Deathstalker 06 - Deathstalker Legacy

involved the real movers and shakers of the Empire. To his credit, the security leader hesitated, looking at Anne, but she shook her head firmly, and he rounded up his people and led them off. It was going to be one of those days, he could tell. Though any day you ended up not having to go head to head with the Deathstalker after all was a good day, by definition.
    Lewis watched them go, waiting till they'd all rounded the far corner before finally holstering his disrupter. He was almost sure he wouldn't have used it. Almost. Anne relaxed a little, and put down the heavy fire extinguisher. Lewis turned around and considered the buckled steel door lying on the floor. He picked it up, his muscles straining only a little, and leaned it against the doorjamb so that it more or less filled the gap again. He looked around him, picked up his usual chair that had somehow got overturned in the excitement, set it down facing Anne, and sat on it.
    "So; how's life treating you, Anne? Any chance of a cup of coffee? I could use a good cup of coffee."
    Anne moved slowly over to the coffee maker, steaming quietly away in its corner as always. "I suppose you want some chocolate biscuits, too?"
    "If it wouldn't be too much trouble."
    Anne scowled at him as she poured coffee into a mug. "Look what you've done to my door . . . why didn't you just use your Paragon's skeleton key, you idiot? I know very well you never got around to turning it in. This is why Paragons were given the bloody things, so you wouldn't have to make a mess like this."
    "Ah," said Lewis, accepting the steaming cup she thrust ungraciously at him. "It didn't occur to me. I've had a lot on my mind just recently. I haven't always been thinking too clearly."
    Anne snorted loudly, and dropped into her own chair, facing him. "Trust me, Lewis; I've noticed."
    And then they just sat there and looked at each other for a long time, almost like two strangers sizing each other up. The last of the drifting smoke disappeared as the extractor fans got to work on it, but it seemed to Anne that there was still something in the office with them. Unspoken words, perhaps.
    Decisions made, that could never be apologized for, or put right. There was a distance between them, a subtle tension that had never been there before. Even sitting still, sipping at his coffee, the Deathstalker looked dangerous. For the first time in her life, Anne realized that she didn't feel entirely safe in Lewis's presence.
    "Oh God, Lewis," she said finally. "How have we come to this? What has Jes done to you? You used to have more sense . . ."
    "I just wanted to be happy, for once."
    "And to Hell with what it cost everyone else?"
    "Love's a bitch sometimes," said Lewis.
    "I wouldn't know," said Anne.
    Another long pause, as both of them searched for the words that would make sense of what had happened to them. Words to bridge a widening gap, that was leading them both into different worlds.
    Words they could shout across the gap, like lifelines thrown from ships sailing in different directions.
    "None of this was my choice," said Lewis. "I've lived so long without love, I thought I could live without it forever, if I had to. I had other things to give my life purpose, and meaning. I had duty, and honor. I had friends, good friends ... friends I would have died for. I had work that mattered, and my life made a difference. I was happy; mostly. And then love comes along, right out of the blue, and I realized I'd never really known what happiness was. Only problem; I had to give up everything else that mattered to me to have it. Don't blame Jes for any of this. We were just . . . two people who should never have met, for everyone's sake but our own. We tried so hard to stay away from each other, Anne; to do the right thing, and to Hell with what it cost us. But the universe seemed almost to conspire to push us together."
    "Oh sure," said Anne. "It's not your fault. It never is. The universe just pushed you right into bed."
    Lewis scowled at her. "Don't try to make this out to be nothing but sex, Anne. I'm old enough to know the difference between my heart and my dick. I love her, and she loves me. And yes; we slept together.
    And it was wonderful."
    "Good enough to sell your soul for? You're not telling me anything I don't already know, Lewis. And if I know, it won't be long before others know too. You can't keep a thing like this secret. Jes ... isn't worth all this, Lewis. I've seen it all before, with other