Page 106 of Ravaged Devotion

Uriel took it, brow winging up.

“What is it?” Ellery abandoned the creature.

“Exactly what we thought,” Uriel told his cousin.

“What do you mean?” Rue frowned.

With a sigh, Uriel looked at the two of them. “We’ve got to show you something.”

“Bet you were wondering why we didn’t take this shit out.” Ellery kicked at the back leg of the dead creature. “We found an underground network beneath the building. The entrance is on the first floor.”

“Like…tunnels?” Rue’s confusion only grew.

“We explored all night, then came to get you,” Ellery continued. “There’s some stuff down there you’re going to want to see.”

“A control room,” Uriel elaborated. “With some blueprints that looked a lot like gaming ones.”

“Whoever has been doing all this, that’s been their hidey hole.”

“My dad?” Ryker asked, but they shook their heads.

“We spent most of the time going through the first few rooms and figuring out the controls in the main one. Uriel is pretty sure he can shut this fog off, but we wanted to get you two first and come up with an official game plan.”

“There are a couple of paths that we should follow,” Uriel told them. “Maybe we’ll find your dad hiding down one of them. Maybe not.”

“You think it was him?” Ellery thought it over. “Makes sense. This sort of operation takes major coin.”

“And a serious lack of empathy,” his cousin drawled.

None of them disagreed with his assessment.

“Lead the way.” Ryker took Rue’s hands, linking their fingers once more.

“What about—” Rue turned to Penn, but the guy had died sometime during their discussion.

“Rue!” Bowie was suddenly at the end of the hall. He was smiling wide and running toward them with no signs of injury. “Oh, thank Light! I heard all of the gun shots, but debated whether or not it was safe to come out and check. Glad I did.”

“Where’ve you been?” Ellery questioned.

“Hiding,” Bowie said. “You?”

“Hunting.”

“Did a good job of it I see.” Bowie stared at the monster, then turned back to Rue. When he reached to touch him, however, Rue was yanked back.

“Check his neck,” Ryker told his friends.

“What? Why?” Bowie gave them glares but didn’t struggle, allowing Uriel to inspect his neck.

“There’s a patch that causes people to get violent,” Rue explained. “We’re pretty sure it’s put on the nape.”

“Nothing here,” Uriel said.

“Pretty sure?” Ellery frowned. “What if it isn’t? Couldn’t it be placed anywhere, so long as it’s making direct contact with a person’s skin?”

Bowie’s expression turned suspicious.

“Don’t give me that look,” Ell said. “That’s pretty much how drugs work, genius.”