White Tiger

  ‘It does sound wonderful.’

  ‘Michelle hated it.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘She needed an audience. She lived to sing. She demanded that I stay here with her, so I did.’ He watched Leo and Simone without really seeing them. ‘She was fabulous. Every time I needed to go to the Mountain, to rebuild myself, she kept telling me she would be all right here, with Leo to guard her.’

  ‘But she wasn’t.’

  ‘Her family came to Hong Kong to visit her. Her mother, her father, her brother—all of her family. They didn’t know about me, what I am, they came to see Simone. Family is important, so I left her and went to the Mountain. The demon came. It took Leo down. Her father and brother tried to defend her and her mother. The demon killed them and took Michelle and her mother. Fortunately, it was unaware of Simone’s existence. No attempt was made on her.’

  He hesitated.

  ‘Why did it kill them? Why not swap them for your head?’

  He didn’t look up. ‘I don’t think the demon knew that humans are more fragile.’

  I gasped. The demon had pushed his fun too far and killed Michelle and her mother by mistake. Now I understood why Leo felt the way he did. ‘Do you know who did it?’

  He nodded without speaking.

  ‘Leo failed you.’

  ‘Despite what he thinks,’ he said, ‘he didn’t fail. He wasn’t ready. I knew he wasn’t ready, but family is important.’ He watched Leo and Simone board a ride. They both waved and he waved back and smiled. ‘It was my mistake. One of the biggest mistakes of my life.’

  ‘Leo was your wife’s bodyguard before she met you, wasn’t he?’

  ‘I am glad we encountered each other. He is by far the greatest warrior of his generation. I have been able to bring his skills to a level he would not have otherwise achieved. Because of his proximity to me, he has been free of the virus and I have helped him to live longer.’ He smiled wryly. ‘He does not see that as an advantage, though.’

  ‘Virus?’ I said; then, ‘Oh my God.’

  He glanced sharply at me. ‘You never need to be told anything twice. Sometimes you don’t even need to be told once.’ He looked down at his hands. ‘I’m surprised he didn’t tell you.’

  ‘He shouldn’t bring guys home like he does. He should be more careful.’

  ‘Don’t worry, he’s careful. He’s been tested; he’s clear. As long as he stays with me, he will be free of the virus.’

  ‘And when you go?’

  He didn’t look up from his hands. ‘He’ll probably have about a year.’

  ‘That’s awful.’ I suddenly realised: ‘I have never had a day sick since I joined your household. You did that?’

  ‘If you’d taken a sick day I think I would have dismissed you,’ he said. ‘One of the perks of the job.’

  I turned to him and touched his sleeve, then pulled my hand away. ‘How long do we have, John? Until you go?’

  He took a deep breath. ‘Simone will probably be able to handle anything thrown at her by the time she is eight years old. Then I will be able to release myself from this form and go.’

  Less than three years. I would make the most of it.

  ‘Are you sure you can’t stay until she’s grown up? She needs you.’

  ‘I know,’ he said softly. ‘I don’t know how I will maintain this form for another three years. It will be even harder now that the Mountain is gone.’

  ‘Will I ever see you again?’

  He gazed into my eyes. ‘It’s highly unlikely, Emma. It will take me a very long time to return. That is my nature. I’m not sure how long, but it will be a long time. I don’t think you will ever see me again.’

  I turned away. Ms Kwan was right. There was no hope.

  ‘Emma.’

  I turned back to him.

  ‘I was hoping that you would look after her for me. When I’m gone.’ I stared at him.

  ‘You will do this for me?’ He studied me carefully. ‘You won’t have to do it by yourself—Jade and Gold can help you. But I can’t think of anyone more suitable to care for her after Leo and I are both gone.’

  I shook my head, speechless. I struggled to find the words.

  ‘Please do this for me, Emma. All of Michelle’s family are gone. You will be all that she has left. I will ensure that you have everything you need.’

  I choked on the words. ‘Of course I will, John. I am so honoured.’

  ‘Thank you.’ He looked relieved. ‘As soon as Jade and Gold return we will make the arrangements.’

  ‘What happened to them?’

  ‘The demons killed them.’

  ‘So where are they now?’

  ‘Here come Simone and Leo.’

  ‘You’re up, Emma,’ Leo called as they approached us. ‘Missy here requires the services of a female.’

  ‘You have to take me to the toilet, Emma,’ Simone said loudly. ‘Hurry up, I want to go on some more rides.’

  When we returned to the apartment Mr Chen stood on the balcony and watched the waves. I went out and stood next to him. ‘Do you want to swim again?’

  He turned to me and smiled gently. ‘Yes, I do. But I think we’ve done enough today.’

  ‘Okay,’ I said, and went inside.

  I found Leo and Simone and rounded them up. ‘Come on, guys, we’re taking him down to swim.’

  ‘Simone’s too tired, I’ll stay here with her,’ Leo said.

  ‘No, Leo, I should stay near Daddy,’ Simone said, serious.

  ‘She’s right, Leo. We’ll just have a walk along the beach while he swims.’ Leo sighed loudly.

  ‘You’re the one that’s tired,’ I said. ‘Just a walk, then we’ll sit on the sand. Let him swim.’

  ‘You don’t even need to change,’ Simone said. ‘Let’s take Daddy to his water.’

  ‘You’re right, it’s good for him.’

  We all went down to the beach, Mr Chen in his black swim shorts. He hesitated as we neared the water and checked behind us; the sun was setting between the highrises. ‘I’ll only go for a short time.’

  ‘Go,’ I said. ‘We’ll just sit here and wait for you.’

  He passed his towel to me and walked down to the water. The evening breakers were stronger, but he seemed to have no difficulty wading through them. He dropped vertically into the water and disappeared.

  The three of us strolled along the edge of the ocean while the sun set. Venus came out over the surf, then more stars.

  We stopped and sat together on the sand, watching the waves. Simone sat in Leo’s lap and he wrapped his huge arms around her. The sky above the ocean darkened from purple to indigo. The breeze freshened, full of the sound of the waves and the smell of the sea. More stars came out.

  A small group of dolphins appeared in the water. They surfed from the large breakers into shore, so close that we could see them clearly. We watched, entranced.

  ‘Does that happen often?’ Leo said.

  ‘I’ve never heard of anything like it happening before,’ I said.

  Simone pulled herself free and stood to watch them, rapt. Then she sat in Leo’s lap again.

  ‘They say hello. Daddy sent them. They say he’ll be back soon,’ Simone said.

  The dolphins turned and leapt above the water as one, high enough for their shining bodies to arc over the waves. Then they were gone.

  Later Mr Chen waded out of the surf, his dark eyes shining with contentment. We rose to meet him and I handed him his towel.

  He took it and threw it around his shoulders. We walked back up to the apartment together without saying a word.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  Ilay awake, listening to the surf. The moon shone through the curtains, making the bed covers glitter as if covered in frost. Simone was an unmoving dark shape in the room’s other bed. The curtains billowed in the breeze. I’d left the window open; I liked to hear the sound of the waves.

  I rose and went into the dark living room, still wearing my old tank to
p and tatty shorts.

  Mr Chen was leaning on the balcony railing, dressed in black pyjama pants. The breeze lifted his long braid and brushed it over his bare back. A few strands of hair floated around him. He shifted slightly and the muscles moved beneath his skin, glowing in the moonlight.

  I could have sworn he was waiting for me. He turned to me and smiled, his dark eyes shining. I slid the door open and the warm air brushed over me. I joined him on the balcony. The tiles were still warm, with a light dusting of sand on them. Simone’s little boogie board leaned against the railing to one side.

  I stood next to him and we watched the moon rise over the water in silence. It seemed to fill the sky, the water shimmering below.

  Eventually he spoke, his voice warm and low. ‘You should be exhausted after the day you’ve had today.’

  ‘I think I’m through exhaustion and out the other side, Mr Chen.’

  He smiled sideways at me. ‘I’d really prefer it if you called me John.’

  ‘Not in front of Leo or Simone I won’t,’ I said, ‘…John.’

  More than anything in the world, I wanted to put my arm around his waist and lean into him. I wanted to touch him so much it was killing me. I moved slightly away.

  ‘The moon is very beautiful tonight, isn’t it?’ he said. He gestured towards the ocean. ‘There is a large amount of sea life out there. Whales are migrating down the coast. The water is full of cetaceans and juvenile billfish, tuna and marlin. I swam side by side with another turtle for a long time. It is wonderful.’

  ‘You saw all that? Hold on—another turtle?’

  He didn’t turn away from the ocean. ‘Don’t worry, I can hold human form out there, hard as it is for me.’

  I bent and rested my forehead on the railing. ‘I’m employed by a sea monster.’

  He spoke with mock impatience. ‘I thought you’d done some research on me. You should have known that by now.’

  ‘What—that you’re a sea monster?’

  He nodded. ‘Hn.’

  I straightened and leaned on the rail next to him. ‘North, black turtle. South, red phoenix. East, blue dragon. West, white tiger.’

  ‘Four winds,’ he finished for me. He turned and leaned one arm on the rail. ‘The dragon is blue-green. His name “Qing” means “clear” as in “clear sky”. In China he is often depicted as blue. In Japan he is often depicted as green. I suppose you saw what colour he really is.’

  ‘A gorgeous shade of turquoise,’ I said. ‘His hair is amazing.’

  ‘You should see his True Form. He is exquisite.’

  ‘He scared me to death,’ I whispered.

  ‘He wouldn’t be a dragon if he didn’t.’

  ‘And you’re North…’ I didn’t finish it; I didn’t want to insult him.

  ‘I am a turtle,’ he said. ‘I am the egg of a turtle.’

  I gasped. The ‘egg’ thing was even more of an insult. He’d just calmly called himself a motherless bastard. I was speechless.

  He turned back to the sea. ‘And a dog demon is a bitch. It is what we are, our nature. I am a Turtle.’

  ‘What about the snake thing, though? You’re often depicted as a combination of a snake and a turtle twining together.’

  He watched the waves. ‘My Serpent essence is out there somewhere, roaming. I do not know where it is. Nobody else has seen it. It is absolutely silent when I call.’ His voice changed slightly. ‘Don’t ask me what happened, because I have no idea. Half of me is missing and I don’t know where it is. Right now I can exist separately. I will rejoin when I regain True Form.’

  ‘Does it hurt?’ I whispered.

  He didn’t answer me. He just watched the waves.

  ‘Does it have something to do with the current situation? Because you’re so drained?’

  He didn’t turn away from the water. ‘No. It happened long before all of this. I have no idea why.’

  ‘That is one of the weirdest things I have ever heard,’ I said. ‘And I have had far more than my fair share of weirdness in the past twelve months.’

  ‘And you have handled it remarkably well,’ he said. He turned back to me and smiled slightly. ‘Particularly the way you have been dealing with the demons.’

  ‘Are you kidding? Killing demons is great fun.’ I shook my head as I understood. ‘Good God! I saw the Four Winds sit down to play mah jong,’ I said.

  ‘Until the Tiger once again opened his big stupid mouth.’

  ‘He threatened to eat the Phoenix. She was so…’

  ‘The word is “pissed”, Emma. I really like English sometimes. There’s no word that conveys it quite as well in Chinese.’

  I grinned. ‘And the Dragon didn’t do anything. The Tiger insulted his consort and he just sat there.’

  ‘I think they had a small falling out afterwards. The Phoenix is pissed with both the Tiger and the Dragon. The only one she’s not annoyed with right now is me.’

  We laughed softly together.

  ‘Are you speaking English right now?’ I said.

  ‘Yes. I’ve learned a few languages.’

  ‘Why? I would have thought you wouldn’t need to.’

  ‘I can speak and be understood. But if I write, I must write the language.’

  ‘Oh. That makes sense.’ I smiled up at him. ‘Your English is excellent.’

  ‘When I want to be clearly understood, I don’t bother speaking the language. But I like to keep my skills up, so I speak English to you, Leo and Simone as much as I can. Can you tell the difference? I’d be curious to know.’

  I thought about it. ‘Yeah, I can tell. When you’re speaking English, like you are now, you sound more formal. More old-fashioned. When you’re not, you sound like me.’

  ‘That’s because then you are hearing the meaning, not the words.’

  ‘You always have a slight English accent, though. It’s very charming on top of your old-fashioned way of speaking.’

  He raised his eyebrows and opened his mouth to say something, then shook his head. He turned back to the water and I did as well.

  We watched the moon rise in silence.

  After a while he spoke. ‘Would you like to see some energy work? I think you would enjoy it.’

  ‘Yeah, sure,’ I said. ‘What’s involved?’

  He gazed into my eyes and held his hands between us, palms up. ‘Take my hands.’

  I froze, watching him. ‘Don’t be silly.’

  His smile widened slightly. ‘While I am doing energy work, I have complete control of the energy. You are safe. I cannot harm you. Trust me.’

  I sighed with resignation. I did trust him. I put my hands in his, feeling the hard calluses on his palm and thumb from the sword. I had similar calluses on my hand. We were a matched set.

  I held his hands, looked up into his glowing dark eyes, and everything around us disappeared.

  His eyes turned inward as he concentrated. He didn’t seem to see me. ‘Close your eyes.’

  I closed my eyes, trusting him completely.

  ‘Don’t let go of my hands. This is most important. Wait.’

  A slight tingle moved through me, from my hands to my feet and then back again.

  ‘Keep your eyes closed while I tell you what I’ve done. Don’t let go of my hands.’

  I nodded with my eyes closed. The tingling stopped.

  ‘I have lifted you above the building,’ he said. I gasped. I couldn’t feel it; the sandy tiles were still beneath my feet. ‘You are now about half a li—about two hundred metres—above the top of the building. Whatever you do, Emma, do not let go of my hands.’

  ‘I understand,’ I said. ‘Can I open my eyes now?’

  ‘Sure.’

  I opened my eyes. He stood in front of me, his face rigid with concentration, his eyes unseeing.

  I looked down and felt a moment of dizziness when I saw how far above the beach we were. I gripped his hands and closed my eyes.

  ‘Are you all right?’ he whispered.

 
I nodded and reopened my eyes. I just wouldn’t look down.

  Now that we were higher, the sea seemed to stretch forever. The moon had risen further over the water and a glittering silver road spread over the waves. The beach glowed below us, and the mountains of the hinterland shimmered in the distance.

  ‘This is energy work?’ I whispered.

  He didn’t focus on me, he was concentrating. ‘Hn.’

  ‘You can teach me this?’

  He seemed to see me for the first time. ‘If we had a thousand years, I could teach you this. But I will teach you some simpler things; I think you will find them useful.’

  I looked into his glowing dark eyes. ‘I wish we did have a thousand years.’

  His voice was full of pain. ‘So do I, dear Emma.’ He inhaled sharply and his eyes unfocused again. He smiled slightly, still concentrating. ‘I am a fool.’

  ‘We both are,’ I whispered.

  Leo’s deep voice carried clearly on the night air. ‘If you two do not come down from there right now, I will call the police.’ He stood on the roof garden, next to the spa, with his hands on his hips. ‘Even worse, I may be forced to call Ms Kwan.’

  ‘He’s just upset because if he were to try energy work it would probably kill him,’ Mr Chen said loudly, still unfocused.

  ‘You are incredibly mean to him sometimes,’ I said.

  ‘Don’t worry, Emma, he’ll get his,’ Leo said. ‘You two get down here now!’

  I didn’t feel the movement. The tiles were still warm beneath my feet. Mr Chen’s face went rigid with concentration and we floated gently back down to the balcony.

  Leo ducked inside from the roof garden and thundered through the apartment and out onto the balcony. He stood with his arms crossed over his chest and glowered.

  Mr Chen nodded reassurance and released my hands, then both of us turned to face Leo, looking sheepish.

  ‘Do that again and I really will resign,’ Leo said. ‘I don’t know why I bother looking after you when you throw your energy away like that.’

  Mr Chen sagged slightly. I felt like a child caught with her hand in the candy jar.

  ‘If Ms Kwan saw you doing that, she’d nail your shell to the wall,’ Leo said.