ogre's lair. It was important not to walk so slowly that she might appear scared or reluctant, or so quickly that it might seem she was jumping to obey an order. Appearances were everything now. They were all she had to work with. The door closed behind her as she stopped and looked around her.
Gregor Shreck had made changes in his private quarters since she was there last. The windowless walls of the great chamber were a dark crimson, the color of drying blood, a great scarlet womb, with concealed bloody lighting and dark shadows everywhere. The thick pile carpet beneath her feet was the color of sunburned skin, deep enough to muffle any sound. To every side stood grisly trophies from Gregor's most recent victims. A pile of severed hands on a silver tray, heaped carelessly on top of each other. A row of preserved severed heads on stakes, all looking faintly surprised, their mouths hanging open as though in shock at what had been done to them. None of them had eyes. A low cupboard displayed a row of severed feet. Someone had wrapped them in pretty ribbons and painted their toenails black. Evangeline could hear air-conditioning units working overtime as they struggled to deal with the pervasive smell of death and preservatives.
And there, reclining at his ease on a wide bed shaped from gigantic rose petals, the dark heart of that dark kingdom—Gregor Shreck. He'd always been short and fat, a greasy, perspiring butterball of a man, but he'd put on a lot of weight during their separation. He was huge now, bulging with flesh, his face almost perfectly round, crushing his features into the center of his face. He dressed all in black slashed with scarlet streaks, and looked like nothing so much as a gigantic, gorged leech.
'So,' said Gregor in an unnervingly normal-sounding voice. 'You've come home at last. I always knew you would. My dear, loving daughter.'
'I'm here because you abducted my friend Penny DeCarlo, and threatened to kill her if I didn't come,' said Evangeline tonelessly. 'And that's the only reason I'm here. Where is she? What have you done with her?'
'So impatient,' said Gregor happily. 'No one has time for the civilized little courtesies anymore. Don't you have a kiss for your dear daddy?'
'Where's Penny?'
'Ah, the impatience of youth. Children always want their presents right now. Very well, Evie, never let it be said that I am not an indulgent father. You may see your little friend Penny. I've been taking ever such good care of her. She always was a little headstrong, but I've taken care of that.'
He gestured languidly with a huge, fat hand, and a panel in the left wall slid open, revealing two severed heads in glass jars. One was Penny DeCarlo. Evangeline's hands flew to her mouth to stifle a scream, and only then she realized the heads were still alive. Their eyes were aware and suffering, and their mouths moved to shape words, though nothing could be heard. Penny was pale-skinned, with short dark hair, and would have been beautiful in any other circumstances. The second head was that of an old man, with long white hair and mustaches floating gently in the preservative fluids. Both heads stared sadly at Evangeline, and she made herself lower her hands and swallow her shock. She couldn't afford to show weakness. Not here. She glared at Gregor.
'Oh, they're very much alive,' Gregor assured her. 'The one on the right is Professor Wax. Quite a prominent scientist in his day, now an overqualified paperweight. Valentine gave him to me, already in his glass jar. It seemed a shame not to have a matching pair, and I had to do something to express my displeasure when you defied me… so you could say this is really all your fault. I think they look very smart together. I may start a collection.'
'Why can't I hear them?' Evangeline asked through numbed lips. 'Have you cut out their vocal cords too?'
'Of course not, my dear. Where would be the fun in that? I have to turn the speakers off now and again just to get a little peace and quiet. Though admittedly Penny doesn't scream nearly as much as she used to.'
He gestured again, and there was a sudden steady hum as hidden speakers came on line. Penny's head fixed its sad eyes on Evangeline's, and the mouth tried to move in a smile.
'You shouldn't have come here, Evie. He's mad. Quite mad.'
'I've always known that,' said Evangeline. 'But I had to come back here to get you. I… I didn't know…'
'Oh, Evie…' Penny's face screwed up as though it would have liked to cry, but that was no longer possible in the preservative fluids.
'Hush, child, hush,' said the white-haired head beside her. 'Don't distress yourself. Don't give that fat bastard the satisfaction.'
'Oh, dear Waxie,' said Penny. 'I'd go mad if it weren't for you. For your comfort.'
'Aren't they sweet?' said Gregor. 'They're lovebirds. A meeting of minds, if you like.'
Wax's eyes turned to look at Evangeline. 'Get Penny out of here if you can. She doesn't deserve this. I do. I created machines whose only purpose was death and destruction, and saw them used to wipe out a whole world's population. I never cared about the suffering of my test subjects. I told myself I was defending the Empire from its enemies. But the death of a whole world sickened even me. I deserve to be here. But dear Penny doesn't belong here in Hell, with Gregor and me. Please. Get her out of here.'
'I won't go without you!' Penny protested. 'I won't abandon you.' She turned her eyes back to Evangeline. 'Get out of here, Evie. Gregor's lost all restraint. He doesn't care about anything now except revenge.'
'What else is there worth caring about?' said Gregor. 'The rebels are turning my whole world upside down, rewriting history to make themselves out to be virtuous heroes, while they loot the Empire to fund their political fantasies. The barbarians have broken down the gates and stormed the city. What is left now but to take what revenge we can before the final night falls?'
'And what revenge do you have in mind for me?' said Evangeline.
'I've been thinking about that for some time,' said Gregor. 'Either you return to me and be my loving, dutiful daughter in all ways, or I'll make you suffer in ways you never dreamed possible. You're in my realm now, where the only limits are the limits of my imagination. And when I've wrung every last gasp of suffering from you, I'll hack your pretty head off your pretty shoulders and stick you in a jar next to the others. And maybe I'll piss in your preservative fluids now and again, just for fun. I can always use the rest of your body to produce a new clone to satisfy my other needs. A third Evangeline. I'll be more careful with this one. One way or another, you will serve me, dear Evie.'
'People will come looking for me,' said Evangeline. 'The clone underground—'
'To hell with them. The new order won't allow a war with someone as potentially useful as me.'
'Finlay…'
'To hell with him too. I'll have him killed anyway, for daring to tempt you away from me. For having touched you. No one will be too surprised when unknown assassins gun him down from ambush. Finlay has a lot of enemies out there. No, I can do whatever I want to do to you, and damn the consequences, because I am Gregor Shreck, and no one can deny me anything. Welcome home, Evie. Welcome home to your daddy's loving arms. You'll never leave here again.'
He gestured a third time, and suddenly a tanglefield enveloped Evangeline, shimmering in the air around her. She clenched her hands into fists, and her breathing increased, but that was all the reaction the tanglefield allowed. Evangeline snarled at her father, who giggled and wriggled with delight on his big red bed.
'You never did have any sense of honor, Gregor.'
'Please. Call me Daddy. We're going to play a little game, Evie. Just like we used to. Take your clothes off. Slowly. Not that you've got any other choice, of course.'
And he giggled again, a surprisingly high-pitched sound from such a large man. Evangeline glared at him, making no move to obey. Gregor stopped giggling abruptly and glared back at her, his eyes burning with unrestrained malice. He heaved himself awkwardly off the bed, breathing heavily as he forced his great bulk onto his feet. He waddled forward, grunting with each heavy step, and finally lurched to a halt just short of the tanglefield's boundary. He was smiling, his fat lips wet, his eyes dark and unblinking.
'You do as you're told, little Evie, or I'll find something heavy and smash the glass jar holding your dear friend Penny. And you can watch her flop on my carpet, and gasp and die like a landed fish, without the preservative fluids to sustain her.'
'Don't listen to him!' Penny cried out. 'He wouldn't really do it!'
'Yes, he would,' said Evangeline. 'He's done worse before now. Haven't you. Daddy?'
She started taking off her jacket. It was a simple black affair that Finlay had given her, with just a few buttons and fasteners. Gregor's eyes lingered over each one as her tanglefield-slowed fingers undid them. Underneath, she wore a simple sky blue dress. She undid the clasp at the back of her neck, and let the silk dress slip slowly down the length of her body. The energy field turned its slow descent into a tease. Underneath the dress
