Page 143 of Dukes Are Forever
"No, she's—"
"Lock down the tower and start evacuating people. I have credible news of a threat. There may be explosives on the grounds."
He barked orders as he surveyed the grounds. Ivory Tower stood at the heart of the walled compound, soaring into the heavens like a marble finger pointing directly toward the stars. There was no way Balfour could have gotten explosives inside it, was there? Malloryn had changed the guard rotations, virtually locking it down after he received the letter from Balfour.
But then, it wasn't the only building in the complex.
Four towers stood at each corner of the heavy stone walls that circled the bailey: Thorne, Oak, Shield, and Crowe.
Adele could be anywhere on the grounds. But where, damn it? He didn't have time to search the entire keep. He needed a location.
Halstead reported back.
Nobody had been seen entering the grounds with any large shipments. No one had been admitted to the tower in twelve hours who hadn't been expected.
That didn't mean Balfour's agent hadn't been able to get in.
But he was running out of time.
Think, damn it. Malloryn turned, his gaze locking on Crowe Tower, where an open clock face loomed. It had been rebuilt in the wake of the revolution but was little used. A couple of minutes until midnight. Adele had to be here somewhere. The second hand ticked toward—
There was a faint light in the window up there, behind the open clock face, almost like someone had lit a candle.
Of course.
He was running before he thought about it. The enormous brass minute hand ticked closer to the hour. Two minutes. At most. That was all he had.
Bursting through the door, he found himself at the base of the tower.
Malloryn flew up the stairs. He shoved open the door into the first level, and a string tied to the door jerked, a flash of light igniting in the corner. As he watched, fire raced along the trail of gunpowder. Hell. Malloryn started sprinting, following the trail.
Up more stairs. Thighs straining and lungs burning. The gunpowder led to a cask, and the second it hit the cask, everything went white.
BOOM—
The concussion smashed him off his feet, slamming him back into the wall behind him. Pain exploded through his head, his ears ringing. Somehow he crawled onto his hands and knees. The hallway loomed ahead. Another trail of gunpowder ignited, leading higher, higher....
A small charge set at each station, as if Balfour wanted him to get close enough to taste success.
"I don't want to kill you, Malloryn,"echoed that hated voice from their confrontation in Russia."I want to destroy every single thing you ever loved. One by one. Until you are crippled and alone, with their deaths on your conscience—"
"Adele!" He staggered up the stairs, trying to fight off the wave of double vision that afflicted him.
The trail of gunpowder hit the closed door ahead of him, vanishing beneath it. A series of pops and crackles suddenly exploded behind the door.No.Malloryn threw his shoulder against the timber, rebounding sharply. Again. This time the lock shuddered. A scream echoed within as smoke began to creep out from beneath the door.
The fury ignited in him. The craving. Suddenly the world was nothing but shadows, and he could feel his sight and hearing sharpening, his mouth suddenly aching for the taste of blood.Adele. She belonged to him, and damned if he knew what was going on between them, but he wasn't about to lose her.
Malloryn bellowed in rage and threw himself at the door.
It burst open, sending him rolling through flames and smoke. The entire room was on fire. Her wedding gown hung in the corner, flames chewing their way through the fabric.
"Adele!" he yelled, fighting through the smoke. "Adele?"
Flames licked at the walls, revealing a half dozen barrels stacked around the room. His heart stopped in his chest—
—and then someone coughed.
A figure was bound to a chair in front of the open clock face, slumped behind the thick hood.
