This was no leftover from her past, just an overweight man in fashionable clothes that didn’t suit him, trying to get Tina to go somewhere private with him. She wouldn’t even look at him, but he was too rich and entitled to take no for an answer. He stopped talking and started shouting, until finally she looked him in the eye and said something that made him flush bright red.
“You can’t speak to me like that!” the man yelled. “This is my party, and everyone here has to do what I say!”
He stabbed a finger in Tina’s face. She took hold of his arm, and broke it with one quick flex of her hand. He screamed so loudly that even people who carefully hadn’t been watching turned to see what was happening. Tina saw the bottle of brandy Daniel was holding, and put out a hand. Daniel reflected that this might lead to the least amount of violence from Tina. He gave her the bottle, and she hit the screaming man over the head with it. The bottle exploded and the man was driven unconscious to the dance floor. Daniel decided they wouldn’t be needing the glasses after all, and tossed them aside.
The music cut off abruptly, as security men came rushing forward from all directions. The loud guy must have been someone really important. The other dancers scattered, and Daniel and Tina moved quickly to stand back to back. The security men didn’t seem at all intimidated by Tina, despite what had just happened. They had a job to do, and they were going to do it. And if that involved beating the crap out of two uppity newcomers who didn’t know their place . . . well, every job has its perks.
Daniel almost had it in him to feel sorry for them. Almost.
He waited calmly for the first security guards to come within reach, and then he punched out the first one, back-elbowed a second, and headbutted a third in the face. Bodies crashed to the floor, and took no further interest in the proceedings. The biggest guard of all loomed up before Daniel, and lashed out with a fist that would have put an end to anyone else’s evening. Daniel avoided the blow easily, and then pivoted on one foot and kicked the man in the chest with such force that he went flying backward and took out three more security men along the way. Daniel laughed out loud, and looked hopefully around for some more trouble to get into.
Half a dozen large muscular types fell on him, hoping for safety in numbers. Daniel just had time to wonder why the Constantine Club felt the need to employ so many security guards, and then he was knocking them down and throwing them to one side. His speeded-up reactions allowed him to see what the guards were going to do before they did it, and then take them down with a series of swift and vicious blows. He felt the impacts as they traveled up his arms, but his hands took no damage and he didn’t feel any pain. He was a Hyde, and the world and everything in it was just there for his amusement.
But even as he was punching men out and stamping on them while they were down, it occurred to Daniel how calm he was feeling. Faced with a small army of thugs and bullies, he never even came close to losing his temper. Probably because he was too busy enjoying himself. It wasn’t like a real fight; it felt more like dancing.
He finally ran out of people to hit, and took a moment to stretch slowly. He wasn’t even out of breath. People who had previously admired his dancing were now standing well back and staring at him in horror. As though a wild animal had somehow found its way into their civilized world. Bodies lay all around Daniel, broken and bloodied and extremely unconscious. He looked to see how Tina was doing, and found her standing calmly to one side with her arms folded. It occurred to Daniel that he hadn’t actually seen her doing any of the fighting. He raised an eyebrow.
“You didn’t look like you needed any help,” said Tina. “And I was interested to see if you could handle all of them on your own. Did you have a good time?”
Daniel smiled. “Yes, I did.”
“I’ve had enough dancing,” said Tina.
She took him by the hand and led him out of the nightclub. And everyone scattered to get out of their way.
Outside the nightclub, there was no sign of the queue, and all the bouncers had run away. Tina walked out into the road in front of an oncoming taxicab, and it screeched to a halt right in front of her. She turned to look at Daniel.
“Come back to my place.”
Daniel raised an eyebrow. “You could make it sound more like an invitation, and not an order.”
“You want to—don’t you?”
“From the first moment I saw you,” said Daniel.
“Then that’s all that matters.”
They leaned close together in the back of the taxi, smiling broadly, lost in each other’s eyes. Anticipation filled the air, as though there was someone else in the back seat with them. Their faces were so close that Daniel could feel Tina’s breath on his face, and the raw animal musk of her scent filled his head.
It had been a long time since he’d had anyone in his life.
He glimpsed the taxi driver watching them in his rearview mirror. He looked scared out of his wits. Apparently there was something about Hydes smiling that disturbed the hell out of anyone who wasn’t a Hyde. The thought just made Daniel smile even more.
Some time later, to Daniel’s surprise, Tina suddenly leaned forward and rapped imperiously on the partition between them and the driver. When he reluctantly glanced back at her, Tina brusquely ordered him to stop the cab. The driver was so eager to be rid of his passengers he slammed on the brakes and brought the cab to a very abrupt halt. Tina threw the door open while the taxi was still rocking back and forth and got out, not even glancing back to see if Daniel was following. He clambered out of the cab, taking his time to make a point, and saw that they’d stopped next to a tree-lined path overlooking the River Thames. Tina glared at the taxi driver.
“You. Stay here, while we go for a little walk. When we come back, you can take us the rest of the way.”
“You have got to be kidding,” said the driver. “I’m not hanging around here while you make up your mind what you want. I’ve got other fares waiting.”
He was doing his best to sound calm and determined and not at all troubled by the two Hydes, but he wasn’t fooling anyone. Tina leaned in close to the driver’s window and fixed him with a hard look.
“You. Stay here, while we go for a little walk. Or there will be trouble.”
“Hell with this,” said the driver.
He slammed the taxi into gear, but Tina had already pulled the door open. She reached in and ripped out the driver’s seat belt, tossed it carelessly to one side, and then grabbed hold of the driver and hauled him bodily out of the cab. His loud protests gave way to screams as she dragged him across the leafy path to a set of iron railings, and then lifted him up and threw him into the Thames. Daniel hurried over to stand beside her and look down at the river, feeling just a little relieved when he saw the driver swimming strongly for the bank.
It had all happened too quickly for Daniel to intervene, but he wasn’t entirely sure he would have if he could. The driver had been very rude, when all his instincts should have told him that was a really bad idea. Daniel turned to Tina to make some kind of comment, and found she was already striding off down the path. As though nothing out of the ordinary had just happened. And perhaps for her, it hadn’t. Daniel sighed, shook his head, and went after her. If only to see what she’d do next. Tina didn’t even glance at the Thames, just stared straight ahead. Daniel quickly caught up and moved in beside her, and then strode along in companionable silence as he wondered what to say.
“Why did you want to stop here?” he said finally.
“I needed somewhere quiet,” she said, still not looking at him. “Somewhere I could think.”
Daniel nodded. He was sure he was picking up some kind of vulnerability behind the brisk words. Something very much at odds with her usual determined exuberance. He decided not to press the point, just for the moment, and walked along beside Tina, giving her time to decide whatever it was she needed to say. She did slow her pace a little, which made it feel a little less like she was trying to put something behind her.