Deathstalker 04 - Deathstalker Honor

have gone much further down that road than he had. Just as Midnight Blue was the perfect fighting machine Hazel might have become if things had been different. “You don’t approve, do you?” said Midnight suddenly. “I can tell.” “Our lives… have followed very different paths,” said Owen. “God knows I’ve done enough shameful things in my time. I don’t judge anyone anymore. I don’t have the right.”
    Midnight withdrew her arm from his. “You’re not my Owen. He always judged, sorting the guilty from the innocent. And he was always right. There’s no room for indecision in a warrior, no place for shades of gray on a battlefield. No room for weaknesses in a love like ours.”
    She increased her pace and walked on alone. After a while Bonnie Bedlam strode past Owen to join her fellow alternate, pausing only to drop Owen a wink as she passed. Owen managed a small smile. Hazel moved up alongside him. “That is one dangerous woman,” said Owen, staring at Midnight’s armored back. “You should try talking to Bonnie for a while,” said Hazel. “She scares the crap out of me.”
    “I can’t believe the sheer amount of metal she’s got stuck through her skin,” said Owen. “I mean, some of those had to really hurt. There are probably augmented men with less steel in their bodies. And she says her Owen did it too!”
    “She also says she’s married to you.”
    Owen shivered. “I’d be better off with a Grendel. And I don’t know what you’re smiling at. She is just another version of you, after all.” Hazel shrugged. “No doubt there’s also some other me happily married with six kids, and never wields anything more dangerous than a butter knife. Now, that’s scary. But it doesn’t bother me. I know who I am.” “But they’re both pretty… extreme,” said Owen. “Can we trust them? Can we rely on them?”
    “You got me,” said Hazel. “But if push comes to shove here, we’re going to need them. Besides, they know we know this universe better than they do. I think they’ll take their lead from us. If we do have to go head to head with the Hadenmen, I’d back both of them against pretty high odds.” She grinned slyly at Owen. “I think that Midnight fancies you.”
    “No,” said Owen. “The man she loved was nothing like me. Nothing.” There was a new coldness in his voice that persuaded Hazel not to continue that line of conversation, and they walked on for a while in silence. The streets remained empty, with no sign anywhere of man or Hadenman. Their footsteps echoed flatly back from the surrounding buildings, eerily loud in the quiet. Hazel got bored walking with Owen, who was too busy brooding to do more than grunt in response to her conversational sallies, and in the end she moved up to walk with her two alternates. The three of them were soon chatting busily away, ignoring Owen completely as they disagreed over practically everything. Owen wasn’t surprised. That was Hazel for you. He knew he should warn the three women to keep their voices down, but he also knew they’d just tell him to go to hell, so he saved his breath. They’d been walking for some time now, and his feet were beginning to take notice and protest.
    He carefully avoided getting drawn into the arguments himself. He was quite happy being ignored. He didn’t like the possessive way the two alternates looked at him, or the way Hazel grinned when she noticed it. In their different ways, both Bonnie and Midnight fascinated him, much in the same way traffic accidents fascinate onlookers. And just as he was thinking that, Bonnie casually drew a spray hypo from her belt, stuck it against the side of her neck, and injected herself with the contents, all without slowing her pace in the slightest. She gave a low moan of pleasure, and her back straightened with an audible snap. Owen hurried up to walk alongside her. She was grinning that disturbing smile again, all narrow black lips and pointed teeth. “What was that?” Owen said sharply.
    “Just a little something to take the edge off, and put the bounce back in my step. Care for a taste?”
    “No,” said Owen. “Look, we are in a very dangerous situation—“
    “Oh, loosen up, stud. I’m so sharp you could use me to cut corners. If I was any more alert, I’d be seeing tomorrow.”
    “Drugs are the bane of the warrior,” said Midnight stiffly. “True strength comes from the spirit.”
    “Whatever gets you through the dark,