Page 64 of The Mech Who Loved Me
"Can't really say." But something else was bothering him. And maybe it was the reason he was truly here. "What would you do if there was a way to get rid of the blue blood scourgeforever?"
Maggie froze. So did Xander. Loud laughter and noise spilled over their trio, but he knew he had hisanswer.
"What do you mean?" Xander's charm slid off him in an instant, his expression turning hard. "What doyouknow?"
And instantly he knew it was a mistake. "Nothing. It's nothing. I'm just speaking theoretically: if you had a way to kill blue bloods, what wouldyoudo?"
"Well, I'd get my hands on it," Xander said, a little louder, and Maggie instantly hushed herhusband.
She was looking at him, her dark eyes reading the nuances Xander clearly didn't see. "For years we've been crushed under the heel of the Echelon, Kincaid. We never had a way to defeat them, because we're human, and they're not. They're almost impossible to kill, which is why we built the Cyclops. Only an automaton could survive a blue blood. If you know of something that could kill them, then you shouldspeakup."
"And where do we stop? How do we control it?" he asked quietly. "The Nighthawks are all rogue blue bloods. Without them, we would never have had a chance to kill the prince consort. We'd still be sitting in that enclave and rotting. They were ourallies."
Xander shrugged. "We don't have to kill the Nighthawks, unless they get inourway."
It was Maggie, once again, who saw the problem. "The needs of many outweigh the sacrifice of a few, K. You're the one who told me that sevenyearsago."
And he'd believed it then, when he ruled the enclaves and the only way out was to overthrow the mad prince consort. Did he believe it now? He'd yelled the exact same fucking thing at Ava, but it was only now, when his friends repeated the same views, he could see thedangers.
"Ava's a blue blood," he said, and Xander nearly spit out hisdrink.
"Fuckin' Jaysus," Xander said, and then coughed. "Areyoumad?"
He scrubbed his weary face again. "I told you. They ain't all bad. Maggie's got more murderous impulses in her little finger than Ava has in her entire body. It's... opened my eyes alittle."
"Here," Maggie said, exchanging a glance with Xander as she poured them all another round. "No more talk of killing blue bloods. Not now. Let's just have a moment to clear our heads and think about the repercussions. We'll have another ale and reminisce about oldtimes."
Xander clapped him on the back. "I think K needs to swim in a vat of beer. He's spouting utternonsense."
But Maggie looked at him, and he could tell she knew he wasn't speakingnonsense.
* * *
His headswayed.
Kincaid staggered up against a door, blinking when his nose met wood. He rapped loudly, cursing under his breath, which stankofale.
"Hold up!" someone called frominside.
He rapped again, trying to hold himself upright. Christ Jaysus. Couldn't go back to Malloryn's. Notlikethis.
Orla answered the door, blinking in surprise. "Jesus, Liam. What gin joint did you drag yourselfthrough?"
He staggered inside and collapsed on the small sofa in the parlor just off the kitchen. The room was spinning, and he pressed the heels of his palms to his closed eyes to try and stop it. "Not gin. Ale. Bloody... bloodyMcGraw."
Soft hands tucked a blanket over the top of him. "Aye, I can smell it now. Did you bathe in it, or simply drink the entire barrel byyourself?"
"Mebbe... bit of both. Needed to clearme...head."
"Oh, I'm sure youdidthat."
He winced at the strident sound of her voice. "Orla, d'you ever wonder what life would have been like if Agatha never went out thatnight?"
Orla knelt on the sofa beside his hip. "Oh, you've had a rare gutful, haven't you? There's no point in stirring up the past. Agatha's free of her demons now." She patted his hand. "You're the one still carrying themforher."
He dragged his hands lower, making out her shadowy form in the darkness. His voice was very quiet. "I likeher,Orla."
"Like... who? Oh." Orla's hand softened on him. "Then you should be telling Ava that.Notme."
