Deathstalker 07 - Deathstalker Return

would body-search a woman going to meet her husband-to-be, after the scan had already cleared her? If Douglas couldn't be persuaded to do the sensible thing, then that left only one option: killDouglas , and plant evidence to make it look like Finn did it. The Hellfire Club could then step in and take advantage of the resulting chaos, and before you knew it little Treasure Mackenzie would be Queen. Her court would be all Hellfire Club, and all her advisers, and soon enough the Empire would wake up to discover that everything had changed… The Dark Queen would hold dominion over all, devils would run riot in the streets, and Do what thou wilt would be the whole of the law. It would be glorious. Frankie laughed again, holdingDouglas 's angry eyes with her own, and drew the concealed dagger from its sheath. She leaned forwards as though to kiss him, and then thrust the dagger into his unprotected groin.
    Except somehow, impossibly, his hand was there in time to grab her wrist and stop the blow well short of its target. He laughed softly, and twisted her wrist cruelly until she had no choice but to drop the knife.
    She slashed at his eyes with her free hand, the long fingernails digging bloody furrows in his cheek as he snapped his head back. She broke free from his grip and fell back a step. They stood there a moment, glaring at each other, breathing heavily, and then they both lunged forwards. For they were Campbell and Wolfe, Paragon and Hellfire Club, and they would never be anything but enemies.
    It was a killing fight now, and they both knew it.
    They slammed together, both of them fighting expertly and viciously, as they'd been trained. Their hands struck like weapons, going for soft spots and unguarded places. They used killing blows and crippling moves, parrying vicious attacks at the very last moment, hurting each other with almost clinical precision.
    Their clothes tore, and blood splashed on the luxurious carpeting, but neither of them cried out. They lurched back and forth, sometimes trading blows, sometimes fighting in close with deadly holds and purchases, fingers probing for pressure points, their bodies wet with sweat as their passion drove them on. They raged across the room, smashing antique furnishings and priceless heirlooms, so caught up in their struggle they didn't even notice. The guards outside were beating on the door and demanding to be let in, but Frankie had fixed the locks.
    Douglas and Frankie fought hand to hand, with marvelous skill and deadly fury. She knew every dirty trick there was, but he was a trained Paragon, and in the end he was a professional and she was just a gifted amateur.Douglas slipped under a carelessly timed blow, spun Frankie round, and caught her in a full nelson. Both his hands clapped firmly over the back of her neck, pressing her head forwards, while her arms stretched helplessly out. She heaved and struggled, slamming her marvelous body back against his, but she couldn't break the hold. She swore viciously at him, stamping down at his feet.Douglas applied more pressure, forcing her chin down against her breastbone, and she cried out in pain and anger as her neck bones creaked loudly.
    "That's it,"Douglas said, struggling to get his breath back. "This is over! Surrender, and stand trial, or die right here."
    "You haven't got the balls!" said Frankie. "The Hellfire Club will see you dead for this insult! No one refuses us! We'll be at your back and at your throat, for as long as it takes to get you. Let me go, bow down to me, and you can still be someone!"
    And somehow, impossibly, her right shoulder dislocated itself, and her right arm came snaking around, holding the bone dagger, heading straight for his ribs.Douglas 's arm muscles flexed powerfully, and her neck broke with a loud crack. She went limp against him, all the breath going out of her. The bone dagger fell from her dead hand.Douglas let her go, and she fell untidily to the floor like a beautiful broken doll.Douglas knelt down beside her.
    "I am someone," he said quietly. "I am the King. And I sentence you to death, for treason."
    His breathing slowed as he sat down beside Frankie's body. He could hear a loud pounding, but couldn't tell whether it was his heart or the guards outside his door. He looked at his hands, and there was blood on them, from the fight. And that was how Anne Barclay and the guards found him when they finally broke down the doors and burst into his chamber: King Douglas, sitting