Jekyll & Hyde Inc.

Chapter Four

AS FIRST DATES GO . . .

“If you’ve finished talking to yourself,” said Edward, “there’s work waiting to be done.”

Daniel looked at him, and then deliberately sat down in his chair again. “I have questions, before I agree to do anything.”

“Really?” said Edward.

He got up and came out from behind his desk again. He sauntered over to Daniel, and kicked the chair out from under him. Daniel fell sprawling to the floor, and then rolled quickly to one side to avoid Edward’s boot, as it went sweeping through the air where his head would have been.

Daniel scrambled back onto his feet, fists raised, and Edward smiled and nodded approvingly.

“That’s more like it. Hydes don’t take shit from anyone. But for now, you take my orders and you don’t argue, because I know what’s going on and you don’t.”

“Like what?” said Daniel, not lowering his hands.

“The Frankenstein Clan is holding its annual gathering right here in London, in just a few hours,” said Edward. “How would you like to go there, and kill every single one of them?”

“Kill them?” said Daniel.

“Does the thought honestly bother you? After everything you saw?”

Daniel remembered bodies strapped to tables with their guts ripped out. Remembered bloody-gowned surgeons bent over a living victim like vultures. Remembered what happened to his friends, and to him . . . But he was strong now. Strong enough to avenge the dead and protect the living. To be the kind of man he’d always wanted to be; the knight in shining armor who slayed dragons. He was ready to take on the Clans, and wade in their blood till every last one of them was dead . . . But just because he’d drunk the Elixir, that didn’t mean he had to be like Edward. He would be Daniel Hyde, the man who made himself a monster to put an end to monsters. He took a deep breath, and slowly lowered his hands.

“I can’t slaughter an entire Clan on my own,” he said.

“Oh, I think I can find someone to help you out,” said Edward. “Can’t let you have all the fun.”

“Hold it,” said Daniel. “The Frankenstein Clan is meeting in London, this evening . . . and I’m told to report here today? I don’t believe in coincidences like that.”

“I’ve been fighting my private war for so long . . . ,” said Edward. “I’ve waded in blood, just to get one inch nearer to my goal. Followed stratagems I knew wouldn’t pay off for generations, just to bring me closer to this moment. You are merely the latest part in a scheme to bring down all the monster Clans.”

Daniel glared back at him, refusing to be impressed or intimidated.

“What would you have done if I hadn’t come to see you? Or if I’d decided not to drink your potion?”

Edward leaned back against his desk. It groaned loudly under his weight.

“In the unlikely event of something not turning out the way I calculated, I do have other irons in the fire. But you seem most likely to approach this task with the proper attitude. I like a man who knows how to hate. So: down to the third floor with you, and make yourself known at door number seven.”

“Who am I meeting?” said Daniel. “Someone who owes you a favor?”

“I own this entire building,” Edward said airily. “The best thing about an extended life like mine is that long-term investments really do pay off. Every office on every floor of this building is a part of Jekyll & Hyde Inc.”

“So this is all just one big front,” said Daniel. “Something for you to hide behind.”

“If you like,” said Edward. “I prefer to think of it as camouflage. All the monster Clans know about me, but they have no idea how big my organization has grown.”

“If you’ve been a thorn in their side all these years, I’m surprised they haven’t tried to do something about you,” said Daniel.

“Oh, they have,” Edward said happily. “I’ve lost count of all the assassins the Clans have sent sneaking in here. But I just kill the killers, eat the bodies, and send whatever bits I don’t fancy back to their Clan in a nice little box tied up with ribbons. Along with a recipe for stew. Now stop cluttering up my office and get your arse out of here. I don’t want to see you again until every member of the Frankenstein Clan has been wiped off the face of this earth.”

“I’m still waiting to hear how I’m supposed to do that,” said Daniel. “Or what a Frankenstein Clan even consists of. Are some stronger than others? Is there some kind of organization? You can’t just send me out there without any information.”

“I’m not. Your partner is waiting behind door number seven,” said Edward. “Along with a detailed plan. And please: no improvising.”

“What if something goes wrong?” said Daniel.

“Then I won’t see you again. Unless the Clan decides to send you back here in a box tied up with ribbons.”

Daniel had time to think, as the elevator descended. The idea of killing Frankensteins lit a definite fire in his heart, but he thought there was a limit to just how much of a monster he was prepared to be. Killing for revenge didn’t bother him at all. Killing to avenge innocent victims—he could get behind that. But slaughtering an entire Clan . . . They couldn’t all be monsters.

The elevator doors opened onto the third floor, and Daniel strode off down the corridor. It occurred to him that it had been a long time since he’d been able to stride. He leapt into the air for the sheer joy of it, and was startled at how close to the ceiling he came. He jumped again, and punched the ceiling with his fist. Great flakes of plaster rained down, and Daniel grinned broadly as he brushed the flakes off his shoulders and then set off down the corridor again. He’d never felt so gloriously alive. Like he could do anything, anything at all, and never have to care about the consequences.

And it didn’t worry him in the least, that the idea didn’t worry him at all.

He finally came to a halt before the right door, and knocked cheerfully.

“What do you want?” said a voice from within.

Daniel blinked a few times. “This is Daniel Hyde?”

“About time,” said the voice. “Get in here. You’re late.”

A great many responses crossed Daniel’s mind, none of them likely to make a good first impression, so he just opened the door and went in. This office was more modern, with stylish furniture, all the latest equipment, and a large, drooping rubber plant in one corner. From off to one side came a series of low thudding sounds, and Daniel turned to see a woman throwing knives at a dartboard. They chunked heavily into the center of the board, each thin blade quivering with the force of its impact. The woman turned unhurriedly to face Daniel, hefting the last knife in her hand.

“Just getting my eye in,” she said.

Daniel nodded, lost for words. At six and half feet tall, the woman was a few inches taller than him, with a physique like a body builder; but she also had the sleek grace of some powerful exotic animal. In her smart business suit and black string tie, she looked seductive and glamorous and extraordinarily dangerous. A great mane of crimson hair cascaded down past her shoulders, her eyes were a fierce green, and her mouth was wide and mocking. And as Daniel stood there, taking it all in, the woman threw her last knife right at his face.

Daniel’s hand snapped up faster than he could think and caught the knife, stopping its point an inch short of his eyeball. He looked speechlessly at the woman, and she grinned back at him.

“Just checking you really are one of us. Nothing personal.”

“A knife to the eye strikes me as about as personal as it gets,” Daniel said coldly. “Please don’t try that again.”

“Of course not,” the woman said reasonably. “Not now. I’ve run out of knives.”

Daniel examined the blade. It was light and slender, with an excellent balance. “Is this what we’re going to use at the Frankenstein gathering?”

“Not unless the plan goes seriously wrong. I am Valentina Hyde; always Tina, never Val. I’ll be your partner in the mass slaughter to come.”

Daniel tucked the knife away in an inside pocket. “I’m still not sure how I feel about that . . . ”

Tina threw herself at him, like a jungle cat going for the throat. Her first punch was so powerful it would have taken Daniel’s head clean off his shoulders if it had connected, but his reactions started him moving the same moment she did, and her fist sailed harmlessly past his cheek. She lashed out with both hands, again and again, but he avoided most of the blows and blocked the rest. She tried a few karate kicks, and he evaded them easily, as though they were both just moving through the steps of a familiar dance.

Daniel finally decided he’d had enough, ducked inside Tina’s reach, and punched her right between the eyes. The blow rocked her back, and while she was off-balance Daniel grabbed her and threw her across the room. She tucked and rolled and was quickly back on her feet again, her eyes full of the light of battle and something else besides. She grinned at Daniel, snatched up a heavy chair and threw it at him. He backhanded it to one side, but while he was busy doing that she picked up the massive oak office desk and brought it slamming down on his head.

The impact alone should have been enough to kill him, but he barely felt it. Daniel punched her in the face again, putting all his weight into the blow. Tina fell back a step, but appeared entirely unhurt. The desk had split in two over Daniel’s head, so she tossed it aside. The two of them surged forward and slammed together, trading punches that would have killed a lesser mortal. And neither of them felt any pain or took any damage. Tina grinned, as she saw him realize that.

“Now you’re getting it,” she said, laughing breathlessly. “This is what it means to be a Hyde.”

She grabbed Daniel with both hands, and he grabbed her, and they wrestled fiercely, both of them using all their strength to try and subdue the other. Tina fought to get in close, her teeth snapping at Daniel’s face, and it took all his strength to hold her off. They raged back and forth across the office, smashing through the furniture and fittings as though they were made of paper. Daniel laughed loudly. He felt like he could do anything, because there was nothing in the world strong enough to stop him. The Elixir had rewritten all the rules in his favor. By the time the two of them finally broke apart they had wrecked everything they touched, and the rubber plant was in tatters.

They ended up standing head to head, so close Daniel could feel her breath beating against his face, and see the sweat running down hers. But he didn’t feel hurt, or even tired. He felt . . . exhilarated. There was a definite sexual charge on the air, an almost overwhelming attraction that was pulling the two of them even closer. Tina laughed at the look on Daniel’s face, and ostentatiously relaxed. She lowered her hands and stepped back, and after a moment so did he.

“I just wanted to be sure you were up to the job,” said Tina.

Daniel was still fighting a desire to get his hands on her, one way or another. He could tell Tina knew exactly what he was feeling, and that it amused her. He breathed deeply, forcing his raging blood down. Because he couldn’t do all the things he needed to do, if he couldn’t control himself.

“Just because I’m a Hyde, doesn’t mean I’m always going to act like one,” he said finally.

“Well,” said Tina. “You’re no fun.”

She turned her back on him quite casually, found a chair that had survived more or less intact, and sat down in the midst of the wreckage. Daniel searched for something to say, couldn’t think of anything, and settled for finding another chair and sitting down opposite her.

“Now we’ve introduced ourselves, I’ll brief you on the mission,” said Tina.

“That would be helpful,” said Daniel.

“We’ll be invading the annual gathering of the Frankenstein Clan. And just to put a smile on your face, we are talking about the entire family, so whoever destroyed your old life will definitely be there. What else do you need to know?”

“Edward assured me there was a plan,” said Daniel.

Tina shrugged. “The plan is simple: go where they are, kill everyone we see, and not get caught doing it.”

A cold rage seethed in Daniel’s heart, at the thought of finally getting his hands on the monsters from the cellar. The sheer strength of the emotion disturbed him, and he had to force it down before he could speak calmly and clearly.

“Will it be just the family at this gathering, or can we expect to run into some of those oversized thugs as well?”

“Each faction in the family runs its own collection of creatures,” Tina said easily. “Patchwork things, pieced together from graveyard leftovers. They act as bodyguards, to protect the factions from each other, and as general servants and security guards. Fortunately, they’re all muscle and no brain.”

Daniel frowned. “Exactly how many people, and creatures, are we talking about?”

“Around three hundred,” said Tina. “Maybe more, if we’re lucky.”

“You really think we can wipe out that many of them on our own?” said Daniel.

“Providing we use a big enough bomb,” said Tina. She laughed at the look on his face. “What did you think we were going to do—march in there and beat them all to death with our bare hands?”

“That does sound like something I’d enjoy,” said Daniel.

“Oh, me too,” said Tina. “But it would be far too time-consuming. And some of them might get away.”

Daniel leaned back in his chair, and studied her thoughtfully. “So, you’re my new partner. You’re not what I was expecting.”

“I know,” said Tina. “You thought I’d be taller.”

“I came here to fight monsters,” said Daniel. “Not act like a terrorist.”

Tina shrugged. “Potato, tomato. Hydes are all about the winning.”

“Question?” said Daniel.

“Ask away,” Tina said generously.

“Why is Edward trusting a newcomer like me with such an important mission?”

“You have more reason than most to hate Frankensteins,” said Tina. “And Edward believes in motivation.”

Daniel nodded slowly. “Do they really all have to die? Are none of them worth saving?”

“Long years of doing favors for those in power have made the Frankensteins untouchable,” said Tina. “And corrupt from top to bottom. The only justice they’ll ever face is what we hand out. Do you have a problem with getting your hands dirty?”

Daniel wasn’t ready to answer that, just yet. “Why is Edward only sending the two of us?”

“Because there aren’t that many Hydes,” said Tina. “Never have been. At present there are nine of us, including you. And everyone else is busy.”

“Why so few?” said Daniel.

“Because the Elixir kills most of the people who take it,” Tina said calmly. “Blows the heart apart like a firecracker in a rotten apple.”

Daniel stared at her. Tina grinned.

“You didn’t know that when you drank it, did you? Not everyone has a Hyde in them,” she said. “The Elixir needs rage and hatred to fuel the change, and the kind of inner strength you only get from seriously motivated people.”

Daniel finally got his voice back. “Why didn’t Edward tell me that, before I drank the potion?”

“You think he cared?” said Tina. “He’s Edward Hyde! He probably thought it was funny. Would it have made any difference if you had known?”

Daniel decided he’d rather talk about something else. “How does Edward know where the Frankenstein Clan holds its annual gathering?”

“He’s been trying to get a hold over someone on the inside for ages,” said Tina. “Unfortunately you have to be family to be a Frankenstein. But just recently one of them approached Edward: a young researcher who’d had the idea of combining the Hyde Elixir with a Frankenstein creation, to produce something new and more powerful. Edward was convinced the Frankenstein wouldn’t be able to resist trying the potion himself, so he only provided a very dilute solution. Just enough to produce a single short-term change. Once the Frankenstein turned back, and wanted more. He was hooked. An addict. He had no choice but to come to Edward—and the price was the gathering’s location.”

“This man betrayed his own family?” said Daniel.

“Never even hesitated. Being a Hyde is very addictive.”

“So,” Daniel said heavily. “Just the two of us, a bomb, and no backup. How dangerous is this going to be?”

“What do you care?” said Tina. “Only a few hours ago you were dying by inches.”

“How do you know that?”

“I’ve read your file. Edward passed it around.”

Daniel winced. “Has everyone read it?”

“Pretty much,” said Tina. “We all enjoy a good laugh. And we like to know who we might be fighting beside. Provided the subject survives the Elixir, of course.”

Daniel decided it was time to change the subject.

“Where are the Frankensteins holding their little jamboree? In a hospital, or an abattoir?”

“In a nice hotel,” said Tina. “Because they like to think of themselves as businessmen. Now pay attention. The whole point of this little get-together is so they can tell each other how successful they’ve been, and show off some of the awful new things they’ve created. The best of them are rewarded with higher status, and the least successful are eliminated. Right there, in front of everyone. It helps keep the rest of family on their toes—and besides, they enjoy it.”

“Do we know where to look for them?”

“They’ve taken the entire penthouse floor for themselves. So, no innocent bystanders to worry about. Not that I ever do.”

“And how long have we got, before this gathering begins?” said Daniel.

“Oh, hours,” said Tina. “More than enough time to get you ready.”

“I am ready,” said Daniel.

“Not even close,” said Tina. “To start with, you’re going to need a whole new outfit if we’re to look the part and infiltrate the hotel unchallenged.”

Daniel nodded reluctantly. “Edward said he owned every part of this building. Does he have his own personal tailors here?”

“Being this big means we always have trouble finding clothes,” said Tina. “So it only made sense to bring the rag trade in-house. They have their own little cubbyhole, down on the first floor.”

Daniel nodded. “I suppose it’ll make a nice change from plainclothes.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” said Tina.

The tailors turned out to be two grim-faced figures in long-tailed morning suits that made Daniel think of undertakers. Their long and gloomy office was packed full of cloth samples, rails of ready-made clothes, and dummies in half-finished suits standing shoulder to shoulder like watchful guardians. Daniel had barely stepped through the door before the tailors swarmed all over him, measuring everything with flying tape measures. Tina left them to it, disappearing into the rear of the office.

The tailors finally fell back and conferred briefly, before reaching into the rails and bringing out a tuxedo. They thrust it into Daniel’s arms, and then disappeared silently into the shadows. Daniel looked around. There didn’t seem to be any changing room, so he just stripped off his old clothes and dropped them self-consciously on the floor. He took a moment to admire his amazing new body, and then put on the tuxedo and studied himself in a standing mirror.

He couldn’t help but smile, as the James Bond theme played in his head. The tuxedo was stark black and white and fitted perfectly, with an almost indecent snugness. A blood-red bow tie added a touch of color. His reflection winked at him. Daniel pretended he hadn’t seen that. He was still struggling with the bow tie when Tina reappeared, wearing a long burgundy evening dress with wide slits in the sides, rising all the way to the hip. Daniel couldn’t help but stop and stare.

“Very elegant,” he said. “But perhaps just a bit drafty?”

“Sleek and stylish and yet and at the same time entirely suitable for mayhem,” Tina said briskly. “What are you doing with that tie?”

“It keeps fighting back,” said Daniel.

He stood very still as Tina moved in to tie it for him. He half expected her to try and strangle him with it, but her fingers were quick and surprisingly gentle. She finally stood back to look him over and nodded, satisfied.

“You’ll do.”

Daniel glowered at the shadows the tailors had vanished into. “How much is all of this going to cost us?”

“Edward pays for everything,” said Tina. “Though given the structure of Jekyll & Hyde Inc., I’m pretty sure a lot of the time he’s paying himself.”

“All right,” said Daniel. “Where now? To the armory, to pick up the bomb?”

“That’s already waiting for us, down in the lobby,” said Tina. “All we have to do is smuggle it into the gathering, hit the timer, and retire immediately to a safe distance. What could possibly go wrong?”

“I could make out a list, if you like.”

“I have done this before,” said Tina.

“I won’t ask,” said Daniel.

“Best not. Come on; once we’ve picked up the bomb we’ve time for a few drinks, at this nice little bar I know.”

Daniel looked at her. “You want to take a bomb into a bar?”

“Best way to get served,” said Tina.

Daniel considered his tuxedo, and her evening gown. “Won’t we seem a little overdressed?”

“Trust me,” said Tina. “Where we’re going, no one will give a damn.”

The bomb had been placed in a pleasantly anonymous tote bag, and then left standing not all unobtrusively by the lobby’s front door. Tina glanced inside the bag, picked it up, and slung it casually over her shoulder.

“Before you ask: yes, the bomb is quite definitely big enough. Don’t ask me what it is, or how it works. In a world of vampires, werewolves, and Hydes, a small but insanely powerful bomb is only a minor miracle.”

“But what about the blast radius?” said Daniel. Trying to sound like he knew what he was talking about.

“It’s a shaped charge,” Tina said patiently. “All we have to do is put it in position underneath the penthouse floor, and the blast will rise up and take out the entire Frankenstein gathering.”

“Won’t that be a bit hard on the hotel?” said Daniel.

“The owners know who they’re in business with,” said Tina. “So really, they have it coming.”

“I think I’m more concerned with how this bomb was just dumped by the door,” said Daniel.

“No one gets into the building unless we want them to,” said Tina. “There are cameras everywhere.”

Daniel frowned. “I didn’t see any.”

“That’s rather the point,” said Tina. “The best security is the kind you never see coming. Now let’s go; and try not to bump into me while we’re walking down the street.”

Daniel opened the door for her. “Could we go back to my original idea, about beating the entire Frankenstein Clan to death with our bare hands? It seems so much safer.”

“If you don’t stop whining, I will beat you ever the head with this tote bag,” Tina said severely. “Stop thinking so small! You’re a Hyde now!”

“Lead me to this bar,” said Daniel. “I feel in need of a whole bunch of drinks.”

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

The Frog and Princess turned out to be a hole-in-the-wall affair, with far too much character for its own good. Underlit and more than a bit rough, the bar was surprisingly full for the time of day. With the kind of drinkers Daniel just knew it wouldn’t be wise to turn your back on.

“What is this?” said Daniel. “Happy hour?”

“Not even a little bit,” said Tina.

She barged unceremoniously through the crowd to get to the bar, and everyone competed to see how quickly they could get out of her way. Daniel wandered along behind her and noticed that people were giving him plenty of room too. It might have been the tuxedo—or the touch of Hyde in his face. The bartender recognized Tina immediately, and looked like he wanted to hide behind something.

“Don’t start whimpering,” said Tina. “You know I hate that. It’s not like anything’s even happened yet.”

“It will,” said the bartender. “You’re here.”

“Give me a bottle of brandy and two glasses,” said Tina. “Then batten down the hatches. It’s going to be a stormy afternoon.”

The bartender quickly produced the brandy and the glasses, and pushed them toward her.

“And I’d only just got the place looking nice again, after the last time you were here . . . The brandy is on the house, and I am now off to lock myself in a toilet cubicle and sob bitter tears until it’s safe for me to come out again.”

Tina grabbed the bottle and nodded for Daniel to pick up the glasses. She turned her back on the rapidly departing bartender and headed for an empty table.

“What was he so upset about?” said Daniel, doing his best to keep up.

“Treat them mean, to keep them keen,” Tina said cheerfully. “He loves it, really.”

She dropped into her chair and dumped the tote bag on the floor, ignoring Daniel’s wince. He took his time sitting down opposite her, just to show he was his own man, and set the glasses down between them. Tina filled both glasses to the brim, gulped the brandy down, and immediately refilled her glass. Daniel sipped his drink carefully, and looked away from Tina to study the other people drinking in the bar. It seemed safer.

“Why is everyone watching us?”

“They all love it when a Hyde turns up,” said Tina. “Means a good time is guaranteed for all.”

“Then why do they all look so angry?”

“They’re just playing hard to get.”

“I’d feel better if we were preparing for our mission,” said Daniel.

“We are,” said Tina. “We are getting ourselves in the right mood, and girding our loins for battle. I do so hate an ungirded loin. And I thought we might use the time to get to know each other a little better.”

“You’ve read my file,” said Daniel.

“That’s who you used to be,” said Tina. “You’re someone else now.”

Daniel shook his head firmly. “I’m still me.”

“It’s cute that you think that,” said Tina. She belched, and scratched her ribs unself-consciously. “Try to keep up, Daniel. All the hidden dreams and desires that you’ve spent your entire life suppressing have been let out of their cages. Rejoice! You can do anything you want now, and you will. Get some of that brandy inside you; it’ll help cushion the shock.”

“We’re going to be working soon,” said Daniel, not hiding his disapproval as Tina poured herself a third glass of brandy.

“Hydes can handle their drinks,” said Tina. “We can indulge all our appetites, and never have to pay the price.”

Daniel looked at her. There had been something in the way she said that . . .

“What kind of person were you, before you drank the Elixir?”

Tina’s voice was suddenly quiet and reflective. Her gaze was far away, lost in yesterday, as though she was looking at someone else’s life.

“I was a party girl,” said Tina. “The legendary good time had by all. I came from a nice, respectable family, with all the comforts and everything to live for—so of course I couldn’t wait to throw it all away. I ran off to London the first chance I got, and less than a year later I was dying by inches, just like you . . . except I did it to myself. And then Edward happened to be around when I started a fight in a club, and he saw something in me.”

“He offered you the Elixir?”

Tina snorted loudly. “I grabbed it out of his hands. Couldn’t wait to be somebody else.”

“Did you know it could kill you?”

“I didn’t ask; but I wouldn’t have cared. I was a drunk, a junkie, and riddled with so many STDs I was a danger to be near. Now look at me. I’ve been fighting Edward’s war for ages—not for any cause, or because I’m grateful to him. It’s just so much fun.”

“Does Edward know that?”

“Who knows what goes through that old gargoyle’s mind? He probably does. Probably thinks it’s funny. And a very suitable attitude for a Hyde.”

“Have you killed many people?”

“Not people, Daniel. Monsters.”

Daniel must have looked like he doubted her, because she leaned forward and fixed him with a cold stare.

“I have hammered a stake into a vampire’s chest, and cut a werewolf’s throat with a silver knife. I once beat a Frankenstein surgeon to death with my bare hands, because he wouldn’t say he was sorry for what I’d caught him doing to a child with a scalpel. You only think you know what monsters can do. Before this, Edward used me as his private assassin, to take out targeted individuals who might have got in the way of his plans. Now he’s finally unleashed me on the Clans—and I couldn’t be happier.”

Given what they were planning, Daniel supposed he should find that reassuring, but he wasn’t sure that he did. He looked round the bar again. All the other customers had given up even pretending to drink or talk to each other and were looking steadily at Daniel and Tina, as though they were waiting for something to happen. Daniel drank some more brandy. It didn’t help.

“How much longer, before we can go after the Frankensteins?”

“There’s plenty of time,” said Tina. “More than enough to let off a little steam.”

She took a firm grip on the brandy bottle, leaned back in her chair, and looked challengingly around the bar. A man at the next table grinned at his friends, caught Tina’s eye, and raised his voice to make sure she heard him.

“Will you look at that? They’ll let any kind of trash in here, these days. I know what you are, sweetheart, and what you need. So why don’t you come over here and get down on your knees, where you belong?”

His friends laughed loudly, and then they all leered at Tina, daring her to do something.

Daniel set his glass down and started to get up, but Tina was already on her feet. She sauntered over to the next table and smiled down at the man who’d made the remark. And then she smashed the bottle over his head with such force that his face was slammed down into the table. The bottle broke, blood flew on the air, and the man didn’t move again. One of his friends jumped to his feet, shouting obscenities, and Tina rammed the jagged end of the bottle into his face and twisted it. He fell back, screaming, his face a horrid mess.

The other men overturned the table in their eagerness to get to Tina, but she just stood her ground, grinning. She punched one man in the face with such force that all his bones shattered, back-elbowed another in the throat, and then picked up the discarded table and hit the others with it, sending them flying.

Daniel took his time getting to his feet. Tina seemed to have matters comfortably in hand.

More men came charging forward, from all over the bar, and Tina laughed happily as she went to meet them. Facing overwhelming odds, and not giving a damn. Tina struck men down and trampled them underfoot, a vicious Valkyrie in an elegant evening gown, and no one could stand against her. Though that didn’t stop an awful lot of men from trying.

More patrons joined in, on both sides, and just like that everyone in the bar was fighting everyone else. Blood flew, people crashed this way and that, furniture was broken up to provide improvised weapons—and Daniel finally understood what everyone had been waiting for.

Tina took on anyone who came within reach, laughing out loud with uncomplicated enjoyment. Daniel finished the brandy in his glass, and made his way unhurriedly through the seething mob to guard Tina’s back. Fists came flying at him from all directions, but he didn’t even bother to dodge them. They might have been ghosts, for all the effect they had. He was a Hyde now, and nothing in the everyday world could hurt him anymore. At first he only hit people who got in his way, but after a while he developed a taste for it, and hit hard enough to break bones and smash in faces—because they all looked like the kind who deserved it.

The man who once needed a cane to walk now broke chairs and tables over people’s heads, and laughed as he did it.

Daniel and Tina Hyde fought back to back, and no one could stop them from doing anything they liked to anyone they didn’t like. Daniel threw one particularly annoying man through a plate-glass window and, not to be outdone, Tina threw another through a door that was closed. In the end, the remaining combatants realized they would have to clamber over the bodies of the fallen just to reach the two Hydes, and that seemed to sober them up. They turned away, and rushed for the hole in the wall where the front door used to be. Daniel and Tina were left standing alone, surrounded by the battered and the unconscious.

Tina produced a delicate handkerchief from somewhere about her person, and set about cleaning the blood off her hands. Daniel checked his own hands, and found they weren’t even bruised. Tina saw him frowning.

“Don’t worry. Edward will pay for the damages and the surgeries. He always does.”

“This has happened before?” said Daniel.

“I told you: Hydes come in here all the time. All nine of us.”

“Then I’m amazed anyone else does.”

“They love it,” said Tina. “All the local villains and hard cases turn up regularly, just so they can test themselves against us. Make no mistake, these people we just fought were bad men. They were looking for a fight, and would not have responded to reason.” She put away her handkerchief. “Time we were on our way.”

Daniel checked his tuxedo, but it seemed to have survived the brawl without any damage or bloodstains.

“You look fine,” said Tina.

“You too,” Daniel said generously.

“Don’t I take you to the best places?” said Tina.

Daniel looked sharply at her, as the penny dropped. “This was an audition, wasn’t it? To see how I’d do.”

“To make sure you had a taste for it,” said Tina. “And of course you do. You’re a Hyde.”

Daniel started to say something, and then stopped. Because Tina was right. She smiled at him happily.

“Let’s go kill a whole bunch of Frankensteins.”

“Can we pick up the bomb first?”

“Perfectionist.”

Tina summoned a taxi by pulling her dress back to show an awful lot of thigh. A black cab screeched to a halt right in front of them, and they climbed in. The back seat was barely big enough to hold both Daniel and Tina, and they had to lower their heads to keep from banging them on the roof. Tina instructed the taxi driver on where to go, and he took one look at them in his rearview mirror and decided he wasn’t in the mood for conversation.

One extremely rapid journey across London later, the taxi slammed to a halt outside a very elegant hotel. Tina was first out of the cab, not even glancing back. Daniel paid the fare, added a grudging tip, and then asked the driver for a receipt.

“What are you doing?” said Tina.

“I want my expenses reimbursed.”

“Stop thinking like a policeman,” said Tina. “If you want your money back, take it off the bodies of some dead Frankensteins.”

The taxi driver threw his cab into gear and accelerated off into the traffic. Daniel didn’t blame him. He took his first good look at the hotel, and winced internally. It all seemed very grand.

“How are we going to sneak in?” he said. “Find a side door, or a servants entrance?”

“Hydes don’t sneak,” said Tina.

“But there’s a doorman. In a uniform. And a top hat.”

“Then he’d better not get in our way,” said Tina. “Or I will knock him down and walk right over him.”

In the end, the uniformed doorman bowed politely and opened the door for them. Daniel put it down to the tuxedo and the evening gown. The huge hotel lobby was brightly lit, welcoming in an overpowering sort of way, and packed with rich and important-looking people. The kind who were probably born looking elegant and feeling entitled.

Daniel squared his shoulders and strode forward, and the crowd just naturally parted to let him through. Tina strolled along beside him, taking the various admiring glances as her due. Daniel was surprised to find he got a few looks too, and did his best to act as though that was entirely normal. When they reached the elevators at the rear of the lobby, Daniel hit the call button with a flourish. The doors slid open, and he and Tina stepped inside. An elderly couple dressed to the nines went to join them, but Tina gave them a look and they decided to wait for the next one. She hit the button for the floor under the penthouse level, and the doors closed.

Daniel allowed himself to relax a little, and tugged at his bow tie to loosen it.

“Leave it alone,” said Tina, not even looking at him. “It’s fine.”

“I can’t believe we got in so easily,” said Daniel.

“It’s all about looking the part,” said Tina. “Now all we have to do is place the bomb where it needs to be, and it’s good night, sweetheart for the entire Frankenstein Clan.”

“You really think it’s going to be that easy?” said Daniel.

“Edward has been planning this for longer than you and I have been alive,” said Tina. “Trust the man.”

Daniel looked at her. “Trust Edward Hyde?”

“Trust him to know what he’s doing.”

Daniel nodded slowly. “I would have liked to watch the Frankensteins die.”

“You see?” said Tina. “You were born to be a Hyde.”

“No,” said Daniel. “I was made one.”

The elevator doors chimed politely and Daniel braced himself for enemy action, but when the doors slid open the corridor was empty. He gestured for Tina to stay where she was, and stepped cautiously out of the elevator to look around.

“No guards, no security presence,” he said quietly. “Where is everybody?”

“The Frankenstein Clan booked the whole of this level as well as the penthouse, to ensure their privacy,” said Tina, with something very like patience. “It’s off-limits to everyone else. Is it all right for me to come out now? Because I’m going to.”

Daniel scowled up and down the corridor. “There must be some kind of security. Surveillance, armed guards, regular patrols . . . ”

“A hotel like this has all kinds of security,” said Tina. “But it’s been shut down on both of these floors. Because the Frankensteins don’t want the rest of the world to know what they get up to. All the systems have been rerouted to the Clan’s own security center on this floor, so they can keep an eye on things. Thanks to our inside man, the one Edward has been paying off with weakened Elixir, we know where the center is. All we have to do is go there, and put it out of action.”

“So someone is watching us, right now,” said Daniel.

“And probably wondering why we’re standing around,” said Tina, just a bit pointedly. “Let us go and enlighten them, in a sudden and violently overwhelming way, so we can be about our business.”

She started off down the corridor, and Daniel moved quickly to join her.

“How are we supposed to find this center? Do you have a map, or hotel satnav on your phone?”

“Edward showed me a map earlier,” said Tina. “I memorized it.”

Daniel looked at her. “You can do that? Because you’re a Hyde?”

“No, because I’m a woman with enough sense to think ahead. Try to keep up.”

She increased her speed, and Daniel had to hurry after her. He was getting a little tired of always having to play catch-up. Not because he wanted to be in charge, necessarily, but because he didn’t like feeling he was the only one who didn’t know what was going on. He scowled at Tina’s unresponsive back. He couldn’t help remembering that the last time he’d followed someone’s orders blindly, it hadn’t worked out too well.

He also remembered Nigel saying, If you can’t see the patsy in the deal, it’s you.

Two corridors and a sudden left turn later, they were standing outside a door with a surveillance camera set above it, regarding them suspiciously with its unblinking red eye. Tina smiled and waved.

“What are you doing?” said Daniel.

“I’m being intriguing,” said Tina, still smiling at the camera. “I can’t just break the door in because it’s probably alarmed, so I have to fascinate the guards into opening the door for us.”

“You really think they’re going to do that?”

“Of course. They might be Frankensteins, but they’re still men.”

There was the sound of several locks disengaging, and the door started to open. Tina kicked it hard and the door slammed all the way back, knocking the guard off-balance. Tina surged forward, and knocked the man cold before he could react. Daniel saw another guard reaching for an alarm, but he’d started moving the same moment Tina had, and was in the room and upon the guard before he could get anywhere near the switch. He hit the guard once, and he collapsed. Daniel looked quickly around the control room, but there was no one else on duty.

A long row of monitor screens showed what was happening on both floors. Daniel looked for a way to shut them down.

“Don’t,” Tina said immediately. “If the systems stop working, that will sound an alarm.”

Daniel nodded, and checked the screens carefully.

“I’m not seeing the gathering anywhere.”

“No cameras allowed at the big beanfeast,” said Tina. “What happens at the Frankenstein gathering stays at the gathering.”

“How do you know all these things?” said Daniel.

“I told you, Edward has been planning this for ages. And he’s had me rehearsing this raid for months. Apparently, we were waiting for you. Or someone like you.”

“All right,” said Daniel. “What do we do?”

“Kill the two guards, and leave the system to run itself. It can watch what it likes so long as there’s no one here to react to what it sees.”

Daniel looked at the unconscious guards. “Kill them?”

“You’re the one who wanted to beat the whole Frankenstein Clan to death with your bare hands,” said Tina.

“I didn’t mean in cold blood.”

“Then think of what they did, to you and your friends,” said Tina. “And all the other people the Frankensteins have preyed on. See if your blood is still cold.”

Daniel remembered the cellar under the bookstore. The blood and the bodies, and the horror of it all. His hands closed into fists, but he still couldn’t move. Tina sighed impatiently, and stamped on the guards’ necks. The sound of vertebrae breaking was very loud in the quiet.

“You’d better toughen up, Daniel; because if you don’t the monster Clans will eat you alive.”

Daniel looked at the two dead guards. He wanted to think that because they were Frankensteins, they must have done something to deserve this. But that was still a step too far. He looked steadily at Tina.

“Is this what it means, to be a Hyde? To kill without caring?”

“No. It means you care enough about the victims to kill the people who need killing.”

“Where do we have to go, to set the bomb?” said Daniel.

“The Clan will be whooping it up in the main banquet hall. We have to locate the room directly underneath it.”

“And you know where that is?”

“Of course.” She lightly tapped her head. “It’s on the map.”

Tina made her way confidently through the maze of corridors, only to stop abruptly when they rounded a corner and came face-to-face with two large gentlemen in hotel uniforms who moved quickly to block their way.

“Sorry, Sir and Madam,” said the larger of the two, though he didn’t sound particularly regretful. “This floor has been reserved for a private function. Unless you have invitations . . . ”

“Of course we do,” said Tina, smiling brightly. “I’ve got mine right here.”

She stepped forward and kicked him in the balls so hard his whole body lifted up off the floor. While the other guard was gaping at that, Tina punched him out. Both men were unconscious by the time they hit the floor, and probably grateful for it.

“Are they Frankensteins?” said Daniel.

“No, just hotel flunkies moonlighting for cash in hand.”

“What do we do with them?”

“Leave them,” said Tina. “We don’t kill innocent bystanders unless we have to. This is a private war.”

She set off down the corridor. Daniel looked at the unconscious bodies, and told himself he didn’t give a damn. He was a Hyde. But he still stepped carefully around them as he hurried after Tina and moved quickly in beside her.

“I thought we’d be a little more subtle,” he said. “Given that we’re taking on an entire Clan and its security people.”

“Hydes aren’t built for subtle,” said Tina.

“I noticed that,” said Daniel.

A brisk walk and several sharp turns later, Daniel and Tina had to stop again because the way ahead was completely blocked by even more very large men in hotel uniforms. Given the sheer size of them, Daniel had no doubt they were Frankenstein creations. They stood shoulder to shoulder, blocking the corridor from wall to wall. There was something inhuman, unnatural, about the way they held themselves; as though they weren’t properly put together. Or perhaps because they no longer remembered how to stand like people. Their faces were blank, and Daniel only had to look at their eyes to know there was nobody home. They were just machines made out of meat, waiting to be told to do something awful.

“Do we kill them?” Daniel said quietly.

“I like the way you’re thinking, but no,” said Tina. “We don’t want to give away our presence this early. All we have to do is tell them to go be somewhere else in a loud and confident voice, and they’ll do it. They’re conditioned to obey authority figures.”

She strode right up to the hulking creatures and snapped out her order—and they immediately turned and stomped off down the corridor. Apart from one, who stood his ground and started to say something. Tina punched him so hard his entire face collapsed, and her fist buried itself so deep in his head it took her two hard jerks to get it out again. The dead man collapsed, while Tina shook blood and gore from her hand.

Daniel stared at the terrible damage she’d done, and didn’t know what appalled him the most: that Tina was so easy about it, or that he was already thinking how good it would feel to do something like that to a Frankenstein.

“From now on, anyone we encounter will either be a part of the Clan, or one of their creatures,” said Tina. “You can’t hesitate, Daniel, or they’ll kill you. And you know what they’d do to you after that.”

“I remember,” said Daniel. “I still have nightmares about what I saw.”

Tina looked at him. “You’re going to have to let go of that cellar eventually.”

“Yes,” said Daniel. “But not yet.”

When they finally reached the right room, Tina had a key. Daniel didn’t ask. There was a limit to how much smugness he was prepared to put up with. She strode straight in, and after a quick look back down the corridor, Daniel went in after her. The room seemed pleasant enough, with lots of comfortable furniture. It didn’t look like it deserved what was about to happen to it. Tina reached into her tote bag, and Daniel watched interestedly as she brought out a simple metal box. No control panel, no flashing lights, just a single activating button. Daniel felt obscurely disappointed that it wasn’t red.

“Fetch me a chair,” said Tina. “I need to attach this to the ceiling.”

Daniel brought her a chair. Tina stepped up onto it, and pressed the box hard against the ceiling. It stuck there quite happily when she took her hand away. She pressed the button firmly, and climbed down again.

“The timer was preset for sixty minutes. More than enough time for us to get far, far away, before it blows the lid off the hotel.”

And then they both looked round sharply, as the door behind them slammed open and a tall, Aryan superman type burst in. Blond and blue-eyed, he was wearing an Armani suit and a desperate expression. Tina’s hands closed into fists and she started forward, but the newcomer was already holding out both hands beseechingly.

“Please, you must listen to me! I’m Peter Frankenstein, Edward Hyde’s inside man.”

Tina stopped reluctantly and glared at him. “You were given strict instructions not to come anywhere near this hotel! Oh to hell with it; someone as stupid as you doesn’t deserve to live.”

She started forward again, but Daniel grabbed her arm. “Let’s hear what he has to say.”

Tina threw off his hand, shrugged reluctantly, and then scowled at the newcomer.

“Well? What do you want?”

Peter lowered his hands, but not before Daniel realized they were shaking. The Frankenstein looked genuinely scared at being so close to two Hydes, but he made himself meet their gaze steadily.

“Something awful is going to happen at the gathering. I need you to put a stop it. The family’s gone too far, this time . . . ”

He broke off, unable to continue. Daniel looked at Tina.

“What could do that to a Frankenstein?”

“Have to be something pretty appalling,” Tina admitted grudgingly.

“Talk to us, Peter,” said Daniel. “What is it that’s going to happen at the gathering?”

The Frankenstein had to swallow hard before he could say anything.

“I wanted to use the Hyde Elixir Edward provided to make new creations that were stronger and more capable of following orders. But I wasn’t getting anywhere, so I handed the process over to my superior in the family, telling him I’d bought a dose of the diluted potion on the black market. And somehow he made it work. A whole new kind of creation . . . It’s going to be presented at the gathering, as their latest triumph. Please, you have to do something! I’ve seen it . . . Not dead or alive, but trapped somewhere in between. Frankensteins are one thing. They are idiotic brutes, but they are alive in some manner, like animals. This is not. It’s a walking corpse that thinks it’s alive, a ghost in the machinery of man. Just aware enough to know that it shouldn’t exist . . . ”

“I say we kill this fool, and get the hell out of here,” said Tina.

“No,” said Daniel. “He risked a lot, coming here.” He turned to the Frankenstein and nodded at the door. “Leave this to us. We’ll deal with it.”

Peter looked at him steadily. “I didn’t betray my family for a taste of the Elixir. I never touched it. I had to turn against them because they betrayed everything we were supposed to be. We dedicated our lives to defeating death, not creating a better kind of slave.”

He turned abruptly and left the room. Daniel looked at Tina.

“Does he know about the bomb?”

“Of course not,” said Tina. “We couldn’t risk him warning the Clan.”

“We need to check this out.”

“Give me one good reason.”

“Because this new creation is part Hyde—and it’s suffering.”

“The bomb will kill it, along with the Frankensteins,” said Tina.

“I want to rescue it,” said Daniel.

“Why?” said Tina. “Because you couldn’t save your friends from what happened in the cellar?”

“Maybe,” said Daniel. “I won’t know till we get there.”

Tina sighed heavily. “All right! We’ll take a look. It will be a thrill to race against the bomb’s timer. But I’m not promising anything.”

“Of course not,” said Daniel.

They ran all the way up the stairs to the penthouse level, because the elevator was bound to be guarded, but neither of them was short of breath when they got to the top. Daniel eased the swing door open, and took a good look around the empty corridor. Tina shouldered her way past him.

“You have got to get over this protective nonsense.”

Daniel stepped cautiously out into the corridor to join her.

“How much time do we have?”

“Not enough. Let’s get moving.”

“You know the way?”

“The layout on this floor should be the same as the one below.”

“What if it isn’t?”

“One more question out of you that I don’t like, and I will punch your head through a wall.”

Daniel sniffed. “Probably your idea of foreplay.”

She smiled briefly. “Don’t distract me.”

They moved quickly through the empty corridors. There was no sign of life anywhere, and all the doors were firmly closed. The constant silence was starting to grate on Daniel’s nerves when Tina stopped suddenly, and gestured at the corner ahead.

“We have to pass the main elevator to get to the banquet hall,” she said quietly. “Which means we’re going to have to deal with whoever or whatever is guarding it.” She gave Daniel a hard look. “No mercy, and no holding back. Do you have a problem with that?”

“No,” said Daniel. “Let’s just concentrate on the life we’re saving.”

“Why are you so determined to save this new Frankenstein creature?” said Tina.

“Because I need to believe I’m not just a killer,” said Daniel. “That I’m only doing this to save innocent lives.”

“Hydes don’t do sentiment,” said Tina.

“This one does,” said Daniel.

“You’ll get over it,” said Tina.

She went flying round the corner, with Daniel right behind her. Half a dozen hulking creatures in oversized suits stood before the elevator doors, along with a spiky-haired young businesswoman in a smart city suit. One of the creatures turned to look at the new arrivals, and Daniel stumbled to a halt as he realized the Frankenstein creation had Oscar’s head set on its shoulders. The eyes stared right at Daniel and didn’t know him. Tina reluctantly stopped with Daniel, as the young businesswoman turned to see what was happening. Her eyes widened with shock as she recognized Daniel. He smiled at her coldly.

“Hello again,” he said. “Remember me? From the bookstore? You worked behind the counter. You killed my friends.”

She shook her head like a child, as though she could make him go away just by wishing it.

“They told me you were dead!” she said finally.

“Should have tried harder,” said Daniel.

She turned abruptly to her creatures. “Kill them!”

“You deal with her, Daniel,” said Tina. “She’s your unfinished business. I’ll take the late-night horror shows.”

She surged forward, slamming into the midst of the creatures. She lashed out with inhuman strength, and necks broke and skulls shattered. Tina laughed out loud as bodies dropped to the floor. The young businesswoman produced two brightly shining scalpels from her sleeves and launched herself at Daniel, hacking and stabbing viciously. She was fast, but Daniel was so much more than he used to be. He avoided the blows easily, twisting and turning so the scalpels always missed him, and then he punched the businesswoman in the face. She fell back, and Daniel went after her. She saw something in his face, and horror filled her eyes.

“You’re a Hyde!”

“I’m what you made me,” said Daniel.

“Let me go. Please. I’m no one important.”

“You’re a Frankenstein. And I still have really bad dreams about that cellar.”

“It was just business! And it’s not like we took anyone who mattered.”

“Everyone matters.”

“Then let me go.”

“Sorry,” said Daniel. “But I’m a monster now. Just like you.”

He started forward again, and she quickly lowered her scalpels.

“Wait! I know things. There must be something you want to know . . . ”

Daniel stopped. “I did wonder: how were you able to shrug off that Taser?”

“Genetically engineered transplants. Physical upgrades. We all have them.”

“You experiment on yourselves?”

“We share the wealth. We’re better than everyone else, because we’re made that way.”

“I saw what you did to Oscar,” said Daniel. “And I know what happened to Paul. But what did you do to Nigel?”

He was still speaking when her hand snapped forward, and one of the scalpels flashed toward his throat. Daniel snatched it out of midair, turned it around, and sent it flying back. The thin blade plunged through her left eye, and she dropped to the floor. Daniel looked down at the body for a long moment. This wasn’t closure . . . but it was a good start. He turned to Tina, who was standing grinning over a pile of dead creatures. Daniel didn’t look to see which of them had Oscar’s face. It didn’t make any difference. Tina looked back at the dead businesswoman, and then smiled at Daniel.

“Did it feel as good as you hoped?”

“Maybe. It’s complicated.”

“Hydes don’t do complicated.” She looked at her watch. “We really need to get a move on.”

“Yes,” said Daniel. “Let’s get this done.”

He strode off down the corridor, leaving her to catch up with him.

Two larger-than-usual creatures in ill-fitting suits stood guard outside the banquet hall. Daniel and Tina charged down the corridor and killed both creatures while they were still reacting. Daniel didn’t hesitate, and didn’t care. He helped Tina move the bodies away from the door, and glanced quickly up and down the corridor.

“I’m not seeing any sign of backup. I can’t believe they thought they could get away with just a couple of guards.”

“Typical Frankenstein arrogance,” said Tina. “They couldn’t believe anyone would dare attack them at their own gathering.”

Daniel tried the door. To go with the hotel, the door had an old-fashioned latch on it. It was locked.

“Do we break it in?”

“Too noisy,” said Tina. “Fortunately, I never leave the house without these little beauties.”

She produced a set of skeleton keys, some of them looking rather high tech, and had the door unlocked in a moment. She eased it open, and slipped quickly through the gap. Daniel followed her in, and quietly closed the door behind them. The huge banquet hall was brightly lit by a series of elegant chandeliers, and packed full of long tables with pristine white tablecloths, all but buried under the very best in food and wine. There were floral displays and ice sculptures, and all the trappings of wealth and power. No expense had been spared—or even considered, from the look of it. Sitting at the tables were hundreds of perfectly ordinary-looking men and women in exquisitely tailored outfits. No surgeons in blood-spattered gowns, no mad doctors with staring eyes, no faces steeped in evil or marked by a lifetime’s cruelties. They could have been any business community, come together to attend a formal dinner and celebrate the year they’d had. Except for the rows of oversized creatures standing inhumanly still as they watched over the diners.

At the end of the hall a distinguished-looking man was on his feet, addressing the Frankenstein Clan.

“Once again, it’s been a very good year. Rich and powerful people the world over owe their extended lives to the very special organs we provide—and we are careful to never let them forget that. Our researches continue: into rejuvenating the deserving old, enhancing the lives of people who matter, and learning all there is to know about life and death. We lower our hands into human depths, and create marvels. We are the cutting edge of Humanity!”

He stopped, so they could applaud him and one another. The clapping went on and on, as though they couldn’t bring themselves to stop. In the end, the speaker had to raise an admonitory hand before the self-congratulation reluctantly died away.

“But . . . we are still struggling to achieve the eternal goal of the Frankensteins,” the speaker said sternly. “To bring the dead back to life. Our patchwork creations always seem to lack something. A certain vitality. It’s almost enough to make you believe in souls . . . ”

The people at the tables laughed politely, and some glanced briefly at the creatures standing behind them. Nothing moved in the empty faces that looked back.

“But not anymore!” said the speaker. “Allow me to present something new; restored from the grave, rejuvenated and remade . . . Dead tissues infused not only with life, but the beginnings of intelligence. A new hybrid creation, worthy to serve the Frankenstein Clan! I give you: the perfect slave!”

He nodded to two men standing by the rear door. They opened it, and wheeled in a metal frame holding a naked, hulking creature, standing upright and secured in place by lengths of heavy steel chain. Surgical scars crisscrossed a body bulging with muscles, but it was the eyes that caught everyone’s attention. They were alive and aware—and driven to the edge of madness. The new creation knew what he was, and hated it. A dead man walking, going nowhere. Just alive enough to know he still had both feet in the grave. Tears ran jerkily down his face. But even this horrible awareness was totally different from that of a normal Frankenstein creation. The whole of the Frankenstein Clan rose to their feet, laughing and cheering and madly applauding.

Daniel felt sick to his soul. For all their fine words, the Clan had produced nothing more than a reanimated corpse that knew what it was. He looked at Tina.

“He doesn’t want to be rescued,” she said flatly. “Let’s get out of here. The bomb will kill him, along with the rest of the Clan.”

“What if the bomb isn’t enough?” said Daniel. “We have no way of knowing how strong the Frankensteins and the Elixir made him.”

“We can’t rescue him without giving away our presence, and putting the bomb at risk!” said Tina.

“We have to do something!” said Daniel. “Would you want to go on living like that?”

Tina looked at the new creation, and shook her head.

“No. But what can we do?”

Daniel produced the knife he’d taken from Tina earlier, and his arm snapped forward. The long thin blade flashed through the air to bury itself in the creature’s right eye, and Daniel thought he saw a fleeting gratitude in the scarred face, before the body slumped lifeless in its frame.

Everyone in the banquet hall turned around in their seats, to take in Daniel and Tina standing by the doors. Daniel smiled at them coldly, while Tina waved cheerfully.

“Don’t mind us! Just passing through. Hope your evening goes off with a bang.”

“Get them!” The voice of the Clan’s spokesman was thick with rage at being so openly defied. None of the Frankensteins sitting at the tables so much as stirred in their chairs, but the rows of creatures standing behind them turned as one and lumbered steadily toward the two Hydes. Dozens of dead things, pieced together from the remains of better men, with murder on what was left of their minds. They moved slowly at first, but soon built up a head of speed as they closed in on their prey.

Daniel stood his ground, his face as set and implacable as theirs. He’d faced this scene so many times before in his nightmares that it had lost much of its power over him. In fact, this was better, because he was looking forward to getting his hands on these creatures. He wasn’t helpless anymore. He was a Hyde. Part of him wanted to see the creatures as victims of the Frankensteins, like the hybrid, but in his mind’s eye he could still see the death of his friends in that awful cellar, at the hands of things just like these.

“Time we were leaving,” said Tina.

“No,” said Daniel, his chest so tight he had to force the words out. “Not yet. I have unfinished business to attend to.”

His hands clenched into fists, and he could tell from the look on Tina’s face that his smile was a very cold thing. He needed to face the Frankenstein creatures. Needed to stand his ground and let them come to him, so he could hurt them they way they’d hurt him, and his friends. It was the only way he’d ever be able to leave the cellar behind him. He barely felt Tina grab his arm, until she used all her strength to turn him around and face her. He yanked his arm free, ready to shout at her if that was what it took—and then stopped as he realized that, while her face was angry, her eyes were understanding.

“You can’t physically hurt them, Daniel!” she said urgently. “You can’t. They don’t feel anything, because they’re just dead men walking. But they can hurt us. Or at the very least, hold us here until it’s too late to get away.”

And just like that Daniel remembered the bomb, with its preset timer ticking away. He nodded stiffly, and turned to follow Tina as she headed for the door.

But his moment of indecision had given the creatures just enough time to catch up with them. Daniel was within arm’s reach of the door when a heavy hand dropped onto his shoulder, and dead fingers clamped down with sickening force. He cried out at the pain, as the creature hauled him back from the door, and then he threw off the creature’s hand with an effort, turned back, and punched it in the face with such force that its head snapped all the way round, the neck broken. The creature staggered backward, head lolling to one side at an unnatural angle, but it quickly recovered its balance and came forward again. Behind it came more of the Frankenstein creations, closing in on the Hydes with cold, relentless purpose.

Daniel lashed out at them with all of his Hyde strength, grunting out loud with the effort he was put into every attack, but his fists only jarred against the cold unyielding flesh. Bones broke and shattered under his blows, but none of it was enough to stop the dead men pressing forward. Tina threw punch after punch with happy abandon, hitting one creature so hard under the sternum that she must have crushed its heart—but no blood flowed from the creature’s mouth, and the expression on its face never changed. The Frankensteins made their creations to last. They kept on pressing forward, a crowd of cold merciless hands reaching out to rend and tear.

Daniel forced down his anger, so he could concentrate on what was in front of him. He focused on the creatures’ weak spots, breaking their extended arms with swift, calculated blows, shattering leg bones with vicious kicks, and even thrusting two fingers deep into unseeing eyes. The crippled creatures fell sprawling to the floor, but there were always more, stepping uncaringly over the fallen to take their place. Daniel lashed out again and again, hitting them as hard as he could, until his fists were bloodied and aching from the impacts, but it was like fighting death itself. He could hold it off for a while, but he couldn’t stop it.

Tina fought tirelessly at his side, kicking the legs out from under the creatures and then stamping on their necks when they were down. She laughed breathlessly as she fought, delighting in the mayhem. She grabbed two handfuls of a creature’s clothes, hauled it off its feet and lifted it above her head, and then threw it down the hall. It flew through the air and smashed into the tables, sending good food and wine flying, and scattering the panicked Frankensteins. She managed the same trick several times, because the creatures never learned—no matter how hard they landed, they always got up and came back for more.

Most of the Frankensteins were on their feet now, screaming conflicting orders at the creatures, but none of them made any attempt to get involved themselves. Perhaps because they were businessmen, and such direct action would be beneath them. But some of the younger Frankensteins were so incensed, or saw an opportunity to make an impression, that they left the safety of the tables to advance on the Hydes with scalpels shining brightly in their hands. The Clan spokesman yelled for them to come back, but they pretended they hadn’t heard him. The young men and women broke into a run, smiling maliciously, with blood and punishment on their minds. One after another they threw themselves at Daniel and Tina, only to be struck down so hard they never got up again. Daniel took a certain satisfaction in that, remembering the bloody-handed surgeons standing over gutted corpses, but there just wasn’t enough time for him to savor it properly.

He was breathing hard now, his heart hammering painfully fast in his chest. It seemed there might be a limit after all to Hyde strength and endurance. He drove the dead men back with a flurry of blows and looked quickly about him, his eyes darting over fallen creatures still struggling to rise, and more dead men coming, and then he smiled suddenly as his gaze fell upon the nearest table. He called out to Tina and pointed, and she got the idea immediately. They charged right at the nearest creatures, sending them stumbling backward with lowered shoulders and great sweeps of their arms. They grabbed hold of the table and heaved it over onto its side, despite its weight, and then used it as a barrier to force the crowd of creatures back. Daniel and Tina kept their heads carefully low, so the hands reaching over the table couldn’t find them. Some of the creatures took hold of the table and began to tear it apart.

Daniel suddenly let go and stepped back. Tina looked at him sharply, but he shot her a reassuring smile. He’d just remembered what she said earlier, about how the creatures were conditioned to obey authority figures. He took a deep breath, and raised his voice so it would carry over the screaming Frankensteins. He glared at the creatures, and stabbed a finger at them.

“Stay!”

And for a moment, the creatures did. Held where they were by the simple power of a direct command. Tina started to turn away and head for the door, but Daniel wasn’t finished yet. He couldn’t forget the hybrid in its chains, and the gloating satisfaction in the spokesman’s voice. He reached across the table and took a firm hold on the nearest creature’s head with both hands. He braced himself, and tore the head right off. As the headless body toppled slowly backward, Daniel pulled back his arm and threw the head with all his strength. It rocketed down the length of the hall, and hit the Clan spokesman in the face with such force that his head all but exploded. Blood flew on the air, and the Frankensteins nearest him shrank back, crying out with shock. Daniel grinned like a wolf.

The Frankenstein Clan fell silent, staring at Daniel with wide, stunned eyes. The creatures still weren’t moving. Daniel looked upon his work, and knew it to be good. Tina tapped him politely on the arm.

“If you’ve quite finished . . . ”

“I think so,” said Daniel.

“Did that make you feel any better?”

“Do you know?” said Daniel. “I really think it did.”

“Good,” said Tina. “Can we go now?”

“Right behind you.”

They turned their backs on the shocked Frankensteins and their motionless creatures, and sprinted for the door. The Frankensteins suddenly started screaming orders again, and the dead men tore the table apart and stamped forward through the wreckage. Daniel and Tina barely had time to haul open the door and throw themselves through it before the creatures were almost upon them. The Hydes slammed the door in their cold, empty faces, and then Daniel held it closed with all his strength while Tina locked it quickly with her skeleton key. She broke the key in two, leaving half inside the lock, and then she and Daniel backed quickly away from the door. It was already shaking and shuddering in its frame, as cold fists pounded and hammered on the other side. The two Hydes didn’t wait to see the heavy wood crack and splinter; they were already running down the corridor. Daniel heard the door start to fall apart behind him, but kept his gaze fixed firmly on the way ahead.

“How long do we have, before the bomb goes off?”

“I’m not wasting time looking at my watch!” Tina said loudly. “Shut up and run!”

“I am running!”

“Then run faster!”

They reached the swing door at the far end of the corridor, hauled it open, and went racing down the stairs. They hadn’t got far when the stairway seemed to suddenly rise and fall, as though the whole building had shrugged. The walls cracked and fell apart, and great pieces of stone rained down into the stairwell. Daniel and Tina were thrown off their feet, and sent tumbling headlong down the shaking steps. They finally slammed up against a wall, and Daniel threw himself across Tina, covering her body with his own as large pieces of jagged stone rained down. He gritted his teeth, refusing to move, as they crashed into him again and again. And then the lights went out, and choking smoke and dust filled the air.

Eventually, the stairway stopped shaking. Emergency lights flickered on, diffusing dimly through the smoke-filled air. Daniel and Tina slowly dug their way out from under the rubble. Daniel rose painfully to his feet, absently brushing debris from his dust-covered tuxedo. Tina stood up, shook herself briskly, and then glared at Daniel.

“I can look after myself!”

“You’re welcome,” said Daniel.

Tina shook her head. “Let’s get out of here. I hear flames, to go with the smoke.”

Daniel nodded. The air was growing distinctly hotter. He started down the cracked stairs, kicking pieces of rubble aside, and Tina slipped in beside him.

“Burn in Hell, Frankensteins,” Daniel said quietly.

“You see?” said Tina. “You are a Hyde.”

Daniel turned to smile at her, as a thought struck him.

“You know, as first dates go . . . ”

“Don’t push your luck,” said Tina. But she smiled as she said it.