Deathstalker 05 - Deathstalker Destiny

company at the moment. Will you be all right?"
    "Oh, of course, dear. I'm a survivor, everyone knows that. You call me if you need anything."
    Adrienne patted Evangeline on the arm one last time, gathered up her children, and led them away. Robert finished checking that the seals on the mausoleum were secure again, and came over to stand beside her. They stood awkwardly together, neither sure what to say. They'd never had anything in common except Finlay, and they'd never felt the same way about him. In the end, Robert said it had been a nice service, and Evangeline agreed. Shame about the weather. Yes. He asked if he could do anything for her, and she said no. He said he'd pay off the vicar
    and take care of all the necessary paperwork, and she congratulated him on his newly announced engagement to Constance Wolfe. They stood together awhile longer, but neither of them could think of anything else to say. Robert finally bowed to her and walked away, taking the vicar with him, and they all felt a certain relief.
    Evangeline stood alone, outside the stone mausoleum. Ugly bloody place, but it was Family, and it was probably what Finlay would have wanted. It was still raining. Gray clouds for a gray day. Evangeline pulled the hood of her cloak a little forward, to keep the rain out of her face. Her hands felt like someone else's. As though she were sleepwalking through what was left of her life. It wasn't as though she didn't have more than enough to keep her occupied. With Gregor dead, she'd been next in line to become head of Clan Shreck, but she'd had to decline that honor. It would have involved undergoing a genetest to prove her bloodline, and she couldn't do that. It would have revealed she was only the clone of the original, murdered Evangeline, and that would have been a major scandal. It would also have made her a target for all kinds of fanatics, from all sides of the political spectrum. A clone, successfully masquerading as the original, undetected for years, was High Society's worst nightmare, an unacceptable affront.
    So she turned down the title, and the massive inheritance that went with it, on the grounds she wanted nothing from the despicable Gregor Shreck. People could understand that. Finlay, much to her surprise, had been practical enough to make out a will and keep most of his affairs in order. He left everything to her.
    There was some money. Enough to last several years if she was careful, and a few trunks of belongings that she would sort through when she was feeling stronger.
    Grace Shreck had agreed to become the new head of the Family. It had to be her
    or Toby, and he wasn't interested. Evangeline approved of Grace, in a distant sort of way. She was honest and straightforward and she had the best interests of the Family at heart. Pity about her politics, but you couldn't have everything.
    Besides, these days, Evangeline had her hands full with the clone underground.
    Even before Finlay's death she had become closely involved with clone politics, and many now looked to her for leadership and inspiration. Ever since the clone underground fought its way into mainstream politics, divisions and corruption had become major problems, and Evangeline had dedicated herself to dealing with the infighting while keeping it strictly out of the public eye. She had more than enough work to keep her busy for years. If only she could convince herself that any of it mattered…
    "Goodbye, Finlay," she said quietly to the closed stone door of the mausoleum.
    "At peace at last, my love. Sleep well, until I come to join you."

    She was living in a simple apartment, in a modest area of the city. Not a very big place, but then, there was only her. She unlocked the front door with her palmprint, and strode wearily in. The door shut itself behind her, the lights turned themselves on, and the viewscreen on the side table informed her in its usual snotty voice that she had no messages waiting. Evangeline stood quietly in her hallway for a long moment, her cloak dripping steadily onto the ugly carpeting that had come with the furnishings. Her arms and legs felt heavy as lead, and it was an effort to hold her head up. She felt as if she could go to bed and sleep for a week, but she'd been sleeping far too much lately, so she wouldn't have to think or feel. And there was still work waiting to be done for
    the clone underground meeting tomorrow. She couldn't put it off any longer.
    She took off her rain-soaked cloak, and