The doctor finished checking Malloryn over before pronouncing him fit as a fiddle. "Your wife, on the other hand, is going to require rest," Dr. Gibson said firmly, and started reciting a list of herbal remedies and honeyed teas she would need for her throat and lungs.
Adele slumped against Malloryn's side as he slid his arm around her. Jack's ventilation mask hung undone around his throat, but the mark of it remained on his skin, as smoke had blackened the top half of his face.
She'd hate to know what she looked like right now.
A pair of Nighthawks was hastily bandaging Jack's wound. Adele couldn't believe it. They'd escaped.
"Balfour is dead," Malloryn said incredulously, his head slumping back against the hull of the airship. "And we survived. We both survived."
"Good," she rasped, then clutched at her throat and winced. "You owe me… future."
"And I plan to live it with you for a very long time."
Chapter 36
"What now?" Gemma asked, bustling around his bedchamber at the safe house. "Barrons has called. Twice. The queen's demanding to know what happened, and they're trying to set a council meeting. What should I tell them?"
Malloryn shook his head as he slumped in the armchair by the bed. "For the first time in years, I don't give a damn, Gem. I just want some peace and time alone. Tell them I nearly died and I will be with them as soon as I can."
A faint smile crossed her mouth.
"What?" he demanded.
"The Duke of Malloryn taking a moment for himself? My, my, what is the world coming to? One would almost think you a changed man."
Malloryn scowled at her. "Peace, Gemma, includes you."
She glanced at the woman asleep in his bed, her lips curving in a secretive smile. "It seems the mighty have fallen."
He sighed. "I'm never going to hear the end of this, am I?"
"Love is for fools or those who want to punish themselves," Gemma said, pitching her voice to match his. "'Love clouds your judgment,' 'love is a weakness people like us can ill afford,' 'love is a disease that afflicts even the most rational-minded of individuals and turns their brains to mush.'"
"I never said that last one."
"I beg to differ," she said, crossing her arms over her chest. "And considering I've been on the receiving end of many of your lectures over the years, I do feel as though I have them virtually memorized by now."
"So is that a no, I will never hear the end of this?"
"No, you will never hear the end of this." Her smile could have warmed the world. "Byrnes is going to rub your nose in it until both of you finally cease drawing breath. And Kincaid will be beside himself."
Byrnes he understood, Kincaid.... "Why?"
"Because," Gemma told him, "it seems Ava won the kitty. She was the only one of us who gambled on the duchess stealing your heart. She scoops the entire pool."
Malloryn tossed his crumpled cravat at her. "Get out of here and leave me in peace. Some of you need more to do in your lives."
"Haven't you realized yet, Malloryn?" she teased, crossing to the door. "The Company of Rogues is family. And if there is one thing family does best, it's meddle. You may as well accept it, for you're not getting rid of us now."
He groaned as he collapsed back against the headrest of the chair and heard the door snick shut.
"What have I created?" he asked himself.
"A monster," Gemma called through the door cheerfully. "Give our love to your duchess when she finally wakes. Herbert and I will bar the door."
"And so the Ivory Tower fell," Adele whispered as Malloryn carefully tucked his coat around her shoulders in the predawn chill and rested one hand there.
It was several days after the city's fire crews and Nighthawks had managed to get the fires under control. Malloryn had only allowed her out of bed this morning, as her coughing had finally subsided to the occasional bout, and Adele had insisted upon getting out of the house.
One small carriage ride, she'd begged.
Which suited his purposes perfectly.
They stood before the ruins of the tower, watching as workmen cleared the rubble under harsh lights. It would take months to clear the worksite completely, and they'd been working through the night.
"Do you know—despite the verbal thrashing I received from the queen—I actually think I'm quite glad to see its fall," Malloryn murmured as a sliver of light lit the east. From the ashes, a new London could be rebuilt.
All those who'd held back its progress were gone.
He'd handed over the membership lists of Angel's Fall to Barrons, and the few remaining members of the Rising Sons had been rounded up and either executed or imprisoned.
Balfour was finally dead, and his schemes with him.
And Malloryn could finally lay to rest the ghosts of his past.
Adele glanced up, resting her gloved hand on top of his, and he sensed her quick mind trying to chase down his reasons.
"Because it was a product of the prince consort's reign?"
"Precisely. He had it built—he and Balfour—to remind the citizens of London that they were forever in its shadow. When we overthrew the prince consort, his legacy ended, and yet it somehow remained. Watching. Looming. I could never walk the tower's halls without seeing his and Balfour's hand in every piece of it."
"How utterly phallic of them."
He flashed her a smile. "Men do that, I'm told."
"Worship their manhood?"
He brushed a kiss against her cheek. "As for myself, I'd prefer to leave such adoration in your capable hands."
Adele blushed.
They hadn't been intimate since she'd woken, as the doctor had warned Adele against exertion until her lungs had fully healed, but he was enjoying this newfound affection between them.
He hadn't felt this free in years.
"My hands?" she whispered. "Or my mouth? As I recall, you seemed to enjoy that very much."
"Behave," he teased. "We're in public. And such behavior is only to be found in the bedroom."
"Or the carriage. Or the library. Or your study...."
"Yes, well. When one's wife is pushing you to the brink, you make do with what you can."
"I hereby promise to push you to the brink on a regular basis."