Page 40 of The Mech Who Loved Me
Malloryn's crest gleamed on the door of the carriage, and the footmen wore his livery. The silver griffins of the House of Malloryn leeredather.
"He's certainly not hiding who he is today," Kincaid muttered, appearing at hershoulder.
"Perhaps he's here on official business?" Malloryn liked cloaks, and shadows, and disguises. Sometimes he'd appear inside the safe house and she'd not have even noticed a door opening. It was like he sprang fromnowhere.
Malloryn alighted from the carriage, wearing a black velvet coat with puffed shoulders, a loose white shirt, and leather trousers. He looked particularly dangerous today, and there was a rapier sheathed at the belt aroundhiships.
"Didn't know you'd turned pirate," Kincaid said, his eyes twinkling as he looked the duke upanddown.
"Ha," Malloryn replied, without a trace of humor. "How droll you are this afternoon, Kincaid. Especially considering the city is under threat by unknown agents who have an enthusiasm for bombs. This is my court dress. I've been in meetings allmorning."
"How civic-minded of you," Kincaid countered, and the duke shot him a witheringglance.
"Ava." Malloryn tipped his head to her, dusting off his gloves as he looked around. "Perhaps you would care to show me around? I received the baroness's missive, but I'd like to hear it from both of you, if youwould?"
"This way," Ava instructed, grabbing a handful of her skirts and pushing open the charred door to the front of the clinic. She wore dark blue today, a color that normally washed her out, but one which would survive better than yesterday's concoctionoflace.
She led the duke through the building, staring at the wind-chilled sky that appeared overhead in the actual clinic as she ran through what happened. Malloryn picked his way through the rubble, leaning on an ebony-handled cane that bore hissignet.
"What made you look inside the servant drone?" Malloryn finally asked, turning toKincaid.
Kincaid knelt in the ruptured remains of the room, nudging a scrap of blistered metal. The paint had bubbled off it. "It wasn't working properly. Ava was busy talking incomprehensible scientific theories with Dr. Harricks, and I have experience with such units. I offered tofixit."
"So pure chance?" Malloryn seemed surprised. "And you set thebomboff?"
"It had a remote detonation charge on it, but there was also a pressure sensor. I set thesensoroff."
"I wonder when they planned to detonate it," Mallorynmused.
"Who knows? Maybe they intended to blow up all the clinics in the city at once? Maybe they simply planned to cover their tracks in case the vaccine tampering wasdiscovered?"
"The question now is who," Malloryn murmured. "This is either the work of the humanists, or someone moresinister."
Ava's heart ticked a beat. "Do you think it has anything to do withtheSOG?"
The three of them stared around at the blackened room. "The SOG work on creating chaos," Malloryn said slowly. "So I am very interested in this mystery all of asudden."
The breath rushed outofher.
Malloryn sighed, and pulled out his pocket watch. "I have another meeting in half an hour, but speaking of Ulbricht, Gemma and Charlie returned an hour ago." Malloryn rested one hand on the remaining wall, and peered into the alley behind it. "No sign of Ulbricht in Brighton—but they managed to get their hands on a man who looks remarkably like him, who was being paid to parade around downthere."
Kincaid scratched his jaw. "They wanted us to think Ulbricht wasthere."
"A distraction, yes." Malloryn's black boots crunched on blackened timber that crumbled into ash under his weight. "Did you know Lord Ulbricht has an investment in BayardIndustries?"
"Bayard Industries?" Avaasked.
The duke graced her with a small smile. "An umbrella for the smaller company, Kestrel, that produces the vaccine. I've beenbusytoo."
"He's involved with the vaccine tampering." All the hairs on her body stood on end. Her case was connectedafterall!
Malloryn held a finger to his lips. "Possibly. There certainly does seem to be a connection, and if Ulbricht's working to cover his tracks, then he's up tosomething."
"But why? I still don't quite understand why the SOG would tamper with the vaccine," Ava said, running her gloved fingers along the smoke-grimed steel workbench that had been warped in the blast. "IfUlbricht is behind this"—she had to keep saying "if," just in case she corrupted her chain of evidence—"then what purpose does it present for the SOG? I just cannot suspect a motive in all of this. They're blue bloods. Was the Echelon up in arms about developing a vaccine for the cravingvirus?"
"Quite the contrary," Malloryn admitted. "The Blood Rites were always meant to be an elitist privilege. The vaccine, therefore, played perfectly into Ulbricht's intentions of keeping theEchelon'pure.'"
"It's not about the vaccine, or the Echelon," Kincaid said suddenly, startling both her and the duke. "It's about creating fear in the populace. He's striking at the humans, taking away their perceived safety. There's a great deal of humanist sympathy left over from the revolution. The staunch humanists were the first to line up for the vaccine when the clinics first opened, so they'd never have to fear an accidental infection turning them into... into what they consider to bemonsters."
