Read the book: «Earth to Hell»
Table of Contents
Title Page
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Glossary
About the Author
Books the Kylie Chan
Copyright
About the Publisher
The Serpent slides through the black icy water of the Antarctic, wreathed in permanent darkness.
The Turtle hides from the weak Arctic sun beneath the ice.
They cry, but there is no answer.
CHAPTER 1
The Serpent slides through the
black icy water of the Antarctic,
wreathed in permanent darkness.
The Turtle hides from the weak
Arctic sun beneath the ice.
They cry, but there is no answer.
‘Now,’ I said gently, ‘concentrate. You’ve done it before. This time, bring the chi out as slowly as you can. Feel the rubber band pulling it back.’
Apple bit her lip and the glowing yellow ball of chi floated out of her outstretched palm.
Emma, emergency, the stone in my ring said. Some third years have run into trouble. They raided a prostitution den in Mong Kok that was holding sex slaves, and instead of humans running the show they met up with demons. They need help.
‘Let the chi go, Apple,’ I said, still very gentle.
The chi floated back down into Apple’s hand and she sagged.
‘Take a break now, and don’t try it again without supervision,’ I said. ‘I’ve been called away, so we’ll end it there. Head back to the Folly and have a rest.’
Apple nodded. ‘Yes, ma’am. Thank you.’
I patted her shoulder, then quickly rose and spoke urgently to the stone as I charged out to the stairwell. ‘Get Marcus to bring the car around the front. I’ll meet him at the ground floor. Which Masters are free?’
‘Sit, Park, Lee and Edwards are there already. The demons are holding the students hostage. It’s a standoff,’ the stone said.
I jumped over the balustrade to the empty space in the centre of the stairwell, twenty storeys to the ground. I fell at maximum speed until the floor loomed below me, then slowed my fall, levered one foot on the railing and jumped down to the landing in front of the ground floor door.
‘Demons holding third years? They must be big,’ I said.
Do you need us? General Ma said into my head. The demons holding your students are quite large.
‘Aren’t you dealing with a demon attack on the Horse Village?’ I asked via the stone.
The Majia are handling it well, General Ma said. If we bring in the Princess we will be finished very quickly and be back in Hong Kong within the hour to help your students. Western Horsemen are on their way to assist us.
‘Can the Horses and Horsemen handle it?’ I said. ‘I don’t want to take Simone out of school unless it’s absolutely necessary, you know that. She’s skipping a lot of school with these attacks as it is.’
They can handle.
‘Head back when you’re relieved, and we’ll see if we need your help. How long do you think it will be?’
About an hour and a half.
‘See you then.’
My Lady.
It took nearly forty-five minutes to reach the area of Mong Kok where the students were being held hostage. Marcus wound his way through the narrow, busy streets of the area and dropped me outside the brothel, then went off in search of a car park. The brothel had a large sign outside advertising the prices: White Russian 500; Fair Skin Thai 400; North and South Chinese 300.
Two of the Masters, Sit and Park, stood outside the brothel with a group of five or six seniors, looking up at the second-storey windows. The brothel was a blackened concrete apartment building, 1950s era, with small barred windows on each floor. The ground floor was occupied by a microscopic mobile phone shop, all pristine white tiles and blazing lights. The brothel’s single front door had a steel gate, which now hung open. Plain narrow concrete stairs led up inside.
‘Where’s Edwards?’ I said.
‘Around the back in the alley with another couple of seniors,’ said Lee.
‘What do we have here?’
‘Six level fifty to sixty demons. A couple of them appear to be Mothers. They’re holding a team of third years who came in to practise on them and were taken by surprise.’
‘Mothers? Damn. Anybody hurt?’
‘One of the prostitutes tried to escape and a demon smacked her down; she’s probably concussed,’ Sit said. ‘A couple of the students sustained some severe injuries when they were taken — these demons hit them hard with some sort of energy blast.’
‘The police aren’t aware of what’s going on? We won’t see uniforms and guns roll up?’
‘No,’ Park said.
‘What do the demons want?’
‘Free passage.’
‘That’s all?’
‘Yes. We’re just waiting for you to give the go-ahead on either a raid or to let them go. We’re prepared either way.’
‘Recommendation?’
‘Let them go.’
‘Can we take them down without hurting any more girls or students?’
Park hesitated, then, ‘No.’
‘Let them go.’
‘Ma’am.’
Park concentrated, and the teams moved into action. Sit and Lee went upstairs to deliver the deal to the demons. A bus appeared around the corner and stopped outside the brothel.
‘Demons took off,’ Park said. ‘Lee has taken a recording.’
‘Good.’
Three more of the seniors with us charged into the building and up the stairs. Two of the four third-year students who had been held hostage came limping down the stairs, obviously nursing injuries. They made for the bus.
‘By your leave, ma’am,’ Park said, ‘we’ll take the other two injured students directly to the infirmary.’
‘Go,’ I said.
Park and Lee went into the building.
The seniors who had run up the stairs shortly before came down escorting ten or so prostitutes. The girls were tiny and slim; some of them only looked about fourteen or fifteen. There were no Europeans, only Thais, Indonesians and Chinese. They were obviously terrified as the seniors guided them onto the bus.
A few bystanders watched, curious. One of the seniors jumped off the bus, walked over and loudly told them in Cantonese that this was a police plainclothes operation and to move along. The bystanders grinned but continued to watch, unfazed.
‘Update on the Horse Village,’ I said to the stone.
Under control. A squad of about fifty demons attacked the village, but the Horses held them off. Three Horses were killed and four were injured before the Generals arrived to help.
‘Tell General Ma we have a lid on things here and he’s not needed,’ I said.
We have been called to another attack anyway, ma’am, Ma said. A phoenix has called for help — a Mother is outside her nest and threatening her clutch.
‘Can they make it in time?’ I said.
If we move now we may make it, but we will be cutting it close, Ma said.
‘Need help?’
Simone could be there immediately to protect these chicks, Ma said. It is the phoenix’s nursery; she thought it would be safe in this remote area, but some Mothers have found it. She and her children are fighting but there is a large number of demons after her clutch. He hesitated a moment, then, This looks very bad. Please allow us to send in Princess Simone.
Help, General Danahuo, a woman’s voice said into my head. All of my babies are here, and a Mother and sixteen of her demon spawn are attempting to break into my nursery. Her voice became strained. Help!
‘Can you relay, stone?’ I said. ‘Let me see.’
‘Networking …’ The stone’s voice trailed off. ‘I have a link. The phoenix has a sentient stone Shen as a jewellery item. Oh! It’s Glauconite, I know this one. Bringing up an image.’
A phoenix appeared in front of me, transparent against the buildings and people around me. She bowed, spreading her scarlet wings; royal blue and purple peacock-like feathers rippled among the flaming red pinions.
‘General Danahuo,’ she said. She gestured with her head to her left. ‘There they are. They threaten my clutch.’
She was standing on a barren, rocky hillside somewhere in southern China. About twenty metres down the slope, some red-garbed warriors fought with a band of demons. A Snake Mother stood behind the demons; the top half of her body was human, but with the skin flayed off, while the bottom half was an enormous black snake with clear gelatinous toxin oozing from between her scales. She must have been close on four metres in length; a really big one. I gasped when I saw the demons she was controlling — fake stone elementals. They appeared to be made of rough-hewn blocks of granite held together with an invisible force. They were about two metres tall, had featureless faces and moved with disturbing smoothness as they battled the phoenix’s defenders.
‘More of these things!’ Edwards said as he approached me from the back of the building and saw the projection next to me. ‘Who’s making them? They keep popping up everywhere!’
‘I’m surprised they sent stone to fight the phoenix’s guards,’ I said. ‘Wouldn’t water be more effective against fire?’
The guards, wearing traditional all-red Chinese armour, were fighting valiantly with both swords and phoenix fire, but the demons outnumbered them about three to two. None of the guards had fallen yet, but they were obviously losing the battle — the stone demons were completely unharmed by their weapons and fire.
‘Tell Simone,’ I said to the stone. ‘Tell her where to go.’
Thank you, ma’am, both the phoenix and General Ma said at the same time. The image of the battle snapped off.
On it, Simone said into my head. It was only PE anyway.
‘I’ll go on the bus with the girls,’ I said to the stone. ‘Tell Marcus to take the car back. How are the injured seniors?’
In the infirmary back at the Academy, the stone said. Serious injuries but not life-threatening. There’s some debate about whether to send them to hospital.
‘What does Regina say?’ I said as I got onto the bus and sat next to Edwards. Edwards, as usual, wore a pair of plain slacks and a business shirt without a tie. His bald head, glasses, and paunch made him look like a fifty-year-old schoolteacher — and deceptively harmless.
The driver pulled away from the kerb and into the traffic.
Regina says hospital.
‘Damn, we can’t afford this. If they don’t go to hospital what are the consequences?’
They will just receive better care in hospital, the stone said. Regina doesn’t have the facilities to deal with this type of fracture.
I hesitated. We would be asked too many awkward questions if the students were checked into a hospital. ‘Stone, get me Bai Hu, please.’
Ma’am, the White Tiger said into my head.
‘Ah Bai. We have two badly injured students and Regina wants to hospitalise them. Any room in your clinic?’
Stand by.
His voice returned a couple of minutes later. Either of them demons?
No, the stone said. Human.
Ah shit, the Tiger said. Well, okay, I’ll take them. A Horseman is on his way to get them.
‘Thanks,’ I said. ‘Why do you always want my injured demon students?’
The Tiger didn’t reply.
‘He has a group of his children researching demon nature,’ the stone said.
‘Dear Lord, he’s not doing any genetic experimentation on them, is he?’
Nah, just having a look inside, the Tiger said. They’re moving way ahead of us in breeding research, they always have. I thought it was about time that we caught up.
‘Breeding?’ I said, horrified.
‘The Tiger is breeding demons?’ Edwards said.
No, no, of course not, the Tiger said. We just collect them as we go along. Some of yours would be fun to have — a few of yours are the results of some very interesting breeding experiments. That’s why they have so much free will and have joined you in the first place.
‘You hurt one hair on any of my demon students’ heads and your tail is in serious trouble,’ I said.
‘Hear, hear,’ Edwards said quietly.
‘He’s not breeding them, he’s collecting them and doing research,’ I said for Edwards’ benefit. ‘He wants some of ours’cause they’re the result of some “interesting breeding experiments”.’
Edwards leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms. ‘No way is that bastard laying his paws on any of my students. My kids are not guinea pigs.’
I promise I won’t hurt them, Jim, the Tiger said.
Edwards gave an excellent British harrumph. ‘The psychological damage of undergoing that level of medical examination would undo all the good work we’ve done in getting these kids over what they’ve endured in Hell. The Tiger can piss off, he’s not gettingany of mine.’
What if they volunteer? the Tiger said.
‘Oh, now that’s clutching at straws,’ Edwards said with amusement.
It’s like a holiday for them, Jimmy, the Tiger said. You know how nice it is out here. Let them come and check it out. His voice became eager. How many good demon students do you have anyway?
‘None of your damn business, and shut the fuck up,’ Edwards said. He winced. ‘Sorry, ma’am.’ His tone was amused as he spoke to the Tiger again. ‘Get lost. You’re not getting any of my demons.’
‘You’re not getting any of the Academy demons,’ I added. ‘Get your own. And if I send any over to you for medical attention and find that you’ve experimented on them, your tail is mine.’
Fine thanks I get for helping you out here, the Tiger grumbled in my head. Just one or two —
‘No!’ Edwards and I said at the same time.
Fine!
‘Oh, and Ah Bai?’ I said.
What!
‘Thanks for looking after these students for me, my friend. Most appreciated.’
Stop sounding like Ah Wu, he said, and went quiet.
‘Be interesting to see what he’s finding out about them,’ Edwards said. ‘I’ve always been fascinated by demons. Never knew they existed when I was back in the UK, but I must have run into a couple of them without realising.’
‘You think so?’ I said.
‘It follows. Demons are often in on the nasty stuff that goes on.’ He nodded towards the prostitutes, who cowered in their seats at the back of the bus as the students tried to explain to them that they were no longer slaves. ‘We were often called in to deal with this sort of thing.’
‘Ever run into any nasties that seemed more dangerous than your average felon?’ I said. ‘That gave even a group of trained fighters like yourselves a tough battle?’
He thought for a moment. ‘Never had anybody that didn’t drop when we shot them, and demons would be unaffected by guns.’ He hesitated. ‘But some of them did seem tougher. We were given extensive training, and it’s like they were too.’ He shrugged. ‘Stronger, faster, smarter. A match for us. Could have been demons.’
‘But if you shot them, they fell down,’ I said. ‘Never had any explode into demon stuff?’
‘Never,’ he said. ‘Must go back to the UK and have a look one day.’
‘I’ll come with you,’ I said.
He harrumphed again. ‘Neither of us have the goddamn time, ma’am. We’re both flat out keeping our people here safe from the Demon King and his little kiddies.’
I sighed. ‘I know.’ I touched the stone. ‘How’s Simone doing?’
‘Let me see,’ the stone said. ‘She’s just arriving there now.’
‘Can you link me up, please?’
Simone appeared as a small image in front of us, running downhill towards the demons from where the phoenix was standing guard at the entrance to her nest. She was wearing her school PE uniform — a pair of green shorts and house T-shirt — and carrying her father’s sword, Dark Heavens. The sword was completely without adornment on either the handle or the blade. It was slightly too big for her but it was her weapon of choice.
As she closed on the demons, she lifted into the air, her tawny hair flying around her. She raised Dark Heavens horizontally above her head, and held her left hand up, her first two fingers pointing towards the demons, ready to use chi energy if necessary.
She flew lightning-fast over the Snake Mother, somersaulted directly above it and sliced diagonally through its skinless body. It fell in two pieces, the snake part writhing across the ground, the human hands scrabbling at the gravel.
Simone landed in a crouch, and I was breathless for a moment thinking she had hit the ground too hard. She spun and rose and launched shen energy at two nearby demons, blinding white blasts that destroyed them. The red warriors that had been fighting the demons stepped back in shock and raised their hands.
About six of the fake stone elementals remained. Simone ran to the centre of the battle, concentrated for a split second, then rammed Dark Heavens into the ground. Her hair flew up, the gravel lifted from the ground around her and a shockwave spread outwards from the blade of the sword, creating a visible ripple in the stony ground. When the shockwave hit the warriors, it knocked them off their feet; but when it hit the demons, it completely shattered them. They fell to the ground in shards of stone.
The shockwave stopped and the gravel that had been flying around Simone dropped to the ground. She pulled her sword free, and walked back up the slope to the phoenix. The red warriors rose and checked the area; the demons had all been destroyed.
Simone shared a few short words with the phoenix, then they touched wing to hand, the flaming feathers doing her no damage. She nodded to the warriors, who saluted her, then she shot straight up into the air and disappeared towards the north, leaving behind a trail of vapour.
I thank you, Madam General, the phoenix said into my head. You and the Princess have saved my babies. I am your servant.
‘Tell her she’s welcome,’ I said to the stone, and the image of the phoenix snapped off.
‘Never ceases to amaze me how such a sweet young lass can kick so much serious arse,’ Edwards said.
One of the seniors called to us from the back of the bus. ‘A few of these girls don’t speak anything but Indonesian and Thai, and one is Vietnamese. We need your help, Masters.’
Sit moved to the back of the bus where he talked to the girls in Putonghua. Nevertheless, they all understood him.
‘I envy the Immortals,’ Edwards said.
‘Then you’ll never join them,’ I said.
He shook with a short, silent laugh. ‘I know.’
‘If you want to take the time to go and cultivate the Tao, it’s your choice,’ I said.
He considered for a moment. ‘One day maybe. They all encourage me to go and cultivate the Tao on the Mountain, living on pine nuts and spring water, but I don’t think I’m ready for the Art of Navel Gazing. I’m just having too much damn fun here.’
I nodded. ‘Just so you know. If you feel the time is right, then go. They will help you.’
‘Thanks, Emma,’ he said softly. He shifted to sit more upright. ‘Nearly there now. Let’s work out what to do with these poor girls.’
CHAPTER 2
The team who’d rescued the prostitutes gathered for a debriefing in the conference room on the ninth floor.
‘Four of them can’t go home; their families sold them into this and they won’t be wanted back,’ Sit said. ‘Of the seven who can go home, we found only three of their passports in the brothel, the other four passports are missing. We’ll have stones tap into the relevant immigration computers to extract their details and make duplicates for them. Something very interesting, ma’am — one of the girls appears to be half-dragon and completely unaware of her nature. One of our dragons recognised her.’
‘I’ll talk to her,’ I said. ‘Arrange for her and Amy to meet me in my office after this; and to bring along the four girls that can’t go home. But first let’s have a look at Mr Lee’s recording. I want to see this energy blast that injured the students.’
Lee folded up from human to stone form and drifted to sit in the middle of the table. We waited for him to produce the recording of the standoff with the demons, but nothing happened. He returned to human form after a couple of minutes, obviously puzzled.
‘The recording’s not there,’ he said.
‘It’s not in your matrix?’ I said.
He shook his head, bewildered. ‘That area of my structure is clear. Like nothing was ever there.’ He looked concerned. ‘I’ve been hacked.’
‘Not possible, they were just Mothers,’ the stone in my ring said. ‘Bring out what you have either side, let’s see.’
Lee rubbed his hands over his face. ‘There isn’t anything there. I recall arriving at the building, going up the stairs, then going into recording mode. Then the next segment of data is me back down in the bus. I’ve been wiped.’
‘Not possible!’ the stone said.
‘Has anything like this happened to you before?’ I said.
Lee shook his head. ‘Very disturbing.’
‘Time to go back and see what’s going on there,’ I said. ‘Lee, grab a couple of other stones, take a couple of Celestials. See if you can get a dragon if they’re free, and teleport directly in. Everybody take a recording. Someone take an old-fashioned video camera from stores; ask Lok for one. We’ll meet back here in a couple of hours and see what we can see.’
‘Ma’am.’ Lee lowered his head and disappeared.
‘Has anything like this ever happened before?’ I asked the stone.
‘It is possible for us to experience damage to part of the matrix, but usually we can piece together the undamaged parts to give us an idea of what went wrong,’ the stone said. ‘Being erased like that is unheard of.’
‘Are you passing it through the stone network?’
‘Quite a few stones have dropped what they’re doing and are going along with Lee. A few want to examine his matrix. We’re looking into it.’
‘Good,’ I said. ‘Sit, get a stone to make some duplicate passports for these girls, and let’s send them home. I’ll talk to the dragon and the four that can’t go home in my office. Other than that, I think we’re done here.’
‘Ma’am,’ Sit said, and disappeared.
‘I’m very concerned, Emma,’ the stone said.
‘You’re not the only one.’
‘So it’s your choice,’ I said to the five girls. ‘Go home to your own country, or stay here. If you stay, we can give you the right of abode and you can find a job and work here. We will give you somewhere to live. It is up to you.’
One of the girls sniffled. The others sat looking down at their hands, silent and disbelieving.
‘If you don’t know what you want to do, take your time,’ I said. ‘We will look after you; we won’t make you do sex work. We will train you to do office work if you like, and you can find yourselves good jobs back home.’
None of the girls moved or spoke.
‘My staff will show you where you’re going to live until you decide,’ I said. ‘The lady who brought you here is waiting for you outside the office. If you want to go, just tell her, she’ll take you home. If you’re not sure, then you can stay with us until you know.’
I called to Martha and she opened the door and came in. ‘I’ll do the rest,’ she said.
She smiled at the girls and folded her hands in front of her. ‘I will look after you, nobody will hurt you any more. I can take you home or you can stay here; either way you are safe.’
The girls sat without moving.
Martha put her hand out. ‘Come with me.’
The girls rose like automatons, still looking at the floor, and went out with Martha. One of them sniffled again and wiped her nose on her sleeve.
Martha gently put her hand out to stop one of the girls from leaving the room. ‘Not you, you stay here. Madam needs to talk to you.’
The girl stopped, still staring at the floor. The other girls went with Martha without looking back.
I checked my notes for her name. ‘Hien. Please sit again, and I’ll tell you a story.’
She returned to her seat and glanced up at me through her long fringe. I smiled. Actually looking at me was a promising step.
‘About eleven years ago, I took a job as nanny to a little girl named Simone. Her father was a wealthy Hong Kong businessman.’
Hien didn’t move.
‘After a while, I discovered that he wasn’t a businessman at all, but a god. He was Xuan Wu, the black Turtle Snake God of the North.’
Hien glanced at me through her fringe again.
‘I don’t know how much you know about the gods, but he was the North Wind, an Immortal. He married a human woman and had a child with her. It’s a long story, but because of his wife he was forced to stay in human form for a long time and this made him weak. His wife was murdered by a demon before I met him; that’s why he needed me to nanny. He and I fell in love and he died about three years after that, murdered by a demon. I’ve been looking after his daughter, Simone, ever since. I’ve also been given the job of looking after his martial arts academy and some other stuff related to him being Emperor of the Northern Heavens.’ I put my chin on my hand. ‘Not exactly what I was intending to do with my life, but one day he’ll come back and we’ll get married.’
Hien clasped and unclasped her hands in her lap.
‘Yep, you’re probably thinking: more lies. But this is actually easy to prove because I can have any god or demon wander in here and take their True Form and scare you to death. I won’t do that though.’
She studied her hands carefully, still too traumatised to talk. This would take time.
‘Some of the staff and students here at the Martial Arts Academy are dragons,’ I went on. ‘Dragons are fierce fighters with impeccable honour and completely loyal to us. They are also incredibly fickle in love. They tend to love humans and then leave them without thought; not out of malice, just because that’s the way they are. We’ve been working here to explain to the dragons that this sort of behaviour isn’t really acceptable where humans are concerned. That if you produce a child with a human partner you’re expected to hang around and help care for it. Dragon children hatch fully able to care for themselves, but half-human dragons are generally the same as human babies.’
She sighed gently. I was boring her now.
‘One of your parents took off when you were a small child, Hien, leaving the other to care for you. Was it your mother or father who left you?’
She frowned slightly but didn’t reply.
‘Please answer me, Hien. Was it your mother or your father that left you when you were a small child?’
She tilted her head slightly, still hiding under her long fringe. ‘Mother,’ she whispered.
‘Your mother left when you were little. Your father probably has nothing but good things to say about her, and says that she left because that’s the way she was. He might even say that he still loves her.’
She glanced up at me through her hair.
‘Your mother is a dragon, Hien.’
She looked down again. Lost her.
‘You’re a dragon too, if you can learn to transform. You can be very powerful, able to swim and fly. But you must make this hidden dragon nature emerge. If you can, you will never again have to worry about anybody harming you.’
She remained still and silent.
‘I have one of the Academy dragons outside the door, Hien. She’s been translating for me. I can’t speak a word of Vietnamese.’
A small lie, but worthwhile in the circumstances. Amy wasn’t translating for me; all languages were understood within the walls of the Academy.
‘Right now she looks like an ordinary young woman. She can transform into a dragon to show you, if you like, and then you can decide whether you want to be a dragon and learn what you are capable of, or whether you would just like to go home.’
Hien sat unmoving, thinking about it.
‘Come on in, Amy,’ I said.
Amy opened the door and Hien jumped. Amy smiled reassuringly at her, and sat in the other visitor’s chair.
‘I know this is shocking for you,’ she told the girl. ‘I didn’t know I was a dragon until I was twenty-five years old; my father never told me he was a dragon too. We have a community of dragons here at the Academy and we go out and swim and fly together. It’s great fun. And we’re fierce fighters too; we never have to worry about being hurt.’
‘Amy will look after you now, Hien,’ I said, ‘and introduce you to some other dragons. All of them will be in human form. When you’re ready, you can ask her to show you her dragon form, her True Form. Take a few days, meet the other dragons, then at the end of the time decide whether you would like to learn to become a dragon yourself, or whether you’d like to go home.’
Amy held her hand out to Hien. ‘Come with me, I’ll look after you. Nobody’s going to hurt you any more.’
‘Go with her, Hien,’ I said. ‘And good luck. I hope one day I see you in dragon form. I’d like to see what colour dragon you are. Amy is the most beautiful black dragon with gold fins that I have ever seen.’
I nodded to Amy and she smiled back at me. As she gently guided Hien out, she turned back to me. ‘Don’t worry, Emma, I think we’ll bring her round.’
‘I hope so,’ I said. ‘She’s had a lot of bad stuff happen in her life. It would be nice to see something good happen.’
I was about halfway through the end-of-year leave requests when there was a knock on the door. ‘Enter.’
Lee came in, looking grim, with Silver, one of the Academy dragons. They took the visitors’ chairs and Silver placed the Academy’s video camera on the desk.
‘What did you find?’ I asked.
They both shook their heads.
‘Nothing,’ Lee said. ‘I wasn’t wiped this time. In fact, nothing at all happened. We went right through the place and didn’t find anything. You can watch the video, but it’s basically a tour of a down-market Mong Kok brothel. Four stones and Master Sit came with us, and absolutely nothing happened.’
‘Let’s see,’ I said.
Lee picked the camera up off the desk, flipped open the LCD screen and turned it on. He glanced down at the screen and his face filled with shock.
Silver leapt to his feet and changed to Celestial Form — nearly two metres tall with long, flowing, shining grey hair and scaled silver armour. He summoned a spear and held it to one side in the small office.
‘Don’t attack,’ Lee said to Silver without looking away from the screen. ‘That’s Lady Emma’s serpent form.’
‘What?’ I said.
Lee turned the LCD screen around so that it faced the same way as the lens. I could see myself in the screen; the camera was on record mode, not playback.
I stared at myself. ‘Holy shit.’
Silver changed back to human form, but his hair remained long and grey. ‘The Dark Lady is a serpent?’
‘Nobody knows why, but I can change into a big black snake. Not many people know about it, Silver,’ I said, watching with fascination as the enormous black serpent in the tiny screen also opened its mouth to speak. ‘We’d prefer not to freak out the students.’
I took the camera from Lee and watched myself. ‘I never knew I’d look like that on video; on still cameras I appear human. Wait!’ I looked up. ‘Stone, Simone took a home video about six months ago when we went to London and I was human in that. What the hell?’
‘No idea, Emma,’ the stone said. ‘Your guess is as good as mine.’
‘This information isn’t to be shared,’ Lee said to Silver. ‘Many of the human students would probably take it quite badly.’
Silver nodded. ‘I understand. How long have you been able to do this, Lady Emma?’
I paused, embarrassed.
Lee glanced at Silver, obviously sharing the information by telepathy, and Silver’s face cleared. ‘Sharing mind and body with the Dark Lord. That could very well bring out an inherent serpent nature.’
I could feel my face growing red, and Silver grinned. ‘In this respect you are still very human, ma’am.’
‘And I’d like to stay that way, thank you very much,’ I said.
I changed the camera to playback and watched as Lee and Silver swept through the brothel, pausing to focus on the untidy metal beds in each room with their cheap polyester quilts. ‘You were right. Down-market.’
‘Very,’ Lee said. ‘But we didn’t find anything.’
‘I had a serious look around for anything that would give us more detailed information on the nature of these demons,’ Silver said, ‘and I too came up blank. No paperwork, no messages, nothing. I’d say it was stripped clean but they never came back to do it. Which means there was never anything there to link the demons to the operation in the first place.’
‘Credit card machine? EFTPOS?’ I said. ‘Any cables you could hook into to get information, Lee?’
‘They had an EFTPOS line to the Hong Kong Bank. I traced it back and it was listed to a company registered at the brothel’s address, but with names of nonexistent people as the directors,’ Lee said. ‘Drawing a blank, ma’am. We have nothing.’
‘Okay,’ I said. ‘Let’s leave it for now. Warn the third years, and keep an eye on the criminal operations for these demons.’
‘They’ll probably keep a low profile for a while now,’ Lee said. ‘But I’d really like to know what they did to me.’
‘Are you okay?’ I said.
‘I’ve been checked over, I’m fine.’ His mouth tweaked in a small smile. ‘I’ve just been erased.’
‘We’ll let the others know. The stone network is on the lookout. That’s basically all we can do,’ Silver said.
‘Thanks, guys,’ I said.
They stood patiently in front of my desk.
‘Dismissed!’ I said. ‘And you know you don’t need to wait for it!’
Silver bowed slightly, grinning knowingly. ‘Serpent Lady.’
‘And don’t call me that!’
They both disappeared.
CHAPTER 3
I’d just finished the last of the end-of-year leave forms when I heard a soft sound and a red box materialised on my desk. Thank you very much, Heavenly Bureaucracy: 7 pm, a hell of a day, and this lands on my desk. I hoped it wasn’t urgent.
I pressed my thumb to the elaborate gold filigree clasp on the front of the box. Inside was a single scroll, dun-coloured vellum tied with a red ribbon. I opened it and perused the black Chinese characters. Not written in red, so not an edict from the Jade Emperor, but from the complexity of the large square seal at the bottom of the document it was from someone quite high up. I couldn’t read the flowing Chinese calligraphic characters but the Celestial nature of the scroll made their meaning apparent as I scanned them. My heart leapt when I saw Leo’s name.
Lady Emma Donahoe, Grand Master (Acting), New Wudang Academy of Martial Arts; Probational Regent of the Northern Heavens
Madam,
Your application to attend to the matter of your Retainer Leo Gerald Alexander has been reviewed by the Office.
In light of the nature of the circumstances it has been decided that this matter will be forwarded to the Secretary for Underworld Affairs for further consultation.
Signed and chopped
Undersecretary for Review of Promotion
Yes. Finally we were getting somewhere. The Secretary for Underworld Affairs was the head of the Department of Hell and Yanluo Wang’s second in command. Yanluo Wang, Lord of the Underworld, answered only to the Jade Emperor when it came to the judgement of those found Worthy for Immortality. After eight years of tedious bureaucratic blockades I was close to being able to enter Hell and talk Leo into coming out.
I grabbed the scroll, rolled it up and shoved it into my handbag. Simone would be thrilled. I was meeting her for dinner at a Thai restaurant nearby and then we were going shopping in Pacific Place. I walked to the door, then stopped when I heard a soft sound outside. I listened. Quiet voices. Damn, in this form I couldn’t use my Inner Eye to check.
I tapped the stone, then put my hand over it to signal that it should stay silent.
I hear them, it said in my mind. It paused. Demons, Emma, big ones.
Not again. And right when I was about to go home. This was becoming ridiculous.
Yep, the stone said. It’s only three weeks since the last bunch.
I dropped my bag on the floor of my office, strode out the door, down the hall to the lift lobby, and switched on all the lights. There was a soft exclamation, then silence.
I stormed back into the middle of the main office cubicles, stopped in front of the demons, and crossed my arms.
They had taken the form of ordinary Chinese teenagers: two boys and a girl. I studied them carefully. The stone was right: really big ones. The girl was a shape-shifter; the two boys were humanoids.
‘Looking for me?’ I said.
The demons shared a look, then the girl stepped forward. ‘Are you Emma?’
‘Yes I am.’
She smiled and tilted her head. ‘We found your wallet downstairs and wanted to return it to you. But I left it back at my apartment. Can you come with us and I’ll give it back to you?’
Wow, that was lame even by their standards.
‘I suggest you leave right now,’ I said, ‘before you find yourselves in serious trouble, kids. How did you get in past the seals anyway? I just had them reset three weeks ago.’
Her eyes glazed over. ‘Seals?’
Great, a genius leading the group.
‘Yes, seals. Ours are some of the best. Who helped you to get in?’
A fleeting expression of vicious cunning crossed the face of one of the boys. Ah, the real brains.
‘We don’t know what you’re talking about, Emma,’ he said. ‘We just have your wallet and want to give it back to you.’
‘You were told by the Demon King that if you brought me to him in one piece, he’d let you back into Hell,’ I said. ‘What did you do to piss him off? You’re the fourth bunch of kids since November.’
The girl recovered herself. ‘I’m sorry, Emma, I have no idea what you’re talking about. Don’t you want your wallet?’
‘It’s in my bag back in my office,’ I said. ‘And now I’m giving you fair warning. Turn, and I will take you in. Run, and you’ll probably starve to death locked out of Hell. If you wish to take the third option, I will oblige but I won’t be happy about it. You could attain humanity if you just gave it a try. I’m a generous master to all my demons, you can ask any of them.’
When I said the word demons they stiffened slightly.
‘Very well,’ the smart one said. ‘You know what we are. Fine. Come with us and we won’t hurt you. Our dad just wants to talk to you, that’s all. Come along, and we promise nothing will happen to you.’
‘I can take all three of you down, you know,’ I said.
The girl snorted with laughter. ‘Yeah, right. We’re all spawn of the King himself. No chance, lady. Come quietly or you’ll regret it.’
The cunning one studied me appraisingly.
‘We can take her,’ the girl told him. ‘Dad said she’s just an ordinary human. We can do it.’
I held my hand out. ‘Three against one is hardly fair. May I use a weapon?’
The second boy shrugged. He hadn’t spoken yet, and his presence radiated apathy. The follower. ‘Whatever. We can take you, doesn’t matter what you use against us.’
‘Anything at all?’ I said. ‘How about this then?’
I called the Murasame, the Destroyer, and it appeared in my hand. I held the katana in front of me and used my thumb to slide the blade five centimetres out of its scabbard in a visible threat. ‘So who’s first?’
‘That’s the Murasame, guys,’ the second boy said quietly. ‘Oh my God, we are in big trouble.’
‘Not possible,’ the girl said.
‘Why? Because the Murasame belongs to the Dark Lady, head of New Wudang?’ I said. ‘Check the first floor of this building with your demon vision, kids, and tell me what you see.’
Their eyes unfocused and their faces filled with horror as they saw the armoury that took up most of the floor.
The girl made a soft wailing sound of terror. ‘This is New Wudang. He sent us to New Wudang.’
‘Let’s get out of here,’ the cunning boy whispered.
‘Join me and I’ll treat you well, you know I will,’ I said. ‘If you run you’ll end up dead.’
The girl and the cunning boy disappeared. Running. The follower boy didn’t run; he stood and watched me.
I bowed slightly and dismissed the sword. ‘Welcome. Kneel and pledge.’
He fell to his knees in front of me and his face filled with wonder. ‘I pledge allegiance to you, Dark Lady. I am your servant. Protect me, I am yours.’
‘Rise,’ I said. ‘Someone will have to complete the taming process for me because I really am an ordinary human.’
The demon rose and the expression of wonder faded into contentment. ‘As you wish, my Lady.’
‘Stone, can you see who is on the night shift for demon duty and ask them to come up and get him?’
‘Did it a while ago,’ the stone said. ‘Nigel’s on his way.’
‘Now tell me what you did that got the King so annoyed,’ I said to the demon.
He sagged, miserable. ‘We were on guard duty for the black one.’
I raised my hand to stop him. ‘The black one? You mean Leo Alexander?’
He shrugged. ‘Yeah, that one.’
A stab of pain hit me. ‘Is he okay?’
‘Apart from refusing Immortality, ma’am, yes, he is.’
‘So, what happened?’
‘We were guarding Leo when a hawker came past with sweet bean curd. We all went to buy some, and left Leo’s cell unattended.’
‘Is Leo alive?’
‘Uh …’ The boy hesitated. ‘Define “alive”, ma’am, and I’ll be able to answer that.’
‘If I were to go down there and talk the Courts into releasing him back to the Earthly Plane, would he be able to return to his previous life?’
He thought for a while, then shrugged. ‘I have no idea, ma’am, because nobody’s ever done that.’
‘Na Zha did.’
His expression cleared. ‘Yes, ma’am, yes, he did, I remember that very well. He went in and took his parents out of Hell. So yes, it theoretically could be done.’
Nigel appeared next to me, and sagged when he saw the demon. ‘Not another one, Emma.’
‘’Fraid so, Nigel,’ I said. ‘Have the seals reset as well, please. Three of them broke in without Lok even knowing.’
‘Lok’s over at the New Folly with the girls we rescued today,’ Nigel said.
He held his hand out to the demon. ‘Take my hand.’
The demon didn’t move.
‘Good,’ I said. ‘Take Nigel’s hand.’
The demon raised his hand, hesitated for a second, then strode to Nigel and took his hand. His eyes widened.
‘Done,’ Nigel said. ‘Where do you want to put it?’
‘Wait,’ I said. ‘What number are you?’
‘Four Seven Three,’ the demon said, its voice weak with awe.
‘Okay, Four Seventy-Three,’ I said. ‘How the hell did you get in here? Our seals are the best.’
‘I have no idea,’ the demon said, as if in a dream. ‘We were just told to come to the top floor of this office building and find a woman named Emma. We were told we would be able to come in, and we did.’
‘Someone on the inside?’ Nigel said, still holding the demon’s hand and studying it appraisingly.
‘No, of course not,’ I said. ‘The Masters are completely loyal, and all the students are examined before entering. We need to recheck those prostitutes’ natures — one of them might be the cause of the problem — but the seals are failing all the time. Stone.’
‘Yes, Emma?’
‘Get together with Yi Hao tomorrow and arrange a meeting about this. Something needs to be done now about the failure of the seals; we can’t let it go any more.’
‘By your leave, my Lady,’ Nigel said. ‘I’ll take this one down and put it away.’
‘One more question before you take it.’ I nodded to the demon. ‘As far as you know, is your father planning anything against us?’
‘No,’ the demon said.
He answered very quickly. Interesting. He didn’t need to think about it at all.
‘Very well, dismissed,’ I said. ‘Thanks, Nigel. I’m going to have dinner with Simone.’
‘And about time too, Emma, it’s past seven o’clock,’ Nigel said. ‘Stop working so hard.’ He and the demon disappeared.
I grabbed my bag out of my office, returned to the lift lobby, turned off the lights, and pressed the button to call the lift.
‘You should have called for backup, Emma,’ the stone said. ‘If you’d destroyed those three and absorbed their essence you would have been converted completely to a Snake Mother.’
‘Don’t worry, I had no intention of destroying them,’ I said.
‘Just be careful, dear,’ the stone said.
The lift came and I stepped in and pressed the button for the ground floor. ‘Reminders,’ I said to the stone. ‘Have the seals reset on Hennessy Road again, have those girls rechecked, and call George about sending his kids here for punishment. What do I have on tomorrow? I might get something from the Secretary about Leo; I want to be free if it happens.’
‘Energy novices at ten and three,’ the stone said. ‘Gold wants to talk to you about the school for dragons — I’ve scheduled him for four.’
‘Lunch?’ I said.
‘Free. Any particular time you want to schedule the meeting about the seals?’
‘No, whenever.’
Its voice softened. ‘Don’t go in after Leo, Emma, you’ll get yourself killed. Or the King will find a way to hold you. Or, even worse, convert you. Don’t do it.’
‘Leo’s been in there for eight years and there’s still no sign of him relenting,’ I said. ‘If I can talk to him, he might agree to come out.’
‘You shouldn’t even be talking to the King, Emma,’ the stone said. ‘That bastard wants you and you know it.’
‘He’s a creature of honour,’ I said. ‘He won’t do anything underhand. If he does try me, he’ll do it right upfront. I can handle him.’
‘When the Dark Lord finds out he’ll have kittens.’
‘Turtles or snakes. Not kittens,’ I said with grim humour. ‘Bai Hu’s the one who’ll have kittens.’
I walked out of the lift onto the ground floor of the Academy building. The coffee shop occupying one of the shopfronts was still ablaze and the owner gave me a friendly wave from behind the counter. He was a Shen in some trouble with demons and was under the protection of New Wudang. He made a modest living out of the café, which also provided the Academy with cover. I waved back and then walked down the steps into busy Wan Chai street. The pavement was packed with pedestrians hurrying home, and Hennessy Road was bumper to bumper with buses at a standstill in the usual evening rush-hour gridlock.
Are you far away, Emma? Simone said into my ear. I have a table already.
As I pulled out my mobile phone to call her, it rang. I pressed the button to answer. ‘I’m on my way now, I’ll be there in about five minutes. Order me a coconut, will you?’
‘That’s wonderful,’ said the Demon King on the other end of the line. ‘I’m so looking forward to it. I own a strip club just around the corner from your Academy and they serve fabulous coconuts. Do you want the address? If you come I’ll tell the staff not to put poppy in the coconut, just for you.’
I sighed with exasperation. ‘Stop sending your kids over, George. They’re making my life miserable.’
‘Oh, that’s too bad,’ he said without a hint of remorse. ‘If you come pay me a visit, they’ll stop, you know. I won’t hurt you, I promise. I just want to buy you a cup of coffee and have a chat.’
‘I’m afraid I don’t have anything to say to you, Wong Mo.’
‘Oh, I’m cut. My title and everything.’
‘Loathsome Majesty.’
He chuckled. ‘Now you’re just rubbing it in, Dark Lady. But I’m serious — come and chat, and the kids will stop. I want to talk to you about Leo.’
I nearly walked into a light pole. ‘Leo? Why didn’t you say so?’ I hesitated, then, ‘Can you get him out?’
‘He doesn’t want to go, Emma,’ he said. ‘He wants to kill himself. He doesn’t understand that’s not the way it works. Please, come down and talk to him; we’re thoroughly sick of him.’
‘I need permission from the Jade Emperor,’ I said. ‘I’ve been petitioning him for years, working my way up through the Celestial bureaucracy. I’ve made it as far as the Secretary for the Underworld. As soon as I have sanction, I’ll be straight down there.’
He sounded like a little boy who’d just been granted his fondest wish. ‘You’ll really come down for Leo?’
‘Of course I will.’
‘You should have told me, Emma. I’m on good terms with Yanluo Wang, I could have speeded up the process for you. I’ll help you any way I can, and I mean it,’ he said. ‘Okay, the kids will stop. No need now.’
Simone put the scroll down beside her plate and sat back. ‘So this means there’s only one more step before we can get permission from the Jade Emperor?’ she said excitedly.
‘Yes,’ I said. ‘If we’re lucky we won’t even need to bother the Jade Emperor. This Secretary guy can give us sanction to talk to Leo.’
‘I hope that ugly dragon kid isn’t hanging around when we talk to them. I heard he crawls to all the most senior Celestials trying to win favour.’
‘Geez, that won’t work up there,’ I said. ‘He should know better.’
‘Oh, it works for some of the Celestials that are promoted rather than Raised. I heard if you find yourself a good patron up there you can go a long way.’
I sighed and rested my chin on my hand. ‘I hate politics.’
She snorted with amusement. ‘You need to resign then. You’re right in the middle of it, Madam Emma.’ She waved her hand. ‘Let’s not talk about that stuff anyway. When we have Leo back, I don’t want anything to do with any Celestials. I’ve had enough of them, particularly that blue guy.’
‘What about Daddy?’
‘Daddy’s different. He’s the most normal Celestial there is.’
‘Normal,’ I said, pulling out my wallet to pay, ‘is not a word often used to describe your father. Very much the opposite, in fact.’
‘Same goes for you, Emma.’
‘Humph.’
Simone held a CD in front of my face. ‘How about this one?’
I pushed it away from my face so that I could see it. ‘Boy bands again?’
‘Hey, these guys are cute.’ Then Simone dropped her voice and nodded towards another stand of CDs. ‘Have a look over there. In the metal section. Oh my God, that is so sad. Chinese can’t do Goth, and when they’re as old as him …’ She inhaled sharply. ‘No.’
I spun to see. It was him. Long hair, black clothes — of course he looked like a Goth, he’d invented it.
He casually flipped through the disks. Simone and I stood and watched him. It was Simone who snapped out of it first.
‘Daddy!’
She raced along the aisles and skidded to a halt about two metres from him. He didn’t seem to notice her.
‘Daddy?’
He was completely oblivious.
She took a hesitant step towards him and held her hand out. ‘Daddy?’ She dropped her voice. ‘Xuan Wu.’
I strode over and stood behind Simone. He still didn’t appear to notice us. ‘John. John Chen Wu, will you look at us?’ I said.
Simone stepped forward and touched his sleeve. Her hand went straight through. She waved her hand through his arm, up and down. He wasn’t there at all.
‘But he’s moving the disks,’ she said.
‘Look closely, Simone. The disks he’s touching aren’t moving. It’s an echo of who he was.’
‘Can he do that?’
‘I don’t think there’s much he can’t do.’
Simone sighed and stepped back. ‘Is he really that old? I don’t remember him that old.’
‘That’s how he was.’
‘I thought he was a Goth.’ She turned away and slammed her palm on one of the racks. ‘I thought he looked stupid.’
‘You can tell him one day, sweetheart, he’ll have a good laugh about it.’
Then I inhaled sharply, and she turned back. He’d selected a couple of disks and turned to purchase them. And saw us.
He looked me right in the eyes, then saw Simone. He smiled sadly.
She held her hand out to him, and he held his out, palm-up, to hers. They rested their hands on each other without really touching.
Nobody around us seemed to be aware of his existence. He dropped his hand and turned to me. He raised his hand again as if to touch my face, then lowered it. He put his hand over his heart, then held it out to me, still smiling sadly.
‘Oh God,’ Simone whispered.
‘He’s fading,’ I told her. ‘Have a last look.’
Tears running down her face, she watched him disappear.
I reached into my bag, pulled out a packet of tissues and handed it to her. She took a couple and handed it back. I took a tissue out as well and we both wiped our eyes.
‘I don’t feel like buying anything, Emma,’ Simone said, her voice hoarse. ‘Can we just go home?’
‘Sure,’ I said, my voice similarly strained. I heaved a huge sigh. ‘Let’s go.’
She nodded, holding the tissue against her face. ‘I want both of them back, Emma. Daddy. And Leo. I miss them so much.’
‘So do I, sweetheart.’
‘He knew who we were. I wonder how long ago that was. When it happened for him.’
‘We can ask him when he comes back.’
CHAPTER 4
Back at home, Simone shut herself in her room, still upset. I went into John’s office and sat behind the desk. I sighed, then proceeded to check the email; always a bad idea in the evening. There would be a large number of administrative matters that needed urgent attention and I’d be restless thinking about them until I could deal with them the next morning.
One student’s mother was ill and he wanted to return to Cambodia to see her; unfortunately there was a very good chance he wouldn’t be let out of the country again to return to us. We’d have to arrange a Celestial to go with him to ensure that he could be brought back. Another student was having major difficulties with his roommate’s lifestyle — too much late night music and mayhem when he was trying to study. I forwarded the email to Lok, the building manager, with a note telling him to let the senior involved know that I really didn’t have time to handle this sort of thing. Lok would understand.
Yes, I understand, Lok said into my head. But you still owe me a fresh cow’s heart. I have a shocking craving right now.
‘Tell him next time I go through the markets,’ I said.
‘And I told him to take some vitamins if he’s having cravings,’ the stone said.
My food contains all the nutrients I need for a healthy and active lifestyle, Lok said. Says so right on the pack. Shame it tastes nothing like fresh, warm, bleeding flesh. So remember next time you’re in the markets! Stone, remind her! Fresh cow’s heart!
‘Okay, okay,’ I said. ‘I will. Oh, what about the girls? Anything show up when we rechecked them?’
No, Lok said. They are all perfectly normal humans and their presence has had no effect on the seals here in the New Folly. Must be something else that’s weakening the seals at the Academy. A couple of Masters are looking into it.
‘Thanks, Lok.’
Fresh cow’s heart! And if you happen to see a cow’s or pig’s head in a basket at one of the butcher’s stalls …
‘Don’t push your luck.’
Lok didn’t reply.
I skimmed through the rest of the emails. Problems with the Northern Heavens; the Generals were trying valiantly to keep things running, but without the Xuan Wu to provide the Centre of Power and energy source, the place was falling to pieces. All the vegetation was dying. Residents were moving out, losing us much-needed tax revenue.
I stopped dead and gasped at an email in the midst of the administrative messages.
To: Lady Emma Donahoe, Regent of the Northern Heavens (Probationary), Acting Grand Master, New Wudang Martial Arts Academy <Emmad@newwudang.com.hk>
From: Secretary for Underworld Affairs
You have been granted an audience with the Jade Emperor two days hence, on 16th November at 11 am Hong Kong time to present your case regarding Leo Alexander.
Ensure that your attire and that of your Retainers is suitable and that you present yourself at least one hour before the audience to ensure correct protocols are observed.
It is suggested by this office that a Mortal such as yourself might consider enlisting the help of a senior Immortal well-versed in Celestial protocol before attending.
Signed and chopped.
‘Only two days, Emma? You have a lot of organising to do,’ the stone said, then its voice trailed off. ‘Oh my.’
‘Where’s Gold?’
‘With Amy.’ Its voice softened. ‘They’re both in True Form and she’s carrying him over the mountains of Guilin. They’ve perched on top of the highest peak. The view must be spectacular.’ Its tone changed to one of amusement. ‘He just told me to mind my own damn business. I’ll tell him how important this is and to get back here.’
‘Leave them to it,’ I said. ‘Where’s Jade?’
‘At home watching television.’
‘Relay the following message for me, stone. Jade, I’ve just received an appointment to see the Jade Emperor —’
Jade appeared in front of me. ‘How long do you have to prepare?’
‘How long I have to prepare is beside the point, Jade, because the minute I enter the Celestial Plane I’m dead.’
She opened and closed her mouth a few times, then fell to sit in the visitor’s chair across from me, stricken. ‘What are we going to do?’
‘If I disobey an edict from the Emperor I’m as good as dead anyway. I’ll lose the Academy, and maybe even Simone.’ I ran my hands through my hair. ‘Any ideas?’
‘Ask them to see one of your Retainers instead, Emma,’ the stone said. ‘Jade and Gold can do the job.’
Jade was horrified. ‘I’d prefer not to attract the attention of the Celestial, stone. Gold and I are in enough trouble as it is.’ She shook her hands in salute over the desk. ‘My Lady, I beg you, don’t make me go to Heaven in your place.’
‘Tell Gold it’s urgent,’ I said.
‘Already did, he’s on his way back,’ the stone said.
The front doorbell rang.
Jade hesitated, concentrating, then her face went blank with shock. ‘Quickly, ma’am,’ she said. ‘It’s the Planet.’
‘Oh shit,’ I said, and raced around the desk and flew down the hallway to the front door, Jade behind me.
Monica had already opened the door. The Planet Venus, the Jade Emperor’s personal emissary, was standing on the other side in full Celestial regalia. Monica stared at him, mouth open.
I touched her shoulder. ‘It’s okay, Monica, I can handle it.’
She snapped out of it and scurried into the kitchen.
I’m staying in here, Simone said from her room. I’m not coming out to talk to him unless he orders me.
I opened the door wide and gestured for Venus to enter. He nodded graciously to me and glided through, floating just above the floor.
Jade fell to one knee before him, saluting, then moved to stand to one side as Retainer. I cursed my torn T-shirt, tatty jeans and bare feet as I saluted him.
Venus drifted to the centre of the room and turned to face Imperial South, which gave him a view out of the windows overlooking Aberdeen. I quickly moved so that I could be seen by him. He wore a Tang-style robe of many layers of transparent white silk over an under robe of palest lilac. A similarly purple cloth crown covered the topknot on his head, and his long black hair swept down to his waist. He glowed gently with ripples of silvery light.
He nodded to me. ‘Lady Emma. I bring greetings from the Celestial. The Jade Emperor has asked me to convey this to you.’ He held a red lacquer box out to me.
I nodded and moved forward to accept it.
‘There is a note inside from the Celestial himself explaining the nature of this item he is lending to you,’ Venus said. ‘He asks that you guard it with your life and that of your Retainers. In the wrong hands, this jewel could cause a great deal of trouble for both the Celestial and the Earthly Planes.’
‘We will guard it with our lives,’ I said, holding the box with awe. It was about twenty centimetres a side and intricately carved with a cloud pattern, a dragon on the right and a phoenix on the left.
Venus changed form to an ordinary slim Chinese man with long hair wearing a smart grey designer suit. He drifted down to the floor, his glow disappearing. He held out his hand. ‘Lady Emma.’
I shook his hand. ‘Venus.’
He nodded. ‘Good to see you again, ma’am. Lunch sometime soon? It’s been a while. Maybe in the Landmark?’ He quirked one eyebrow at me. ‘You can take the opportunity while you’re in Central to go shopping for some new clothes and some slippers for wearing around the house like a civilised person.’
Jade snorted with laughter at the side of the room and bent double with silent hilarity, her hand over her mouth.
Venus bowed slightly to her. ‘Princess.’ He turned back to me. ‘Don’t be a stranger, Emma. We haven’t met for lunch in ages. Can my people contact your people and arrange something?’
‘Sure thing, just call my secretary,’ I said.
He bowed slightly again. ‘See you in Heaven.’ He disappeared.
I stormed past Jade to take the box into the office, and thumped her arm as I passed her.
She gasped with laughter. ‘He’s right, you know, ma’am.’
I pressed my thumb against the seal to open the box. A scroll and a small rosewood jewellery box were the only things inside. I took the scroll, undid the ribbon and opened it. It was written in English, in vermillion ink, in the Jade Emperor’s distinctive flowing hand.
Wear this while you are on the Celestial Plane and you will be unharmed. Make sure you remind me to ask you to give it back though; it’s one of my Symbols of Office. See you in a couple of days.
I removed the tiny box and flipped it open. Inside was a gold ring set with a large oval piece of jade. I took the ring and studied it, wondered if the stone was sentient and, if so, whether I should say hello.
The stone in my ring solved the problem for me. ‘Not sentient, just a nice piece of jade.’
Jade came into the office and gasped. ‘The Emperor’s Imperial Ring. I’ve never seen it outside the Celestial Plane.’
I slipped it on the ring finger of my right hand. ‘It’ll stop me from being killed when I enter the Plane,’ I told her, ‘but I have to give it back. Tell Gold to go back to Amy, we’re fine.’ Then I sighed with resignation. ‘The Jade Emperor knows.’
‘Of course he does; he knows all,’ Jade said. ‘Now, you only have two days to prepare. We’ll need to have something made for you right away, ma’am. Can you cancel your appointments and meet me at Mr Li’s tomorrow?’
‘I’m free after energy class at ten. I’ll meet you in Central?’
Jade bowed slightly. ‘Ma’am. We will also need to spend the afternoon revising Imperial protocol, if you want this petition to succeed.’
‘Damn, Jade, how much do I need to know? All I do is go in, bow to his JEness, and talk to him about Leo.’
Jade smiled slightly. ‘I think probably a great deal. We can spend the afternoon going through the protocol. If he meets with you in his rooms, you will need to know specific details.’
‘Basic things, like the fact that any seat that the Emperor sits on becomes his throne and no other person may sit on it,’ the stone said.
Jade nodded. ‘I’ll need to write a list of things to remember. By your leave, ma’am, I’ll return home and begin.’
‘It’s after work hours, Jade. No need until tomorrow.’
‘It will take me several hours to gather the information, ma’am.’
‘Don’t work too hard, Jade.’
She disappeared.
I sighed. ‘I didn’t even ask her how her kids are.’
‘They are dragons,’ the stone said. ‘They are young, troublesome and hungry all the time.’
‘Sounds like all kids.’
‘You are quite correct. Now go do something else for a while, Emma. Enough worrying about this. You will be fine. And you will finally be able to extricate Leo from this little mess he has put himself into.’
I rose to go into the training room. ‘Yes, Mother.’
I was halfway through a demon-essence kata with the Murasame when the Tiger appeared next to the mirrors, leaning casually on the wall.
‘How the hell did you get in?’ I said without stopping.
‘Your goddamn seals are fading again,’ the Tiger said. ‘Get a different Master to do it, baby. Whoever is doing it right now sucks.’
I swung the sword in a wide arc, leaving a black feathery trail behind it. ‘We have our best Master on it. He doesn’t know what’s going on either. It’s the same at the Academy.’ I stopped and lowered the sword. ‘Want to send one of your guys over to have a look?’
‘Done. I heard you got your audience, and about time too.’
‘Yep, day after tomorrow, 11 am our time.’
‘You can’t go up there though. I’ve tried to shield you before and it doesn’t work. We’ll have to arrange for someone to go instead of you.’
‘The Jade Emperor sent me a ring that will stop me from being harmed, but I have to give it back when we’re done.’
‘Good idea.’ He grinned broadly, making his tawny eyes sparkle. ‘Want a lift?’
‘Only if you promise to behave.’
‘Never.’ He levered himself off the wall. ‘Make yourself pretty, Emma. If you blow this, you’ll lose the Regency and some Celestial asshole will take over your Academy and your Heavens.’
‘Can you hide my demon nature from the public eye?’
‘I’ll do my best. The Celestial One will know everything, but hopefully the crowd who gather to see you won’t see it.’
‘Crowd?’
‘Yep, this’ll be the biggest thing to happen in Heaven in a long time. They’ll all want a look at the mortal white chick who’s running the Northern Heavens.’
‘Very badly.’
‘Nah.’ He leaned against the wall again and crossed his arms. ‘You’re not responsible for the energy failure. Ah Wu should have set up some sort of backup plan.’
‘We never really had much of a chance to make it work, Tiger.’
‘Yeah, I know.’ He dropped his head. ‘See you day after tomorrow. Meet me underneath the China Resources Building in Wan Chai at about 9 am. That’s where the Gateway to Heaven is.’
‘The China Resources Building? That big office tower in Wan Chai?’
‘Yep, ground floor, where there’s a replica of the Nine-Dragon Wall. That’s the Gateway. Good central location. See you there.’ He disappeared.
I changed to an ordinary chi kata. If my demon nature became public knowledge during this visit to Heaven, everything I loved could be taken away from me. The Jade Emperor knew about it and had helped me; but if everybody in Heaven found out, there could only be trouble.
CHAPTER 5
Evening was falling and the sky behind the beach was a flame of sunset colours. Over the ocean the sky was darker, and Venus already shone. The waves crashed and the warm breeze ruffled my hair as I walked on the soft sand, thinking.
I looked up and froze. A dark shape, alone on the beach. Hair lifted by the wind. Watching the waves.
It was him.
I didn’t run. I continued to walk towards him, and saw him clearly as I neared. He watched the ocean with longing.
When I was close enough he turned to me and smiled slightly, his noble features serene. His hair wasn’t tied back and it flew around him in the breeze. He wore his plain black pants and jacket, and his feet were bare.
I approached him carefully and stopped next to him. He smiled down at me. He reached out and ran his fingertips over my face, and I closed my eyes. His hand came around the back of my neck and pulled me closer and his lips met mine. I delicately held him, unwilling to grip him too hard because he might disappear. The wind changed and his hair wrapped around us, clinging to both of us.
He pulled back and gazed into my eyes. ‘Who are you?’
‘I’m your Serpent,’ I whispered.
‘No, you aren’t.’ He turned to the ocean and gestured. ‘My Serpent is out there.’
I turned to see, his hand still behind my neck. The Serpent raised its head in the water out past the breakers. It was enormous; it must have been more than twenty metres long, a black shadow against the darkening sky.
He smiled down at me again. ‘I think I know you.’
‘Emma.’
He tasted the name. ‘Emma.’
‘Xuan Wu,’ I said. ‘John.’
Something changed in his eyes. ‘Hello, Emma.’
I ran my fingers over his face. I floated my fingertips along his throat, revelling in the silken skin. ‘Hello, John.’
‘How long have I been gone?’
‘Eight years.’
‘You haven’t changed at all.’
‘Are you ready to return, John?’
He looked out at the surf. ‘My Serpent is there.’
‘You haven’t rejoined,’ I said. ‘You’re still in two pieces.’
He sagged so slightly it was almost undetectable. ‘It hurts.’
‘I know it hurts, love. Go to it.’
He glanced down at me. ‘But then I would leave you alone. You and …’ His face went strange.
‘Simone,’ I said.
He jerked as if he had been hit, grimacing with pain. He spun and ran to the surf. When he reached the water he changed into the Turtle and pulled himself into the waves.
I watched him go without moving.
Then I woke up.
I shook my hands with frustration as I tried to push them into the voluminous sleeves of the Tang-style robe. Mr Li had made it out of black silk with gold chrysanthemums, which somehow seemed to have become my signature fabric. The sleeves were wider than they were long, probably about a metre wide, and designed to hide a noblewoman’s hands as she never needed to use them; servants should do everything for her. Maybe I should have let Jade come into the changing room with me to help after all. I finally found the openings, then quietly cursed as I drew the belt around the robe.
Gold’s child appeared at eye level next to the mirror. ‘Aunty Jade says hurry up.’
‘You should not be in here,’ I said. ‘This is a changing room.’
The stone grew two long appendages and pretended to cover its nonexistent eyes. ‘Can’t see anything, Lady Emma.’
‘I’m done,’ I said, and raised my arms to the sides. Now that I had the robe on, the sleeves added to the volume of the kimono-style dress, making it elegant and flowing. Unfortunately the style didn’t suit me at all and I looked ridiculous. My more generous Western shape made me appear fat and my breasts made the front opening bulge out. I looked awful.
I sighed and walked out of the change room. Jade and her three children were waiting for me next to the cushioned seats. The children were in dragon form, chasing each other around the waiting area, but Jade was in human form and wearing a robe similar to mine with willowy elegance.
I raised my arms. ‘I look completely ridiculous.’ I could see from Jade’s and Mr Li’s faces that they agreed with me.
Jade grimaced delicately. ‘Perhaps a different colour?’
Simone came out of her change room. She wore a robe of dark shining indigo silk with twining golden flowers over a gold under robe and closed with a wide elaborately embroidered gold belt. The gold brought out the hues of her tawny hair. Wide silk ribbons of a brighter shade of blue, embroidered with golden chrysanthemums, decorated the neckline either side of her throat and fell as panels down the front of the robe; similar ribbons edged the enormously full sleeves.
She looked spectacular. She sighed when she saw me. ‘Oh dear, Emma.’
Mr Li raised one hand and my robe changed to the same dark blue as Simone’s. Jade winced. The robe changed to red and Simone said, ‘Ick.’
The robe rotated through a variety of colours and patterns.
‘Doesn’t work,’ Jade said with resignation.
‘Well, that’s the last acceptable style,’ Mr Li said. ‘We have to choose one of them. I think the Qing may have worked slightly better than this but it still made her look fat. She is approaching middle age now, and even though she is fit her figure reflects this. Her breasts are too large —’
I snorted with derision and opened my mouth to say something about late thirties not being middle-aged, but he continued unfazed.
‘Nothing seems to suit her and I don’t have time to adapt a style for her. We should have tried this earlier, I would never have expected this problem.’
I turned away. ‘Forget it then. I’m wearing my jeans and a shirt and the Jade Emperor can deal with it. Or better yet,’ I turned back and grinned at them, ‘I’ll wear my armour and carry my sword and let him deal with that.’
Jade and Mr Li both lit up.
‘Can she do that?’ Simone said quickly.
‘Even more appropriate,’ Jade said. ‘Much more suitable than a Tang robe. Lady Emma is a warrior.’
Mr Li eyed the bolts of silk on the wall appraisingly. ‘Take that one off. We’ll make a lighter under robe for the armour. It’ll still need to be Tang style, but I think we can get away …’ He wandered off, talking to himself.
‘Brilliant, Emma, you’ll look magnificent,’ Simone said.
‘I’ll put your hair up in a simple spike, same as the Dark Lord would wear into battle,’ Jade said. ‘Not —’
‘Tortoiseshell,’ I finished for her.
‘No, ebony, I think,’ she said, and we shared a smile. ‘When the Dark Lord returns, you two will be a matched set. Dark Lord and Dark Lady, both warriors together.’
I felt a shot of pain and sighed.
‘Don’t worry, Emma, he’ll come back,’ Simone said.
‘Any sign of him?’ I asked.
She unfocused, snapped back and shook her head.
‘I’ll fetch your armour, ma’am,’ Jade said, then called to the baby dragons, ‘You kids behave.’ She nodded to me. ‘Be right back.’ She disappeared.
Simone and I sat on the cushioned benches and waited for them to return.
‘He visited me in a dream last night,’ I said.
Simone sighed and put her chin on her hand without replying.
‘What’s the matter, Simone?’ I said. ‘You’ve been quiet ever since we found out we were going to see the Jade Emperor.’
Simone didn’t move or look at me, her chin still in her hand. Her eyes turned inward, remembering. ‘When I was very little, Daddy took me and Mummy to Heaven. He thought I’d enjoy seeing him at “work”. Mummy stayed in our apartment in the Palace, she hated it. Daddy changed …’ She ran her hand over her face. ‘Daddy changed into his Celestial Form, and picked me up and carried me to the Grand Audience Hall. You have no idea what it was like, Emma.’ She turned to gaze into my eyes. ‘You’ve seen it, you know how big his Celestial Form is. He carried me so far from the ground, and I didn’t know him as Daddy. He was so huge! And black, and he didn’t look like Daddy, he was just a giant carrying me so high up that I was afraid, and he walked with these huge strides — it was incredibly scary. I cried, and he did something to me to make me quiet, but I was still …’ She took a deep breath. ‘I was still terrified. Then he took me into the Grand Audience Hall and it was full of dragons and other Shen — animals and nature spirits, all sorts were there to see me, staring at me — and then we went up to the Jade Emperor, and he was in Celestial Form too, and Daddy handed me over to him.’ She smiled wryly. ‘Apparently, the Jade Emperor thought I was adorable. I was bound by Daddy, so I couldn’t move or speak, or cry. I just looked at the Jade Emperor as he held me. He was bigger than Daddy and way scarier.’ She shook her head. ‘It took me a long time to get over that. Even now, I think if I saw Daddy’s Celestial Form, I wouldn’t see it as him, just as this monster that bound me and carried me away.’
‘I wondered about that,’ I said. ‘I remember how scared you were of his Celestial Form.’
‘When he took me back to the apartment, he unbound me and I let loose,’ Simone said. ‘In seven different directions — I wet myself, threw up, everything. I was only about a year and a half old. I can remember Mummy screaming abuse at him. He changed back and tried to console me, but apparently, I would have nothing to do with him for a few weeks afterwards.’
‘I can understand completely,’ I said. ‘If it was me, I would have sent him down to Hell for a few days to “meditate upon his faults”. What a rotten thing to do to a little child.’
Simone made a soft sound of amusement. ‘Mummy did. Shot him right between the eyes, from what I’ve heard.’
‘You are the equal of any Shen in Heaven, Simone. You don’t need to be scared.’
‘I just can’t help feeling that way right now. I’ll be fine once we get there and I can see the Jade Emperor’s not a hundred metres tall.’
‘Would you like to talk to the Lady about it before we go?’
She waved me down. ‘I’ll be fine. Oh, Jade’s on her way back with your armour.’
Jade reappeared and held the armour out for me. ‘Ma’am.’
I rose to take it.
On the morning of 16 November, Marcus dropped me and Simone outside Harbour Centre in Wan Chai. Harbour Centre and Great Eagle Centre were two matched towers, that stood side by side right on the waterfront. They each had large neon signs for Japanese electronics companies on the first-floor level and featured in many Hong Kong postcards.
Simone and I took the escalators up to the first floor to use the walkways across to the China Resources Building, then walked along the covered open-air podium that overlooked the water. The adjacent building, the Convention Centre, jutted into the harbour, its flowing finlike shape making it look like a giant sea creature. I remembered another time I had stood watching the water and felt a twinge of pain. But we had seen him. He was searching for me. He would return.
We crossed the walkways, passed a small traditional Chinese garden, and took the escalators down to the open area under the China Resources Building. Two bronze Chinese unicorn statues, qilin, faced the road, and behind them stood a fountain of dragon heads squirting water. Behind the fountain was a replica of the Nine-Dragon Wall in the Forbidden City in Beijing.
Bai Hu stepped out from under one of the supporting pillars. ‘You have all your gear?’
I raised the shopping bags I was holding. ‘All here.’
‘What about your armour, Emma?’
‘It’s folded up in there as well.’
‘Good. Where’s Gold? I thought he was coming.’
‘He said he’s in enough trouble as it is and begged me to leave him at home. Same with Jade.’
‘That’s true. It’s probably a good idea to leave them at home. Gold particularly has been in trouble with the Celestial many times before.’ Bai Hu gestured with his head. ‘This way.’
We followed the Tiger to the wall. Nobody around seemed to notice us. As we neared the wall, the white stone balustrade in front of it slid smoothly into the ground. The wall grew from two metres to nearly four metres tall, and the nine dragons on it came to life. They writhed across the wall and gathered at the middle.
The gold dragon in the centre stuck its head out and waved its enormous fangs menacingly close to my head. ‘Is this the mortal that wishes to enter the Celestial Domain?’
Let me handle them, the Tiger said into my head.
‘No need,’ I said. I unrolled the scroll and held it in front of the dragon’s face, making it jerk its head back slightly. ‘The Jade Emperor wants to see us.’
‘It is highly unusual for a human to be granted an audience with the Celestial One,’ the dragon huffed. ‘You are accompanied by no Retainers. How are we to know that you are worthy of such an honour?’
The free sample has ended.
