"Yes."
"Good," he said, ignoring the flare of surprise in Obsidian's eyes as he hauled himself up into the carriage. "Follow Devoncourt. You won't have to get too close. He'll be expecting a tail but I managed to plant the tracking device on him. I need you to find me those explosives."
Chapter 24
As Ava and Kincaid bundled Adele inside the safe house, Gemma stopped Malloryn, her gloved hand locking around his upper arm.
"A word?" she asked briskly.
He nodded to Herbert, indicating the butler should drive the carriage around back. The man snapped the whip with alacrity, and then Malloryn was standing there alone in the street with his protégé.
"What is it?"
"You didn't think to tell us about your plan?" she asked briskly.
"It was more of an opportunity taken, than a plan."
"You just happened to have a tracking device upon you? And Byrnes and Ingrid waiting?"
"You knew they were at hand should anything go wrong." Malloryn stared down into her eyes. "I expected to draw someone from the shadows. It's merely happy coincidence it was Devoncourt, and not Jelena."
"And what if it had been she who approached you?"
"Balfour knows her weaknesses. I was gambling on the fact he couldn't afford to let her off the leash—"
"And yet, it seems he did." They broke apart, as Gemma paced. "You took a risk. You should have had someone watching your back. Watching Adele's. We both know you're targets. I should have insisted upon it. I didn't know you were planning to act independently."
"I'm more than capable of defending myself."
"Are you?" The flash of challenge in her eyes made his temper rouse. They both knew he wasn't operating as efficiently as usual. "I'm so sorry I give a damn, Malloryn. I'm so sorry you mean so much to me. To COR."
"You care too much—"
"And you don't care enough!"
The near shout took them both by surprise.
He stared at her. "Don't mistake control for indifference. I care about COR. I've risked my life for all of—"
"I'm talking about yourself," she said, anger thick and constrained in her voice. "Ever since we rescued you in Russia, you've been pushing us all away. Pushing yourself. You're callous and reckless with your own health and safety. Balfour's demise has consumed you and do you know what frightens me the most, Malloryn?"
He didn't have to answer.
"It's not the fact I don't think you can beat Balfour. It's the fact you're acting as though you don't think you'll survive the encounter."
It was true. He hadn't been himself in months. He could admit that. "Nobody knows the outcome of what's to come."
"But do you care? Do you honestly care whether you survive it?"
"Of course I want to survive it." His mouth twisted. "I won't let him beat me. Trust that, if nothing else."
A choked sound echoed in her throat, and then she was stepping forward, wrapping her arms around his waist.
Malloryn held his arms out in surprise, as Gemma pressed her cheek to her chest. She squeezed him so hard he thought she might intend to break one of his ribs.
"Promise me," she whispered. "Promise me you intend to survive it."
Malloryn rested his chin on the top of her head as he folded his arms slowly around her. "I promise. I can't just leave you all behind. Who else would provide Byrnes with so much amusement? Who else would curse you all, as you try to run roughshod over poor Herbert? Someone has to keep you Rogues in line."
A shuddery breath escaped her as she buried her face against his chest. "I am going to hold you to that promise, because if you let yourself be killed, I swear I will tell Society every damning secret you ever had."
"You don't know all my secrets."
"I'll make some up," she threatened.
A rough laugh escaped him. "Ah, Gem. Who would have ever thought we'd end up here the night Balfour sent you to kill me? You're a menace."
"And you're an arrogant ass," she muttered.
It made him smile.
"So much for being one of my most dangerous spies," he murmured, drawing back to look into her face. "Is this 'hugging' going to happen often?"
"You started it when you thought I'd gone missing after that incident at the tower."
So he had.
Maybe she wasn't the only one beginning to wear their heart on their sleeve. "Promise me one thing."
"Anything."
"If we survive, then you're going to set a wedding date with Obsidian."
She looked up sharply, but he pressed a finger to her lips.
"No more excuses. London won't fall apart just because you took the chance to enjoy your own life for a moment."
"We've been so busy," she grumbled.
"Promise me," he repeated. "I want to walk you down the aisle. I want to see you happy, after everything you've done for me. Give me something to fight for, Gem."
Gemma's eyes narrowed. "I promise. But don't think I'm not aware you're manipulating me right now. 'Give me something to fight for' indeed."
He smiled.
"There is one last little issue to discuss," she said in a warning tone, as she drew away from him. "You've been clucking over Adele ever since we put her in the carriage."
"Of course I have. She was bloody injured—"
Gemma leveled a stern look upon him. "If I were a young woman and my husband was cooing over me the way you have been, I might be forgiven for misreading the situation."
"There is nothing to misread."
"Does Adele know that?"
Malloryn paused.
"I saw the way she looked at you when she hugged you." Gemma's mouth pressed into a thin line. "She has feelings for you."
"She was overcome in the moment. Adele knows the rules. She's hardly about to fall for me."
Gemma shut her eyes, took a deep breath, and then opened them again. "She is also a young woman married to a powerful man who's recently been playing seductive games with her."
"That ended the second she realized the truth."
"Yes, but who ended it?"