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.”
“In your coffin?” said Daniel.
“That’s for the elders,” said Paul. “I just get my own patch of dirt.”
“Why do you allow a vampire access to this building, Edward?” said Tina. Her voice was loud, and very cold.
“I summoned him here,” said Edward. “So he can help us destroy the annual gathering of the Vampire Clan. Paul is going to tell us exactly where they’re going to be.”
“Why would he betray his own kind?” said Tina.
“Because I’m not like them,” said Paul. “I never wanted to be a vampire. They took away my humanity, made me into a thing of blood and horror, dragged me kicking and screaming out of the light and into the dark. You’re going to be my revenge.”
Daniel turned his gaze away, to look at Edward.
“How do we destroy the Clan? Another bomb?”
“Yes, and no,” said Edward. “A bomb on its own wouldn’t be enough. You can’t kill what’s already dead.”
“Undead,” said Paul.
“Correct me again and I’ll rip out your canines,” said Edward. “The point is, the vampires need to be lured into a properly prepared trap. And that’s where you come in, my children. You will go to the annual gathering and walk among them. Paul will provide you with the proper passwords. You will then insult and provoke the vampires into chasing you to where you have planted the bomb, so you can trigger the trap.”
“How are we supposed to survive that?” said Tina.
“I have faith in you,” said Edward.
“Where do we find this gathering?” said Daniel.
“Vampires live in the Underground railway system,” said Paul. “Because it’s always dark down there. They sleep in abandoned stations, and move back and forth through forgotten tunnels. Like worms in the earth. Sometimes they appear on the usual platforms, when hardly anyone’s about, so they can fall on some unfortunate soul and drag them off into the shadows. Vampires ride the trains to every part of London, and then use the hidden ways to get to where they have to be, and do what they have to do. The Tube is such a convenient system, you have to wonder if it was originally designed with vampires in mind. A hiding place and a feeding ground, all in one—”
“Hold it,” said Daniel. “Vampires ride the trains, along with the living—and no one notices?”
“No one ever looks at anyone else on the underground,” said Paul. “You know that, Danny.”
Daniel nodded slowly. “You told me the Vampire Clan specializes in crimes of seduction . . . ”
“No one ever sees what a vampire really looks like,” said Paul. “A glamour hides our true nature, so people only see what we want them to. The Clan owns all manner of private clubs where the rich and powerful can go to satisfy the needs and hungers they could never admit to anywhere else. And I’m not just talking about blood drinking, but rather all the strange desires and weird cravings that only a vampire’s glamour can make possible. Because we can be anyone you ever dreamed of . . . ”
Tina turned to Edward. “We’re going to have to do something about these clubs, after we’ve destroyed the vampires.”