Page 124 of The Mech Who Loved Me
Emotion fought logic on his expression. Then his resolve firmed. "One minute. That's all I'll give you, Ava. Then we leave, with orwithouthim."
Relief flooded through her. "He wasjusthere."
The smoke obscured the mess of the wall where it had fallen upon them. She saw the end of the bloody beam Kincaid had been trapped under, crushing a metal workbench along the wall, but not quite all the way. Suddenly hope went through her. "He was under this when the wall fell! He won't be crushed! It's holding the weight of the wall and roofoffhim."
Ava started flinging pieces of metal and timber off the pile of rubble. Fire licked at the edges of the mess, and she started coughing. "Kincaid?Kincaid!"
Malloryn produced the tracking beacon. Orange light gleamed across his pale skin, and the heat of the fire was tremendous. The compass hand swiveled steadily, leading him to a certain spot. "He'sunderhere!"
Then they were both tearing at the pile. It suddenly heaved beneath them, and Ava's heart soared. "He's alive!Kincaid?"
She pulled aside one last piece of timber, revealing the man she loved. Ava gave a sob ofrelief. "Liam!"
Kincaid's chest heaved. The mech-suit was dented, the carapace that protected his chest caved in andbloodied.
"A-va," he gasped,seeingher.
She slid to her knees, hauling wreckage out oftheway.
Malloryn kept kicking pieces of rubble aside. "Not muchtime,Ava."
Ava tried to lift the beam. It shook, but despite her blue blood strength she couldn't shift it. Then Malloryn was there, his smooth aristocrat hands sliding under both sides of it. "I've got it. On the count of three you need to pull him out fromunderit."
The duke gave her confidence and hope. Ava scrambled to Kincaid's ankles, latching on to each foot. "Got him," shecalled.
"Make it quick." The duke met her gaze. "One. Two. Andthree!"
He lifted the beam several inches, straining under the weight. Ava wrenched hard, dragging Kincaid out from beneath it. "Clear!"
Malloryn dropped the beam, but she was on her knees, capturing Kincaid's face in her hands. His eyes rolled up in his head, then he blinked, his breath coming in wet rasps. Herheartfell.
"He's bleeding," she whispered. "Inside, Ithink."
And she, with her cursed anatomical knowledge, knew what that meant. She'd done enough autopsies in her time. She'd always kept her feelings locked away inside her as she played investigator with the body, but this time it was Kincaid's body she saw lying there on the mortuary slab in herimagination. "No."
"He's still breathing. Ava," Malloryn warned, taking her hand. Streaks of soot stained his face as he glanced around. "The entire building's going tocomedown."
"Get her... out..." Kincaidrasped.
There was a certain look on the duke's face. "Lead me out of here, Ava. I'llcarryhim."
She helped Malloryn draw Kincaid up over his shoulder. Kincaid moaned in pain, but there was no time to lose. "Thisway!"
She could barely see. At least the smoke was funneling up through the hole in the roof, though her skin felt blistered from the heat coming from the main floor of the factory. Ava coughed and staggered, her searching fingers finally finding the door. Then they werethroughit.
Cold, pure air seared her lungs. It hurt so much, but she kept moving, leading Malloryn as far away from the burning factory as shecould.
They finally collapsed a hundred feet away, and Malloryn shuddered as he gently laid Kincaid flat onhisback.
"Kincaid? Liam?" She slapped his face gently, her breath catching in her lungs for one heart-stopping moment as she tried to see whether his chest still rose and fell—no, no—before Kincaid blinked at her, his lashes stirringweakly.
"There's only one way to save him," Malloryn murmured, "though he won'tlikeit."
Ava looked up, through raw smoke-burned eyes. "The cravingvirus."
Hope and dread wove her into knots. He'd mentioned his reasons in not accepting the vaccination, but was thatenough?
Kincaid groaned, and shifted beneath her touch. Malloryn looked down. "It's his only hope, and even then I don't like his chances. He's bleeding inside. Kincaid, can youhearme?"
