Jekyll & Hyde Inc.

Chapter Six

THE GLAMOUR OF IT ALL

“We need to visit the armory,” said Tina, as they walked quickly down the corridor, putting some distance between them and Edward’s playroom.

“For the bomb?” said Daniel.

“Well, obviously,” said Tina. “But we’re also going to need some pretty specialized weapons, if we want to survive long enough to lure the entire Vampire Clan to their death and destruction.”

“Yes,” said Daniel. “About that . . . ”

“Edward has been working on his plan for years,” said Tina, hefting the heavy mission file he’d given her. “I’m sure he’s thought of everything.”

Daniel gave her a look. “You’re being very trusting, all of a sudden.”

“I trust the plan,” said Tina. “No one knows more about monsters than Edward Hyde. Surviving the plan . . . is up to us.” She grinned at Daniel. “Come on—we’re going to walk right into the vampires’ annual gathering, call them a bunch of names to their faces, and then lead them by the nose to our very own killing ground. What’s not to like?”

“This can only go well,” said Daniel.

“Exactly!” said Tina.

The Jekyll & Hyde Inc. armory turned out to be a massive warehouse that took up half of the first floor. There were no guards on duty, and no obvious surveillance cameras; nothing that Daniel could see to stop anyone just wandering in when they felt like it. The only sign on the unlocked door said simply: Please don’t drop anything. Given the armory’s casual attitude to delivering its bombs, by just dumping them at the front door, Daniel supposed he shouldn’t be surprised. He pushed the door open cautiously, and when nothing immediately bad happened, he allowed to Tina to go in first—so he could use her as a human shield if necessary. She strode confidently through a maze of open shelving and display cases, packed with all kinds of weird weapons and intriguing devices, some of them old enough to qualify as steampunk. And while there was a definite sense of a place for everything and everything in its place, nothing on the shelves was labeled or identified, so that most of the time Daniel was reduced to guessing wildly as to what he was looking at. He stuck close behind Tina as she marched down one narrow passageway after another, under lights that seemed designed to hide things in shadows. They finally found the person in charge sitting comfortably in something that was not so much an office, more like a converted cupboard.

“This is Miss Montague,” Tina said cheerfully. “She knows everything there is to know, when it comes to ruining a monster’s day.”

“Oh hush, child,” said Miss Montague. “I just have a gift for death and destruction.”

Miss Montague was a gray-haired little old lady, in a nice cardigan with puppies on it. She had a pleasant face and an easy manner, and the kind of bright eyes you just knew didn’t miss a thing. Daniel had to keep fighting down an urge to tell her that the dog had eaten his homework. He was pretty sure Hydes didn’t do that. Miss Montague sat behind a desk—on which all the paperwork had been ruthlessly sorted into In and Out trays—knitting something long and shapeless. The needles clacked loudly, never pausing, all the time she talked to Daniel and Tina.

“Back again so soon, dear?” she said cheerfully to Tina. “You can’t have used up everything I gave you last time, or most of London wouldn’t still be here.”

“We are finally ready to take down the Vampire Clan,” said Tina, just as cheerfully. “What strange and appalling weapons would you recommend for us?”

“I recommend that you stick to the basics, dear,” Miss Montague said firmly. “I always say, you can’t go wrong if you stick to the basics. And always carry extra ammunition.”

“Can I have this?” said Daniel. “I really like the look of this.”

The compressed-air machine pistol that fired miniature wooden stakes had all but jumped off the shelf into his hand. It looked like something he could do some serious damage with, and he really liked the idea of being able to stake vampires from a safe distance.

“Oh, you don’t want that, dear,” said Miss Montague. “The gears are always jamming, and it has an unfortunate tendency to blow back and perforate the user.”

Daniel reluctantly put the machine pistol back where he found it. Tina picked up a flashlight with a really large battery pack.

“What does this do?”

“Theoretically, it generates special wavelengths of light designed to undo the effects of a full moon, and force a werewolf back into its human form,” said Miss Montague.

“And does it?” said Daniel.

“Not noticeably,” said Miss Montague. “It just makes bits of their fur fall out. The only reason our last tester wasn’t killed was because the wolf pack couldn’t chase him for laughing.”

Tina put the lamp back, while Daniel picked up a pair of scissors that smelled strongly of spices.

“And these?”

“Specially treated to cut the bandages off a living mummy,” Miss Montague said patiently. “Providing you can get close enough.”

Daniel put the scissors down again, and gave Miss Montague his very best hard look.

“Does anything here work?”

“Of course, dear! It wouldn’t be much of an armory if we couldn’t supply you with something absolutely guaranteed to rain on a monster’s picnic. But it’s not like there’s a manual when it comes to developing new ways of disposing of vampires, werewolves, and mummies. We are constantly trying out new methods and tactics, but in the end it all comes down to trial and error.” She shook her gray-haired head sadly. “We get through more field agents that way . . . which is why I always say, stick to the basics. You always know where you are, with the basics.”

“At least tell me you have another bomb for us,” said Daniel. “Preferably something even more powerful than the one we just used to destroy the Frankensteins.”

Miss Montague smiled modestly. “It did do the job nicely, didn’t it? Took the top right off that hotel. I saw it on the news. Apparently all kinds of terrorist organizations have come forward to claim responsibility, which is always helpful in our line of work. And it served the hotel right; you wouldn’t believe what they charged me for using the minibar, the last time I stayed there. And the porn channel was a great disappointment. But that bomb was merely a standard whizzbang. I have something much more emphatic for you, this time.” And then she broke off from her knitting, to look sharply at Tina. “Please put that down, dear. We don’t want a nasty incident, do we?”

“But what is it?” said Tina.

“A black hole in a jam jar.”

Tina put the jar back on the shelf, very carefully. “Really?”

“It’s a very special kind of jam jar,” said Miss Montague. She sighed quietly, put aside her knitting, and got to her feet. “I can see I’m going to have to sort out what you need personally, if we’re to avoid sudden bangs and unpleasant stains on the carpet. Not that there are any carpets, despite all the forms I’ve filled in. Come along with me, dears—and from now on don’t touch anything if you like having fingers.”

When she came out from behind her desk, to stand blinking mildly in the gloomy passageway, Miss Montague turned out to be barely five feet tall. But her back was straight and her gaze was still sharp as she bustled between the towering shelves, making sudden turns without warning or hesitation. This was her territory, and she knew every inch of it. While Daniel wasn’t even sure which way he’d come in. Miss Montague did pause briefly to coo affectionately at a cat dozing on a low shelf. Tina put out a hand to pet it, and her hand went straight through.

“Ghost cat,” said Miss Montague. “See where curiosity gets you?”

But Tina had already stopped listening to her, having become far more interested in something else. She strode over to a large wooden case, half hidden in the shadows, and studied it curiously.

“What is this?”

Daniel moved over to join her. The long, rectangular box was blunt and basic, with no detailing, apart from a really big padlock to hold the heavy lid securely in place.

“It looks like a coffin,” he said slowly. “Only twice the normal size. It has to be at least ten feet long, maybe more. Miss Montague, why do you have a giant coffin in your armory?”

“It’s not a coffin, as such,” said Miss Montague. “It’s a container. Built to provide long-term storage, for a very important specimen.”

“You mean there’s someone alive in there?” said Tina, studying the long box with even more interest.

“Not someone,” said Miss Montague. “Something. Now please come along, dears. That really isn’t anything you want to mess with.”

“Oh, I really think I do,” said Tina. “Edward never mentioned anything to me before about a coffin in the armory, and if it’s that secret I want to know all about it.”

She stood before the coffin with her arms folded firmly, in a way that suggested she was perfectly prepared to stand there until hell froze over and congealed, if that was what it took to get an answer. Miss Montague pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed heavily, recognising someone just as stubborn as herself.

“Well if you must know . . . ”

“Oh, I must,” said Tina. “I really must. Or I won’t sleep at night.”

“It all goes back to when Dr. Jekyll was creating his Elixir,” said Miss Montague. “You don’t just test a new drug on yourself and see what happens. You try it out first on a test animal.”

“And the original test animal is what’s inside this coffin?” said Daniel.

“Yes, dear. But it’s really not a coffin. As such.”

“But why is there a really big padlock on this coffin, Miss Montague?” Tina said sweetly. She leaned over to study it, and then straightened up abruptly to stare suspiciously at Miss Montague. “Is the lock there to keep something from getting out? Is the test animal still alive?”

“An interesting question,” said Miss Montague, “given that the box has been securely sealed for longer than I care to think. I suppose it’s like Schrödinger’s famous cat: there’s no way of knowing whether the subject is alive or dead until you open the lid. But I really wouldn’t recommend it. The creature could be very angry, after being locked in there for so long. Not to mention extremely hungry.”

Daniel decided he was quite ready to accept that and let it go—but it only took one look at Tina’s face to tell him that she wasn’t.

“Why is the test specimen still in there?” she said stubbornly. “And why does Edward keep it locked up in his armory?”

“Well, you know how he is, dear,” said Miss Montague. “He thought he might have a use for it. Edward never throws away anything he thinks might come in handy one day.”

Daniel frowned at the oversized coffin. “I’m not sure I’m following this. The whole point of Dr. Jekyll’s Elixir was to release all the evil vitality in a man. But can animals be good, or evil?”

“What’s inside that box was quite definitely evil,” Miss Montague said firmly. “I’ve read the history. Apparently it wrecked half of the good doctor’s laboratory before he was able to bring it under control with an extremely powerful soporific. He had to build that box specially to contain it securely. Now do please come along, we have a great deal to do.”

Tina folded her arms again, and Miss Montague shook her head slowly.

“Oh, very well . . . if you must. But I’ll have to ask Edward if he’ll authorize a little peek for you. The lock has a combination, and I don’t know the numbers.”

“I’ll bet I could crack it,” said Tina.

She took hold of the heavy padlock with one hand, and it jumped open in her grasp. She snatched her hand away, and the lock fell to the floor with a loud thud. There was a pause, and then the coffin lid rose an inch before slowly falling back again. Something stirred inside the coffin.

Miss Montague grabbed Daniel and Tina by the arms, and hauled them backward. They went along with her, never once taking their eyes off the long box. Something growled loudly, like the biggest dog in the world. The whole coffin shuddered, and the lid rattled loudly. Miss Montague quickly slipped behind Daniel and Tina, putting them between her and the danger, and they were so surprised they let her do it.

“I had no idea that padlock was so sensitive!” said Miss Montague, peering between them. “All these years I’ve left that box strictly alone, just as I was told. I never even dusted it. And all this time, the lock was ready to just fall off . . . Someone should have said something! I should have been told!”

The lid flew open and fell away, and a giant rat burst out of the coffin to crouch on the floor before them. It was impossibly big, twice the size of a man, bulging with muscles and covered in thick dark fur. It had mad red eyes, clawed hands like a man, and a long tail that lashed angrily behind it. The Hyde of rats . . . It opened its great jaws to reveal teeth like a shark, and made a sound like an angry foghorn. Tina glanced down at Miss Montague.

“What do we do?”

“You keep it occupied and I’ll run for help, dear.”

Daniel looked at Miss Montague. “Really?”

“Well, I don’t know! That box was never supposed to be opened!”

“But this is an armory!” said Daniel, not taking his eyes off the enormous rat for one single moment. “There must be some weapon in here we can use against it!”

“Oh, I don’t think Edward would want us to kill it,” said Miss Montague. “Not after he’s preserved it for all these years.”

“In the current circumstances, let’s assume he would,” said Tina. “Find something!”

“Let me think . . . ” said Miss Montague, and then she suddenly disappeared into a side passageway.

The rat stared unblinkingly at Daniel and Tina, hunching its powerful shoulders. Thick ropes of saliva fell from its mouth as the jaws worked thoughtfully. And then the rat charged right at them, squealing like a fire siren.

Tina didn’t hesitate. She ran straight at the rat and jumped right over it. The rat’s head came up, jaws opening wide, but Tina had already landed gracefully behind it. She spun around and grabbed hold of the rat’s tail with both hands. She grimaced at the feel of the naked pink flesh, but dug her heels in deep and hauled hard, dragging the rat backward. It squealed deafeningly in protest, while its claws dug deep furrows in the floorboards. It tried to turn its head around to see what was happening, but there wasn’t enough room. And while it was distracted, Daniel grabbed hold of the heavy wooden box with both hands, heaved it into the air, and then brought it slamming down on top of the giant rat. The huge creature collapsed and lay there stunned, pinned down by the weight of the coffin. Tina quickly let go of the tail, and rubbed her hands hard on her hips.

“Nice use of lateral thinking,” she said cheerfully. “Now help me get the bloody thing back inside the coffin.”

They pushed the box off the rat, and then manhandled the great weight of the thing back into its coffin. Daniel retrieved the lid and slammed it back into place, and then they both sat on it, using their weight to hold it down as the rat began to stir again. They clung on to the sides of the coffin, but the rat wasn’t strong enough to throw both of them off—or at least, not yet. Daniel glared around at the various passageways in search of Miss Montague.

“Whatever you’re looking for, it had better not be an exit!” he said loudly. “Get back here with something useful, even if it’s only a really big piece of cheese.”

Miss Montague came hurrying back—with a really big grenade in her hand. She gestured for Daniel and Tina to get off the lid. They looked at her dubiously, but she was already pulling the pin, so they jumped down and backed quickly away. The lid started to rise, and Miss Montague popped the grenade through the opening, then forced the lid shut again and slipped the padlock back into place. There was a muffled explosion from inside the coffin, and then it all went very quiet.

“What was that?” said Tina.

“Rat poison,” said Miss Montague. “Well . . . mammoth poison, actually. But it’ll do the job.”

“You have a mammoth problem?” said Daniel.

“Not anymore,” said Miss Montague.

They all studied the coffin carefully, but there were no more sounds or signs of movement.

“At least now we know whether it’s alive or dead,” said Tina.

“Let’s hope so, dear,” said Miss Montague. She studied Daniel and Tina for a long moment, and then smiled suddenly. “You worked very well together, dears. Reminded me of when Edward and I were a team, back in the day.”

Tina looked at her sharply. “You worked missions together? Out in the field?”

“He wasn’t always such a recluse,” said Miss Montague. “Now come along, dears, and let’s get you kitted out for the fray.”

She bustled off down a new passageway, not even glancing back at the coffin. Daniel and Tina looked at the unmoving box and then at each other, shrugged pretty much in unison, and went after her. A few sharp turns later, Miss Montague started grabbing things off shelves and thrusting them into Daniel’s and Tina’s arms: wooden stakes, holy water ampules, garlic gas grenades . . . and a really big silver crucifix on a chain for each of them.

“I’m not religious,” said Daniel.

“Vampires are,” said Miss Montague, in the kind of tone that made Daniel wonder where his gym bag was.

She also presented them with two large bulbs of fresh garlic and made Daniel and Tina crush them in their hands, and then rub the juices all over their exposed necks and wrists.

“Just what you need to keep you from being bitten,” she said briskly. “No, don’t throw them away, dears! Put them in your pockets. If all else fails, you can eat the garlic and breathe in the vampires’ faces.”

“Does that repel vampires?” said Tina.

“More like melts their faces off, dear,” said Miss Montague.

“Why does garlic work?” said Daniel.

“Beats the hell out of me, dear,” said Miss Montague. “Presumably the vampires know, but they’re not telling.”

The new bomb turned out to be another flat metal box with just the one button. Only this time it came with a remote control, which Miss Montague handed to Daniel.

“Hit the button on the bomb to activate it, and then hit the remote to set it off. We can’t depend on a timer with this mission. If you’re going to lead the vampires into a trap, only you can decide on the right moment to trigger the explosion.”

“You know about the plan?” said Tina.

Miss Montague smiled sweetly, and fixed Tina with her worryingly bright eyes. “I helped Edward work out most of the details.”

“I didn’t know you and he worked so closely together,” said Tina.

“Oh, we used to be very close, a long time ago.” Miss Montague laughed softly at the look on their faces. “You young people, you think you invented sex.”

Daniel decided he was going to concentrate on the remote control. Just another box with a single button, presumably because you really didn’t want complications when the shit was clogging up the fan. He wanted to ask Miss Montague if she had one with a red button, but he didn’t feel like pushing his luck.

Miss Montague finished up by handing Tina a powerful flashlight, to help them find their way through the dark Underground tunnels, and presented Daniel with a small mirror, so he could quietly check who was and wasn’t human. And then she gave them both backpacks to carry everything in. She stepped back and looked them over critically.

“Allow me to wish you both the very best of luck,” she said. “Because you’re going to need it.”

“So,” said Daniel, after they’d left the armory. “Where now? Back to the tailors, for new outfits?”

“Hell with that,” said Tina, slinging her pack carelessly over one shoulder. “I’m keeping my nice evening dress. It’s lucky.”

Daniel thought about everything they’d been through. “Really?”

“We’re alive, and the Frankensteins aren’t.”

“Do Hydes do superstition?” said Daniel.

“This one does.”

“Then I’m hanging on to my tux,” said Daniel. “If only because it makes me look like James Bond.”

“I am very definitely not a Bond girl,” said Tina. “Modesty Blaise, maybe.”

“I thought she wore a catsuit?”

“Only because she was drawn by a man. I have better fashion sense.”

“All right,” said Daniel. “Where are we going now?”

“According to Edward’s file, to see a vicar about a river.”

They traveled across London on a series of Underground trains. Tina quietly briefed Daniel from the file, while he kept a careful lookout for any vampires who might be traveling with them. Paul’s words had made an impression. The few other people in the carriage all seemed entirely ordinary, but he checked them out with his concealed mirror anyway, just in case. None of them paid any attention to what Tina was saying, because everyone minds their own business on the Tube.

“Can’t I just read the file for myself?” said Daniel.

“No,” said Tina. “This is my file. Edward gave it to me. Now pay attention . . . There are lost rivers that run underneath London. Once they coursed through the heart of the city, part of its everyday trade and commerce, but now they’re built over and largely forgotten. One of them is the River Fleet. We are going to visit the source of that river, where a vicar is waiting to bless it for us so that all the waters of the Fleet will be holy.”

“Hold everything and blindfold the horses,” said Daniel. “Edward Hyde has a vicar working for him?”

Tina looked at him pityingly. “He has all sorts of people on his books, from all walks of life. Because he never knows when they’ll come in handy. Some are bought and paid for, and some he blackmails or intimidates into doing their bit.”

“That sounds like Edward,” said Daniel. “How many of these people have you actually met?”

“Just the ones Edward wanted me to work with,” said Tina. “He only ever tells people what he thinks they need to know. Most of what I’ve learned about Jekyll & Hyde Inc. comes from gossiping with the support staff. I’ve been told there are some people who work for Edward because they believe it’s the right thing to do. Making a deal with the devil for a chance to finally get rid of the monsters. They think they’re fighting on the side of the angels.”

“Aren’t they?” said Daniel. “Isn’t killing monsters a good thing?”

“Of course,” said Tina. “I’m simply not sure that’s why Edward is doing it. Does he really strike you as someone who does the right thing for the right reasons?”

“He must have some reason,” said Daniel.

“Maybe it’s professional jealousy,” said Tina, “because he can’t stand the idea of anyone being a bigger monster than he is. Or perhaps he just finds the whole idea of monsters fighting monsters amusing.”

“Wouldn’t surprise me,” said Daniel.

Tina consulted her file again. “The official source for the River Fleet is supposed to be two streams on Hampstead Heath, but according to this, Edward has been able to track down the real source.”

“Amazing, the information that man has,” said Daniel.

“Not really,” said Tina. “People tell him things. He has a very compelling personality, as you’ve seen.”

“Whether they want to or not?” said Daniel.

“Wouldn’t surprise me at all,” said Tina.

They left the train at Paddington Station, and set off through a variety of unofficial passageways until they were deep in the unfinished workings of the long-delayed Jubilee Line Extension. Daniel and Tina descended through increasingly dark and deserted tunnels, in a bobbing pool of light provided by her flashlight. Daniel assumed Tina was following a map in her head, but wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of asking. But even as they moved through one tunnel after another, he couldn’t shake off a slow creeping feeling that they weren’t alone; that something was down there in the dark with them. He stuck close to Tina, straining his eyes against the gloom and his ears against the quiet.

Finally an uncertain flickering glow appeared up ahead, and Daniel and Tina hurried toward it. The low-ceilinged tunnel suddenly widened out into a great open cavern, lit by dozens of candles set everywhere there was a reasonably flat surface. A trickle of water ran across the muddy cavern floor, rising up from some underground spring. The source of the River Fleet. A man in a dark suit and a white dog collar was sitting on a folding stool, drinking hot tea from a thermos. He put it down carefully when Daniel and Tina stumbled out of the dark and into the candlelight, and rose to his feet to meet them.

Tall and more than usually thin, he had a gaunt face and haunted eyes. It was hard to tell whether or not he was pleased to see the Hydes; it seemed like there was simply too much sadness in him to allow for anything else.

“You can call me Mr. Martin,” he said, in a voice so low they had to strain to hear it. “Here to do what’s necessary. You both drank the potion, didn’t you? You have the look. No, don’t bother to introduce yourselves. I don’t care.”

He reached down and picked up a large leather-bound bible from the cavern floor. It looked like it had seen a lot of use. He patted the cover absently, like a man with a faithful dog.

“I find comfort in the Old Testament. Especially when it speaks about the end of the world.”

“Because it offers you hope?” Daniel said politely.

“Because I’m looking forward to it.”

“You are exactly the kind of vicar Edward Hyde would have working for him,” said Tina.

Mr. Martin showed them a brief smile. “Needs must, when the devil has a lease on your soul.”

He opened his bible to where it was marked, and pronounced his blessing on the source of the River Fleet. His voice became louder and more forceful as he spoke the ancient words. When he was done, the trickle of water didn’t appear at all different. He closed his bible, and dropped it carelessly onto the folding stool. He seemed very tired.

“Why are you doing this?” said Daniel.

Mr. Martin looked at him with distant eyes. “They made my wife into a vampire. No warning and no reason; no sign anywhere of God’s will or his great plan . . . or at least nothing I could come to terms with. I had to hammer a stake into my wife’s heart, while she screamed and fought me, just to give her rest.”

“I’m sorry,” said Daniel.

“How could you be? You didn’t know her.” Mr. Martin gestured at the stream he’d blessed. “Drink. You’ll need its protection, where you’re going.”

Daniel and Tina looked dubiously at the muddy water, but Mr. Martin’s gaze was implacable. So they both got down on one knee, cupped some of the blessed water in their hands, pulled pretty much the same face at the smell, and then drank the filthy stuff down as fast as they could manage. When they were finished Daniel felt like doing some serious spitting, but he didn’t want to seem disrespectful. The Hydes got to their feet again, and Mr. Martin nodded slowly.

“That’s it,” he said. “We’re done. Now go and do God’s will . . . or Edward Hyde’s. And finish off as many of the bloodsucking bastards as you can.”

“What will you do now?” said Daniel.

“Wait here, and listen for the sound of the explosion,” said Mr. Martin. “And then, perhaps, I’ll get some rest at last.”

They left him standing there in the unsteady candlelight, with his bible and his thermos and what was left of his faith.

Daniel and Tina trudged steadily on through dark tunnels and deserted workings. The air was cold and getting colder, as they descended farther into the earth. The only sounds were the ones they brought with them: the scuffing of feet and the rustling of clothing. And the occasional muttered curse as they tripped over something, or kicked out at a scuttling rat.

Daniel was still convinced something else was down there with them, following at a safe distance so it could stay out of the light. He didn’t say anything to Tina. He didn’t want her thinking he was jumpy.

They passed through a number of deserted stations that no one used anymore, stepping carefully over rusting rails that hadn’t known a train since the nineteenth century. The advertising posters on the walls offered faded reminders of products no one remembered anymore, like the ghosts of business past. After a while, painted arrows started to appear on the walls, in a variety of colors.

“Could be the vampires,” said Daniel. “Saying: This way to the party.”

“Not necessarily,” said Tina. “They’re not the only things that live down here.”

“Okay . . . ” said Daniel. “What are we talking about, exactly—mole people, survivors of previous civilizations, or dark Wombles?”

“Old things,” said Tina. “From before there was a London. Sleeping away the millennia, waiting for Humanity to disappear. I did some reading on the subject for a previous mission. And learned just enough to make me just a little insecure about being here.”

“I didn’t think Hydes did nervous.”

“They do in places like this. So keep your voice down. We don’t want to wake anything.”

They kept going, until once again a tunnel opened out into a great open space. Tina’s flashlight beam leapt around, illuminating two empty platforms with long-unused rails passing between them. The sign on the wall said Fleet Harbour.

“This is where we’re supposed to be,” said Tina. “The abandoned station next to Albion Square, where the Vampire Clan will already be whooping it up.”

Daniel checked his watch. It was well past midnight. He hadn’t realized how long they’d spent down in the darkness. He looked quickly around him.

“I’m surprised they haven’t set guards here.”

“Why should they?” said Tina. “No one is supposed to know where the gathering is, unless you’ve got an invitation.”

“Written in blood?”

“Almost certainly. Vampires are such drama queens.”

“Do I get to hear the rest of the plan now?” said Daniel.

“It’s really very simple. We attach our bomb to the ceiling. This station was called Fleet Harbour because the River Fleet runs directly above. When the bomb goes off the ceiling will come down, and the blessed waters of the River will fall through. Gallons and gallons of holy water . . . more than enough to destroy all the vampires we’re going to lure here.”

“Simple enough, I suppose, if not particularly straightforward,” said Daniel. “How exactly are we going to persuade the entire Vampire Clan to follow us all the way here from the other station?”

“We’ll just have to do something seriously annoying,” said Tina. “Shouldn’t be too difficult. We are Hydes, after all.” She flashed her light up and down the deserted station. “Once they’re here, there’s nowhere they can go to escape the waters. The River Fleet will fill both of the approach tunnels.”

“How are we supposed to survive?” said Daniel.

“You can hold your breath, can’t you? Come on, help me stick the bomb to the ceiling.”

Daniel craned his neck back, to stare up at the high arching stonework, and then looked at Tina.

“I haven’t seen any ladders anywhere.”

Tina smiled brightly at him. “I’ve been thinking about that. I have an idea.”

Daniel sighed. “I’m really not going to like this, am I?”

“That’s how you know it’s a good idea.”

Tina clambered up onto Daniel’s shoulders, balanced herself carefully, and then stood up straight; but she still couldn’t reach the ceiling, so Daniel had to brace himself while Tina jumped into the air. She slapped the bomb against the curved stone ceiling, and it held. She just had time to hit the activating button before she fell back, and Daniel caught her in his arms. She scowled at him until he quickly put her down.

“Tell me you have the remote control.”

“In my pocket, ready to go,” said Daniel. And then quietly slipped a hand into his pocket, just to check.

“All right! Let’s go find the vampires,” said Tina. “I’ve had some really good ideas on how to annoy them into chasing us.”

“Of course you have,” said Daniel.

It didn’t take them long to make their way from Fleet Harbour to Albion Square station. As they drew nearer they heard a rising clamor of voices. Not the usual sounds of people gathered together, but shouts and screams and a particularly vicious kind of laughter. Like a party in Hell, where someone was always going to be the butt of the joke. Lights spilled into the tunnel mouth, in bursts of clashing hues, as though the gathering couldn’t decide which color scheme to go with, so went with all of them at once. Tina turned off her flashlight and put it away, and they both stopped just inside the tunnel mouth for a cautious look at what they were getting into.

The vampires were partying on one of the abandoned platforms. Hundreds of figures packed tightly together, dancing and gossiping and milling back and forth, with all the vitality of maggots writhing in a corpse. Screams and laughter rose up from the babble of conversation, like bubbles in poisoned champagne. Down here, in the depths, the vampires didn’t have to pretend to be human, and yet still they hid their true nature behind their glamours. Perhaps because they couldn’t stand to see what they really were.

“Okay,” Daniel said quietly. “How do we do this?”

“I was hoping you’d come up with something,” said Tina.

Daniel looked at her. “You’re the one with hands-on experience of monsters. I never even knew vampires were real, until Paul showed up the other day.”

“Outsiders don’t normally get this close to the undead,” said Tina, studying the gathering and trying hard not to grimace. “Not and live to tell of it.”

“What did Edward’s file have to say? He’s the man with the plan.”

“He was a bit short on details.”

“Not to worry,” said Daniel. “We have good reasons to be confident.”

Tina looked at him. “We do?”

“We have special weapons, and we drank the holy water,” said Daniel. “And on top of that, we have one advantage that the vampires don’t.”

“I’d love to hear what,” said Tina.

Daniel smiled briefly. “They’re so powerful, they think they don’t have to be smart. All we have to do is outthink them . . . ”

“Okay . . . ” said Tina. “We’re doomed.”

“Follow me and bluff like crazy,” said Daniel. “Come on, we can do this.”

“Of course. We’re Hydes. And I have every confidence in you.”

“That’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

“Just shows how tense I am.”

They left the tunnel mouth and headed for the party on the platform. Immediately, two figures appeared out of the shadows to block their way. Muscular young men in black leather bondage outfits, proudly showing off the bite marks on their necks. Their faces were very pale, but Daniel was pretty sure that was just makeup. He surreptitiously checked the mirror concealed in the palm of his hand, and the reflection showed they were definitely still human. The guards stretched their mouths in humorless smiles, to show off teeth filed to points. Daniel didn’t wait for whatever challenges or threats they had in mind; he went straight to the password Paul had provided.

“We’re here to see the Beautiful People.”

“Of course you are,” said one of the guards. He lisped a little, around his sharp teeth. “You’re late.”

“We’re extra security,” said Tina. “Checking out the perimeter, after what happened to the Frankenstein Clan.”

The two guards stirred uneasily at the name, and then stepped back out of their way.

“Be welcome to the gathering,” said the speaking guard. “Indulge yourselves in whatever gives you pleasure, but always remember: be respectful to the masters. This is their party, not ours.”

Daniel and Tina strode straight past them, heads held high. Someone had put some wooden steps in place, leading up to the platform, and they were already splashed with blood. Apparently someone had got impatient. A forest of candles set in a tall candelabra shed a diffused glow across the gathering, augmented by colored paper lanterns. It seemed the vampires preferred their illumination old school.

The large crowd milled back and forth, chattering loudly, packed close together as much for mutual support as company. It was easy enough to tell the vampires from their victims: The undead were glamorous creatures, strutting among their conquests like aristocrats of the Pit, their every glance and gesture infused with the arrogance of unchallenged power. But there was still something of the animal about them; of a predator ready to strike out, for any reason or none.

Their clothes came from many times and places, sometimes even different centuries, and the styles clashed like raised voices. Daniel assumed vampires clung to what they remembered from when they were alive and still part of the society they moved through. He wondered how vampires saw the world, now Time no longer had any hold over them. Did fads and fashions just go flashing past, glimpsed in the rearview mirrors of their lives? Things that came and went . . . like their victims.

Daniel studied the undead carefully as they glided back and forth. Impossibly sleek and stylish, they strutted and preened like supermodels on a catwalk in Hell. He couldn’t see any common feeling among them, no sense of family like the Frankensteins. He tried to make out the elders, the ancient nosferatu who ran the Clan, but all the vampires looked the same behind their glamours.

Impossibly beautiful, like works of art that had gone off.

Daniel stayed put at the end of the platform, not ready to join the gathering until he had some idea of what passed for normal behavior. The victims were easy enough to identify; there was nothing glamorous about them. Some had made an effort to dress up for the occasion, but shirt collars had been left open to allow easy access to necks, and the women mostly had bare shoulders. Many of them had fresh wounds, and blood soaked into their clothes from recent feedings.

Men and women of all ages and from all backgrounds, they partied fiercely together, determined to convince themselves they were having a good time. And that being at the vampire gathering was their decision. They drank and ate with eager appetites and babbled loudly to one another, to fill what would otherwise have been an awful silence. There wasn’t any music.

And whenever one of their undead masters passed by, the victims would immediately fall silent and stare at them with pleading eyes, like a junkie hoping their pusher would be kind.

“What’s the point of this gathering?” Daniel said quietly to Tina. “I can’t see anyone here wanting to make speeches or announcements about how well the Clan is doing.”

“It’s all about tradition,” said Tina. “The one thing the vampires have in common with the Frankensteins is a need to show off. To establish status and authority by demonstrating how many slaves they have, or how much power they hold over important people in the world above. It’s all about rank and station, and keeping score. No one knows how to hold a grudge or maintain a feud like vampires who’ve walked the night for centuries.”

Daniel was still studying the victims. Some were half naked, revealing bodies covered with bite marks and scars, as though they needed to show off what had been done to them; proud of what they had endured, and survived. They’d been used and abused by masters who would never give a damn about them, and yet here they were, back for more.

Because only the one who hurts you can make the pain go away.

And all the while the vampires paraded back and forth, inhumanly alluring and impossibly bewitching, strutting and posing like deadly peacocks. And though they made a point of ignoring the imploring looks from their victims, it was obvious they enjoyed being worshipped. Perhaps because they knew they weren’t worthy of it. Daniel strained his eyes against the false faces, trying to see past the glamours; but even though he was a Hyde, he was still human and they so very obviously weren’t.

The Frankenstein Clan was born of the Age of Science. The Vampire Clan had its roots in older, darker times.

And then he made a low, shocked sound and plunged forward, leaving Tina to hurry after him. Daniel shouldered his way through the milling crowd, paying no attention to raised voices or injured looks. Tina glared them into silence in his wake, without even slowing. Daniel finally came to a halt, staring at what was left of Commissioner Alicia Gill.

She was down on all fours, like an animal, with a collar around her throat. Being pulled along by a length of steel chain. Daniel looked at the man holding the other end, and he quickly dropped it and backed away. Daniel checked the mirror in his hand, but the reflection showed that Gill was still human. Naked and filthy, covered in cuts and bruises and bites, her face was almost blank, showing nothing but dumb suffering. Because all the personality had been beaten out of her.

Some of the victims had been pointing and spitting at Gill, laughing and kicking her in the hope of attracting a master’s approval—but they all found other things to do rather than face the anger in Daniel’s eyes.

He remembered Paul saying he made Gill disappear. And that after what Gill had done to them, she deserved everything that happened to her. Daniel had assumed Paul killed her, but apparently that hadn’t been enough. The proud and ambitious Commissioner Gill had been dragged down into the darkness and tormented by both the vampires and their victims, just for the fun of it. No wonder the police couldn’t find her; she wasn’t a part of their world anymore.

Daniel said Gill’s name, but she didn’t react. Tina watched his back, scowling at anyone who even looked like they were getting too close. No one made any objection. Submission to authority had been bitten into them. Daniel knelt down before Gill, putting his face close to hers. She wouldn’t look at him.

“Is that who I think it is?” said Tina. “What would the vampires want with a police commissioner?”

“Someone wanted her silenced, so she couldn’t talk about what happened to me and my friends,” said Daniel. “The vampires were supposed to kill her, but apparently they thought this would be more amusing.” He said Gill’s name again, right into her face . . . and very quietly, she said his name.

“Tell me what I need to know, and I’ll get you out of here,” said Daniel.

“That’s not what we’re here for . . . ” said Tina.

Daniel spun on her. “I need to know!”

Tina nodded stiffly, and Daniel turned back to Gill. “Why did you send us to the Frankenstein chop shop, Commissioner?”

“Told to,” she said, in a voice so harsh he had to concentrate on every word. As though she’d damaged her throat from screaming too much. “Orders. From high up. Don’t know who. They only way, they said, to get past the glass ceiling. Wanted a promotion. Like you.”

“You sacrificed us,” said Daniel.

“Yes. Sorry. So sorry . . . ”

Daniel thought he’d have so much to say when he finally saw the commissioner again, but faced with everything that had been done to her, he really didn’t.

“You keep wanting to rescue people,” said Tina. “But we’re not here to save anyone.”

“I can’t leave her like this.”

“Daniel . . . ” said Gill.

“Yes?”

“Please. Kill me.”

He didn’t argue. Just placed one hand on the back of her neck, and broke it quickly. Her body seemed such a small thing, as it crumpled to the ground. No one around them gave a damn.

There was a time when Daniel would have rejoiced to know that the woman who’d betrayed him and his friends was dead; but now he had a new target for his anger. He rose to his feet and glared at the gathering, and the nearest victims flinched away. They knew a real threat when they saw one. Tina moved in close beside Daniel, and put her mouth next to his ear.

“Don’t even think about saving anyone else. All of these victims are addicts, and I know all there is to know about the power of addiction. They don’t want to be saved, and they’d fight you if you tried. The best we can do is trigger the bomb and release the holy waters, and wash all the suffering away.”

Daniel nodded slowly. “I need to see the vampires die.”

“Technically, you’ve left it a bit late,” said Tina.

They managed a small smile.

A striking female vampire appeared suddenly from out of the crowd, to stand before Daniel and Tina. Dressed to the height of 1920s fashion, she wore the long black dress of the silent screen vamp, complete with hanging beads. Her face had no color at all, and even though her night-black hair was bobbed, it was nowhere near as dark as her eyes. She smiled slowly at Daniel with her pale lips, and he felt his hackles rise. It was like having a shadow turn around and fix you with a dark and hungry look. She swayed a little closer, never once taking her eyes off Daniel.

“You’re not one of us.”

Her voice was deep and sultry, but in a practiced sort of way, as though she’d forgotten what a woman was supposed to sound like. Up close, she smelled of blood and grave dirt.

“We’re security,” said Tina.

The vampire ignored her, holding Daniel’s gaze despite everything he could do to look away.

“I don’t know you,” she said. “But I want you. Come with me, and I will teach you all the pleasures of the night. For as long as you last.”

Daniel tried to say no, but his voice wouldn’t work. A slow cold horror ran through him as he started moving toward her, and found he couldn’t stop. Until Tina grabbed him by the arm and hauled him back, glowering fiercely at the vampire.

“You can’t have him,” she said. “He belongs to me.”

The vampire lashed out at her. Long black fingernails sliced through the air with vicious speed, but Tina had seen that coming and was already somewhere else. The vampire seemed to see her clearly for the first time. Her eyes widened, and her mouth became a vicious snarl.

“Hyde!”

Tina punched her in the mouth with all her strength—and the vampire just stood there and took it. She grinned at Tina, her smile spreading impossibly wide to show off jagged teeth. And while she was busy doing that, Daniel kicked the legs out from under her. The vampire fell to the platform in an ungainly heap, and Tina booted her off the edge.

And just like that, all the noise stopped. Daniel and Tina turned to find all the vampires and their victims standing very still, staring at them with cold and hungry eyes. As though a whole shoal of sharks had just scented blood in the water. The name Hyde moved through the crowd in a whisper, as though the word was an obscenity.

“Okay . . . ” said Tina. “Now what?”

“Don’t say that like this is my fault,” said Daniel.

“You’re the one who flirted with the old bat.”

“She took advantage of me,” said Daniel. “Or at least, I’m pretty sure she would have.”

“Tell me you have a plan,” said Tina.

“Make them hurt,” said Daniel.

Daniel and Tina grabbed the garlic gas grenades out of their backpacks, pulled the pins, and lobbed the grenades into the gathering. Pungent-smelling clouds billowed across the platform and the vampires quickly retreated, choking and howling and covering their faces as best they could. Glimpses came and went of the reality behind the glamours as the vampires’ concentration was disrupted, revealing decaying corpses wrapped in the rotting remains of their grave clothes. They were really nothing more than things that had died and been buried, and then burst out of their coffins to dig their way out of the ground, so they could walk the world again and feast on the blood of the living. Old-time, old-school monsters, with nothing of Humanity left in them. Some of their victims cried out in horror as they finally saw what it was they’d been worshipping.

But the gas clouds were already beginning to disperse, and Daniel realized the station must have hidden extractor fans working, to keep the air fresh for the victims. Most of them had already moved to surround their masters, forming human shields. Some of them produced knives while others had straight razors, but they all looked ready to use whatever they had.

Daniel glanced at Tina. “Why would they bring knives to a party?”

“To get the party started,” said Tina. “It’s always all about the blood, here.”

Daniel tried to feel some sympathy for the victims, but they made it difficult, by being so obviously ready to kill him and Tina, if they could. They had given themselves, body and soul, to their masters; and they loved it. They bared filed-down teeth, and tried to look scary, as though they were the threat instead of their masters. Daniel met the vicious stares and wildly waving blades with a growing anger. The victims were standing between him and his prey, and he would kill them all if he had to. Because it was necessary, and because the choices they’d made disgusted him.

The vampires searched the underground station with their bloodshot eyes, until they were sure there were only two Hydes, and then screamed at their victims to attack. Without a moment’s hesitation, the victims surged across the platform like a pack of maddened animals. They showed no fear of what the Hydes might do to them, perhaps because it was nothing compared to what their masters did to them every night. They crossed the intervening distance in no time at all, and swarmed all over Daniel and Tina.

None of the victims were particularly strong or fast, but there were so many of them they were able to hit the Hydes from every side at once. Punching and kicking, slashing and stabbing with their various blades, desperate to bring the Hydes down. But for all their hate and frenzy, there was no real force to anything they did. Their masters had used them up.

Daniel and Tina struck the victims down with almost casual violence, and bones broke and blood spurted as they fell dead and dying to the platform. The masters had taken so much from them, there wasn’t enough left to hold them together. But even as bodies piled up around the Hydes, the remaining victims kept pressing forward. Because they would rather die than fail the ones who’d made them what they were.

In the end Daniel and Tina killed every single victim, because nothing less would stop them. Even after they’d been struck down, they often crawled forward across the blood-slicked platform, to do what they could. Gripping at the Hydes’ ankles with clawed hands and trying to trip them, to bring them down to their level. Until the Hydes stamped on their heads or broke their necks, in what little mercy they could show.

Finally Daniel and Tina stood together at the end of the platform, not even breathing hard, with blood dripping thickly from their aching fists and dead bodies scattered around them. For all the insane viciousness of the people he’d just killed, Daniel still had it in him to wish there could have been some other way. This wasn’t what he’d come here for. He glared down the platform at the vampires, and they glared back at him, eyes burning like evil stars in their dead faces. The slaughter of their victims hadn’t affected them in the least. Because they could always get more livestock, and because it had been a long time since death had meant anything to them. The last of the garlic gas finally dissipated, and the vampires showed their jagged teeth in slow vicious smiles as they realized nothing stood between them and the Hydes. Long-fingered hands flexed slowly, showing off fingernails grown long and sharp in the grave, and hunger radiated from the undead like a heat haze, hanging heavily on the air.

“Nasty-looking things,” Tina said flatly.

“Parasites usually are,” said Daniel.

Tina took a deep breath, and raised her bruised and bloodied fists. “Let’s finish this, and get the hell out of here.”

“Sounds like a plan to me,” said Daniel. He made an obscene gesture at the watching vampires, and addressed them in a voice thick with contempt. “Come on, then, you bloodsucking little turds, what are you waiting for?”

The vampires surged forward in a solid wave. Their feet made no sound at all, like ghosts in a cemetery. Their mouths were all stretched in the same rictus of rage and malice; not because of what had been done to their victims, but simply because they had been defied. Daniel and Tina waited until the very last moment, and then threw holy water ampules into the nearest vampires’ faces. The creatures screamed horribly and fell writhing to the platform as their features melted and ran away. They put both hands to their faces, as though they could hold them together, but holy water and melting flesh oozed between the fingers. The rest of the vampires just kicked them out of the way, concentrating on their tormentors.

The Hydes had already reached inside their backpacks and brought out the ash-wood stakes they’d been given. They held the stakes out before them, and the vampires slowed their advance, but didn’t stop. Up close, they didn’t look elegant or glamorous anymore. They looked like what they were: animated corpses with burning eyes and mouths packed full of animal teeth. Dead things that stank of the grave and other people’s blood.

The gathering fell on Daniel and Tina like a swarm of rabid bats. There was nothing of grace or style in them, only teeth and claws, inhuman vitality, and the hunger for blood that would never end. Daniel thrust his stake into the first vampire to reach him, slamming it in under the breastbone with all his strength. The moment the wood pierced the vampire’s withered heart, its unnatural body just disappeared, leaving nothing behind but a few ashes floating on the air. Tina staked her first vampire with an elegant upward thrust, and then yanked the stake out again as the vampire collapsed into dust, so she could move on to her next victim. She laughed in the vampires’ faces, and went to her work with a vengeance.

The vampires swarmed all over the Hydes, hitting them from every direction at once, and Daniel and Tina had to draw on all their resources to match the vampires’ strength and speed. Daniel lashed out with his free arm, trying to open up more space to use his stake, but it was like slamming into a stone wall. The vampires took no damage and felt no pain, for they had left all such things behind them, in their graves. There was nothing left of them that could be hurt, except in supernatural ways. Daniel lashed out at the vampires again and again, grunting out loud with the effort he put into driving every blow home, until his hands ached and bled. It didn’t stop the vampires, and the fresh blood just maddened them even more. They forced their way closer, past everything Daniel and Tina could do to defend themselves. Death on two legs, up close and personal.

Daniel forced down a rising sense of panic, as vicious fingernails ripped through his clothes and scored the skin beneath. He could feel the blood trickling down his skin. Vicious teeth snapped together, coming closer and closer to his face and throat. It helped that there were so many of them that they got in one another’s way, and Daniel found he could use that to distract them. He used one vampire to shield him from another, until they turned on each other in flurries of teeth and claws. He plunged his stake into one vampire chest after another, their inhuman forms offering no more resistance than smoke, but he was slowing down as he tired, and the vampires weren’t.

He couldn’t even look around to see how Tina was doing, because he didn’t dare turn his gaze away from the hideous forms that seethed around him. He’d only lasted this long because the vampires were afraid enough of his stake to keep them at arm’s length; but that was all he had, and there were just so many of them.

Finally one vampire darted in under Daniel’s extended arm, avoiding the stake, and went for Daniel’s wrist. The sharp teeth were within an inch of piercing the skin, when the vampire suddenly jerked its head back, hissing and screeching as it smelled the garlic Daniel had smeared there earlier. The vampire broke off and fell back, just as another vampire discovered Tina was protected in the same manner; and just like that the whole gathering was retreating back down the platform. Daniel and Tina slowly lowered their stakes and leaned tiredly on each other, breathing harshly. Their clothes were torn and ragged, and sharp nails had gouged deep wounds into their flesh. Blood spattered down onto the platform, slowing as the Hydes’ wounds healed themselves. The vampires studied them carefully, milling and stirring as the scent of fresh blood called out to them; but still they stayed where they were.

“So,” said Tina, drawing in a great breath of air and then coughing harshly as she inhaled some floating dust. “Are you having a good time, Daniel?”

“I’m keeping busy,” said Daniel, wiping the sweat from his forehead with a ragged sleeve. His arm was so tired it ached just to raise it. “They really don’t like the garlic, do they?”

“We have to hold their attention,” Tina said quietly. “We can’t let them run and scatter. We might never have a chance like this again.”

“We came here to annoy them,” said Daniel. “And I think we’ve made a good start. All we have to do now is infuriate them so much that they’ll chase us wherever we lead them.”

“How are we going to do that?” said Tina? “Call them bad names and insult their dress sense?”

“Leave it to me,” said Daniel. “You head for the tunnel mouth. No, don’t argue. I need you to go first and clear the way. Trust me, I will be right behind you as soon as I’m done.”

Tina looked at him steadily. “You’re not about to do something heroic, are you?”

Daniel smiled. “I have something more practical in mind.”

Tina grinned back at him. “Don’t keep me waiting.”

She jumped lightly down from the platform and onto the rails, and sprinted for the tunnel mouth. Daniel quickly took a step forward, to hold the angry stares of the vampires. He smiled insolently at the gathering, radiating confidence, and they snarled back, confused and wary in the face of a challenge they didn’t understand. They weren’t used to such casual defiance. They could tell Daniel was planning something, but they couldn’t understand what.

Daniel reached inside his shirt, and brought out the silver crucifix on its chain. The vampires flinched, and some turned their faces away. But the cross only had an impact when Daniel thrust it at a particular vampire; the moment he moved on, the cross seemed to lose its power. Or perhaps it just didn’t mean enough to Daniel. He’d always suspected the power lay in the faith behind the cross, rather than the symbol itself. Though Daniel had to admit that standing face-to-face with so much evil was starting to make a believer out of him. He put the crucifix away.

“You’re all just a bunch of cowards,” he said loudly, piling on the contempt. “Tina and I crashed your party, killed all your victims, staked a whole bunch of you . . . and then drove you off with our garlic cologne! Once we get out of here, we’re going to tell everyone that there’s nothing special about you. That you’re all nothing but leeches with delusions of grandeur.”

He turned around, dropped his trousers, and showed his arse to the Vampire Clan. He didn’t look back to check their response, just hauled up his trousers, jumped down from the platform, and ran like hell for the tunnel. He passed two dead guards along the way, lying crumpled on the rails with their necks broken. Tina had been busy. Daniel joined her in the tunnel mouth, and the two of them disappeared into the darkness, following the jumping glare of her flashlight.

And behind came the vampires. The whole Clan, desperate to avenge an unforgivable insult. Their dead feet made no sound at all, and Daniel had to glance back to make sure they’d taken the bait. He didn’t look again. It was like being chased by a tidal wave with teeth. The two Hydes raced through the deserted Underground tunnel, pushing themselves as hard as they could, knowing the vampires were already closing the gap between them. Because the undead never grew tired or ran out of breath; and because they could not stand to be defied by their livestock. It struck at the very heart of what they believed they were.

Daniel and Tina reached Fleet Harbour station only a few moments ahead of the Vampire Clan. Their muscles ached horribly, and their lungs strained to drag in fresh air. They couldn’t hear the vampires behind them, but they knew they were there. They could feel their presence, like a coming storm. Daniel and Tina hauled themselves up onto the platform, clung onto each other for a moment to get their breath, and only then looked back.

The vampires had stopped at the tunnel mouth. They could sense danger. Daniel laughed breathlessly at them, and shot them the finger. Maddened by such continuing defiance, the vampires raced forward. Daniel threw Tina down onto the platform, grabbed hold of a heavy vending machine, and pulled it over on top of them.

“What are you doing?” said Tina, as the weight of the machine pinned them down.

“We don’t want the waters of the Fleet to wash us away,” said Daniel.

She nodded quickly. “Hit the remote control.”

“Got it right here,” said Daniel.

He hit the button just as the first wave of vampires came sweeping over the edge of the platform. The sound of the bomb exploding was painfully loud in the closed space. Jagged cracks shot across the stone ceiling, and then a whole section collapsed as the blessed waters of the River Fleet came crashing in. They thundered down like a mighty falls, a whole river diverted from its usual course and forced to find a new way. Churning waters filled the station from end to end, and rose back up to the ceiling, creating an underwater grotto of dark and muddy waters.

The vampires barely had time to scream before the holy water hit them like the hammer of God. Bodies melted and faces fell apart as a great many walking corpses finally gave up the ghost. A few made it back to the tunnel mouth, but they didn’t get far before the blessed waters overtook them and dissolved them from the legs up. The entire Vampire Clan was reduced to ashes and less than ashes, as the River Fleet swept on.

Daniel had time to see some of that before a great wave of freezing cold water leapt up over the platform. He took the deepest breath he could, and then the Fleet slammed down. After that Daniel couldn’t see or hear anything, and the waters were so cold that soon he couldn’t even feel Tina beneath him. All he could do was lie there, in the dark and the freezing waters, buried alive under a River.

Fortunately, it turned out that Hydes could hold their breath for a very long time.

Eventually the River Fleet drained away through the two tunnels as it found a new course, and the waters receded. The platform reemerged, and Daniel and Tina could breathe again. They were both shivering violently, and it took a moment before Daniel was able to gather enough strength to throw off the vending machine. He rolled away from Tina and lay on his back, breathing in the blessed air and staring up at the great hole in the stone ceiling. Water was still dripping from the jagged edges. In fact, wherever Daniel looked water was dripping from something. He checked his wounds, but they had already healed. His clothes were still a mess. Tina rolled onto her side and glared at him.

“You protected me again! I told you, I don’t need protecting!”

“I’m sorry,” said Daniel. “I was a bit pushed for time. I promise, next time you can protect me.”

“Well,” said Tina. “That’s more like it.”

She kissed him, and they held each other tightly, driving out the cold.

“How very romantic,” said Paul.

Daniel and Tina broke apart and were quickly up on their feet again. The vampire was standing some distance down the platform, half hidden in the shadows. He was still wearing his long coat, which gave every appearance of being dry as a bone.

“Why are you hiding in the dark, Paul?” said Daniel.

“It’s not as dark as my heart,” said the vampire. “You look like a drowned rat, Danny boy.”

Tina scowled at him. “How did you survive the flooding?”

“I got here early,” said Paul. “Stole one of the elders’ coffins and tucked it away somewhere safe. Then all I had to do was stay inside until it was all right to come out. Though the coffin did turn out to be not entirely watertight.”

He moved forward into the light and Daniel could see terrible burns on his face and hands, from where they’d been splashed by the blessed waters.

“Why are you here?” said Tina.

“Unfinished business,” said Paul.

“I know,” said Daniel. “I hadn’t forgotten.”

He produced his wooden stake, but Paul smiled slowly and shook his head.

“I’ve changed my mind.”

Daniel looked into the deep dark eyes of what had been his old friend, and a chill closed around his heart.

“You made me promise . . . ”

“The Clan made me a monster,” said Paul. “But they’re not around anymore. So I’m free to do whatever I want now.”

“You sound . . . hungry,” said Daniel.

“I’m my own man again,” said Paul. “That’s all that matters.”

“But are you a man?”

Paul shook his head slowly. “Low blow, Danny. I’m what I have to be.”

“But you don’t have to be a vampire,” said Daniel. “I can set you free.”

“I already am,” said Paul. “Freer than I ever was, when I was alive. I only popped in to say good-bye, old friend. Give Edward my regards. Tell him . . . I’ll be seeing him.”

“No,” said Daniel. “I can’t let you go, Paul.”

“You never could let go of the past.” The vampire looked at him thoughtfully. “I’m sparing you for old times’ sake, Danny—but don’t push your luck. You’re still only human . . . while I am so much more. And without the vampire elders to hold me back . . . who knows what I’ll become?”

“I can’t let that happen,” said Daniel. “It’s not what my old friend would have wanted.”

“Your friend was murdered. He isn’t around anymore.”

The vampire dropped his glamour, to show what he really was: a rotting corpse, in a coat covered with grave mold and dried bloodstains. Decaying flesh fell away from yellowed cheekbones, and his eyes were like patches of night. His teeth were too large for his mouth, his hands had claws like an animal, and he stank of the grave and all the people he’d killed.

Daniel went forward anyway, stake in hand. Because he’d made a promise, and because he couldn’t leave his job unfinished. Tina was quickly there beside him, a stake in her hand too. Paul just stood where he was, smiling his awful smile, waiting for them to come to him. And then he lashed out with inhuman speed, one hand slamming into Daniel’s chest like a wrecking ball. It smashed all the air out of his lungs, and sent him flying the whole length of the platform. Daniel hit hard, but still scrambled back up on his feet again. Just in time to see Paul slap the stake out of Tina’s hand, take hold of her firmly, and then lower his mouth to her throat.

Daniel raced down the platform. “No! Don’t!”

Paul pressed his teeth against Tina’s throat, but didn’t bite. Daniel crashed to a halt. He knew he’d never reach them in time. Tina stood very still, keeping her gaze fixed on Daniel. The vampire’s teeth were pressing just hard enough to dent the skin over Tina’s jugular, without breaking it. And then Paul pulled his mouth back a little, so he could smile at Daniel.

“I smell traces of garlic, but it would seem the waters have washed most of it away. And while her clothes may be soaked in the blessed River Fleet, my coat will protect me long enough to do what’s necessary. I’ve spent a long time wondering what Hyde blood would taste like.”

Tina back-elbowed Paul in the groin with all her Hyde strength, but he didn’t even flinch.

“I’m afraid that’s just another of the things they took from me. I have to find my pleasures in different ways now.”

“You want Hyde blood?” Daniel said steadily. “Then take mine, instead of hers.”

He threw away his stake and walked slowly forward, holding his right wrist out before him.

“Come on, Paul,” said Daniel. “Make me a vampire too—and then you’ll never have to be alone again.”

The vampire stared at him. “You’d give up your life—for her?”

“For you, old friend.”

“I could take you both.”

“You don’t want her, you want me. You said I could never understand what’s been done to you—so help me understand.”

Paul threw Tina to one side, hard enough to leave her stunned and helpless. The vampire surged forward inhumanly quickly, and his mouth clamped down on Daniel’s outstretched wrist. Daniel gasped once as the sharp teeth pierced his skin, not so much from the pain but because it felt like a violation. He could feel the blood rushing out of him, see a soft red flush filling Paul’s face, giving it the appearance of life. And then Paul jerked his mouth away from Daniel’s wrist and he fell backward, screaming shrilly as all the strength went out of him. His legs collapsed under him and he went sprawling, his face full of a terrible understanding . . . and in just a few moments there was nothing left on the platform but the remains of a body that had died months ago.

“I drank the holy water, Paul,” Daniel said steadily. “And now even my Hyde blood is blessed.”

He wanted to feel sad for his friend. But Paul died long ago. This was just a walking corpse that thought it was Paul. He looked down at the vicious wound in his wrist and winced, but the damage was already repairing itself. Tina came over to stand beside him, and slipped a supportive arm around his waist.

“Did you know that would happen, when you offered yourself to save me?”

“Of course,” said Daniel.

“Liar,” said Tina.

“Let’s just say . . . I hoped. Come on, it’s a long walk back to civilization.”

Tina smiled. “Then let’s take the scenic route this time.”