Deathstalker 04 - Deathstalker Honor

finished knocking, as though she’d been waiting for him to arrive for some time. As it happened, he was exactly on time, but Adrienne never let facts get in the way of a good row. He bowed formally to her, and she sneered back at him. Finlay stepped forward, and Adrienne moved reluctantly back just enough to let him in. “Wipe your boots on the mat, dammit. You’re not at home now.” Finlay nodded calmly and gave his boots a good scraping. He was working hard on making a good impression, and not killing anyone he didn’t absolutely have to. He wondered vaguely if he’d remembered to polish his boots before setting out. He tended to forget things like that unless Evie reminded him. The problem with being raised by servants… He smiled at Adrienne and fitted his pince-nez spectacles on the end of his nose.
    “Oh, put those away, Finlay,” said Adrienne testily. “You know perfectly well there’s nothing wrong
    with your eyes.”
    “They’re for show, not use,” Finlay explained, in the patient, rational voice he knew drove her mad.
    “They come with the outfit. But then, of course, you never did understand style, did you?”
    “If it leads to wearing clothes like that, no. I’ve seen rainbows less colorful than that outfit. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many colors in one place before. What happened? You couldn’t decide which color, so you wore them all at once?”
    “Something like that.” Once Finlay would have gone to great pains to explain exactly why he’d chosen these leggings and pointed shoes to go with this particular cutaway frock coat, and the importance of choosing just the right waistcoat to complement them, just because he knew how much it annoyed her, but he was still being on his best behavior, so he let the opportunity pass. “Still wearing basic black, Addie? It suits you. Brings out the color of your heart.” “I’m wearing it in hope of a funeral. Yours.”
    They smiled at each other, honors equal. Finlay looked ostentatiously about the narrow hall. “Where are the children, Addie? They are why I’m here.” Adrienne scowled. “They’re in the parlor, of course, in their best clothes and on their best behavior, if they know what’s good for them. And I do wish you wouldn’t just call them the children. They do have names, you know.” “Yes. I know. Troilus and Cressida. You chose them. How old are they now?” “Troilus is eight. He has a lot of your looks.
    Cressida is seven. She takes more after me, thank God. You should know their ages; I always sent you a reminder on their birthdays. Even though I always ended up having to buy the presents myself and pretend they came from you.”
    “My life was always very full,” said Finlay, knowing it sounded like an excuse even as he said it. “And for a long time there was no room in it for anyone but me. But I like to think I’ve changed since then.
    When Evangeline came into my life, she woke things in me I never even knew were there. She helped to make me more… human. To be a man, like other men, and not just a killing machine, sleepwalking through life in between bouts in the Arenas. I’m not the man I was, Addie. I’ve tried so hard to put all that behind me.” “Nice speech,” said Adrienne. “You must have rehearsed it for ages.” “Oh, hours,” said Finlay. “That doesn’t make it any less true. Is it so strange that a man should want to see his children? His stake in the future? The only part of him that will be left behind when he’s gone?” “I don’t know,” said Adrienne, moved by the earnestness in his voice but determined not to show it. “This isn’t like you, Finlay. It’s an improvement, but it isn’t like you. You never gave a damn about them before. If children are suddenly so important, why don’t you and Evangeline raise some of your own?” “We’ve discussed it,” said Finlay. “It’s a matter of finding the time. We both lead very full lives these days.”
    “If it mattered enough to you, you’d make time. I did. Oh, hell, come on. Let’s get this over with.
    They’ve both been overexcited all day, getting ready to meet you. For God’s sake, try not to frighten them. They only know you from what they’ve seen on the news broadcasts, and most of that involved you killing people.”
    “I am on my very best behavior, Addie. I promise I cleaned all the dried blood out from under my fingernails before I left.”
    Adrienne looked at him dubiously,