Page 168 of Dukes Are Forever
Adele slid her little knife into her hand, though she was trembling so badly she didn't know what she'd be able to do with it.
"He knows where we are." Malloryn's face tightened with strain. "He's going to drive us out of the ballroom."
Gemma whirled her skirt away from her waist, revealing tight leather trousers and half a dozen knives strapped to her at various places. "We need information," she said as Obsidian appeared at her side. "Obsidian and I can work out what's going on. Ava and Kincaid may not be in the right position."
Malloryn hesitated only a second before he nodded curtly. "Watch your back. Dido's still out there."
"Yes, Father." Gemma rolled her eyes again. "Please. Tell me how to run reconnaissance again."
"Haven't you been doing this since you were off short strings?" Obsidian drawled, loading bullets into a dangerous-looking pistol.
"I don't know," Gemma replied, mock seriously. "Weren't you once the most feared assassin in Europe?"
"Ha. Ha," Malloryn said. "I don't know why I even bother, some days."
But Adele knew their banter had a purpose.
"I'll watch her back," Obsidian promised, as if could sense Malloryn's concern.
Then the pair of them vanished.
Malloryn turned to her. "Are you ready?"
Adele nodded at him.
"Good." He glanced toward Ingrid. "On my signal, prepare to get her out of here."
Chapter 34
"Your Grace, it appears to be coming from Thorne Tower!" One of the guards told them after a swift glance through the ruined windows. "They're firing on us!"
"The headquarters of the Coldrush Guards," Charlie said, pausing by the windows to get a better look.
"Stay there," Malloryn told her. He pressed a hand to his earpiece, trying to tune it. "Kincaid? Are you there? The cannons in Thorne Tower are firing on us. Can you find out what the hell is going on down there? Have they breached the walls? Is there any sign of anyone approaching?"
He listened intently to the tinny reply, and Adele watched his face tighten.
"It's one cannon," he said.
"What's its range?" Charlie asked. "Because those explosions are happening too frequently for one cannon to manage, and I doubt it would have hit us up here."
Malloryn relayed the information through the communicator, and then looked up. "Ava said she thought it was coming from the servants' quarters."
"What the hell is going on?" Byrnes snapped.
"So it's coming from both inside and outside the tower." Malloryn spoke his thoughts out loud.
Adele was so intent upon him, that she almost missed the movement at the corner of her eye.
The nearest metaljacket turned and lifted its arm cannon, the round end locking directly upon her. Adele froze. Her husband had assured her the two metaljackets in the room were defunct and purely there to lull the Rising Sons into a false sense of security. He'd had Jack check the chips in their heads himself.
"Malloryn?" she called.
He glanced across the throne room at her, seeing the threat immediately.
"Protect the queen!" Malloryn bellowed, and then he was sprinting directly toward her.
Heat flared to life deep in the heart of the spitfire's cannon. Adele stood mesmerized, her heartbeat ticking out the seconds as the press of her corset strained against her agitated ribs.
