They sat together for a while in silence, holding each other, and then the regeneration machine made a series of imperative noises. Finlay and Evangeline got up reluctantly and went over to look at the readouts. Finlay nodded slowly, and Evangeline kept her face carefully blank.
'She's in bad shape, but the device has stabilized her,' said Finlay. 'It's going to be some time before the machine's finished with her, and we can't wait that long.'
'You said Robert was coming here?'
'With a few friends from the military. They'll look after her and keep her safe.'
'Tower security won't let him in. Daddy's been even more paranoid than usual just recently, after the… incident at the wedding. His guards have orders to shoot anyone who tries to get to me that isn't a Shreck. You said you had a device…'
'It's an implant. Nothing I can pass on to Robert. Someone has to stay with her, Evie. I can't just abandon her. She deserves better than that.'
'All right! Let me think.' Evangeline wrapped her arms tightly around herself and paced up and down. 'There's… more going on here than you know, Finlay. There are things I never told you. Things about me.'
Finlay smiled. 'I know all I need to know.'
'Shut up, Finlay. You don't understand. I had to keep this secret, even from you. I'm a clone, and a member of the underground.' She saw the look that came over his face, and wouldn't let herself look away. 'The original Evangeline died in an accident. Daddy couldn't bear to live without her, so he had me cloned. Secretly. Don't look at me like that, Finlay. Please. I'm still the same person I've always been.'
'Are you?' said Finlay. 'I don't know anymore. I don't know anything anymore. How long ago did all this happen? Is the woman I originally loved dead? Have I been loving a copy ever since?'
'No! It happened long before we ever fell in love. There's only ever been you and me.'
'How can I be sure of that?'
'You can't. You have to trust me.'
'How can I, after this? I told you everything about me, even about the Masked Gladiator. And you kept this from me.'
'I had to! I knew you'd react like this.'
'What else have you been keeping from me?'
'Nothing! There's nothing else, Finlay. Nothing at all.'
They stood for a long moment, just staring at each other. When Evangeline finally spoke again, her voice was as calm and steady as she could make it.
'We can't stay here. I can take you down into the underground. They'll accept you if I vouch for you. The Wolfes can't follow you there. You'll be safe. Valentine Wolfe is a member of the underground, too.'
'So he could still come after me there. I'd be walking into a trap!'
'No. The underground wouldn't permit it. We have very strict rules about inner conflicts. We have to, or we'd never get anything done. When you come to the underground, you leave your other life behind. We could start again, Finlay. Start afresh.'
'All right,' said Finlay. 'All right. I can't think about all this now. We'll talk some more later, assuming we have a later. What are we going to do about Robert? He's going to be here soon, with a small army of his military friends, to look after Adrienne. Your father's guards will try to stop him, and I don't think he'll be in any mood to take no for an answer. He'll fight, and there's been enough killing already. How can we get him in here? Can you override your father's commands? Will his people take orders from you?'
'No. Daddy doesn't trust me with important decisions.'
'Then you'll have to talk to him. Call him and ask for help.'
Evangeline looked at him steadily. 'You don't know what you're asking, Finlay.'
'I'm asking the woman who said she loved me for help. I know you and your father don't get on, but… look, this isn't for Adrienne. It's for me.'
'All right,' said Evangeline. 'I'll do it for you.'
She hugged herself tightly, so she wouldn't fly apart, and then made herself let go. Like so many times before, she had to be strong. She moved back to her dressing table and sat down, automatically adjusting her nightgown so that it fell appealingly about her. She had to look her best for Daddy. She activated her comm unit and called her father's private number. Her dressing table mirror shimmered, then cleared to form a viewscreen. Evangeline adjusted the focus so that only her head and shoulders would be seen. The screen blinked, and there was her father, sitting at his ease. He was dressed in a long flowing gown that did nothing to hide his bulk. He frowned slightly as he saw who was calling him, and his deepset eyes almost disappeared into the bulging fat of his face.
'Evangeline, my dear, I told you I'd be with you soon. Feeling impatient, are we?'
His voice was as fat and loathsome as he was, but she kept her face clear and serene. 'I need your help, Daddy. Adrienne Campbell has turned up at my apartment, begging for help. She's the only survivor of a Wolfe attack on her Family. She's injured, and quite desperate. I allowed her to call one of her minor cousins for help, and he's on his way here with a few friends to protect her. I need you to tell the tower guards to let them in.'
The Shreck raised an eyebrow. 'I wasn't aware you and Adrienne Campbell were friends.'
'We're not close. She's a Campbell, after all. But I don't think she had anywhere else to go. Besides, I never liked the Wolfes. They've always been very rude to you.'
'Yes, they have, haven't they? But I don't know, darling. You're asking a great deal. Nothing good will come of interfering in a vendetta, and the Wolfes do seem to be winning. With the Campbells destroyed, the Wolfes will be in a very powerful position, and only a fool makes enemies he doesn't have to.'
'I'm asking you this as a special favor, Daddy.'
'Really, my dear?' The Shreck leaned forward in his chair. 'And just how grateful is that?'
'I'll wear that special outfit you like, and we can do all the things together that you like to do. I'll be your loving, obedient daughter.'
Gregor Shreck smiled. 'Of course you will, my dear. Very well, I'll give orders to let the Campbell pup in. But you're going to have to be very nice to me for this, Evangeline.'
'Yes, Daddy. I know.'
She cut off the commlink and her father disappeared, replaced by her own face in the mirror's reflection. Evangeline looked at the cold determined face for a long moment and didn't recognize that person at all. That wasn't her, not the real her. But then, she'd had to do so many things that weren't really her. She turned away from the mirror and looked at Finlay dispassionately. He was sitting on the edge of the bed, staring down at his clenched hands, lost in thought. He was soaked in blood, some of it his own, but he'd never even mentioned his own wounds. He'd never know what his favor had cost her, what she'd had to promise. He must never know. If he did, he'd throw away his own life to kill her father, and she couldn't allow that. She needed him too much. But she wondered if she'd ever feel quite the same about him again.
'What are you thinking about?' she said quietly.
'My Family,' he said, without looking up. 'They're all dead. I miss them. My father's dead, and I never got a chance to tell him about the real me. He'll never know I was really a warrior, just like him. And William and Gerald are gone. They were there all my life, looking after me, being there when I needed them. Now they're all gone, and there's just me. I'm not even a Campbell anymore. I don't know what I am.'
'You're the man I love,' said Evangeline. 'The man who loves me. I'm your life now. Or isn't that enough for you?'
He looked up at her then. 'I always said you were all I ever really wanted. Seems I had to lose everything else to find out that was true, after all. I love you, Evie; never doubt it. But I loved my Family, too, and a part of me died with them. The rudder of my life has gone, and I don't know what to do.'
Evangeline got to her feet. 'We get on with our lives.
You'll find a new purpose in the underground. I did. Now let's get moving. I think it would be best if we were both long gone before your cousin arrives with his private army.'
Finlay frowned. 'You mean just leave Adrienne in the machine? Won't your father wonder what it was doing here?'
'I'll think of something plausible to tell him. Now let's go, Finlay. We've done all we can here.'
Finlay nodded and got up off the bed. 'You're right. I'm just putting it off, you lead the way, Evie, and I'll
