Jekyll & Hyde Inc.

“Hell with that,” said Tina. “I can smell them. Like a fur rug that’s gone feral.”

“That’s why I was careful to approach downwind,” said Daniel. “So the breeze wouldn’t carry our scent to them.”

“Good for you, Boy Scout,” said Tina.

“Do you want me to start a fire by rubbing two werewolves together?”

“I think I would pay good money to see that.”

They stopped at the edge of the trees, careful to remain hidden in the shadows. Out in the clearing, sleek, gray-furred figures were running in the moonlight and jumping high in the air just for the joy of it. Some were fighting, in a relaxed sort of way, though the biting and clawing looked real enough. There was a splendor to the wolves, of wild things running free in a way humans had long forgotten.

“I count twenty of them,” said Tina. “Just like Edward said. Do we have a plan, as such?”

“If we open fire from a distance the survivors will scatter,” Daniel said thoughtfully. “And we’ll never catch them all. We have to get close enough to hold their attention, so they’ll think they have a chance of bringing us down. Then they’ll attack as a pack.”

“So your great idea is: show ourselves to the werewolves and hope they charge us?”

“We have silver bullets, and silver knives.”

“I’m starting to think we might have been better off with a silver bomb and a really long fuse,” said Tina. “Your friend Nigel took a lot of punishment, and he wasn’t even an alpha.”

Daniel smiled at her. “Isn’t this when you usually say, But we’re Hydes?”

“I’m all for a good scrap,” said Tina, “but werewolves are harder to kill than cockroaches. A little strategy wouldn’t go amiss here.”

“Leave the trees and walk straight at them.”

“Okay . . . ” said Tina. “If nothing else, that should confuse them. It confuses the hell out of me.”

“Hold your fire until we’re almost upon them,” said Daniel. “We only have twelve bullets.”

“Won’t the survivors run off?” said Tina.

“I don’t think so. Once they realize we’re out of bullets, all they’ll be able to think of is revenge. And that’s when we go to the silver knives.”

“Twelve bullets,” said Tina. “Even if we never miss, that still leaves eight really angry werewolves coming right at us.”

“Isn’t this where you usually say, Fun?”

“It is just possible that we could be pushing our luck here,” said Tina.

“This is our only chance to take out all the alpha wolves,” said Daniel. “And finally put an end to the monster Clans.”

They looked out into the clearing, where the werewolves had stopped playing and formed a circle. If they were saying anything, the sound didn’t carry.

“Edward said they’d tear each other apart,” said Tina. “And we’d just have to mop up the survivors.”

“No plan survives contact with the enemy.”

“Now you tell me.”

They broke off as the alpha werewolves suddenly went for each other’s throats. No warnings, no howled challenges, they just slammed into one another with bared fangs and slashing claws. Blood flew on the moonlit air. The fighting was so savage Daniel thought the alpha werewolves really might wipe each other out, but it quickly became clear that although the wolves were tearing away with vicious intent, none of them were dying. Their wounds closed almost immediately, the blood stopped spurting, and they went right back to ripping the guts out of each other.

Until, one by one, a wolf would just give up and bare its throat submissively to the victor and the loser would be allowed to retreat, leaving the fight to go on without them. It wasn’t long before it was all over, and one huge wolf stood alone in the shimmering moonlight. And all the other wolves bowed their heads, to the new leader of the pack.

The one who would lead them against Humanity.

“All right,” said Daniel. “Let’s get this show on the road.”

“It has been a while since we had a real challenge,” said Tina.

“Looking forward to it, after all?”

“You know I am.”

“You know more about guns than I do,” said Daniel. “Any advice?”

“Don’t miss.” Tina stopped, as a thought struck her. “Do you suppose Edward deliberately only gave us twelve bullets to make it less likely we’d come back alive to challenge him?”

“Wouldn’t surprise me one bit,” said Daniel. “Ready?”

“Always.”

“Bet I kill more than you do,” said Daniel.

“You’re on. What are we betting?”

“We can sort that out later.”

Side by side they left the cover of the trees and walked out into the clearing. Holding their guns down by their legs so they wouldn’t be immediately visible. All the werewolves’ heads snapped round to look at them, eyes glowing golden in the moonlight. And then they raced forward across the open clearing at incredible speed, hoping their prey would break and run so they could have the fun of chasing them down.