Jekyll & Hyde Inc.

“I’m hungry,” Tina said brightly. “I could eat a horse, and the saddle, and whoever happened to be sitting on it at the time. Aren’t you hungry?”

Daniel discovered he wasn’t just hungry, he was ravenous.

“I could eat,” he said.

“I know a really good pizza place, not far from here,” said Tina.

“Of course you do,” said Daniel.

She bristled a little. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Just that you always know where everything is,” Daniel said smoothly.

“Damn right,” said Tina.

The pizza parlor wasn’t particularly big or impressive. It had streaky windows and a bunch of brass fittings that clearly hadn’t been polished in years, but it was still pretty full, which at least argued that the food was good. Daniel had lived in London long enough to distrust any fast-food establishment that wasn’t packed with people at this time of the night. A sign in the window said: Buy one, and get another of the same size for exactly the same price! Tina slammed the door open and strode in like royalty visiting the less fortunate. Daniel followed on behind, feeling just a little self-conscious about his dust-covered tuxedo.

But no one had any eyes for Daniel. The staff took one look at Tina and all their faces fell, as they recognized her. Daniel distinctly heard one waiter mutter to a waitress, “Run. Save yourself,” before realizing it was already too late. The staff fell back from the crowded tables, abandoning their customers, and ended up huddled together in the main aisle like sheep in a thunderstorm, wide-eyed and trembling.

Daniel looked at Tina. “They remember you.”

“I know!” Tina said happily. “I do like to leave a little reputation behind me, wherever I go.”

“You’re not going to start a fight here, are you?”

“Not until after we’ve eaten,” said Tina. “Or we’d never get served.”

Some of the customers were studying her covertly from behind raised menus, convinced by her incredible looks and presence that she must be some kind of celebrity. Tina ignored them all with magnificent disdain, which just made them even more certain. She caught the eye of the headwaiter and summoned him over with an imperious gesture. He emerged reluctantly from the protection of his fellow staff, a short and sturdy man who looked like he ate a lot of pizza. He approached Tina like a man walking to the scaffold, but he kept his back straight and his head up, and even managed a professional smile.

“Ms. Hyde . . . back again, so soon? We don’t deserve such an honor.”

“You’re right, you don’t,” Tina said briskly. “We want a private booth, right at the back—but nowhere near the toilets, if you like having your kneecaps where they are.”

“Of course, Ms. Hyde. Please follow me.”

The headwaiter bowed to Tina, and then glanced briefly at Daniel in a way that suggested he was amazed anyone would choose to be with her, before leading them quickly to the rear. He ushered Daniel and Tina into a private booth, saw them both comfortably seated, and then grabbed two oversized menus from a nearby table. The man and wife who’d been perusing them weren’t actually done yet, but one look from Tina was all it took to keep them from protesting. The headwaiter had a sheen of sweat on his face by now, but he still hung on to his composure with both hands. Daniel checked out the prices in the menu, and smiled just a little desperately at Tina.

“How about we go Dutch?”

“No one’s going to ask us to pay,” said Tina.

Daniel glanced at the headwaiter, but he had nothing to say, so Daniel looked back at Tina.

“Not ever?”

“Of course not. We’re Hydes.”

Tina glanced quickly through the menu, tossed it aside, and fixed the headwaiter with a stern look.

“I want the biggest pizza you’ve got, with every kind of topping piled high, and a stuffed crust.”

“I’ll have what she’s having,” said Daniel.

The headwaiter nodded quickly and headed straight for the kitchen, so he could hand in the order personally and get the hell away from the Hydes. Daniel sat back in his seat and looked thoughtfully at Tina.

“Well . . . So much for the Frankenstein Clan.”

“Take a deep breath,” said Tina. “See? The world smells better without them in it.”

“Who’s next on the list?”

She shrugged. “That’s up to Edward. He’s been planning this operation against the Clans for a really long time.”

“Why did he choose now to start his war?”

Tina fixed Daniel with a hard look. “He said he’d been waiting for someone like you. Which I took as a bit of an insult. I’ve been his good left hand for ages, striking down the ungodly from ambush and disrupting Clan business from the sidelines.”

“So why didn’t he trust you to plant the bomb on your own?”

She shrugged in a way that suggested there was a lot she could say, but chose not to for the moment.

“Edward doesn’t answer questions.”

The headwaiter came back with a huge pizza expertly balanced on each hand. He set them down before Daniel and Tina with a flourish, and then quickly retreated several steps, just in case.

“That was quick,” said Daniel.