I turned and went out, closing the door softly behind me.
‘It worked,’ I whispered, hoping the Tiger’s acute hearing would pick it up.
Good, the Tiger said into my head. He will be much more useful with a weapon anyway.
I let myself into Leo’s room and laughed quietly as I went through his drawers. He’d kept some of the pink underwear, hidden at the bottom. I hadn’t known that. I grabbed some boxers and a robe for him.
Come in, Ms Kwan said when I reached the door to the training room.
She was sitting exactly the same way, but had returned to her normal human form. Leo sat cross-legged opposite her, his face full of calm serenity.
I hesitated, then went in anyway.
He heard me and glanced up. He smiled. ‘I feel doubly naked when there’s no fur.’
I tossed him the robe and he pulled it around himself and rose. I passed him the boxers and he tugged them on.
Kwan Yin gracefully stood.
After Leo had tied the belt of the robe, he fell to one knee and saluted her. She placed her hand on his head.
‘Will he be able to do it at will?’ I said.
She hesitated, gazing at him, her hand still on his head. ‘With a great deal of concentration and training, in the right circumstances he will.’
‘I won’t get a chance to try then,’ Leo said, returning to his feet and fixing the robe. ‘One more week, and then I’m off demon hunting.’
‘You may be able to learn it in a week,’ I said.
‘I’ll be practising with the sword,’ he said. ‘That will be much more useful than claws anyway.’ He turned to go out of the room, took a couple of steps, and tottered. I rushed to hold him up, and he leaned on me.
He straightened. ‘Let me go. I’m not weak, it’s just a matter of regaining my balance.’ He took a couple more steps, realised that he had it, and moved more confidently. ‘Tell Mr Chen I’ll meet him back in the dining room when I’ve put some clothes on.’
‘Emma,’ the Lady said, and I turned back as Leo went out. A glowing white aura surrounded her. ‘It does not matter what you are. The fact that you can make this energy is inconsequential. Do not let the foolish Dragon sway you. You will never harm your family. Never.’
‘But what am I?’ I said.
The aura blinked out. ‘It does not matter what you are. Because it is who you love that is the most important.’
She was right. She was always right.
I went to her, fell to one knee and saluted her as Leo had. She placed her hand on my head and I felt her power move through me: a feeling of total peaceful serenity. ‘You will never harm them,’ she whispered. ‘Go and prepare. Ask Ah Wu to teach you energy calming techniques, because very soon you will need them.’
‘Not for a week,’ I said. ‘But thank you, that’s a good idea.’ I pulled myself to my feet.
‘I am no longer needed here,’ she said. ‘Remember, though, Emma, you can call me any time you need me.’
The doorbell rang: Simone was back. I raced out of the training room with delight. John and the Tiger were already in the hallway, and John opened the door.
Simone threw herself at her father and squealed. He raised her so that she nearly touched the ceiling, then held her close.
Martin smiled through the doorway and disappeared.
John moved Simone to one hip and closed the gate and then the door.
‘Hello, Uncle Bai!’ Simone said loudly. She saw me. ‘Everybody’s okay? Everybody’s fine?’ She saw the wreck of the living room. ‘Is everybody okay?’
‘Everybody’s fine, sweetheart,’ I said. ‘And Gold had a baby.’
‘A baby?’ Simone cast around excitedly. ‘Where? Where?’ She stopped. ‘Where’s Leo?’ She concentrated, looking for him. ‘You’re in your room, Leo, come on out. I know you’re there!’
Leo came out, fully dressed, and Simone wriggled a request to her father. He let her down and she raced to me, gave me a quick hug and a kiss, and then ran to Leo, who hoisted her into his arms. She wrapped her little arms around his neck with glee. ‘Everybody’s okay!’ she shouted into his grinning face.
‘Gold’s sleeping, he’s very tired after having the baby,’ I said. ‘It just looks like a rock anyway.’
‘Uncle Bai, give me a ride!’ Simone shouted, jiggling in Leo’s arms with delight. ‘And then Daddy can do some sword with me! I hope Ah Yat’s made something good for dinner!’
‘If Leo lets you down I’ll give you a ride,’ the Tiger said. ‘But you know you’re really getting too big for this.’
Leo gently lowered Simone and she grabbed the Tiger’s hand and dragged him into the living room. Ah Yat had finished cleaning up the glass and was taping clear plastic over the window frames. The Tiger transformed and Simone crawled onto his back. She was so big now that her feet nearly touched the floor.
I checked my watch. Three twenty. Only just over three hours since the attack. It seemed like forever.
‘Should we get together and discuss what we’ll do while the feed happens?’ Leo said.
I shrugged. ‘I suppose.’
John gestured towards the dining room and he, Leo and I went in and sat together. My diary was on the dining table in front of me, where I had left it that morning. I flipped it open and pulled out the card for Simon Wong’s law firm.
‘Will they be able to recognise the Tiger when he walks into the law offices?’ I said.
‘He should be able to hide his nature and appear as an ordinary human,’ John said. ‘He’ll probably take the form of a woman.’
Leo snorted with amusement.
I nodded, studying the card. Wong had four offices: one in Central, one in Sham Shui Po, one in Tsim Sha Tsui, and one in Kowloon City. I glanced up at John. ‘The Tiger doesn’t need to go. I know where Wong is.’
There was a tap on the door and Michael entered. He saluted John and me, then sat next to Leo.
‘How do you know?’ Leo said. ‘You don’t have that look.’
‘It’s on the card,’ I said, flipping it around. ‘It says he has an office on the top floor of Kowloon City Plaza. The top floor’s the car park. There are no offices there, that’s all shops.’
Michael’s face filled with comprehension. ‘That’s what he did with the girls in Kowloon City.’
‘What?’ I said.
‘Kowloon City?’ John said.
‘Yeah,’ Michael said. ‘He has some sort of office in Kowloon City. That’s where they took the girls. He’s had that place for a long time. Like, nearly forty years or something. The guys used to joke that he’d been around for so long he had to be a demon.’
The Tiger came in and sat next to me. ‘What did I miss?’
‘Is Simone okay?’ I said.
‘Your demon has her. She’s okay.’
‘He’s in Kowloon City,’ I said. ‘The pizza delivery guy.’
‘What?’ Michael said.
‘We were attacked by a demon posing as a pizza delivery boy,’ John said. ‘A couple of years ago, when Emma had just started here. The real delivery boy was found later, cut into small pieces, in a dumpster in Kowloon City.’
‘The copy of me too,’ I said. ‘It all fits together. He’s somewhere in Kowloon City. Top of Kowloon City Plaza.’
‘Too exposed,’ John said. ‘Too much in the open.’
‘Kowloon City, Kowloon City.’ I had it. ‘Kowloon Walled City!’
‘That’s gone now,’ Michael said. ‘They tore it down and put a park there.’
‘It would have been the perfect place for him to have his headquarters though,’ I said. ‘Narrow, twisting alleys between rotting ten-storey tenements. A part of Mainland China, but neither side would take responsibility and police it. Completely lawless. It would have been perfect.’
‘But it’s a park now,’ Michael said, insistent. ‘They tore it all down.’
‘And Kowloon City Plaza is right next to the park. What if he’s underneath? He’s ha
d forty years, John. Could he be underneath?’
‘On my way,’ the Tiger said, and disappeared.
We waited silently for him to return.
The Tiger reappeared. ‘For some reason I can’t see underneath,’ he said. ‘You’ll have to send a stone. Do you have any handy?’
John concentrated. There was a tap on the door and Gold came in.
‘Oh no you don’t,’ I said loudly. ‘This new parent is not going anywhere.’
Gold pulled his baby from his chest and put it on the table.
‘The stone in my ring can go,’ I said to Gold. ‘Don’t you go anywhere.’
‘She’s right, Gold, I hadn’t thought of that,’ John said. ‘Go back and rest.’
I tapped the stone in my ring.
‘Yes, Emma?’ it said.
‘Stone,’ John said, ‘you are ordered to Kowloon City Park. Scout. We suspect that the demon may have tunnels underneath the park.’
‘My Lord,’ the stone said, and disappeared out of my ring.
‘Go back and rest, Gold,’ I said.
‘Can I wait and see my parent safely back?’ Gold said, picking up his child and returning it to his chest. ‘Quite a few weird things have been happening lately. I want to be sure.’
‘There’s nothing there that will hurt it,’ the Tiger said. ‘It’ll be okay.’
I gestured towards the chair next to me. ‘Wait with us if you want.’
We sat silently at the table and waited for the stone to return. It took quite a while and I began to become concerned. I could see from Gold’s face that he was worried as well.
The stone appeared in its human form between me and Gold. It sagged to lean on the table with one hand; its face was pale and it was trembling. I had never seen it so emotional.
‘Are you okay, Dad?’ Gold said, quickly rising to help his parent.
The stone appeared unable to speak, and Gold gently guided it to sit next to me, then sat beside it, holding its hand.
‘There is a large network of tunnels under Kowloon City Park,’ the stone said, its voice hoarse. ‘I am probably the only one able to see inside. Nobody else would be able to do it.’
‘Why?’ the Tiger said. ‘I thought it was just me.’
‘The walls of the tunnels have been coated with the essence of powerful stone creatures,’ the stone said, its face and voice expressionless.
‘No,’ Gold whispered, gripping the stone’s hand. ‘No.’
The stone dropped its head. ‘The demon has painted the walls,’ it said, then took a deep breath, ‘with the guts of my children!’
‘Go,’ I said. ‘Both of you. Thanks, stone. Gold, take him out, look after him.’
The stone ran its other hand over its face and smiled at me with misery. ‘I’m not finished, Emma. There are well over fifty extremely large demons in those tunnels. Most of the demons are between level eighty and ninety; some are bigger than ninety.’
‘Holy shit,’ the Tiger and Michael said in unison.
‘The demons are turtle and snake hybrids,’ the stone said with anguish.
John shot to his feet. He stalked to the door of the dining room and opened it.
‘You don’t have time to do sword katas right now, John,’ I said with compassion. ‘Come back and sit down, and we’ll work out what to do about it.’
John hesitated, holding the door, without looking at me. Then he shrugged, closed the door, turned and returned to sit at the table. He dropped his forehead into one of his hands and didn’t move.
‘What?’ Leo said.
‘They were turtle and snake hybrids, Leo.’ I gestured towards John. ‘Heaven knows how many of his children were destroyed to create them.’
‘You would know if your children were missing, my Lord, wouldn’t you?’ Leo said, his face filling with the grim realisation of what had happened.
‘I am a reptile, Leo,’ John said into his hand without looking up.
‘Go,’ I said to the stones.
‘Some of the things that demon has done are beyond comprehension,’ the stone said, hoarse with emotion. ‘Humans. Demons. Shen…’ Its voice trailed off and it shook its head.
‘Come on, Dad,’ Gold said, putting his arm around the stone’s shoulders. ‘Let’s go and work out how many of our family we’ve lost.’ He guided the stone gently out.
‘Gold,’ John said loudly as they opened the door.
Gold turned. ‘My Lord?’
‘You are relieved of duty until further notice,’ John said. ‘You may take True Form as often as you want until I order otherwise. Understood?’
‘My Lord,’ Gold said, then turned and went out, holding his parent’s arm.
‘Take your time, stone,’ I called after them.
Neither of them replied.
‘He’s waiting for you, John,’ I whispered. ‘I wonder what else he has ready for you.’ I suddenly remembered, and inhaled sharply. ‘No.’
‘Leo, Michael, leave us,’ John said.
‘No, you don’t,’ Leo said loudly. ‘I’m staying. I’m a sworn Retainer. I’m part of this. I’m coming with you, I’m fighting this bastard, and there’s nothing you can do about it.’ He glared at Michael. ‘Out.’
‘Let them stay,’ I said. ‘It won’t hurt for them to know. You can trust both of them.’
‘How many of your children know about this, Ah Bai?’ John said.
‘Nobody knows. I’m surprised you told Emma,’ the Tiger said. He smiled wryly. ‘Actually, no, I’m not.’ He turned back to Michael. ‘Emma’s guessing that the demon has a little surprise planned for us. With the right sort of…’ he hesitated, ‘cage, we can be imprisoned.’
Both Leo and Michael went completely still, staring at the Tiger. Then they glanced at John.
‘Yes, me too,’ John said.
‘What sort of cage, Dad?’ Michael said.
The Tiger hesitated.
‘Tell them,’ John said. ‘It makes no difference, we can trust them. Both of them would die before divulging this information, you know that.’
‘It needs to be constructed entirely out of Celestial jade,’ the Tiger said. ‘Jade that has been on the Celestial Plane for at least five hundred years. A single unbroken piece of jade should be carved to make the cage. We must be in True Form to be taken. If we are caged by such a thing, we can be held indefinitely.’
‘Has this happened before?’ Leo said softly.
‘The Turtle has been imprisoned in the past,’ John said. He smiled wryly and shrugged. ‘A human sorcerer did it to me, and presented me to the Emperor, hoping to curry favour. He didn’t even know what I was; he thought I was just a mystical turtle. A demon gave him the cage and told him where I was.’
‘Stupid damn Turtle,’ the Tiger growled. ‘Too busy dragging your tail in the mud to see the human sneaking up behind you. I’d never take True Form that small.’
‘We have been through this many times before,’ John said. ‘What’s done is done.’
‘Stupid damn Turtle,’ the Tiger said under his breath.
‘You think One Two Two has one of these waiting for you?’ Michael said.
‘Of course he does,’ John said. ‘So I must conserve my energy until we go in. If my energy is good, I can take a very large True Form that will not fit into the cage.’
‘What about your head?’ I said.
‘I think he’ll be happy with either,’ John said, smiling sadly. ‘If he can take the captured True Form to his father, the King will be even more pleased.’
I leaned forward over the table to speak intensely to them. ‘Are you sure that both of you can take them?’
John and the Tiger shared a look. They weren’t sure.
‘With Na Zha?’ I said.
Neither of them spoke.
‘Anybody else you can call up?’
‘I’ll see what I can do,’ the Tiger said. ‘Er Lang, maybe. Zhao Gongming, perhaps.’
‘Marshall Zhao won’t go in with you, Bai Hu, d
on’t be ridiculous,’ John said.
‘I know your history with him, and I agree with John,’ I said. ‘Anybody else?’
‘I’ll think about it, see who I can round up,’ the Tiger said. ‘Maybe the other Winds might want to come along, but I doubt it. They should stay here and guard Emma, Simone and the Disciples.’ He saluted John. ‘By your leave.’
‘Bai Hu,’ John said. The Tiger disappeared.
‘Let me use the phone, John,’ I whispered.
John’s face went rigid. He shot to his feet and stalked out. The door to the training room opened and closed.
‘What’s this phone, Emma?’ Leo said. ‘That’s the second or third time you’ve mentioned that phone, what is it?’
Michael stayed silent. He hadn’t been close enough to hear what we’d said when we met with the King in London; he didn’t know either.
‘You might as well know,’ I said. ‘I made a pact with the King of the Demons. While we were in London.’
‘A pact?’ Michael said.
I nodded. ‘He wants me. If I go to him, and stay with him and don’t try to escape, he guarantees Simone’s safety for the rest of her life.’
Both of them stiffened.
I pulled the phone out of my pocket and held it up to show them. ‘I can call him any time. I’m surprised you didn’t notice it—I take it with me everywhere.’ I shrugged and tried to smile. ‘The King has promised that if I go to him, he will release me when Mr Chen returns. But Mr Chen is convinced that the King would try to win me over, and if he failed he would just throw me to the Mothers.’
‘But the Mothers,’ Michael said, looking at Leo. ‘What they did to Leo…’ His voice trailed off.
‘What they did to me was nothing,’ Leo said, his voice slurring more than usual. ‘You’ll need to come with us when we go in, Emma, so that if Mr Chen goes down or is caged, you can call the King to make sure that Simone is safe.’
‘I know, Leo, but I think Mr Chen is in denial about it. When the time comes, expect some major fireworks.’ I shrugged. ‘Why don’t you go and spend some time with Simone? Take her up to the playground until dinnertime, both of you. Lord Xuan won’t be in any state to do anything useful for a while, and my leg is killing me.’