Deathstalker 07 - Deathstalker Return

all but fell into the nearest chair. Emma looked quickly up and down her corridor, and then shut and locked the door again. She stood over Stuart, hands on hips, and tried not to scowl.
    "Talk to me,Lennox . What's happened?"
    He sniffed a few times, and managed a small uncertain smile. "When you're training to be a Paragon, they teach you how to fight anything, except yourself. Your own heart, your own… needs. I thought I knew what I was getting into, but I was wrong. So wrong." He looked round sharply. "Did you just hear something? Was there anyone else outside in the hall? No, of course not, you'd have said something.
    Sorry. Sorry. I don't mean to be so jumpy, but… Finn's people are everywhere these days. I don't think he knows what's happened yet, but he will. And then… I did everything I could think of to make sure I wasn't followed here, but… It's hard to be sure of anything, anymore."
    Emma wanted to take him by the shoulders and give him a good shaking, but she had a feeling he might collapse entirely if she did. It disturbed her to see a fellow Paragon so… beaten down. She pulled up a chair and sat opposite him.
    "Brace up," she said, not unkindly. "No matter how bad things are, never despair. That's one of the first things you're supposed to learn as a Paragon."
    He smiled again, but there was no humor in it. "Being a Paragon doesn't mean what it used to."
    Emma sighed, but kept it internal. She knew when a long story was on its way. "All right,Lennox . From the beginning."
    He swallowed hard, and made a visible effort to pull himself together. His chin came up, and his eyes finally met hers squarely. "Something happened, tonight, at the Sangreal. Something bad. I know, you warned me, but… Things have been getting worse there. You can't imagine the things I've seen. The things I've seen Paragons doing. No one else drinks in the Sangreal anymore, just Paragons back from their quest. Even the groupies are afraid to go in there now. The Paragons have been exploring more extreme pleasures, and no one dares to say anything. I knew some of these people, from before, and they've changed. They've all changed. Men and women who used to be my heroes, doing… vile things. It got so bad I wouldn't go there, unless I was with Finn. I felt safe with Finn. But even though he never
    joined in, and never let them touch me, he never did anything to stop it either. I think it amused him."
    Stuart looked almost pleadingly at Emma. "You have to understand; I was trained as a warrior, on Virimonde. I've done my share of fighting, killed men when I had to. Part of the job. And I've seen evil men do evil things, for money or power or just because they could. But tonight… tonight… Finn sent me to the Sangreal, alone. He needed an urgent message delivered, in person, and he had business elsewhere. I didn't want to go, but I couldn't say no. I didn't want to appear afraid in front of him. He laughed, and clapped me on the shoulder, and said I'd be all right.
    "When I got there, the owner of the bar was making a stand. He said he'd had enough—that no amount of money was worth putting up with the Paragons' behavior anymore. He called them animals to their faces, said they sickened him. He wanted the money he was owed, and he wanted the Paragons out of his bar so he could get his old trade back. He wanted his life back. The Paragons laughed at him. There was drink and drugs and other things going on. The bar owner said if they wouldn't leave, he'd go to the media. Tell them everything. All the awful things he'd seen. His bar's security cameras had all kinds of interesting footage. The Paragons looked at each other. Nothing was said, but they came to a decision.
    They got up and advanced on the bar owner, surrounding him. I thought they were just going to push him around, intimidate him. They took out their knives and cut him to pieces. Slowly, so they could enjoy it.
    He screamed, and screamed. I tried to stop them, but two Paragons came out of nowhere and grabbed me. Forced me to my knees, and made me watch the man die by inches, screaming all the way. When it was finally over, and he was dead… they cut him open and ate him. Ate his flesh, his organs. And they laughed. With blood running from their mouths, they laughed."
    He started to cry again, tears running jerkily down his cheeks as he spoke. "They made me eat too. Eat the flesh. I had to. They would have killed me if I hadn't. They gave me one of his eyes,