Deathstalker 04 - Deathstalker Honor

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