Jekyll & Hyde Inc.

Despite all the strength and power in the tiger’s leap, Edward didn’t give an inch. He braced himself and lashed out with one massive fist, punching the tiger right between the eyes. The sheer force of the blow stopped the great cat in midair, and it slumped to the ground, only half conscious. The impact alone should have broken every bone in Edward’s fist, but he hit the tiger again and again, driving it into the floor. Daniel winced as he heard bones crack and break in the tiger’s skull.

The massive beast tried to gather its hind legs under it for another leap, but Edward moved in close, raining blow after blow on the tiger’s head. Blood spurted from the tiger’s mouth and nose, and then from its eyes and ears. It collapsed on the floor, unable to defend itself. It knew its death was close. It made a low helpless sound—and Edward laughed at it. Daniel stirred, but Tina grabbed his arm before he could do anything, piling on the pressure to hold him where he was.

Edward didn’t pause in his attack, hitting the tiger again and again and grunting happily with the effort that went into every blow. Until the tiger let out one last sigh, and stopped breathing. But even after it was dead Edward kept on hitting it, laughing out loud as the body jumped bonelessly from the repeated impacts.

And then, quite suddenly, Edward stopped. He bent over the body, breathing hard, as though inhaling the kill and savoring it; and then he slowly straightened up, took a large handkerchief from his pocket, and set about methodically wiping the blood from his hands. He looked across at Daniel, and dropped him a roguish wink.

“King of the jungle!”

Tina let go of Daniel’s arm. She was breathing almost as heavily as Edward, her face flushed from the excitement of the kill. Daniel couldn’t help wondering what it would feel like, to go head to head with a living engine of destruction and defeat it with nothing but his bare hands. But even as he thought that, another part of him wanted to kill Edward for what he’d just done. Because it hadn’t been a fair fight. The tiger never stood a chance.

Edward must have seen something in Daniel’s face, because he stopped what he was doing and summoned Daniel forward with one blood-spattered hand. Daniel didn’t hesitate, because Edward would have seen that as weakness. He walked steadily forward, until they were standing face-to-face. He didn’t even glance down at the dead tiger. Edward reached out and carefully smeared some of the tiger’s blood across Daniel’s face.

“There,” Edward said cheerfully. “Now you’re blooded. One of us.”

“Fresh blood?” said a new voice behind them. “You shouldn’t have.”

Paul Mayer was standing by the door, smiling his saturnine smile while being careful not to reveal his vampire teeth. None of the Hydes had heard him enter; he was just suddenly there, wrapped in his long and filthy coat. Daniel realized he was seeing Paul clearly for the first time, in the sharp, shadowless light of Edward’s playroom. The vampire looked even worse than Daniel remembered.

Paul’s skin was horribly pale, like a dead thing that had spent too much time underground. He stood straight and still, with nothing human in his posture or composure. Just his presence was enough to raise the hackles on Daniel’s neck. Paul was dangerous, a threat to all of them; far more than the tiger had been. The animal just wanted to kill them, but Paul would do much worse, given the chance.

He’d make them like him.

Daniel felt Tina stir at his side, and this time his hand clamped down on her arm, holding her where she was. Memories of old friendship might hold Paul back, but Daniel wasn’t sure of that. The thing standing before him only looked like his old friend. Tina threw off Daniel’s hand and snarled at Paul, like an animal challenged on its own territory. Paul looked her over insolently, and then let his smile widen so Tina could get a good look at his jagged teeth. Tina fell back a step. She knew when she’d been out-snarled.

“How did you get in here?” she said.

“Because he’s one of mine,” said Edward. He spoke quite calmly, as though the presence of the undead didn’t disturb him at all. “This is my inside man for the Vampire Clan. Though he’s supposed to know better than to come here during the day. Or enter my building without checking with me first.”

Paul shrugged. He seemed entirely unimpressed by Edward, as though he’d seen worse. And Daniel thought he probably had.

“How were you able to get here, in broad daylight?” he said steadily.

“There are all kinds of hidden ways to get around this city,” said Paul. “There is a London under London. When I told you all the monsters went underground, Danny, I meant that literally. They make their homes right under your feet. And that’s just the monsters you’ve heard of. You’d be surprised what else there is, down in the depths. Things even monsters are afraid of. The world is older and stranger than you can imagine, Danny boy. Now let’s get on with this. I need my beauty sleep.”