When they finally reached the right room, Tina had a key. Daniel didn’t ask. There was a limit to how much smugness he was prepared to put up with. She strode straight in, and after a quick look back down the corridor, Daniel went in after her. The room seemed pleasant enough, with lots of comfortable furniture. It didn’t look like it deserved what was about to happen to it. Tina reached into her tote bag, and Daniel watched interestedly as she brought out a simple metal box. No control panel, no flashing lights, just a single activating button. Daniel felt obscurely disappointed that it wasn’t red.
“Fetch me a chair,” said Tina. “I need to attach this to the ceiling.”
Daniel brought her a chair. Tina stepped up onto it, and pressed the box hard against the ceiling. It stuck there quite happily when she took her hand away. She pressed the button firmly, and climbed down again.
“The timer was preset for sixty minutes. More than enough time for us to get far, far away, before it blows the lid off the hotel.”
And then they both looked round sharply, as the door behind them slammed open and a tall, Aryan superman type burst in. Blond and blue-eyed, he was wearing an Armani suit and a desperate expression. Tina’s hands closed into fists and she started forward, but the newcomer was already holding out both hands beseechingly.
“Please, you must listen to me! I’m Peter Frankenstein, Edward Hyde’s inside man.”
Tina stopped reluctantly and glared at him. “You were given strict instructions not to come anywhere near this hotel! Oh to hell with it; someone as stupid as you doesn’t deserve to live.”
She started forward again, but Daniel grabbed her arm. “Let’s hear what he has to say.”
Tina threw off his hand, shrugged reluctantly, and then scowled at the newcomer.
“Well? What do you want?”
Peter lowered his hands, but not before Daniel realized they were shaking. The Frankenstein looked genuinely scared at being so close to two Hydes, but he made himself meet their gaze steadily.
“Something awful is going to happen at the gathering. I need you to put a stop it. The family’s gone too far, this time . . . ”
He broke off, unable to continue. Daniel looked at Tina.
“What could do that to a Frankenstein?”
“Have to be something pretty appalling,” Tina admitted grudgingly.
“Talk to us, Peter,” said Daniel. “What is it that’s going to happen at the gathering?”
The Frankenstein had to swallow hard before he could say anything.
“I wanted to use the Hyde Elixir Edward provided to make new creations that were stronger and more capable of following orders. But I wasn’t getting anywhere, so I handed the process over to my superior in the family, telling him I’d bought a dose of the diluted potion on the black market. And somehow he made it work. A whole new kind of creation . . . It’s going to be presented at the gathering, as their latest triumph. Please, you have to do something! I’ve seen it . . . Not dead or alive, but trapped somewhere in between. Frankensteins are one thing. They are idiotic brutes, but they are alive in some manner, like animals. This is not. It’s a walking corpse that thinks it’s alive, a ghost in the machinery of man. Just aware enough to know that it shouldn’t exist . . . ”
“I say we kill this fool, and get the hell out of here,” said Tina.
“No,” said Daniel. “He risked a lot, coming here.” He turned to the Frankenstein and nodded at the door. “Leave this to us. We’ll deal with it.”
Peter looked at him steadily. “I didn’t betray my family for a taste of the Elixir. I never touched it. I had to turn against them because they betrayed everything we were supposed to be. We dedicated our lives to defeating death, not creating a better kind of slave.”
He turned abruptly and left the room. Daniel looked at Tina.
“Does he know about the bomb?”
“Of course not,” said Tina. “We couldn’t risk him warning the Clan.”
“We need to check this out.”
“Give me one good reason.”
“Because this new creation is part Hyde—and it’s suffering.”
“The bomb will kill it, along with the Frankensteins,” said Tina.
“I want to rescue it,” said Daniel.
“Why?” said Tina. “Because you couldn’t save your friends from what happened in the cellar?”
“Maybe,” said Daniel. “I won’t know till we get there.”
Tina sighed heavily. “All right! We’ll take a look. It will be a thrill to race against the bomb’s timer. But I’m not promising anything.”
“Of course not,” said Daniel.
They ran all the way up the stairs to the penthouse level, because the elevator was bound to be guarded, but neither of them was short of breath when they got to the top. Daniel eased the swing door open, and took a good look around the empty corridor. Tina shouldered her way past him.
“You have got to get over this protective nonsense.”
Daniel stepped cautiously out into the corridor to join her.
“How much time do we have?”
“Not enough. Let’s get moving.”
“You know the way?”
“The layout on this floor should be the same as the one below.”
“What if it isn’t?”
“One more question out of you that I don’t like, and I will punch your head through a wall.”
Daniel sniffed. “Probably your idea of foreplay.”
She smiled briefly. “Don’t distract me.”
They moved quickly through the empty corridors. There was no sign of life anywhere, and all the doors were firmly closed. The constant silence was starting to grate on Daniel’s nerves when Tina stopped suddenly, and gestured at the corner ahead.
“We have to pass the main elevator to get to the banquet hall,” she said quietly. “Which means we’re going to have to deal with whoever or whatever is guarding it.” She gave Daniel a hard look. “No mercy, and no holding back. Do you have a problem with that?”
“No,” said Daniel. “Let’s just concentrate on the life we’re saving.”
“Why are you so determined to save this new Frankenstein creature?” said Tina.
“Because I need to believe I’m not just a killer,” said Daniel. “That I’m only doing this to save innocent lives.”
“Hydes don’t do sentiment,” said Tina.
“This one does,” said Daniel.
“You’ll get over it,” said Tina.
She went flying round the corner, with Daniel right behind her. Half a dozen hulking creatures in oversized suits stood before the elevator doors, along with a spiky-haired young businesswoman in a smart city suit. One of the creatures turned to look at the new arrivals, and Daniel stumbled to a halt as he realized the Frankenstein creation had Oscar’s head set on its shoulders. The eyes stared right at Daniel and didn’t know him. Tina reluctantly stopped with Daniel, as the young businesswoman turned to see what was happening. Her eyes widened with shock as she recognized Daniel. He smiled at her coldly.
“Hello again,” he said. “Remember me? From the bookstore? You worked behind the counter. You killed my friends.”
She shook her head like a child, as though she could make him go away just by wishing it.
“They told me you were dead!” she said finally.
“Should have tried harder,” said Daniel.
She turned abruptly to her creatures. “Kill them!”
“You deal with her, Daniel,” said Tina. “She’s your unfinished business. I’ll take the late-night horror shows.”
She surged forward, slamming into the midst of the creatures. She lashed out with inhuman strength, and necks broke and skulls shattered. Tina laughed out loud as bodies dropped to the floor. The young businesswoman produced two brightly shining scalpels from her sleeves and launched herself at Daniel, hacking and stabbing viciously. She was fast, but Daniel was so much more than he used to be. He avoided the blows easily, twisting and turning so the scalpels always missed him, and then he punched the businesswoman in the face. She fell back, and Daniel went after her. She saw something in his face, and horror filled her eyes.