Page 79 of Ravaged Devotion

“I’ll go check the breakers,” Fran offered, moving toward the stairs.

“Stick with a buddy system,” Ishleen suggested, but Ellery snorted.

“That worked out really well for Cyril and Thea.” The Black Hart peered down at their bodies. “Something must have happened to make them go feral like rabid dogs. Any ideas?”

“Someone is behind this.” Ryker hadn’t planned on saying as much out loud, not wanting to cause any more panic among the others, but at this point… “My only guess is something was done to them. Probably without either of them knowing.”

“Like a drug?”

“Potentially.” That would make the most logical sense.

“Hold on,” Penn held up a hand, “what do you mean? You’re saying someone is purposefully doing this to us?”

“The creatures outside are mimicking us,” Ellery reminded, but their classmate didn’t seem to agree.

“That doesn’t prove anything. Whatever is out there is a predator, and there are plenty of things that can mimic sounds and use that ability to their advantage. There’s nothing to suggest that whatever out there is being controlled by a person.”

“It does sound a bit farfetched,” Ishleen agreed, giving Ryker an apologetic look.

“Believe what you want.” He wouldn’t argue with them over it. “But I want to be certain.”

“Regular creatures can’t read the room,” Rue stated. “That thing knew we were making out, and knew reminding me we’re step siblings might make us stop.”

Esti nibbled on her bottom lip, then glanced at the others. “An animal wouldn’t comprehend when something isn’t socially acceptable.”

“You’re making it sound like something is controlling those things,” Penn said.

“Potentially feeding them information,” Ryker mentioned.

“How?”

“No clue.”

“Well then, it’s pretty obvious that Jesse is responsible for killing Cosima,” Penn stated, unwilling to drop it. “Maybe those two,” he motioned to the dead workers, “were in on it.”

“We should put plans on checking the pool house on hold,” Esti suggested. “Worry about finding Jesse before he can hurt anyone else.”

“You’re all just choosing to ignore the similarities,” Ellery sighed. “The way he lost it and murdered the Smiths the other day is pretty damn similar to how Cyril and Thea just acted. But I do agree that we shouldn’t wait around for Jesse to show up on his own. He does need to be found. Maybe we’ll even be able to get answers from him.”

“No one was able to get him to say anything useful before,” Fran told them. “We tried. He just kept repeating he didn’t know what happened. He said he doesn’t even remember killing them in the first place. Whatever came over him when he did it, he was fine the last time I saw him. Normal.”

“He’s a liar,” Ellery grunted. “It’s not that easy to forget a killing.”

“If the power doesn’t return, tonight is going to be a lot more difficult to get through,” Uriel warned them. “Are you all prepared to deal with that? Things are a lot spookier in the dark, and you’re already terrified as it is.”

“What if that’s what made them all go crazy?” Esti asked. “What if they just couldn’t handle the pressure and broke?”

“And decided to become murderers?” Ellery rolled his eyes, but left it at that.

“All right,” Ryker had heard enough. “We sweep the floors. All of us. One level at a time.”

“You do that,” Ell clapped Uriel on the back, “we’re sticking to the original plan.”

Damn it.

“Go check the breakers first,” Ryker told Fran, then motioned to Ishleen. “Go with him.”

She didn’t hesitate, merely helped Esti back onto the bench and then went to the stairs where the worker was waiting. Ryker made a mental note of her bravery, then cleared his throat when he noticed Rue’s eyes narrowed on him.