Page 108 of The Mech Who Loved Me
Ava nearly vomited in thatmoment.
The doors to Garrett's office slammed open, and Jasper Lynch, the Duke of Bleight, strode inside, his jaw firm and his nostrils thinned. Once upon a time he'd been the guild master, before he challenged his uncle for the duchy and took his uncle's place on the Council of Dukes that ruledthecity.
It had been before her time with the guild, but Ava knew him well. Garrett and Byrnes considered him akin to a mentor, and he'd always been kindtoher.
"How is he?" Lynch demanded, striding toward her and the door to Garrett'sbedchamber.
"Alive," she whispered, choking on the sudden lump in her throat. She could see it all over again, feel Garrett's blood spraying across her face. "Though we haven't heard anything in the last half hour. Perry'swithhim."
"Who's this?" Lynch's gaze slid over Kincaid, and she had a funny feeling in her chest—almost as though she wanted to step between them, to protect Kincaid. But that wasridiculous.
"Liam Kincaid," the mech said. "I work with Ava for the Duke ofMalloryn."
"The Duchess of Casavian's pet mech," Lynch said. "I remember you. From the night we stormed the IvoryTower."
"I'm nobody's pet," Kincaid repliedcoolly.
Lynch's gaze flickered, very mildly, to her. "No?" Then he was heading for the door to Garrett's bedchamber. "Keep an eye on her. I should think a hot cup of tea laced with some blood wouldn't goastray."
"She's got her formula," Kincaid replied, lacing his arms across his chest, as though to prove he knew her better thantheduke.
She hadn't told him she'd been takingblood.
"Sir." She caught Lynch's sleeve, and Lynch shot her a hawkish gaze that almost made her tremble. She'd been horribly out of sorts when it all happened, but now she needed to start thinking again. "I know you're aware I've been working with Malloryn on hisspecialproject."
"Yes, I recommended youtohim."
He had?Ava pushed the thought aside. "This was planned, sir. Someone is behind these riots, stirring them up. We suspect it's Ulbricht, and he has enough of a certain type of poison to kill thousands of blue bloods, but the full depth of the plan is unknown." The words came out of her in a rush. "What I do know is this is a two-pronged attack. We don't know what they're planning with the poison, but they wanted to pit the Nighthawks against the humanists. If I hadn't called out to Garrett when I did, that bullet would have taken him right through the chest. It was deliberate, sir. There was a sniper, one who wasn't involved withtheriot."
Lynch's face paled, but it wasn't a look of fear—but one ofrage. "Why?"
"We think they meant to push this riot over the edge. If they assassinated the guild master, then nothing could hold the Nighthawks back from retaliation." She squeezed her eyes shut. "And it didn't hold them back. They crushed the mob. Forced them back. Beat them down. I've never...." She faltered. "These men are my friends, but I've never seen them like thatbefore."
As if the loss of their leader drove half of them mad, their primal natures overrunning the strict control each Nighthawk was taught upon entry to the guild. Every blue blood knew what they were capable of, but she'd never seen it in such devastatingdetail.
"It felt like before," she whispered, "when the prince consort sent the Trojan cavalry through the streets crushing people, only this time,wewere the prince consort and his automatons. Weweretheenemy."
Lynch's lips thinned at her assessment. "So theywantwar?"
"It's a ploy, Your Grace," Kincaid added. "Something designed to take us back into the past, when it was humans against blue bloods, and murder in the streets. Humans have always been wary of the Nighthawks, but they trusted them more than the rest of the Echelon. Nighthawks worked to solve their murders, and kept the worst of the crime down. All of that vanishes after today. And that's exactly what Ulbricht wants—fear, terror, people too frightened to go to the Nighthawks who might protect them. Evenunrest."
She could practically see Lynch absorbing the information. "Who's in charge of the Nighthawks cleaning up aftertheriot?"
"Charles Finch." She hastened to add, "I tried to warn him not to retaliate and to keeporder."
Lynch swore under his breath. "Give me a moment to see Garrett, then I'll head out to the scene. Finch's a good man, but he prefers to receive orders, not to give them, and they'll listen to me." Lynch rapped on the door. "Perry?Gibson?"
Thank God. Lynch was going tohandleit.
"Time to go home, I think," Kincaid murmured, his hand sliding over the small of her backagain.
Agreed.Anything to get out of the ruin of her bloodstainedclothes.
* * *
There wasnothing for it but to return to Malloryn's. The duke needed to be told—though Kincaid quite suspected news of it would be all over the city—and Ava needed seeing to. He'd wiped the blood from her face, but it was all over her clothes, and she was oddly quiet and contained, startling every time he spoke to her, as if her mind had beenelsewhere.
She feltcoldtoo.
