Page 46 of Ravaged Devotion

The side entrance appeared like a god send and Rue pushed his burning thighs to go harder.

Ryker slammed into it, momentarily struggling with the handle, then got it open and immediately shoved Rue inside first. Then he turned and let off another round of bullets, firing in all directions.

Two more screams pierced their ears, but the Black Hart didn’t linger to listen.

He stepped back and slammed the door shut, flicking the lock into place. There was a small table next to it, and he dragged it in front for good measure, as though he thought it would be enough to keep whatever was out there from breaking in.

“Rue!” Lenore grabbed onto him and pulled him deeper into the dining hall. She was ghostly pale, looked terrified in comparison to how she’d appeared when he’d left. “Thank Light!”

Past her, Rue spotted Bowie huddled in front of the breakfast station. He was on the ground, his knees pulled up to his chest, his arms shielding most of his face.

He was shaking.

Relief that they were all here was fleeting, however.

Ryker’s hand found Rue’s throat, and in the next instant, Rue found himself slammed down over the end of one of the long tables.

“Let him go!” Lenore tried to pull the Black Hart away, but Ryker easily shoved her aside.

“What the hell were you thinking?!” Ryker demanded, hand tightening. “I told you not to go outside! I told you—” He cut himself off and all at once released him and stepped back.

Rue coughed and covered his neck protectively, lifting himself until he was propped against the edge. His gaze didn’t leave Ryker’s even when Lenore shot to his side and embraced him.

“I should have known you’d break your word,” Ryker said, voice quiet and somehow even crueler than it’d been when he’d been shouting. “Once a liar always a liar.”

“I didn’t…” He let his sentence trail off, because what was he supposed to say? Obviously he had broken his promise. But still. “I had to find my friend.”

“Fuck your friends. Neither of them is worth your life!”

He bristled and felt Lenore do the same. “They are to me.”

Ryker stared at him for a lengthy moment and then lifted the blaster he still held, aiming it directly at Lenore’s head.

There were gasps and a frenzy of movement as Rue struggled to put himself between them, but the Black Hart didn’t pull the trigger.

Yet.

Rue knew better than to assume he wouldn’t.

Ryker didn’t bluff.

“Stop it.” Rue glared at him, trying to quell the lingering adrenaline and the rekindled anxiety brought on by the Black Hart’s actions.

“I don’t think you understand the situation,” Ryker stated darkly. “You were just outside with a known predator because of them. What if I’d been too late? You could have been killed, while your friend, the one you risked your life for, was in here safe on his own.”

Rue’s eyes briefly shifted to where Bowie was still huddled, terrified. “He was scared.”

“He got to safety without you.”

“I—”

A heavy thud banged against the door they’d just come from, rattling the wood. It came again, twice, before stopping, as though whatever was out there had merely been testing and lost interest. Outside, the fog continued to block their view, not even a glimmer of the strange lights he’d witnessed visible.

“Ryk,” Ellery appeared at the entrance to the dining hall, “we need a Hart in here. Crazy bitch won’t listen.”

Ryker hesitated and then swore under his breath. He lowered the gun, but motioned to Rue. “You’re coming with me, and we’re not done with this conversation.”

“I’m staying,” Rue stubbornly said. “Bowie is freaking out.”