”

“It isn’t safe here!” she sneered, stabbing a finger against the center of the coordinator’s chest. “You better believe you will be hearing from my lawyers about all of this. If the Harts don’t, I will ensure this place is shut down.”

“I saw the driver leave on a hike early this morning when I saw Rhys off,” Eulalie said. “I don’t know if he’s returned yet, but the keys to the bus were left with the front desk.”

“Gather your things,” Darae told her, then repeated it to the rest of them.

“We can’t leave without the others,” Eulalie insisted.

“Of course,” she nodded, though it was clear it upset her having to wait. “We’ll wait until noon. That’s when you said he’d be back, correct?”

“Hey,” Ellery walked in then. “There’s no one in the dining hall. Wasn’t breakfast supposed to start at seven?”

“That can’t be right.” Cosima frowned and left without another word, clearly going to check.

“Yo,” Ellery slipped his hands into his pockets and glanced between Ryker and Uriel, “what’s going on in here?”

“Didn’t you hear the screaming?” Rue couldn’t help but ask.

Ellery shrugged. “Figured it was nothing.” He took in the dead bodies. “Guess I was wrong.”

“I have to go find my friends.” Rue moved for the door, but Ryker caught his arm, preventing him from getting very far.

“Don’t go outside,” the Black Hart said, and for a moment it was like Rue was looking at the old Ryker, the one who cared about him.

The second Ryker let him go, the moment ended.

Rue nodded anyway.

“You don’t have to look far,” Ellery said then. “They were both in the dining hall when I got there. Think they’re still waiting.”

“Thanks.” This trip had gotten weird so fast. He needed to find Bowie and Lenore and tell them to pack.

Rue was in agreement that staying here any longer was a bad idea.

Chapter 9:

Rue found Lenore standing by the side exit in the dining hall, looking nervous. Cosima was nowhere in sight, and like Ellery had mentioned, the breakfast bar was empty. Either this was incredibly poor planning, or Rhys and company had done something to seriously piss off the staff.

It wouldn’t be the first time a member of the board had mistreated staff and earned themselves a petty reaction. Izan Augustine was known for looking down on those he viewed as less than himself, that was where his son Penn had picked it up from.

Last night, Rue had seen Izan loudly scolding one of the chefs because his steak had come out cold.