Deathstalker 08 - Deathstalker Coda

damage to military targets; but it wasn’t enough. It would never be enough, until Finn was dead, and couldn’t haunt Stuart anymore.
    Jas never said anything, but he always worried when Stuart was away on one of his missions, because he knew that a part of Stuart went into every fight looking for the peace that only death could bring him. All Jas could do was try to give his man a reason to live, a reason to come home again.
    “Dinner’s ready!” he said brightly. “Yet another bright and inventive way to present the same old bland and boring vegetables. God, sometimes I think I’d kill for a good sausage.”

    Douglas went for a walk around the block, just to stretch his legs and get a little fresh air into his lungs. Sometimes his room felt uncomfortably like a cell. As always, two Psycho Sluts accompanied him as bodyguards. They maintained a discreet distance, and discouraged anyone else from getting too close with harsh looks and the occasional mental prod. Among the crowds that cheered and smiled on Douglas wherever he went, there was always the chance of a disguised spy or assassin. Douglas felt pretty sure he could defend himself, but accepting the bodyguards was the price he paid for not having his friends go mental every time he felt like popping out on his own.
    This evening he was accompanied by Alessandra Duquesne, putative leader of the Sluts, and her friend Joanna Maltravers. Both were big, bouncy blond teenagers who looked and sounded like they should still have been in a finishing school somewhere. They were both dressed in brightly colored silks, artfully cut and arranged to show off as much bare bronzed skin as possible, and sported black roses in their hair and tribal markings painted on their faces. There were twelve Psycho Sluts in all, young espers too individual or contrary to be embraced by the mass-mind of the oversoul, sworn to follow their beloved Jenny Psycho to the death and beyond. When they weren’t out blowing things up or killing Finn’s people with distressing verve and enthusiasm, they tended to hang around the lobby of the Lantern Lodge, reading gossip magazines, sharing makeup tips, and discussing new and nastier ways to slaughter bad guys. Aren’t we awful? one of them would inevitably say, and then they’d all dissolve into girlish giggles. The Rookery found them fascinating and frightening in equal measure.
    Douglas felt just a little pervy having these deadly and delightful teenagers sticking so close, hanging on his every word and looking at him with their big worshipful eyes. He was old enough to be their father, or very nearly, and he was never sure if their constant flirting was as casual as it seemed. Not that he ever did anything about it, of course. It had been a long time since he’d done anything in his bed except sleep. At least he’d stopped them from pinching his bum when they were out in public.
    He decided he’d had enough fresh air, or what passed for it in the Rookery, and went back inside. Alessandra and Joanna wished him good night, blew him a kiss, and took up their positions outside the door. That was as far away as they would allow. They’d wanted to actually sleep in his room, at the foot of his bed, to be sure of protecting him against night attacks, but he’d put his foot down about that. Espers were notoriously casual about privacy, but Douglas wasn’t. Alessandra called out to him to be sure to call out for anything he needed in the night, and Douglas shut the door firmly on her. He’d only just slumped into his chair when there was a brief knock at his door and Nina Malapert came breezing in. Douglas had to smile. Her boundless energy and never-ending smile always helped to cheer him up.
    “Did you forget something at the meeting, Nina?”
    “As if, lovey! I am always one hundred percent prepared and professional, and you know it. No, I just wanted to pop in and make sure you were all right. You looked distinctly down and moody at the meeting.”
    Douglas sighed heavily. “I try to keep up an optimistic face, but the facts are we’re not making progress anywhere near as fast as we need to. We can’t keep expanding our territory to hold the refugees without Finn feeling the need to push back at some point. And I don’t think we’re ready to go to war yet.”
    “Finn’s not dumb enough to start something he can’t be sure of winning,” Nina said easily, sitting on the arm of his chair. “If he commits his forces to a