from now. Barring any… complications.'
'Of course,' said Robert. 'You never know when complications are going to arise. You don't love him, do you?'
'No,' said Constance. 'I don't love him.'
'Good,' said Robert. Their eyes met again, and this time they smiled at each other as well.
Finlay was still in his quarters under the Arenas when he heard an urgent knocking at his door. He frowned. For someone who was supposed to be in hiding, he was getting a hell of a lot of visitors. He strapped on his sword belt and holster, and went carefully over to the door. He really should have invested in a spy hole or a hidden camera. He listened for a moment, couldn't hear anything, and finally opened the door just a crack. A familiar voice said his name, and then he was pushed back as the weight of the body leaning against the door pushed it open. He grabbed hold of Evangeline as she fell toward him, only just in time to stop her from hitting the floor. She was wrapped in a long crimson sheet, one part of it bulked into a large, unwieldy parcel under one arm. Her face was slack with shock and exhaustion, and spattered with recently dried blood.
Finlay tried to question her, but all she could do was murmur his name over and over again. She was breathing hard, and her eyes weren't tracking properly, and she clung to him with desperate strength. Finlay gave up trying to get any sense out of her, and got her over to the bed, but she would only sit on the edge, not lie down. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying, and all she wanted to do was hold him. He hugged her in return, trying to reassure her with his presence and calm tone.
'What is it, love? What's happened? You're safe here. You're all right now. What have you got under your arm?'
She still wouldn't or couldn't answer him. He slowly eased out of her grasp, murmuring soothingly all the while, and began unwrapping the bedsheet that enveloped her. And it was only then that he discovered she was naked underneath and splashed with a great deal of still drying blood. He checked her quickly for cuts and wounds, and was only partly reassured to find none of the blood was hers. He eased the package out from under her arm and unwrapped that. Something small and hard fell out onto the floor. It was the hilt of the monofilament knife she'd asked him to get for her. He unwrapped the rest of the bundle and discovered two glass cases containing two severed but still living heads. He was so startled he almost dropped them, but managed to fumble them safely to the floor. Their mouths were moving, but he couldn't hear anything. He turned back to Evangeline, and she giggled almost hysterically at the look on his face. She finally controlled herself with an effort, and spoke to him almost in a whisper.
'The man is Professor Wax. I don't know him. The woman is Penny DeCarlo, my oldest friend. My father was holding them prisoner. I rescued them.'
'Your father? You've been to see Gregor Shreck? On your own? What happened? Where did all this blood come from?'
'We talked. And afterward… things got rough.'
'Why didn't you tell me you were going?'
'I couldn't! Gregor had been… threatening me. Saying he'd kill Penny if I didn't go back to him. He insisted that I go alone. So I went there, to Tower Shreck, into the belly of the beast. And I found he'd… done that to Penny. So I made Gregor give them both up, and I took them away.'
'How the hell did you get him to give them up?'
'I had my monofilament knife. The one you gave me. Such a practical present.' She almost laughed again at the expression on Finlay's face. 'You're not the only one who knows how to fight. A few guards tried to stop me leaving, so I killed them. It was easy. Gregor's people stopped chasing me after a while, so I came here. I didn't know where else to go.'
'Of course you were right to come here, Evie. You'll be safe here. But what happened to your clothes?'
Evangeline gripped his arm fiercely. 'Don't ask me that, Finlay. Don't ever ask me that.'
'All right, I won't. Calm down. Damn, you did a very brave thing, Evie, but you really should have told me. I would have understood. Did he hurt you? Are you injured anywhere? Should I get you a doctor? If Gregor's hurt you, I'll kill the bastard!'
'No,' said Evangeline quickly. 'I'm not hurt. I don't need a doctor. I'm all right. Don't fuss, Finlay. Just… let me get my breath back. Now I've freed Penny, Gregor doesn't have any hold over me anymore. Everything's going to be all right now.'
'Brave girl,' said Finlay, taking her in his arms again and kissing her gently on the top of the head. 'My brave girl.'
The holoscreen on the wall chimed once, announcing an incoming call. Finlay started to get up to answer it, and Evangeline grabbed his arm with both hands.
'Don't answer it!'
'It's all right, Evie. Only a few trusted people know I'm here. I have to answer it in case it's an emergency.'
He freed himself from her grip, smiled reassuringly at her, got up from the bed, and accepted the call. The screen cleared to show the huge, flushed face of Gregor Shreck, half covered by a blood-soaked bandage. For a moment he just stared out of the screen, taking in Finlay and Evangeline together. His mouth was trembling and twitching, and his single eye was very bright.
'What do you want, Shreck?' said Finlay. 'And how did you find me here?'
'My people followed Evie all the way home. She thought she lost them.' Gregor's voice was strained and high-pitched, but full of venom. 'Told you all about her little adventure at Tower Shreck, has she? But what hasn't she been telling you, eh, Campbell? What about the things she never told you, the secrets she kept from you all this time? Shall I tell you all about your darling little cloned copy, hmm?'
'I know she's a clone,' said Finlay coldly. 'And I know you murdered the original. We have no secrets, Evangeline and I.'
'Oh, but you do, you do, dear boy. I guarantee it. I'll bet she never told you how much I loved her, or exactly how I loved her. Oh, I loved her dearly and well and very often. In fact, I took her to my bed and loved her morning, noon, and night, as hard as I could. And she loved it.'
'No!' said Evangeline. 'No!'
'You bastard!' screamed Finlay, his face bright red with rage. 'You bastard!'
'I bedded her, Campbell, long before you ever did. She was Daddy's girl, and did whatever Daddy told her to do. And we did all kinds of things. Things she probably never did for you. She'll always be mine, Campbell, because she was mine first. That's what I had her made for. I'm going to take her back from you, and there's nothing you can do to stop me.'
'I'll kill you!' said Finlay, fighting for breath against the pain in his chest. 'I'll kill you! Kill you!'
Gregor laughed at him, and Finlay drew his gun and shot out the viewscreen. Gregor's face shattered, and the screen fell in pieces to the floor. Smoke rose from the machine's guts. After that it was very quiet, apart from Evangeline sobbing on the bed. Finlay stood there, the gun still in his hand, trying to think what to do next, but Gregor's hateful words filled his head to the exclusion of everything else. He never doubted the truth of them. It was the kind of thing Gregor Shreck would do. He finally put away the gun and turned slowly to look at Evangeline. She stopped her tears by an effort of will, and looked back at him.
'Why didn't you tell me?' said Finlay.
'Because I knew you'd react like this. Because I knew you'd be angry and hurt. Because I thought if you knew… you might leave me. That you wouldn't feel the same about me anymore.'
'You never… cared for Gregor?'
'Of course not! I was his property! I had no choice. I either did what he said, or he'd kill me and make another clone who would. I did what I had to, to survive.'
'I'm going to kill him,' said Finlay. 'There aren't enough guards in this world to keep me from him. You stay here, and lock the door after me. Don't open it till I come back. And maybe I'll bring you back Gregor's head wrapped in a bedsheet.'
'No, Finlay! That's why he contacted you, told you what he did. It has to be a trap!'
'Of course it's a trap. But that won't stop me.'
'You can't just kill him, Finlay. It isn't like the old days, during the rebellion, when you had the protection of
