She never told Finlay about Gregor. She knew Finlay couldn't have coped with it. With knowing how she'd suffered. He would have stormed off in a bloody rage to kill Gregor, and to hell with the consequences. Gregor's people might have killed him, or he might have been hanged afterward. Either way, she couldn't risk it. And besides, he might have felt… differently about her. So she had never told him.
The elevator chimed politely as they reached the top floor. It was like hell in reverse. You had to go all the way up to reach the darkest, foulest part of the Pit. The doors slid open, and the guard escorted her down the bare steel corridor. Their footsteps were loud and carrying on the metal floor. Gregor wanted to know when anyone was coming. Other guards stood to attention the length of the corridor, guns at the ready. Not beetles anymore, Evangeline decided; demons, in the hall of hell. She made herself look straight ahead, and wouldn't let her mouth tremble. And eventually she and her escort came to a halt before the extra-thick steel door that was the only entrance to her father's private quarters. It was a very special door, designed to withstand a bomb or a disrupter blast with equal ease. Evangeline stood stiffly before it as the guard announced their presence.
"Come in," said Gregor's soft, oily voice, through a hidden speaker that made his words seem to come from everywhere at once. "Come in, little Evie, and join your forgiving father. Guard six, take up a position outside the door. We are not to be disturbed for any reason."
The door swung slowly open, and Evangeline held herself tightly together as she walked unhurriedly into the 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 u
nderground—"
"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 she wore only delicate white panties. Evangeline stood still and let Gregor look at her. She wanted to look away from him, but wouldn't let herself. It was important that she didn't show any weakness. Gregor eyed her up and down several times, licking his lips and laughing breathily. Once he reached out as though to touch her, but withdrew his hand before it could enter the tanglefield. He met her eyes and gestured at the panties.
"Those. Take them off. Take them off."
"You do it," said Evangeline. "You do it, Daddy. Like you used to."
Gregor licked his fat lips again, his deep-set eyes fixed on the white panties, and moved forward a step. Evangeline let her right hand fall to the top of her panties. Gregor's outstretched hand entered the tanglefield. Evangeline's fingers dipped slowly inside the panties. Gregor crossed the border of the tanglefield. His movements slowed to a crawl. And Evangeline's fingers grasped the hilt of the knife hidden inside her vagina and pulled it out. Her finger hit the stud on the hilt, and the monofilament blade crackled into life. The energy field supporting the molecule-thick blade clashed with the weaker tanglefield and shorted it out.
All movements crashed back to normal. Gregor shrieked in fear and outrage. Evangeline lashed out with the glowing blade and sliced up the right side of Gregor's face, cutting the fat flesh open from chin to forehead. The right eye exploded in a flurry of blood and other fluids. Gregor howled like an animal and fell backward, clutching his face. Evangeline lunged after him, grabbed him by the fat shoulders, and set the glowing knife blade next to his throat. Gregor froze where he was. Evangeline leaned over him, breathing hard.
She'd known the guard would confiscate anything she brought with her, whether it looked like a weapon or not, before letting her anywhere near Gregor. But she'd gambled they wouldn't do a full invasive body search for fear of offending Gregor.
Finlay had got her the monofilament knife. He hadn't asked any questions. It seemed a perfectly normal thing to him that somebody would want such a useful weapon. Particularly now they were officially banned.
Gregor whimpered with pain and shock as blood poured down his face and soaked his clothes. Evangeline smiled savagely. "Stay where you are, Gregor. You even try to get up or call out, and I'll gut you."
She let go of him and backed cautiously away, ready to kill him if she had to, but all the fight had gone out of him. Evangeline grabbed one of the sheets from the bed and wrapped up Penny's and Wax's jars in it before slinging the improvised bag over her shoulders. She heard the two glass jars bang together, and hoped the glass was tougher than it looked. Unhooked from their speakers, the heads had no way of telling her what was happening to them. Evangeline moved quickly back to Gregor, and he shrank away from the knife buzzing in her hand. She grabbed him by one shoulder, her fingers sinking deep into the thick flesh, and set the blade next to his throat again.
"All right, Gregor, we're leaving now. All of us. Get up. Get up, or I swear I'll kill you right here."
Gregor heard the iron in her voice and knew she meant it. He heaved his massive bulk onto its feet, moving very carefully so as not to even nudge against the flickering monofilament knife. Evangeline got him moving, and they headed slowly toward the door, the only way out of the Shreck's private little torture chamber. It opened to Gregor's voice, and in a moment they were out in the corridor.
The guard outside the door turned sharply, caught unaware, and started to raise his gun. Gregor, under Evangeline's urging, ordered the guard to drop his gun and back away. He did so, reluctantly, and gestured to the other guards in the corridor to lower their weapons and stay where they were. Gregor and Evangeline moved slowly down the corridor toward the elevator. Gregor was already out of breath and beginning to tire from the effort of carrying his great weight, but his fear of Evangeline kept him moving.
They came to the elevator doors, and Gregor hit the call button. Evangeline was breathing hard herself now. She glared quickly about her at the watching guards. Guards or beetles or demons, they couldn't stop her now, as long as she kept her nerve. The wait for the elevator seemed to last forever, but finally the doors opened, and she backed Gregor in, never taking her eyes off the guards. They disappeared behind the closing doors, and Evangeline hit the lobby button so hard she nearly broke it. The ride down seemed to last centuries. Gregor kept trying to talk to her, but she shut him up by moving the knife blade a little closer to his throat. By the time the elevator finally reached the lobby, blood was running freely from several cuts on Gregor's neck.
The elevator doors opened on a whole army of guards, their guns trained on the elevator. The guards on the penthouse floor had raised the alarm. Evangeline let them get a good look at their blood-soaked master, and the glowing blade at his throat, and then yelled at them to get the hell out of her way, or she'd start cutting chunks off Gregor till they did. Gregor immediately backed her up with a stream of hysterical orders. The guards lowered their guns and backed away, opening up an aisle between the elevator and the main entrance door on the other side of the lobby.
Evangeline laughed harshly.
"Do you think I'm stupid? Drop your guns on the floor, all of you, and back away from them."
The guards looked at Gregor and then reluctantly acquiesced. There was a loud clatter as over a hundred disrupters fell to the concrete floor of the lobby. The guards backed slowly away from them, opening up a much wider aisle. Evangeline glared suspiciously about her. There were probably still all kinds of hidden weapons, on the guards and maybe in the lobby walls, but as long as her knife was at Gregor's throat, they wouldn't dare try anything. She pushed Gregor out of the e
levator and got him moving as fast as he could. This was the most dangerous part of her plan. Her gravity sled was parked near the Tower. All she had to do was get to it, and she'd be off and gone before anyone could catch her. But she still had to get to it, past an army of guards who would quite rightly fear for their lives if they let her get away. So she urged Gregor on, mercilessly forcing the pace as he gasped and heaved for breath, constantly alert for any guard stupid enough to try to be a hero.
The main door slowly grew closer. She hadn't remembered the lobby being this big. The guards watched, unmoving but for the slow turning of their beetle heads. The only sounds were the slap of feet on concrete, and Gregor's constant moaning and panting. The heads in their jars bumped against Evangeline's bare back. Her nudity didn't bother her. All that mattered was getting out alive.
At last they came to the main door, which hissed open at Gregor's approach. Evangeline could see daylight, hear everyday city noises. It was like another world. She carefully maneuvered herself and Gregor around so that they had their backs to the door, facing the guards. She could feel the tension building in them. She had to get out soon, before somebody cracked.
"All right, Gregor," she said breathlessly, fighting to keep her voice from shaking as sweat rolled down her face. "We're going for a little walk now."
"Outside?" said Gregor. He seemed to recognize where he was for the first time, and panic shot through him. "No. Not outside. Not out of my Tower! No!"
And with a burst of strength fueled by manic fear, he threw off her hold, ducked away from the knife at his throat, and stumbled toward the safety of his guards, who dived as one for their guns. Evangeline considered throwing her knife at Gregor's fat back, decided she didn't have time, and bolted through the open main door. She sprinted across the open ground to where she'd parked the gravity sled. Her bare back crawled in anticipation of the energy beams she'd probably never even have time to feel. And then behind her she heard Gregor screaming for them to take her alive, and her heart jumped. She had a chance, after all.