Page 174 of Dukes Are Forever
Locked together as they were, Ingrid had no chance of saving herself.
Lark and Adele screamed in horror as the pair of them vanished through the window.
"Ingrid!" Adele yelled, sprinting to the window and peering through its broken remains with Lark wedged against her.
Ingrid lay flat on her back on the marble colonnade that circled the ballroom three floors below them, groaning as she tried to roll onto her side—and failed.
Dido pushed to her hands and knees, swaying badly.
"Will this bitch not die?" Lark snarled. "Get up, Ingrid. Come on, get up."
But Ingrid couldn't move, and Dido was the one with the weapon in hand.
"We have to do something," Adele gasped.
* * *
"Come and find me, Malloryn,"whispered that ghostly voice.
Malloryn tracked it up the stairs, a pistol held low against his thigh and a knife in his left hand. He reached a corner and heard Balfour chuckle. Pressing his back to the wall, he put one finger to his lips to still Charlie and Byrnes, and then eased out his breath.
Rolling out into the hallway he aimed the pistol and—
There was no one there.
"All these years,"Balfour murmured, somewhere to the left of him."I've been waiting for this moment."
A pair of open doors awaited him.
Tension crept through him as he put one foot in front of the other, crossing the carpets. He slipped through the doors, pistol tracking the room. A sitting room, by the look of it. One of the guest chambers.
"Revenge shall be so very sweet."
Left again.
Near the windows.
But surely no one could fit behind the curtains?
Malloryn yanked the curtain aside, his stomach falling as he saw a small ECHO recording device he'd seen the Nighthawks use on occasion. It's clockwork mechanism wound through the prerecorded reel of Balfour's voice.
As if to mock him, the words repeated,"Come and find me, Malloryn.... All these years...."
He jammed his heel down on the brass device, cogs spewing from its body as the recording cut off. "Son of a bitch."
"It's a trap," Charlie said, spinning around.
"Yes." Malloryn sheathed his rage. "But who is it designed for?"
"Can anyone hear something ticking?" Byrnes asked. "Or is that just my ears ringing?"
They all froze.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
There was no clock on the mantle.
"Under the sofa," Byrnes breathed, and as one, they all looked at it.
