Page 44 of Ravaged Devotion

He’d been able to see steam coming off the plate, but what did he know.

Maybe this was retaliation.

“Rue!” As soon as she spotted him, Lenore darted forward, grabbing onto his arm. “Thank Light. I need your help.”

“What’s wrong?” Aside from the dead bodies. He searched her face, but now that he was closer, it didn’t appear as though she was scared. Had she not heard the screams?

“I left my jacket by the bonfire last night,” she began, “and since Ellery went to check why there wasn’t any breakfast, Bowie offered to get it for me.”

“He went outside?” Rue had his hand on the doorhandle before he could stop himself, but he paused.

“I was going to go with, but the fog is creeping me out.” Lenore gave a shaky laugh. “Pathetic, right? It’s just mist.”

“There’s an animal out there,” Rue corrected. “It got one of the workers.”

“What?!” She covered her mouth. “But Bowie—”

“How long ago did he leave?”

“Five or so minutes?” She shook her head. “I don’t know for sure.”

Last night, the bonfire could be seen from the wall of windows, which meant it wasn’t too far from this exit. The bear—or whatever it’d been—was on the other side of the building…

“Let’s just wait for him,” Lenore suggested, sensing his hesitation, but Rue shook his head.

“You know how he is. He’ll take his time.”

“Okay, then let’s go—”

“You said you were scared,” Rue reminded. Besides, it didn’t make sense for them both to risk themselves. “If it’s a bear, we don’t want to be too loud and risk attracting its attention. They’re solitary animals. It should be fine so long as I’m quiet.”

“What do you want me to do then?”

Seeing Tod get attacked had been terrifying, but Rue knew how animals worked, and Cosima had insisted it was a bear. They didn’t roam in packs, and he was going to be quick about finding their friend and getting back inside. Everything should be fine.

“Go get Ryker.” Rue hated having to call upon the Black Hart, but it would be idiotic of him to go out there without any sort of backup plan.

She scrunched her nose. “Do you actually think your stepbrother is going to do anything helpful? What if he decides to be a dick again and locks you out or something?”

“He won’t.”

“Are you forgetting about how he left you in the woods yesterday?”

No, but Rue had caught the look on Ryker’s face last night at dinner when he’d walked in. Had seen the relief there and the way his shoulders had slumped as soon as he knew Rue was safe. That wasn’t enough to forgive him, or to say that the Black Hart regretted it, but the worry still meant something to Rue.

“Ryker isn’t the type to offload his problems,” Rue replied. “Or his revenge. He’s fine with taking out his anger on me, but he wouldn’t let anything else hurt me.”

Her expression shifted, the pity there clear. “Rue. Come on.”

“It sounds crazy.” It was crazy. “But I truly believe that. Just go get him, Lenore. We’re wasting time.”

Rue pulled open the door and stepped out before he could think better of it. The chill hit him first, a damp, wet sensation licking at his skin. Tendrils of mist swirled around him as he moved, eyes tracking the stone path beneath his feet to help him navigate. He’d passed on the bonfire last night, but knew from when they’d explored during the day relatively how to get there.

The absence of sound was almost more eerie than not being able to see further than a foot in front of his face. Everything was quiet, almost as though someone had hit the mute button on a video game and forgotten to undo it.

He pinwheeled his arms, displacing the cloying white around him, and momentarily got a further look at the area he was in before the fog closed back in. Seeing how that worked, he did it again, moving with quicker steps. It was tempting to call out for Bowie, but there was no telling how far the bear had moved from the front of the lodge, and he decided it wasn’t worth the risk.

His clothes started to stick to him between the shoulder blades, and he tugged at the hem of his sweater. A gust of wind blew by then, seemingly helping him, and he caught sight of the large firepit ten or so feet ahead of him for a brief moment.