Deathstalker 07 - Deathstalker Return

progress so far, and neither of us have any doubts about your abilities. Not really."
    "Then why is he always… like that?" said James. "Why can't I ever please him? I want to please him."
    "Finn… isn't easy to get to know," said Anne. "And he has a lot on his mind. You just carry on as you are. You're doing fine."
    She hugged him, one magnificent breast pressing against the side of his face. He blushed bright red and sat very still, so he wouldn't startle her and make her move away. James found Anne's beauty disturbing in a whole bunch of ways he didn't really understand yet. When Treasure Mackenzie had hugged him on the set of The Quality, he'd thought he was going to pass out from lack of blood to the head. It had all gone somewhere else. Anne knew the effect she had on him, and she loved to tease him. She could accept attention from James that would have made her uncomfortable if it had come from anyone else—perhaps because James had never known the old Anne. As far as he knew, she'd always been beautiful. She found it easier to be… feminine, with him. She still had trouble calling up the confidence to bring it off successfully with anyone else. She liked the effect her new femininity had on men, the way it distracted and short-circuited their thinking, but she didn't trust it yet. Part of her still suspected they were secretly laughing at her.
    And if they were, she'd make them pay. She'd make them suffer. Every damned one of them.
    She took some time to get James settled, and then left him immersed in the latest files while she hurried after Finn. The Durandal hadn't got far down the corridor. He was still trying to get rid of du Katt. The clone rep was as nervous as he was ambitious, and needed a lot of reassuring. As Finn said—more than once—if he'd known the little creep was going to be this clingy, he'd have approached someone else. But it was too late now. They were stuck with each other—for the time being. Finn saw Anne aproaching, and used that as an excuse to send du Katt on his way. The clone rep left reluctantly, still muttering under his breath. Finn smiled on Anne as she joined him.
    "And how's our dear child? Studying hard and bettering himself, I hope?"
    "He'll be ready for the interview. He always is. You're too hard on him, Finn."
    "It's for his own good. If he screws up in public, it won't be just our necks on the chopping block. The public's always had a special loathing for clone imposters. Especially now they've invested so much hope and faith in the return of dear James." He stopped, considered her for a moment, and then spoke more gently. "Something's bothering you, Anne, and I don't think it's James. What's the matter?"
    "I don't know," she said, looking away, unable to meet his eyes.
    "It's just… I don't feel right. This new me… I thought it was what I wanted, but now… It feels like a trick; a mask that everyone else can see through."
    "You're beautiful now," said Finn. "You have blossomed. This is what you always looked like, inside."
    "Then why can't I ever relax? Why do I feel like a fraud all the time? Why can't I ever just… enjoy it?"
    Her voice was rising. Finn took her firmly by the arms and made her look at him. "Listen to me, Anne.
    You can be whatever you want to be. You can remake your life, your personality, and your destiny, just like I did. You just have to be strong enough to take what you want. Other people will believe what you want them to believe, if you're confident enough and strong enough in your belief. You are what you can make other people believe you are. Trust me on this, Anne, I've had a lot of experience in this field.
    Soon, people will forget there ever was another Anne. Just… believe in yourself. I believe in you."
    Anne slowly nodded, and Finn let go of her. She managed a small, tremulous smile. "Thank you," she said quietly. "You didn't have to do that."
    "I know," he said, smiling impishly. "But I did anyway. Because even monsters aren't monsters all the time."
    They strolled off down the corridor together, comfortably close but not actually touching. People passing by bowed low to them both, and kept well out of their way. They had both become great and glorious and larger than life, and they looked very much like they belonged in the ornate corridors of theImperialPalace . As though anywhere else would have been unworthy of them.
    "You're taking a lot on yourself these days," said Anne, after a while. "Are you sure you can