Page 80 of Ravaged Devotion

“If we lose the light, we’re screwed,” Ellery continued. “I’m not risking it.”

“Split into teams then,” Lenore suggested. “The three of you check the pool house while the rest of us conduct the sweep. How much time did you think you would need?”

Rue glared at her.

“An hour to be safe,” Ryker said.

She nodded. “Unless Jesse left the building, there are only so many places he could be hiding. We can check all four levels within that timeframe.”

“You’ll have to go room by room.” He pointed to the keys still hanging in the glass cabinet on this side of the check-in station. “We can’t risk him hiding out in a locked one. They all have to be checked.”

“Understood.”

“As long as we’re all moving on the same floor,” Bowie joined in, “it should be safe enough for us to spread out so all of the rooms are being checked at relatively the same time.”

“Yeah,” Penn jumped on board, “that sounds good. I’m in.”

“Same.” Esti sneered at Hollis, who’d yet to do anything other than sit there curled into a ball. “Can we just shoot him?”

“No!” Hollis shot to his feet. “I’ll help!”

“With Fran that makes eight of you,” Ryker pointed out. “Sweep the rooms in pairs. Time is important, but so is ensuring Jesse isn’t given the chance to get the jump on anyone.”

“What if he tries to hurt one of us?” Esti asked.

“Defend yourselves.” That seemed pretty obvious.

“The time is,” Ellery checked his multi-slate strapped to his wrist, “eleven.” He grabbed the circular speaker and made his way over to the front door. “Once I toss this, let’s give it ten minutes. That way the monsters can move from the other side of the lodge. Then the three of us will sneak out the side entrance in the lounge area. Sound good?”

“Yeah.” Uriel moved to help him slide the heavy bench a foot away from the door, giving Ell enough space to undo the locking mechanisms and open it a few inches.

He bent down and placed the device onto the ground, then pushed it so it rolled away, disappearing into the fog. As soon as he was done, he slammed the door, and worked on pulling up a playlist on his device as his cousin replaced the locks and the bench.

Heavy rock music blared from outside, loud enough to be heard even through the thick barrier, and Ellery turned and gave them a thumbs up.

“You’re seriously going to do this?” Rue was seething at his side, but Ryker didn’t know what else to say. “Fine.”

Ryker motioned to the other speaker set on the counter. “Remember, this has to be set at twelve ten. Don’t be late. If there’s a delay—”

“You might not make it back, yeah, I fucking get it. I swear to Light, Ryker, if you don’t come—”

“I will.” He planted a chaste kiss to his forehead, and attempted a reassuring smile he wasn’t quite sure he managed. “I’d never leave you behind, Rue.”

“That’s exactly what you’re doing right now.” Rue pulled away and moved to where his friends were standing, purposefully snubbing Ryker in the process.

He could be mad about it, but he sort of understood where Rue was coming from. If their roles had been reversed, there was no way in hell he’d allow Rue to go out there. But their roles weren’t reversed, and Ryker was better equipped at dealing with stuff like this.

Besides, he had the other Black Harts with him.

They’d be fine.

They had to be.

* * *

They moved through the heady fog basically blind, Uriel taking the lead since he could see the best out of the three of them. They stuck close enough to always keep one another in view, pausing and ducking low whenever Uriel gave them the signal, moving only once he started walking again.

Things could be heard moving in the distance, the low buzzing and heavy footsteps cluing them in further as they went, allowing them to actively avoid those areas. Each of them had memorized several paths to the pool house, so even if they were separated, they’d be able to find their way, but the goal was definitely to stick together.