Page 63 of Across Space and Time

“Yes,” Jack agreed firmly. “I do not relish killing. But I also do not wish to see someone escape punishment due to technicalities, especially if they have harmed others and will do so again.”

Hugh smiled and nodded. “All right. However, I do not wish to know about it. The less I know, the better.”

“Ah. We shall have to find more hobbies for us to be interested in together,” Jack said with a grin that Hugh mirrored back. The sun was rising higher and higher as the train began its slow approach into the next station.

Jack gathered Hugh into his arms and leaped off the top of the car before he was running again, his feet barely touching the ground, carrying Hugh in his arms as gently as a newborn baby.

The hospital in the town the train had stopped in treated Hugh’s wound, which had closed by the time Jack had dropped him off near the hospital’s doors. Jack hid in a nearby alley until Hugh came out again with a large bandage around his neck, before Hugh went to the police station there. He identified himself to the man behind the desk and explained that there had been an accident with the train; a young man had climbed on the roof and had been struck by the tunnel. And then, Hugh knew he would have to return to London. The fire might have spread on the Duke’s estate, and there would likely be many questions that needed answering. He had no idea how he was going to explain the Garden of Eden and the Tree and Reardon and Spring-Heeled Jack to the other inspectors. Maybe he wouldn’t. He didn’t need to be a hero; he just needed the violence to be over.

They would travel back to London tonight, but for now, Hugh rented a room at one of the nearby hotels on the top floor. Jack leaped up to join him, sliding in the open window before shutting the curtain. And they just lay there, curled on the bed in each other’s arms.

“Jack,” Hugh said softly, sliding his hands up the side of Jack’s face, over the cheekbones that could have cut glass and up the back of Jack’s pointed ears. “Thank you. For being there for me through all of that.”

Jack gazed down at him, smiling just a bit so the light caught his sharp teeth. “Hugh. You are the reason I am here. I will always be here for you.”

“And you’re not leaving?” Hugh asked softly.

“No. I will never leave you,” Jack replied. “You are my soulmate, Hugh Danbury, and I will always be by your side. Though I do like the idea of continuing to search for those members of Eden.”

Hugh nodded. “We will do that. Together.”

“Together,” Jack agreed, and they held each other close, enjoying this moment in time and space where they could just be.

Later that day, in the northern countryside outside of London, police inspectors were picking up what remained of Adam along the area by the railroad tunnel. One constable picked up a gray, blood-spattered jacket and shook it out. As he did, a single tiny apple seed with a hint of a golden glow fell unnoticed from inside one of the pockets and buried itself in the soft, blood-stained earth.

Epilogue

He hadn’t taken that much money from the Duke’s estate, only enough for Hugh to buy a private townhouse on a quiet street not far from the old East End Cemetery. It had once been the place where an undertaker had done his funerary services before transporting the coffins to the cemetery, but the rumors that the house was haunted were enough to keep most away from it. The fact that the caretaker’s cottage at the cemetery, long abandoned, had an underground passage leading to the cellar of the townhouse had nothing to do with Hugh purchasing it for his new residence. None at all.

After they had returned to London, Hugh had gone to the Metropolitan Police station to find Anthony, who had been taken there by the fire brigade as well as examined by Dr. Ledbetter to ensure he was all right. Apart from a few cinder burns on his feet, he was given a clean bill of health. He had left the cape with Constable Depesh, who promised to return it to Hugh when the other constable reappeared.

Jack, after ensuring that Hugh was dropped off at Scotland Yard that night, had immediately gone to the abandoned theatre that had been the gathering point for the aristocrats of Eden, going down into the underground cavern. No one was left there, living or dead. The bodies of the missing and the slaughtered were gone, as was the body of Sergeant Reardon. The aristocrats had obviously redressed and left, for there was no sign of them that he could find except for one dropped mask under the round table in the main chamber. The mask the Duke had been wearing that he must have discarded when he rushed out to take his carriage to the orchard.

The rooms full of horrors were clear of blood and other things, though the tools of their evil games were still there. Jack smashed or burned everything he could find, going meticulously from alcove to alcove until he was sure he had been in every single space. And then he left Eden, sealing it up like a sepulcher. He came back to check it each night for months on end, but no living thing ever broached its walls again.

Hugh met with Anthony a few weeks later, undercover once more so no one would know he was a police officer. Mr. Galloway seemed a little sullen, and Hugh wondered if it was because he had lost his biggest source of income from the monthly parties at Eden. Anthony confirmed that there were no ‘special events’ planned for the foreseeable future, which he and Morris and the other young men at The Bull and Parasol seemed grateful about.

“I wish I could do more to help you,” Hugh said, catching Anthony’s hand in his and giving it a squeeze.

Anthony gave him a sweet smile. “You found who killed Christopher, and you stopped the monsters. I’d say you did a-fucking-lot.”

“But you’re still stuck here,” Hugh said, gesturing to the dreary bedroom.

Anthony shrugged his petite shoulders. “You can’t save everyone from everything, Hugh. If you can make the streets a little safer, that’s doing a lot.”

Hugh smiled and embraced the dark-haired young man. “I’ll always do that for you.”

Anthony hugged him back tightly. “Say hi to Jack for me.”

“Of course, I will,” Hugh replied, pulling his hat on. “I’ll see you around.”

Jack

Jack ascended the incline to the door that led directly into the basement of the townhome. He paused at one of the sheets of paper tacked to the wall, picking up a pen to cross off two of the names listed there. Lord Joseph Arthur and Lady Gwendolyn Arthur. He still had a few more to determine identities for, but Hugh was confident they would find the remaining Garden of Eden members who had escaped. Next to the list was a newspaper clipping, with a rather inaccurate depiction of him with his horns showing in front of the top hat on his head. How silly would he be to wear a top hat and not use them to cover his horns? SPRING-HEELED JACK MURDERS SUSPECTED MUTILATOR OF WOMEN declared the headline. Sometimes he was a hero, and sometimes he was a villain, depending how much evidence Hugh was able to find that could be presented to the public regarding the horrific activities of the aristocrats of Eden. But he was all right with that. It kept the evildoers of London on their toes, watching over their shoulders for Spring-Heeled Jack, the vigilante bringer of justice to those who deserved it.

Hugh was in the kitchen, humming tunelessly as he chopped vegetables to go into a large pot. He looked up as Jack climbed the cellar stairs and came into the kitchen. “I had a good night,” Jack said with a grin.

That was Jack’s way of saying that his hunt had been successful. The only thing Hugh knew about it beyond that was the list of names in the basement that he had provided Jack whenever he found another former member of Eden. He beamed at him. “I am sure you worked up an appetite. The soup will be ready in about an hour.”

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