Page 10 of The Mech Who Loved Me
Behind him glass smashed. All it would take would be one hint of opposition—he almost felt sorry for the poor Nighthawks—and this entire scene would go up as though someone set a spark to a puddleofoil.
"Disperse peacefully!" came a voice through the speaking trumpet. "Or we will be forced to use the water cannon. Lives are at risk, and nobody wishes a fire in these closequarters!"
"Burn them!" someone bellowed. "Burnthemall!"
"Kill thecravers!"
And the noise behind him roared to acrescendo.
What had bloody set them off like this? As far as he knew, the last few months had beenpeaceful.
Kincaid started running. Blue bloods could be hard to spot. Any man or woman with a pale face was suspect, though they could be merely someone who kept out of the sun, which meant virtually half of London. In this crowd, people wouldn't check before they bludgeoned someone todeath.
Real fear began to curdle in his gut. He skidded around the corner where he'd left her. There was no sign of her. "Ava!" He kept calling, ducking back into thestreets.
People fled from the mob. Kincaid was knocked aside by a man drawing his tweed coat tight around his wife. No sign of a blonde head anywhere. Where the bloody hell was she? He'd told her to stay there,damnher.
"Kincaid!"
There.
He found her in an alley a hundred feet down from where he'd left her. She trembled, her skin even paler than usual. "I-I had to move. A man demanded to know what I was doing there,andI...."
"Smart choice," he muttered, grabbing her by the upper arm, not unkindly. "Canyourun?"
"What's going on?" He caught a glimpse of that upturned face. "I can hear them yelling about killingcravers."
"The Nighthawks just arrived. This whole borough's about to go up like dry tinder, and we need to get out ofhere.Now."
"What about the Black Veinvictim?"
"He's not getting any deader."You, however....He kept that little tidbit tohimself.
"Hey!" a man declared, shoving Kincaid in the shoulder and glaring at Ava. "Is she acraver?"
Kincaid stepped between them, his lip curling back off his teeth in a snarl. "Did you just fuckin'pushme?"
Doubt appeared on the fellow's face, but he tipped his chin up. "Your lady friend's got awfully pale skin. We don't like thatsorthere."
"If you're referring to mywife," he stated coldly, "then I'm going to take exception to your tone. And it's bloody England, man. Everyone's gotpaleskin."
A vial appeared in the man's hand and he threw it at Ava, even as Kincaid shoved him back a step.What the hell?He snatched a handful of the man's collar, shooting a look ather. "Ava?"
There was blood spattered all over the front of her coat. Her mouth fell open in shock but her eyes flashed black with the craving as the predator within her roused, and Kincaid knew they were introuble.
It all happened in an instant. The man's eyes lit up. "Gotone—!"
Kincaid drove his mech fist into the man's throat, crushing the sound of the words before they could draw any attention. "You son of abitch."
The bastard dropped, clutching at his throat and making some sort of gurglingsound.
"Did you just...." Ava trembled, one hand toherlips.
"No time for manners, kitten." Kincaid grabbed her by the hand. A cry went up behind them. They'd been spotted. "Let's see how fast youcanrun!"
They ran for several blocks, his hand wrapped around hers. Blue bloods were faster than humans, but Ava was gasping for breath within two hundred feet, one hand clasped to her chest. For some mysterious reason, she was struggling, and with his health conditions, the fact he was outrunning her was asurprise.
"There they are!" someonescreamed.
