Jekyll & Hyde Inc.

Daniel started to ask why Edward had waited for him in particular to show up before lighting the blue touch paper on his war, but Edward had already risen to his feet and was heading back to the main door. The few remaining customers watched him pass with horrified fascination. A young waitress emerged unsuspecting from a side door and Edward Hyde crashed right into her. He could have avoided her, but he chose not to. His sheer bulk sent the waitress sprawling to the floor in front of him and he walked right over her, trampling her underfoot. The sound of bones breaking carried clearly on the quiet, before being drowned out by the waitress’s screams. No one moved to help her because it was already too late—and because nobody dared. Edward strode out into the night and didn’t look back once.

The remaining customers gave him time to get some distance away, and then bolted for the door, fighting each other in their eagerness to be somewhere else and start forgetting everything they’d seen. The staff gathered up the sobbing waitress and carried her off, disappearing through the kitchen door. And just like that, Daniel and Tina were the only ones left in the place.

“You said we’re not supposed to hurt innocent bystanders,” said Daniel.

“We aren’t,” said Tina. “But that’s Edward Hyde. He doesn’t give a damn about rules. Even the ones he makes himself.”

“So you’re fine with what he just did?”

“He’s the boss,” Tina said steadily. “I decided not to get involved. And so did you.”

“It wouldn’t have made any difference,” said Daniel.

“Exactly,” said Tina. “Of course, if he ever tries to pull that shit on me, I’ll kill him. And he knows it.”

“But you won’t stand against him.”

“I owe him. Just like you. He made it possible for us to kill monsters.”

“Why is that so important to you?” said Daniel. “You know why I’m doing this. But are you killing monsters to protect the innocent, or just for the thrill of testing yourself against them?”

Tina smiled. “Depends on the mood I’m in.”

Daniel sat back in his chair and regarded her thoughtfully. “What will you do when all the monsters are dead?”

“Take the weekend off. And then . . . make sure Edward gets everything he has coming to him. What will you do? Give up being a Hyde? Drink the potion again, and go back to being a broken man? I don’t think so. I know all there is to know about addictive behavior, and being a Hyde is the biggest rush there is.”

“So what do we do, when all the monster Clans are gone?” said Daniel. “Fight each other?”

Tina laughed softly. “Not a bad idea. But the Clans aren’t responsible for all the evil in the world. There’ll always be someone who needs a good kicking.” She rose abruptly to her feet. “You know what? I feel like dancing. I have energy to burn and the night is young. How about you?”

Daniel didn’t even have to think about it. Destroying the Frankenstein Clan had satisfied his need for revenge, but he still felt a need to be doing something. And since it wasn’t time yet to go off and kill vampires . . . 

“Dancing sounds fine,” he said. “I take it you know a good club?”

“I know all kinds of clubs,” said Tina. “Of course, I’ve been thrown out of most of them. Just for exuberance, and general high spirits. Not that any of them could keep me out if I wanted in. I know—the Constantine Club! I haven’t been there since before I was a Hyde.”

“Then let us go there, and dance up a storm,” said Daniel.

One new intimidated taxi driver and a short drive later, they were standing outside an impressive-looking nightclub with rococo neon stylings, oversized bouncers at the door, and a long queue of bright young things waiting to get in, including a number of minor celebrities (the kind famous for being famous). A few of them were haranguing the stone-faced bouncers, shouting, “Don’t you know who I am?,” which Daniel had always considered self-defeating. Some offered bribes and some threatened violence, but the bouncers had heard it all before and hadn’t been impressed the first time.

The Constantine gave every impression of being the kind of club that would normally never admit someone like Daniel, but the bouncers took one look at Tina and just waved her in, either because they saw the Hyde in her face, or because they knew trying to keep her out would be more trouble than their job was worth. They waved Daniel in with her, not even giving him a second glance. He was with Tina, and that was all they cared about. No one in the queue objected; they knew the way the world worked.

Daniel thought he would have preferred it if one of the bouncers had tried to stop him, so he could beat the crap out of them for past refusals. Another part of him was disturbed that he felt that way. It really wasn’t like him. As he strode through the nightclub door, Daniel had to wonder whether the Elixir had changed more than just his body.