Page 182 of You Only Love Twice
There was no one left to lead them.
She couldn't help thinking Balfour had won this game. Not just won it, but swept them off the map.
Yes, they might have depleted thedhampirforces ranged against them. They'd won over Obsidian's loyalty. Stopped the queen's assassination. And yes, they might have blown up a warehouse and the Core, ending thedhampiroperations in London, but Balfour had been playing the endgame. Every little step they'd taken, he'd been three in front of them.
Without Malloryn, they were just a handful of spies, weren't they?
"What the hell do we do now?" Charlie asked in a quiet voice. "We can't just leave him there."
"It's the Crimson Court," Byrnes said. "Nobody gets out of there alive unless they were invited in in the first place, and I like my head right where it is, thank you very much."
"So we just pretend it didn't happen?" Even Kincaid sounded affronted, and he'd had more reason to hate Malloryn over the years than anyone.
"No." Gemma's voice dropped into the silence like a bomb. "Malloryn's a Rogue, and we don't leave each other behind. No matter what we face."
Attentive faces turned to her, and she suffered a moment of doubt. Could she do this? Couldshebe the one who welded them together in the face of their greatest challenge?
You can do this. Malloryn might have been the brains of the operation, but she had always been the heart and soul of it, his link to the rest of these people.
But there was doubt on every face in the room. Byrnes glanced toward Ingrid, and she knew he saw his wife in danger. Ava's knees went out from under her as she slumped into her chair hopelessly.
"Balfour has had years to build up his alliances there," Byrnes pointed out. "We don't even know what we're walking into."
"Gemma and I know the court," Obsidian said, circling the map. "Our fates were forged there. And I... know of people in the heart of the court who might be sympathetic. There's a possibility I could get in touch with Silas. His allegiances toward the brotherhood aren't watertight. Not anymore." His voice roughened. "And he owes me one."
Heads turned toward him, and Gemma felt a burst of relief when she realized there was someone else to be her rock now.
"That gives us an inside man," Gemma said.
"Perhaps."
Their eyes met.
Pacing back and forth, she pressed a hand to her temples. "What do you know of Balfour’s operations there?"
"He married into one of the royal bloodlines; a Grand Duchess by the name of Tatiana Feodorevna. They maintain separate houses, and she’s much younger than he is. The marriage is a political alliance only, and there are rumors his wife prefers the company of women, but it affords him a certain type of power. He’s not of the Blood, but he’s made himself quite useful to several powerful Blood princes."
"Feodorevna? First tier?" she whispered.
"First tier."
The purest of the Blood, related to the Tzarina, and with a direct claim upon the empire’s throne should the Tzarina finally greet the long dawn. Of course Balfour would ingratiate himself there. Now, not only was he armed with several ruthlessdhampiragents, but he would have dozens of political allies, power, money, influence…. How the hell were they going to be able to touch him?
How could they rescue Malloryn?
"We’re not actually thinking about infiltrating the Blood court, are we? I'm trying to be the voice of reason here. And this plan sounds positively insane." Byrnes scowled, and scrubbed a hand through his hair.
"I seem to recall Malloryn distracting Zero when she tried to rip your throat out," Charlie pointed out. "He didn't flinch."
"It's not me I'm worried about," Byrnes shot back.
"We've faced vampires, Black Vein, the neural implant, anddhampir." Ingrid leveled a steady look upon him. "If you think I'm frightened of the Blood, then you can think again."
"He pulled me out of a burning building," Kincaid said quietly. "Saved my life."
"And he was there to rescue me when thatdhampirassassin injected me with Black Vein," Ava whispered.
Ingrid simply looked at him. "Caleb."
