Page 142 of Dukes Are Forever
"Now, now, Malloryn. Mind your temper. You wouldn't want me to think I'd actually scored a blow." A smile stretched thin. "You can pretend you don't have a heart all you like. I will always find it."
"They areinnocent."
"Are they?" Balfour examined his pocket watch, and then exchanged a slow smile with Dido. "Ready to enjoy the fireworks, my dear?"
Dido gave Malloryn a long, narrow-eyed look. "You should cut his throat now."
"But that's not half as much fun," Balfour chided. Grabbing his cane, he headed toward the door. "I am being generous, Malloryn. You have half an hour to find and rescue both women. Or fail. Sweet Adele is at the Ivory Tower, where you first laid eyes upon her. And your mistress is at the opera where you met. Both sites are loaded with enough dynamite to blow the entire room—and each woman—to pieces. Alas, you only ruined half my stockpile. You have half an hour until the fuses light."
Dido put a small clock on the table, its hand ticking one minute past half-eleven.
"I am interested to see which choice you will make. The soprano? Or your wife? I guess we'll soon find out."
Loud shouting echoed above them.
Balfour gave him a sinister smile. "Looks like the cavalry's arrived."
"No!" he screamed, as Dido opened a secret door in the wall.
"Tick, tock, Malloryn." Balfour faded back into the shadows. "Make your choice. When the clock strikes midnight...." His voice lowered as he began to vanish into a secret tunnel behind a tapestry. "Boom."
* * *
"Are you all right?"
Byrnes tore his shackles open, but Malloryn shoved him out of the way, fighting free of the ropes around his ankles. Everything hurt, but there was no time for that now.
"What is it?" Byrnes asked sharply.
"He's got Adele and Giulia Danner." Malloryn raked his hands through his hair. "How many Rogues are with you?"
"Only me and Ingrid. The others are working in pairs across the city, trying to track you. We heard the tracking device start clicking a half mile away."
Two of them. It might work. "Giulia's at the opera house. Find her and get her out. Balfour said there's enough dynamite there to blow the room to pieces, so be careful. And hurry." He turned on Byrnes. "I need a weapon."
Byrnes tossed him a knife and a pistol. No doubt he had several others.
"You're going after Adele?" Ingrid asked breathlessly.
It had never been a choice.
"I'll take the Tower. If you can get in contact with any of the other Rogues, tell them to head in my direction. I may need help finding her."
* * *
The Ivory Tower.
Of course.
This was where it all began. Where it all ended.
Malloryn galloped into the courtyard, his horse's flanks foamed with sweat. He'd hired it from a startled hack driver by the simple expedient of tossing one of his gold rings at the man.
Several guards lowered their stunners, recognizing his face—and the look upon it.
"Your Grace?" Halstead, the new Master of the Coldrush Guards, asked. "What is it?"
"Is the queen here?" he demanded, swinging his leg over the horse's bare back and hitting the ground.
