Jekyll & Hyde Inc.

It sounded like the howling of wolves in the night.

Chapter Nine

IT’S IN THE BLOOD

In the cold and quiet of the early morning, Daniel and Tina headed back to the Jekyll & Hyde Inc. building. There was no traffic and no one about to see them return in triumph from a mission that should have killed them. It occurred to Daniel that this was probably a good thing, given that the werewolves had made a real mess of their clothes. He looked at the ragged remains of his jacket, and then glanced sideways at Tina and winced. She caught Daniel looking at her, and raised an eyebrow.

“What’s the matter? See something you don’t like?”

“We look like we’ve been dragged through a threshing machine backward,” Daniel said solemnly. “And then beaten with sticks by people who really didn’t like us. Of course, on you, it looks good.”

“Nice save,” said Tina. “You, on the other hand, look like crap.”

Daniel checked himself out. The alpha werewolves had savaged him from head to foot, but as far as he could tell all his wounds had healed.

“No,” said Tina. “I mean, you look tired.”

“We’ve done a lot, and been through a lot,” said Daniel. “And it isn’t over yet.”

“I know,” said Tina. “Edward will be waiting to see if we survived the trap he set for us.”

Daniel looked down the empty street to their destination. “Do we have a plan, as such?”

“March straight into his office and tell him the game is over,” said Tina. “And that we’ve come back to deal with the worst monster of them all.”

Daniel frowned. “You’re still set on killing him?”

“He deserves it,” said Tina.

“Of course he does. But . . . we do owe him a lot. Think what our lives were like before we drank the Elixir. He gave us hope and new purpose.”

“But he didn’t do it for us,” said Tina. “He just needed pawns to do his dirty work. And once we’d won his war for him, he threw us to the wolves. We don’t owe that man a thing.”

Daniel nodded at the Jekyll & Hyde Inc. building. A few lights were showing, here and there.

“Looks like someone’s still up . . . What makes you so sure Edward will be in his office? Why wouldn’t he have gone home?”

“Because he doesn’t have one,” said Tina. “Think about it: Can you really see Edward Hyde taking it easy in a comfy chair, watching television with his feet up? You’ve seen what he does for fun; I don’t think that man ever relaxes. I’m not even sure he sleeps anymore. It’s hard to think of him doing anything that weak—or vulnerable.”

“But why would he choose to live here?” said Daniel.

“Because it’s the only place he feels safe,” said Tina. “He doesn’t fear his enemies; I think he glories in them. But he knows only major layers of protection can keep him secure.” She smiled briefly. “From anyone but us.”

“Can we kill him?” said Daniel. “I mean, do you think it’s physically possible? We haven’t been Hydes long, and we just survived a mauling by a whole pack of werewolves. He is the original Mr. Hyde, the embodiment of evil, and he’s grown impossibly strong down the years. It could be there isn’t a weapon that can kill him.”

“We can take him if we work together,” said Tina. “All we have to do is knock him down, rip his head off, and throw it out the window. Let’s see him survive that.”

“But—”

“I don’t want to hear any buts!”

“We can’t kill him until we’ve got some answers,” said Daniel.

“We know all we need to know,” Tina said bluntly. “We were played! We should have known. He told us, right to our faces, that we were just part of a scheme he’d been working on for years.”

“But what’s his endgame?” said Daniel. “Would control of the criminal underworld be enough, for someone like him?”

“Why not?” said Tina. “This way, he has his revenge on the monsters who never respected him and gets to keep everything that was theirs.”

“But can you honestly see Edward Hyde resting on his laurels? We’re talking about a man driven by hate and evil.”

“Given a choice, between keeping him alive for answers or killing the most dangerous man in the world . . . I vote we concentrate on the killing,” said Tina. “Or bits of us could end up scattered all around his office.”

“Good point,” said Daniel.

They came to a halt outside the main entrance. Light shone dimly through the tinted lobby windows, but there was no way of seeing in. No way of telling what kind of welcome Edward might have arranged for them. Daniel tried the door. It wasn’t locked. He took his hand away.

“What?” said Tina.

“I’m just wondering if there might be a tiger or two waiting,” said Daniel. “That does strike me as the kind of thing Edward would find funny.”

“If we can handle werewolves, we can handle tigers,” said Tina.

“This is true,” said Daniel.

“It doesn’t matter what’s waiting in there,” said Tina. “We just plow right through it, because we can’t afford to be distracted. There’s always the chance Edward might run, rather than face us openly.”