Page 82 of Molly Boys

“Are we done here?” she said with a scowl. “It’s freezing in this hovel.”

“Always complaining it’s too cold, Nix.” One of her companions grinned. “You need some fire in your veins.”

“Do shut up, Dante,” she sighed.

The one she called Dante was a tall, well-built man with the physique of a labourer, all wide shoulders and muscled arms. He and a man bearing a startling resemblance to him were busy binding the unconscious Dr Baxter’s arms and legs with stout coils of rope.

“Don’t antagonise her, Dante.” The other one shook his head. “You know what happened last time.”

“And you, Lucien, always the voice of reason.” Dante grinned.

There was something strange about the two men. Their presence filled Archie’s mind with the vague sense of heat and flame, and for just a second, Archie could’ve sworn he caught the faintest hint of smoke in the air.

“Where’s Silas?” The man who’d helped Everett asked.

“I’m here.” Another man appeared, tall and slim with dark hair that fell rather unfashionably to his shoulders in thick waves. He had his arm around Shaw and took his weight as they came toward Archie.

“Shaw?” Archie breathed in relief. “Are you alright?”

“Broken leg,” he grunted as Silas lowered him to the ground next to Archie.

“Alright, he doesn’t need to be trussed up like a Christmas goose,” the elegant man said as he eyed the elaborate knots on the rope restraining Baxter.

“I really don’t think you want him getting loose.” Dante raised his brows as he looked at Baxter’s back.

“Just get him to the boat.”

“Wait a minute,” Archie interrupted angrily. “Who the hell are you? And just where do you think you’re taking him?”

The man turned to regard Archie, his eyes sparkling with amusement.

“I am Elias,” he said simply.

“Elias?” Archie repeated. “Well, Mr Elias. You can’t take him. He’s a murderer. Edmund Baxter has to stand trial for his crimes.”

“You’re a man of your principles,” Elias replied. “I respect that, but it won’t do you any good.” He glanced at the unconscious form of Edmund Baxter. “He’s now a part of our world, not yours.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Archie scowled.

“Look at him,” Elias challenged.

He didn’t need to. Archie wasn’t sure he’d ever forget the image of Edmund Baxter transforming into a monster out of his mind. “I’m guessing that he managed to make the serum like he planned but that, instead of giving him the physical perfection he craved, it turned him into that?”

Elias nodded.

Archie scowled. “It doesn’t change what he’s done. He has to answer for that.”

“Do you really think there’s a prison that can hold him?” Elias asked frankly.

Archie nodded at the huge figure hog-tied on the ground. “Once the serum wears off, I would’ve thought he’d return to his normal body. He’ll be able to stand trial and I guarantee he’ll hang for this.”

“It really isn’t as straightforward as that, Inspector Franklin.”

Archie’s eyes narrowed. “You know who I am?”

Elias nodded again and sighed. “I know this is difficult for you to understand, but the world isn’t black and white, Inspector. There are so many things you don’t understand.”

“What are you talking about?”