by Kyle Shultz
I alighted behind my house, changed to human form, and burst through a back door that led directly down to my cellar-cave. I skidded down the steps and ran into the dark chamber. The enchanted torches had all gone dark, which never happened. Already a very bad sign.
“Melody!” I shouted. “Hyde! Where are you?”
Silence. I snapped my fingers, and the torches sputtered back to life. Both the shackles and the cage were empty, and Melody and Hyde were gone.
“Jekyll!” I didn’t actually expect the man to hear me, of course, but shouting at him still made me feel better. “How did you do it? You shouldn’t have been a match for her! She was armed to the teeth, and you don’t have magic! What did you do to her?”
A clinking of gold made me whirl around to face the hoard. “Who’s there?” I held up both hands, and fireballs materialized above them. “Whoever you are, you’d better show yourself. I’m in no mood to play games.”
There were more clattering sounds, and at last, a slender figure emerged from behind the hoard. Even before he stepped into the light, I recognized him. There was no mistaking the arm sling and the three-cornered hat.
“James?” I exclaimed. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to while you were fighting with that Hyde bloke, then I followed you here to get my payment.” James dusted off his jacket. “You know, you really should clean more down he—GAAAAH!”
As he spoke, I’d resumed my dragon form, and my fangs were now inches from his throat. “I’m going to need a much more thorough answer to my question,” I boomed, my voice resounding through the chamber.
The boy gulped loudly. “Y-you said I could have something!”
I looked him up and down, noting the overstuffed pockets of his coat. “I’m pretty sure that if you piled up everything you’re carrying, it would be significantly bigger than a breadbox.”
“Could I just have this, at least?” James took a large hook from his pocket. It was carved from bone and covered in intricate engravings. “It looks…interesting. I don’t know why I like it, but I do.” His eyes went blank as he gazed down at the relic. “It’s almost like it’s calling to me—”
“Put that thing away!” I swiped at the hook with a claw and knocked it out of his hand. “That’s the Fish-hook of the god Maui, and it’s got a nasty curse on it crafted by his ex-wife. Humans shouldn’t trifle with it.”
“But—”
“Tell me your story before I lose what little patience I have left,” I snapped.
James poked at a fallen gold coin with the toe of his boot. “A man came in. Skinny bloke, greased-up hair. Sort of hungry-looking.”
“Dr. Jekyll,” I said. “And you watched as he overpowered Melody and absconded with both her and Mr. Hyde?”
“That’s not exactly what happened.”
“What did happen, then?”
James sighed. “He used me.”
“What?”
“That doctor fellow. He spotted me hiding in the shadows, and he grabbed me and put a pistol to my head. That’s how he got Melody to let the other man loose.”
“Hold on,” I said, “that’s impossible. She couldn’t have set him free, I have the only—” I shifted to human form to bring back my clothes, then felt my pocket and found that the key was gone. I knew Melody was a skilled pickpocket, so it wasn’t hard to put two and two together…though the explanation still made no sense. “She stole the key from me. Why would she do that?”
“I don’t know anything about that,” said James. “Point is, she wasn’t going to use it until Jekyll threatened me. She was going to let him shoot her rather than do that, but she wouldn’t let him hurt me.”
“And then he just left you here?”
“He said he didn’t need me anymore. He knocked Melody out and had Hyde carry her.”
“Wait, what?” I struggled not to think about Melody getting hurt, and focused instead on the other significant details of what James had told me. “Hyde worked with him? Willingly? Why?”
“Jekyll told him he didn’t have any other choice. He said that people like you and Melody would always be chasing Hyde, and that his powers would lash out in self-defense even if he tried not to use them, and more innocent people would be harmed every time. And then he said something like, ‘The Janus Elixir is the only way.’” James frowned in confusion. “Who’s Janice, then? His wife?”
“She’s not...oh, never mind.” I tapped my foot. “Right, then. I need to look up an old friend for a long and animated discussion about what a miserable, traitorous little worm he is. Come on, then. Chop-chop.”
“Who, me?” James pointed to himself and stared at me in surprise. “You want me to come with you?”
“You don’t see any other candidates, do you?”
“But why? I tried to rob you!”
“Lad, people have been trying to rob me for thousands of years. I’ve learned not to get too bothered about it. Besides, I’ve done plenty of robbing myself, and I admire people with a keen eye for valuable objects.”
“All right,” James said slowly. He eyed me with suspicion.
“Also, thanks to that swine Jekyll, I’m short one associate. I need a spare. Do a good job today, and perhaps I’ll keep you on as an understudy for Melody in future.”
His face brightened. “Really?”
“Yes, but don’t let it go to your head.”
“Right. Certainly.”
“And if you try to steal from me again, I’ll eat you.”
James gave a nervous giggle. “Ha ha. That’s very funny.”
I shook my head. “No, it isn’t.”
“Oh.”
“How are you at riding horses, by the way?”
“Not so good with them, to be honest.”
“Excellent.” I rubbed my hands together.
“Why?”
“Because riding dragons is completely different from riding horses, and good horsemanship tends to make the learning curve even worse.”
James gaped at me. “Riding what?”
“Oh, come now. I know you heard me.” I clapped him on the back. “Come along, James du Maurier. I’m going to teach you to fly. You’re welcome.”
Chapter 14
I Am Fearless, and Therefore Powerful
“Please don’t vomit,” I warned James, as I swerved to the left to avoid colliding with Hickory Tower. A layer of fog had spread over the city, concealing me from the people below. A few ominous-looking storm clouds had begun to gather on the horizon.
“It would help if you didn’t move around so much,” said James. I felt the fingers of his good hand clutching at my scales for dear life.
“I’m flying,” I retorted. “By definition, movement is involved.”
“I’m talking about all the bobbing and weaving. Could you fly in more of a straight line?”
“If you’re going to be my secondary associate, you’ll have to develop a sense of adventure. And a stronger stomach, as well.”
“Is it too late for me to back out of being your secondary associate?”
“Yes. You want to be a pirate, don’t you? How do you expect to manage that if you can’t stand a little bobbing and weaving?”
“The sea’s different. It’s on the ground. Sort of. You know what I mean.” He gave a gurgling moan.
I decided not to land on the doorstep of the Esterbrook Hotel as a dragon. I needed to talk to Victor immediately, and the fuss and bother of explaining that oh, by the way, dragons aren’t extinct after all, would be a needless delay. So I landed behind a nearby restaurant, used my tail to gently sweep James off my back, and changed into human form.
“Right, then,” I said, straightening my jacket. “Let’s get to work.”
James staggered about for a few seconds before the greenish tint to his cheeks finally began to fade and he recovered his bearings. “So, where do your clothes go? When you’re a dragon, I mean?”
I planted my hands on my hips. “Seriously? You’ve j
ust flown on the back of a majestic, ancient, legendary creature, and the first thing you ask is where my clothes go?”
“Yeah. Always wondered about that. I’ve seen lots of shapeshifters, pookas and so forth, and I’ve never been able to figure out how the clothes thing works. Do they go and wait in some other place until you need them again? Do they all go to the same place? D’you ever change back and get somebody else’s clothes by mistake?” James giggled. “What if you changed back and ended up in a dress and a lady’s hat?”
I clicked my tongue “Good grief, lad, grow up.”
“Never,” said James, horrified.
“Come on.” I snapped my fingers and beckoned for James to follow. “It’s right across the street.”
James’ outfit drew a few stares as we headed for the hotel, but he merely smiled and waved at the gawkers. He had to run to keep up with me as I marched up the steps and into the lobby.
“Excuse me!” Harriet scurried out from behind the desk, clearly intending to try that “Mr. Frankenstein cannot be disturbed” business again.
I held up my hand. “Don’t. I’m a dragon, and I’m cross. Just don’t.”
I was surprised when she backed away; I’d thought I would have to show her a few scales and breathe some smoke first. Apparently, I looked angry and dangerous enough as a human right now to ward off annoying people.
“Hello there!” said James cheerfully. He waved to her as we passed, then hurried up the stairs with me.
Victor had repaired his door since Melody broke the lock earlier. I tried the knob without bothering to knock, found it locked, and bashed the door open with one kick.
“Victor!” I shouted.
The lab appeared to be empty...aside from a sheeted figure in the corner of the room. I frowned at it, then stomped over to it and tore the sheet off. Victor sat beneath it—or at least, someone who looked exactly like Victor. He gazed straight ahead with dull, unblinking eyes.
“Is that him?” asked James, confused. “Is he dead, or something?”
“It’s a homunculus,” I explained. “An artificial copy of him. That’s what we’re supposed to think, anyway.” I regarded it suspiciously. “But if he’s trying to trick us and this is actually the real Victor...well, he’ll have to move eventually, won’t he?” I pulled up a chair and sat down, then motioned for James to do the same.
It was Victor’s need to blink that finally shattered the illusion. His eyelids fluttered, and he gasped for breath.
“Excellent.” I hauled him up off the floor by his stained lab coat.
“Er...no!” he exclaimed, his face pale. “No, I am not the real Victor, honestly, I am just a—”
“Shall I check to see if your head pops off?” I suggested, through clenched teeth. “It might do that either way, of course.”
“All right, all right!” Victor shouted. “Fine. It’s me.” His gaze fell on James. “Who’s that?”
I slammed Victor’s back against the wall, causing every beaker and bottle in the room to rattle. “He’s my secondary associate, Mr. James du Maurier. I would have brought my first associate, but she appears to have been kidnapped...as a direct result of inaccurate information we received from a certain sniveling little alchemist.” I hoisted Victor higher as his coat began to tear. “How much did Jekyll pay you, hmm? Or was it a trade, perhaps? An assortment of pickled body parts in exchange for you luring us into his trap?” I released Victor abruptly and allowed him to crumple to the floor.
“I—did not intend—for anyone to be hurt,” he panted, picking himself up.
“Given that at least five people have been brutally murdered, and that Melody may soon join them, I’d say you failed spectacularly in that endeavor,” I snarled.
“It was just an experiment!” Victor insisted. “That’s what he told me. No one was supposed to be harmed. Just plain and simple alchemy, that’s all!”
I laughed bitterly. “You idiot. There’s no such thing as ‘plain and simple alchemy’! You fools think you can wrap magic around your little finger, make it do all sorts of clever things for you that are clearly terrible ideas, and then you feign surprise when it all blows up in your face. It’s always going to end badly, and people are always going to be hurt! And no matter how much I might want to murder you with my bare claws right now, I hope—I sincerely hope—that you learn that lesson before one of your blasted experiments tears apart everything and everyone you love!” I towered over Victor, fire crackling from my clenched fists. I could feel scales beginning to sprout along my jawline and neck.
“Hang on,” said James. “Let’s just try to keep our heads here. There are a couple of things I don’t understand. First off, if this Jekyll bloke didn’t want this experiment of his to be stopped, then why bring you and Melody into it at all?”
“He n-needed the brain of Janus,” Victor stammered in terror, “and Hyde was the only one powerful enough to get it for him. He knew Malcolm would be called to investigate—tomb robberies are his line of work, after all—so he decided to take control of the situation. Deliberately lead Malcolm and Melody down the wrong path.”
“You mean he had you do it for him,” I snarled. “So he pretended that he and Hyde were the same person. And most likely, he put that antidote potion out in plain sight so we’d find it and use it to capture Hyde. But why? What did he gain from that?”
“He used you as part of his plan to manipulate Hyde,” Victor explained. “He wants Hyde to do something for him, and he needs him to agree to it willingly if the magic involved is to work properly. Hyde’s powers were already out of control, targeting everything around him that could possibly be a threat to his safety. Jekyll knew that if you went after Hyde, it would push him over the edge. If he were hunted by a dragon, the resulting battle would destroy his last vestige of control over his magic. And then he would consent to whatever Jekyll wanted rather than allow that to happen again. You had to chase him and capture him in order to bring him to his lowest ebb.”
“So what does he want with Hyde, then?” asked James. “What’s all this for?”
“The Janus Elixir,” said Victor. “Jekyll’s most brilliant creation. It solves the problem of non-Charmbloods being unable to access magical forces.”
“But all that business about magic being in everything, that’s hogwash,” I protested.
“Certainly it is. That was one of his earlier theories, and all the experiments he based on it failed. So he took a different approach. He found a way to merge the essence of a non-Charmblood with a Charmblood. Combine two people into a single entity.”
“Duality,” I whispered. “One being, two faces. Of course.” I ran my hand down my face. “Dear heaven. The man’s insane.”
“Agreed,” said James, “but does that mean this elixir of his won’t work?”
“I wish, but since he’s using the brain of a god, I’m afraid virtually anything’s possible. And if he gains control of powers as formidable as Hyde’s...it could be a disaster. Even if it goes wrong, it could be a disaster.”
“Where do we find him, then?” James asked Victor.
“He has a secret lab in an abandoned warehouse on the edge of the city,” said Victor. “That’s all I know about it. And I’m sorry about all this, truly I am.” He looked up at me. “Can you ever forgive me?”
“No.” I leaned closer and spoke in a low, menacing tone. “But I might be willing to let you live—if you do something for me.”
Chapter 15
Jekyll and Hyde
Our preparations took far longer than I would have wished, but I told myself it would all be worth it in the end. About an hour later, James and I burst through the door of Jekyll’s warehouse.
“How are you doing?” said James, casting a worried glance at me.
“I’m fine!” I insisted. “Stop asking that. This is going to work; don’t worry.”
“I’m not sure.” James looked apprehensively at the rows of crates and boxes stacked all the way to the ceiling.
“This seems like a pretty dubious plan to me.”
“You’re just the assistant. It’s not your job to judge my plans.”
“Excuse me?” said a familiar voice from somewhere close by. “I’m gone for a couple of hours, and you’re already training replacements?”
“Melody!” I followed her voice through the maze of crates until I finally found her, bound securely to a chair. She looked disheveled and cross, but unhurt. “Are you all right?”
She blew a strand of hair out of her face. “Fine. Except my nose itches.”
“Ah, don’t worry, I’ll fix that.” I began scratching her nose. “Is that better, or am I in the wrong spot?”
Her eyes flashed.”Untie me, you prawn!”
“Oh, right. Sorry.” I snapped my fingers and pointed at James. “You handle that while I deal with Jekyll and Hyde.”
“About them,” said Melody, as James set to work on her ropes. “We were wrong about them being the same person.”
“So I’ve heard.”
“Though not completely wrong,” she added. “Or at least, we won’t be in a few minutes.” She jerked her head toward the wall of crates behind her. Muffled voices came from beyond it. “Jekyll’s trying to talk Hyde into using some kind of…elixir? I’m not really clear on the details.”
“But they haven’t done it yet?” I asked. “Blended themselves into one person?”
“No,” said Melody. Free at last, she winced and rubbed her sore wrists. “From what I’ve heard, though, I don’t think Hyde’s willpower is going to hold out much longer.”
I nodded. “Then let’s get in there and give him some moral support. Perhaps we can stop all this before it gets out of hand.” Despite this attempt at optimism, I didn’t fancy our chances. I realized at that moment that in the rush of events, I’d forgotten to ask Melody why she’d stolen the key from me. No point in getting into that now, I reasoned. First, we needed to thwart Dr. Jekyll.
