His scowl deepened at my repeated use of her name, and his cigar puffed brighter, inhaling the stub of tobacco fast enough for me to watch it shorten by a third from one intake. “Unless you came in here to die—”
“I killed Mina Harker for her efforts to frame me.”
Hyde froze, blinking at me and almost dropping his cigar from his teeth. I nodded, smirking matter-of-factly.
“Then I went and killed every vampire under Mina Harker’s control—”
His massive fist hit my chest like a charging horse shouldering me off a busy road. My back slammed into a wooden pillar, almost sending me entirely through it. I felt a bloom of concern and wild rage from Natalie through our new bond, but I waved her off. I growled viciously as I unencumbered myself, brushing off wooden splinters. “I warned you,” Hyde growled, “not to say that name, even if it is to brag about murdering her.”
“I don’t think I like your tone,” I told him. Then I glanced over at Natalie. “What about you? Do you like this beast’s tone?”
“Not particularly,” she said, squaring her shoulders. “And he ripped your suit jacket,” she said, pointing at my sleeve. “I liked that jacket.”
I checked my sleeve and clucked my tongue in displeasure before turning back towards Hyde. I flexed my fingers into claws, and let a faint, ominous purring sound bubble up from my lips. I drew deep on my blood reserves, making the claws longer and bloodier until they were the length and shape of scythe blades.
They rippled like liquid blood because that was what they were made from. I masked my sudden joy, even though I sorely wanted to do a little dance. I’d been waiting for this ability to return—the power to manipulate the blood within me into actual weapons. The crystallized blood knives that I threw around when I needed projectiles was simple by comparison.
My powers were returning after my long slumber, but nowhere near as fast as I would have preferred.
The barkeep made a strangled sound and I sensed his pulse doubling in speed. Likewise, Hyde’s pulse suddenly sounded like a steady drum. They were both staring at my claws in utter disbelief. Hyde tugged the cigar from his mouth, pointing it at my claws. “The fuck is that? You the goddamned Devil or something?”
I bared my teeth in a deadly grin. “Oh, I’m a different shade of devil,” I chuckled. “Much worse than anything you’ve ever read about in the Bible.”
“I tried to warn you,” Natalie said. “He’s a grow-er, not a show-er.”
15
Hyde didn’t necessarily look frightened, but he did look immensely wary—realizing he had stepped into a much deeper puddle than he’d originally thought.
A puddle with no bottom.
“Why are your eyes red?” he demanded.
Again, I bit back my joy to hear about another facet of my old powers returning. “It happens when I get aroused,” I purred, the sound now a steady hum, like a cat. “It’s a pity,” I murmured, taking a step closer to my foe.
“What’s a pity?” he demanded, shoving his cigar back into his mouth and puffing nervously.
“That I won’t be paying for my drink, and that your barkeep is about to pay for my jacket. We could have been friends.”
“I highly doubt that,” he said, clenching his fists and regaining some of his confidence.
I lifted my claws, drawing them down one of the wooden pillars. Slivers of wood curled down from the tips, falling to the ground in long spirals.
Natalie suddenly jerked her attention towards the door with a curious frown. I felt something outside the bar as well, but I trusted Natalie to watch my back. If more witches had found us, things were going to get messy fast. Which meant I needed to wrap this up.
Natalie turned back towards Hyde after a moment. “All you had to do was let him use your phone and you could have kept your blood on the inside,” she said sadly.
Hyde cocked his head abruptly, staring at Natalie with intense interest. “You said that before. Who tricked you into thinking you could walk in here and borrow my phone?” he sputtered.
I shoved my claw entirely through the wooden pillar with an explosive, splintering, cracking sound, jerking his attention back towards me. “Keep your eyes off my wolf, Hyde. I won’t warn you again.”
I felt another tug at my bond from beyond the door, but I couldn’t tell how far away it was. Victoria? Or was I picking up on something that Natalie was sensing—some inbound danger? Because I sensed her studying the door again.
Hyde also noticed Natalie’s wandering attention and pointed a huge finger at her, shifting his focus from me. “Why do you keep looking at the door?” he demanded. “What are you two planning?” he roared, his voice dripping with paranoia.
Quicker than a whip, I lashed out with my blood claws and severed the offending finger. It fell to the ground with a heavy thud and the stump spurted blood onto my face. Hyde bellowed in surprise, thumping his massive boots a few steps back, causing dust to fall from the ceiling.
“I told you,” I said softly, licking his blood from my lips with a grin—even though he tasted as disgusting as he looked. “She isn’t your concern.”
Hyde’s face was entirely purple now, and he stomped a thunderous boot my way, apparently infuriated that I’d made him instinctively retreat. He plucked the cigar from his mouth as he glared at me. He extinguished the cigar on his bleeding finger stump, the pain not even registering as the fresh wound sizzled and smoked.
“Oh, you’re going to be fun, boy,” he said, stomping another step closer. “I’m going to shove each one of those claws up your—”
I felt a sudden yank on my bond, and the door to the bar blew open behind me. I risked a glance back to see a vision of death staring at us from beneath a white hooded jacket. She wore a little black dress with white polka dots under her long white coat, and she was barefoot. She looked like someone might have ruined her dinner date, and that she thought that someone might be here.
Victoria Helsing.
The only other difference between now and then was that she had added a leather harness across her chest that held suspicious bulges beneath her coat, and she wielded a long double-barreled shotgun with both hands—the same new shotgun that she’d shown me before getting ready for dinner.
I realized that had been a prophetic moment.
Without saying a word, she swung the shotgun my way and pulled the trigger.
I dove clear from the blast, hissing as I snatched Natalie out of the way.
I realized that the strange sensation I’d felt a few times outside the bar had been Victoria drawing closer. That it had been our shared bond—which was why Natalie had kept looking at the door as well.
The blast struck Hyde in the shoulder, but he didn’t stop, shifting his attention to the new customer with a hungry grin. She fired again, hitting him in the thigh with a splash of blood and shredded cloth.
Still, he didn’t slow down, stomping towards her and making the entire room shake.
Victoria dropped the shotgun as she hopped down into the bar proper, slamming the door shut behind her and drawing two alarmingly large pistols that gleamed like liquid metal. She pulled the triggers one at a time and my ear drums popped at the sudden explosions, easily as loud as cannons in the wooden box of a room. She took her time, shooting one hand after the other, managing the powerful recoil.
The bullets tore through Hyde, ripping through his chest and out his back—proving just how powerful her guns were to be able to pierce that much flesh and muscle. Still, Hyde didn’t stop. The ceiling shook and a few bottles fell from behind the bar, shattering on the ground with each thunderous stomp as he closed in on Victoria, laughing maniacally.
And…she was suddenly laughing as well, tossing the guns as she flung her arms wide. “Get over here, you sorry excuse for a rhinoceros.”
I froze, blinking in confusion as Hyde wrapped her up in a hug, enveloping her entire body. “Vickie!” he boomed. “I missed you, you skinny runt!”
“That’s sk
inny bitch, to you, Hyde!” she said, her words muffled by his bulk.
He set her down, shaking his head as he laughed. “I was just wrapping up some business. We can talk when I’m finished—”
“No,” Victoria said, grabbing him by the beard and giving it a stern tug. “Sorin is my friend. Dr. Stein sent him here to lay low for a while. Witches were hunting us.”
The giant man blinked at her, utterly silent for a few moments. “Dr. Stein sent him?” Then he glanced over at me, his hideous face contorted in confusion. “This little shit?”
Victoria nodded. “He’s the world’s first vampire. Killed your favorite person, but he’s really here to kill Dracula.”
He grunted, glancing down at me again. “He cut off my finger. And he made me put out my cigar,” he grumbled unhappily, shooting me a withering look.
“You ripped my jacket,” I said, allowing my claws to dissipate as I rose to my feet and folded my arms.
“You were rude.”
“I was incredibly courteous.”
“You—”
“ENOUGH!” Victoria snapped, clapping her hands together to halt our bickering. “Did you rip his jacket? Because that is uncalled for,” she asked, giving Hyde a stern glare.
He hung his head. “Yes,” he muttered guiltily.
I snorted triumphantly. “Ha! You owe me—”
“Did you cut off his finger?” she snapped, rounding on me.
I frowned at her sudden shift in blame. “Well, yes, but he was pointing—”
She narrowed her eyes at me, and my words simply cut short. Then she turned back to Hyde. “I warned you about pointing your fingers at people. It’s rude.”
“Sorry, Vickie,” he grumbled. “He kept saying her name.”
She arched a cool eyebrow and began tapping her foot. “And what have I taught you?”
His shoulders slumped in resignation. “Sticks and stones can’t break my bones, so words definitely can’t hurt me.”
She nodded. “Who swung first?” she asked, pointing at the barkeep—who I’d almost forgotten about.
He shifted from foot-to-foot anxiously. “I wasn’t really paying attention—”
“Mr. Poole,” she warned, drawing out his name with murderous intent.
Hyde grumbled guiltily. “I did. But it was just a little shove.”
I scoffed, pointing at the broken pillar. “A shove that almost brought the roof down—”
“And you!” Victoria said, riding right over my argument as she directed her anger at Natalie. “You were supposed to keep him out of trouble, not get him into more trouble. Why didn’t you tell Hyde that Dr. Stein sent you?”
Natalie frowned. “The second band of witches ambushed us on our way here. Once Hyde learned Sorin was a vampire, things went to hell.”
Victoria pursed her lips. “I saw the aftermath of your fight on my way over here. I thought I would find you both dead,” she said, her voice breaking slightly. Then she cleared her throat. “It looked pretty messy,” she said in a softer tone. “Thank you for keeping him safe.”
Natalie nodded faintly, and I hoped she had enough sense not to bring up the bond right now.
Not ever, if I could help it. But I knew that wasn’t going to happen. If we could sense her through the bond, she could sense us—and she probably had a long list of questions about it.
I heard a sloshing sound and turned to see that the barkeep—Mr. Poole, apparently—was drinking straight from the bottle. Natalie had silently slipped over to the bar and I watched her guzzle her own drink.
Victoria was tapping her bare foot, folding her arms across her chest as she eyed Hyde and me with a judgmental frown. “I want you to hug and apologize to each other.”
I blinked incredulously. “You can’t be serious.”
“He’s mean!” Hyde complained. “And he never mentioned Dr. Stein. How was I supposed to know?” He folded his arms stubbornly. Victoria slowly turned to give him a stern look and I watched as he visibly wilted. What the hell kind of power did she have over this man? He was easily big enough to crush her head between two fingers. She’d unloaded enough firepower to halt a charging cavalry and he’d hardly seemed to notice. In fact, it made me realize that our scrap might have leveled the building over our heads.
Quite literally.
“I didn’t realize that I needed to mention Dr. Stein’s name, or that you’d try to kill me after I bought a drink,” I growled, glaring at him.
Victoria considered my words before turning to Hyde. “Is that true? You tried to kill a guest?”
He scratched at his jaw, hissing upon realizing he’d used his stub. “Ow!” he whined.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, you baby!” Natalie snapped, pointing a bottle of tequila at him—the barkeep must have handed it to her. “Victoria just unloaded a dozen bullets into your gut, and you shrugged it off. No one’s buying your pathetic sympathy tactic, you big brute!” Her words made me frown, vaguely reminding me of something, but I couldn’t quite place it.
Hyde shrugged guiltily. “Worth a try,” he admitted with a shameless grin. He finally turned to look at me, his smirk fading. “Well, I’m not walking over to you.”
I rolled my eyes. “This is ridiculous. I am not—”
“Meet in the middle,” Victoria snapped.
Hyde defiantly lifted his finger stub to the ceiling, cracking the wood. “Absolutely not! This is my business. I will not be made to—”
“Then I’m calling Dr. Stein,” Victoria said, pulling out her phone.
Hyde froze as if he’d been shot in the groin by a cannon. “You wouldn’t…” he rasped.
I flinched in sudden recognition. Dr. Stein had hired a brute to destroy the evidence at the police station, and I’d just seen Hyde shrug off bullets like they were buzzing gnats. She must have hired Hyde. That was why she’d sent me here for protection.
Victoria lifted her phone and hit a button. Then she hit another. And another. “I’m dialing her right now…” she warned.
Hyde and I rushed towards each other in a hurry, nodding stiffly like old enemies at the gallows, finally forgiving each other in the face of certain death. I could only reach his waist, and his massive arms swamped over me like freshly shoveled grave-dirt, burying me under his bulk. Too late, I realized that this only served to get his blood all over my face and chest, thanks to the bullet wounds Victoria had given him. Hyde patted my back hard enough to rattle my spine and I tried to do the same, only able to pat the sides of his belly.
“Sorry,” we said in unison, but mine was more of a muffled grunt.
We stepped apart and Hyde smiled down at me, his bulbous lower lip wobbling as he spoke. “You’ve got balls, tiny vampire. Great big balls.”
I nodded, wiping his blood from my face and neck with my sleeve. “Thank you. I think. Also, thank you for destroying the evidence at the police station,” I said, watching him for a reaction.
He hesitated, cocking his massive head. “That was for you?” he asked, confirming my theory.
I shrugged. “Dr. Stein did it for her own reasons, but it greatly benefited me since all the evidence was false, framing me as the man who murdered the Griffins.” I chose my next words carefully. “The woman you hate,” I said meaningfully, “set it all up. I killed her for it.”
He studied me for a long moment before nodding. “Then I guess we’re even, tiny vampire.”
“Men,” Victoria muttered, striding past us. “Pour us drinks, Mr. Poole. I think we’ll need a lot of them.”
Hyde clucked his tongue loud enough that it sounded like a wet blanket striking the floor. “This should be fun,” he grumbled, smiling grotesquely at me.
I found myself smiling back. “Sorry about the finger.”
He grunted, lifting his hand to show me the stump. I blinked, surprised to find that a new, shorter fingertip had grown over the wound, looking comically small in comparison to the others. “It’s no big deal. It will grow back to normal in a few hours.�
�
I arched an eyebrow, suddenly reconsidering our fight. “Interesting…” I said, extending my hand to shake his.
His palm enveloped my entire forearm, jarring my teeth as he pumped it up and down. “The name is Dr. Jekyll. Well, Mr. Hyde, currently.”
I nodded, freeing my hand from his. “The name is Sorin Ambrogio. Well, the Devil of New York, currently,” I said, matching his phrasing.
“I think we’re going to be friends, Sorin.”
I glanced back at Victoria to see her smiling approvingly. “It seems that way.”
16
We sat at the bar with our drinks in hand, the silence growing uncomfortable. Victoria had caught me up to speed on her own evening, letting me know that Nosh and Isabella were safely tucked away in Dr. Stein’s laboratory and that no one had followed them. Isabella had woken up and was in the tender, loving care of Dr. Stein, while Renfield, Nero, and Stevie were on alert to prevent either of the lovebirds from leaving before I had a chance to talk with them. That’s when her story had taken a turn for the worse.
Stevie had become suddenly irritable and hot-tempered, but he had refused to explain why. At the same time, Victoria had suddenly felt a strange sensation in her chest, urging her to go back out into the city. Following that sensation, she’d been drawn to the scene where we had fought the witches and their familiars. Then the same tugging sensation had led her to Hyde’s bar, Tequila Mockingbird.
On that note, she’d turned to face me and had demanded an explanation.
With no other alternative, I had told Victoria about our new bond, knowing it was best to be completely honest with each other, especially since we were all bonded together, now.
That, and she’d already used up all her ammunition and dropped her armament of guns, so it seemed to be the safest chance I would get.
I hadn’t provided any extra details, though. Just that it had accidentally happened when I bit Natalie.
Natalie was seated on the stool beside me, but she was using the counter like a pillow, resting her chin on her forearm as she listened with a sharp frown. She hadn’t reacted upon mention of Stevie, but I was pretty sure that his sudden anger was a result of me stealing his wolf, just like I’d feared.
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