Page 49 of Ravaged Devotion

Ellery leaned in closer, dropping his voice so his words wouldn’t carry. “I was hitting on Hollis last night. Pretty sure I can steal him away. Alas, if we leave, we may never know.”

“Hollis isn’t even your type.”

“Yeah, but Esti is a total bitch.”

He rolled his eyes. “What’d she do?”

“Broke Souvi Glass’ heart.”

“…Your rival?” Ryker pinched his brow. “Why can’t any of us have normal relationships?”

“Illya’s is pretty normal,” Ellery said.

“He’s dating your cousin. Speaking of,” Uriel wasn’t in the lobby, “where is your other cousin?”

“Never left the lounge.”

Ryker frowned. “He hasn’t packed?”

“Told me not to bother,” Ellery replied. “He’s insistent we aren’t getting out of here any time soon. With the fog as thick as it is, I have to agree. Only an idiot would try steering a bus through this. Doesn’t matter how good the driver is, they’ll end up driving us off the road. If we’re lucky, we’ll hit some trees. If we’re not, we’ll go off a cliff or roll down a hill.”

Ryker wasn’t fond of either of those options.

Eulalie appeared on the stairs, trying to get a signal on her multi-slate, which she’d unstrapped from her arm and was holding up in the air. When she finally looked up and spotted Ryker, she huffed dramatically and descended the rest of the way quickly.

“Apparently, the fog rolled in before dawn and half of the staff never showed,” she said. “Including the maintenance worker.”

“They don’t have one who boards on site?” Ellery asked.

“Since our party is so small, she was given the week off. Another of her colleagues who lives in town was meant to cover the position if anything happened.”

The fog was causing a lot of complications.

“My father didn’t think to cancel his fishing outing when he looked outside?” Ryker already knew Rhys wouldn’t allow anything to deter him, even the weather, but he had to point out how asinine that decision was, all things considered. “It was already bad enough that employees refused to come up the mountain, yet he hiked to a lake he’s only seen on a map.”

“I tried to convince him to wait,” she agreed with a sigh. “You know how he is.”

“You should never have married him.”

Eulalie gave him a look. “Now, now. Don’t say that. He’s…”

Ellery snorted. “Even you can’t say he’s a good man.”

“He’s a pretentious snob,” Ryker filled in for her. “But he comes with security and is easy on the eyes.” He smirked to lessen the blow. “No judgment from me. However, if this fog clears enough for us to safely drive, I suggest we go without him.”

“We can’t leave your father behind,” she scolded.

“At least one of you is loyal.” Too bad she hadn’t properly taught her son how to be.

“Cosima is gathering the staff members who did come,” Eulalie returned them to the original topic. “Then we can figure out how to proceed. I was told the fog typically lasts a day or two, so with any luck, we’ll be able to leave tomorrow or the day after at the latest.”

“Absolutely not,” Darae interjected. “I’m not staying here. Not after what happened to Delta.”

“I know this is hard—” Eulalie began, only for her friend to cut her off, voice rising with every word.

“We are leaving, before another one of these workers decide to attack us for no reason! I will not subject my daughter to this!” She spun on her heels and motioned to Hollis and Esti. “Grab your things. We’re going to the bus. I’ll drive us out of here myself. Anyone else who wants to join us is welcome.”

“As soon as service is back, we’ll contact the police,” Eulalie promised. “There’s no reason to overreact.”