Page 234 of Ashes of Sin and Stardust

Brett grinned at me and continued. “Yeah, so we can give you access to that aspect of the software.”

Reuben nodded, holding his chin with one hand and his elbow with the other. He looked excited as he pondered the new development. “We won’t do all the bedrooms, but we can do the public areas and therapy rooms. Send me a buy-list for computers and servers. We can use my office as the server room since it’s on the other side of this wall. And send me the specs I’ll need to have the room customized and changed to accommodate the servers.”

“It’s already in your inbox,” he smirked.

“Okay,” Reuben said. “Dinner is in an hour. Let’s get them ready.”

It was almost eighto’clock before dinner was going to be ready, since Reuben nixed the meat casserole and requested a different meal for dinner... which in his defense made sense considering the language barrier and the situation. About fifteen minutes before dinner was ready, he and the rest of the team met up in the dining room to discuss the situation that happened earlier.

“They think we’recannibals?” Mike asked, looking distraught.His wife stood beside him and she put a hand on his elbow.

“One girlthought we were cannibals. I don’t know how many of them misunderstood what was said, but I’d like to play it safe. How were the ones you checked in on?”

“A few accepted the sedatives. Leah, room two? She won’t be coming to dinner. She’s passed out. We’ll need to leave a meal for her when she wakes up.”

“Okay. Alice and I will stay for dinner, and maybe a little bit afterwards, until they’re back in their rooms, and then we’ll head out.”

“Sounds good,” Melanie said. “I’ll start bringing them down.”

Two and three at a time, the girls came downstairs and into the dining room. They were all dressed in clean, nice clothing, mostly jeans or dresses, and comfortable loafers or shoes. There were all kinds of girls: old and young, all ethnicities, like a rainbow around the table.

Most of them looked sad or scared. Some looked like they were just... physically there, and mentally unaware of what was happening. I knew that feeling. It made me ache, to remember what that was like. Just drifting through my day, hoping I wouldn’t have my head slammed against the wall or a whip cut across my back for something I didn’t even know I’d done.

Reuben had me by his side the whole time. He pulled up an extra chair and set it by his right hand so I could sit beside him. I could tell by his face that he was worried about me, but I wasn’t upset or freaked out by what I was seeing. Mostly, I was empathetic and wished I could do something.

For dinner, we had rice, grilled vegetables, sauteed mushrooms, and a yummy creamy sauce. Simple, delicious, and healthy. Reuben and I tried to talk to some of the girls, but they were mostly quiet.

A few of them looked more comfortable around him, and there was some conversation. Trisha, the girl who had parked his car earlier, was a pretty Indian girl with big brown eyes whose shoulders slumped forward chronically. She whispered quietly to him but wouldn’t look at anyone else. Amy was a skinny Asian girl with dark eyes who met Reuben’s gaze. He made a few hand gestures to her, and she responded likewise, but didn’t speak. Jackie, the girl who sat close beside her, looked at Reuben’s gestures and nodded, but didn’t move or answer him.

Over dinner, I did my best to be positive and unintimidated. Reuben wasn’tthatscary, and he wasn’t going to hurt the girls, so I tried to make my behavior reflect that. At one point, I leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. He smiled at me and petted my head.

“Little fox.” he looked back to his plate.

“Bear.”

He looked back up at me with a guarded expression.

“Well, you are.”

He smirked and looked back at his plate. But I could tell from his expression that he liked the nickname.

He really is. He’s a teddy bear. But he’s also a big, scary, growly monster when he wants to be. It’s the right nickname for him.

After dinner, the girls went back to their rooms to clean up and go to bed. Reuben sat in his spot at the head of the table, searching their faces.

“Becca, what room is Rachel in?”

“Thirty-five. Third floor.”

“Did she give you a reason why she didn’t come down for dinner?”

“She said she wasn’t hungry.”

He nodded. “Okay. Alice, I’m going to chat with her, and then try to communicate with Abeni and Dae again, and then we’ll get out of here. Brett sent me some text in their language and I’m going to take a stab at it.” He turned to me. “If you still want pizza, we can get some on our way home.”

“I mean, I’m full now.”

“I know. And you ate all your vegetables, I’m so proud of you.”

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