‘What about demons?’ Michael said.
‘Both of you should be enough to guard, and Simone can nearly look after herself,’ I said. ‘The demons are waiting for us under Kowloon City. You should be okay.’
They both rose. As Leo passed me to go out, he stopped, rested his hand on my shoulder and kissed the top of my head. I put my hand over his. He released me and they went out.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Istumbled back to my room, opened the door and stopped dead. The stone, in human form, lay on its back on my double bed, asleep. It had changed into a pair of ridiculous baggy green shorts and a plain white T-shirt. Its snow-white hair was tousled from sleep and its elegant face was peaceful. I had never seen it look so human.
To hell with it. I pulled off my jeans, left them on the floor, and climbed in beside it. I stopped: something was between us. It was Gold, in True Form, with his child next to him. I moved them gently to make room, turned onto my side facing away from them, and closed my eyes.
The stone shot up to sit.
‘Don’t go anywhere,’ I said without moving. ‘It’s okay. I know there probably wasn’t space for all of you in the student room. You’re here every night in the bed with me anyway. This is your room too, really. Go back to sleep.’
‘Another coup,’ Gold said softly.
‘For both of us,’ the stone said, just as softly.
It lay back down then turned so that it was facing me and put its arm around me. I spooned my back into it, and it held me close. Gold and the child moved up the bed to make room, resting against the back of my head.
‘I should take female form,’ the stone said. ‘This is inappropriate.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ I said. ‘That makes no difference at all.’
‘Lord Xuan would have kittens if he knew,’ Gold said.
‘Of course he knows,’ I said through a huge yawn. ‘Is he still doing sword katas?’
‘Yes,’ Gold said, sounding sleepy.
I didn’t remember anything else.
I woke an hour later, alone in my bed. The stone had returned to the ring, and Gold and his child were gone. My leg protested as I turned to rise. It had stiffened badly while I was resting.
‘How many children did you lose?’ I said.
‘We’re not sure, but at this stage it appears that I have lost about fifty or sixty,’ it replied as I went into my bathroom.
‘That piece of demon scum is going to die.’ I pulled off my clothes and turned on the shower.
‘You forgot to leave me outside the bathroom,’ the stone said.
‘No, I didn’t.’ I stepped into the shower, closing the screen behind me, and held the stone under the wash of hot water. Then I reached for the soap with my left hand, moving it out from under the stream.
‘Thanks, Emma,’ the stone said softly. ‘The water feels good. I really needed that.’
‘I know,’ I said. ‘That’s why I did it. Have you told the Grandmother?’
‘Not yet. But when she finds out you can expect some major earth tremors in Central Australia.’
‘I’d really like to meet her one day,’ I said.
‘One day I must take you,’ the stone said. ‘I think you and she will get along very well.’
I moved the soap into my right hand and held the stone under the water again.
I went into the dining room; nobody was there. I slipped through the door into the kitchen. Ah Yat was busy with vegetables for dinner. She quickly pulled down a mug for my tea without me asking.
‘Where is everybody?’ I said.
‘The Dark Lord is in the training room,’ Ah Yat said, returning to the vegetables. ‘Princess Simone is still at the playground with Master Michael and Master Leo.’
‘Where’s Gold?’
‘Sleeping, ma’am,’ Ah Yat said.
‘Let him sleep,’ the stone said.
I pottered around, feeling useless, for about half an hour. I asked Ah Yat to check on Simone occasionally. She was fine; she’d been through the shops at the Peak Tower and was playing in the little play area on the roof of the Peak Galleria.
I went into John’s office and began to tidy his mess. I sorted through the documents; some of them were tasks that weren’t finished. I tried to control my emotions as I put all the loose ends to one side to go through with him.
The training room door opened and closed, and I poked my head out into the hallway. John had emerged, exhausted.
‘Are you okay?’ he said when he saw me.
‘I’m a bit stiff but I’ll be fine. You?’
‘I’ll live. Stone?’ John said.
‘My Lord,’ the stone said.
‘Go and have a shower,’ I said. ‘Then we need to sort through the paperwork. We should do it before dinner, have it fixed now. We won’t have time when the Lady returns; you’ll be locked up with her for the rest of the week.’
He nodded sadly, and turned away to go to his room.
‘Emma, sit,’ John said when he returned to the office, his long hair still damp from the shower. ‘We need to talk.’
I didn’t ask, I just sat. He flopped into his big chair across the desk from me.
‘Emma,’ he said, leaning on the desk and looking me right in the eyes, ‘we don’t have much longer. I want you to do something for me after I have gone.’
‘Anything, John.’
‘I want you to promise me something.’
I hesitated. ‘What?’
He looked down at his hands and spoke softly. ‘If you have to go to the King, I want you to promise me something.’
I leaned on the desk as well. ‘I’ll never fall for that bastard, John, you can trust me. Don’t worry. I know he’s charming, but I can see right through it.’
‘I know that,’ he said, not looking up. He smiled gently at his hands. ‘I want you to promise that if you do have to go to him, you will pretend. So that he won’t give you to the Mothers. Make him think he has won you over.’ He raised his head to gaze at me. ‘Pretend. Until I return. Make him think he’s won. And when I return, you can hold him to his word to release you.’
I sat there, completely stunned, staring at him.
‘Promise me, Emma,’ he said. ‘Anything is preferable to you being given to them. Anything. Give me your word.’
I struggled to speak.
‘Please do this thing for me, my Lady. I do not wish to see you harmed. He will not hurt you. You will be safe. Simone will be safe. That is all that is important.’
I didn’t say anything. I couldn’t do it.
Suddenly John’s head snapped up. He shot to his feet, vaulted over the desk, and raced out into the hall. I ran to follow him. He went into the living room, where Leo waited for us.
Leo fell to his knees. His face was full of anguish.
I had a sudden, horrible, sinking sensation. Simone wasn’t with him.
‘Where is she?’ I yelled. I crouched in front of Leo, grabbed his arm, and shouted into his face. ‘Where the hell is she?’
‘She is with Ming Gui,’ Leo said, his voice hoarse. ‘While we were at the playground, he appeared. He said hello, she ran to him, he took her hand and they both disappeared.’ He dropped his head. ‘I didn’t think fast enough. I should have grabbed her.’ He sagged over his knees. ‘I have failed. Again.’
‘Martin won’t hurt her, John, she’ll be fine,’ I said, pulling myself to my feet with relief.
John wasn’t convinced. ‘What if he’s taken her to Number One? To swap her for my head?’
‘Would Number One do that? He’s renowned for being honourable.’
John moved to sit on one of the couches. ‘I don’t know.’ His eyes turned inward. ‘She says she’s okay; they’ve gone out for something to eat.’ He snapped back to Leo. ‘Michael?’
‘Michael followed them, my Lord.’
‘Michael travelled?’
Leo nodded, still on his knees.
‘He has had no training. He coul
d quite easily kill himself.’ John concentrated. ‘Found him. But he lost track of Simone. Wait.’ He was silent, focusing. ‘He wanted to return directly but I’ve told him to come the long way. It will take him a while, he’s on Kowloon side.’ He concentrated again. ‘Simone says she’s okay.’
‘Ask her where they are, John, and we’ll go and get her back.’
John’s face went rigid. ‘She won’t tell me. She says she’s fine, she’s having fun.’
My blood went cold. She was just being a perfectly normal six-year-old girl who loved her big brother. ‘Can one of the staff track her down?’
‘Not if she doesn’t want them to.’ John’s eyes unfocused again. ‘She’s telling me to leave her alone. If she is harmed in any way by your actions, Leo, I will have your head for this.’
‘I’ll present it to you myself,’ Leo whispered.
‘There’s nothing we can do. We’ll just have to wait,’ John said.
Leo rose and moved to sit next to me, putting his arm around me. I wrapped my arm around his waist and we held each other.
‘I have a really, really bad feeling about this,’ I whispered.
The doorbell rang.
‘Everybody get weapons now,’ John said. ‘It’s a huge demon.’
‘One Two Two?’ I said. ‘Why here, now?’
‘It’s not One Two Two,’ John said grimly. ‘It’s Number One.’
‘What’s he doing here?’ I said as I rose to get my weapon. Leo waved me back and went into the training room to collect them.
John went to the front door, grabbed Dark Heavens from its clips, then threw the door open.
Number One stood on the other side of the gate, smiling without humour. ‘I think you need to hear what I have to say.’
‘Come in.’ John opened the gate and Number One entered. He went into the living room and sat on one of the couches.
‘Your son has been duped.’
‘What?’ John said, standing over him.
‘One Two Two is immensely powerful. I don’t know what it’s done to itself, but it can do astonishing things. It took my form, promised your son it would not harm the child, and said that if Ming Gui took her to a place it knows, she would be safe and protected and they could spend some more time together.’
I took a huge deep breath. ‘Martin’s taking Simone to One Two Two?’
I heard a clatter behind me. Leo stood in the doorway, the weapons in a pile at his feet. His face was grey.
‘I thought Ming Gui would be useful,’ Number One said, studying his hands. ‘He has been much more trouble than he is worth.’ He glanced up at John. ‘Are you sure that this one is yours, Turtle? Everybody knows that your kind produce nests of mixed parentage, that you just walk away from.’
John stiffened and his eyes blazed. Then he sagged. ‘I can’t contact either of them.’ He fell to sit on the other couch and put his head in his hands. ‘No.’
The demon rose. ‘I’d better go and clean out my nest,’ he said. ‘You should have taken me up on my offer.’
‘Wait!’ I said before he disappeared. ‘Where’s Simone? Where are they?’
The demon shrugged. ‘Don’t ask me. Could be anywhere.’ He smiled. ‘I suggest you give my dad a call, Emma. The only way the child will stay safe now is if you go and screw the hell out of him.’ He nodded to John. ‘Turtle. It’s been nice knowing you. You should have given me your head.’ He disappeared.
John grabbed Dark Heavens from the couch next to him, threw himself up and went into the training room without saying a word. Leo turned like a puppet and headed down the hallway, also towards the training room. I followed them. John waited for Leo with Dark Heavens in his hand.
‘Kneel,’ John said.
Leo fell to his knees without a word.
‘Leave us,’ John said.
‘No,’ I said. ‘Anything you do to Leo, you’ll have to do in front of me.’
‘Very well then,’ John said, and hefted the sword. He moved to stand over Leo.
Leo smiled slightly and lowered his head.
‘Wait,’ I said. ‘If we trade your head for Simone, I’ll need Leo to assist me guarding. And I may have to use the phone. If I use the phone, then Leo will be all she has left.’ I gestured impatiently. ‘We don’t have time for this. Let’s just go and get her out!’
John hesitated.
‘Do it,’ Leo said without looking up.
‘You would forfeit your life?’ John said.
‘I have failed. Again. I should pay.’
‘And you will,’ John said. His voice was very mild. ‘First, you will pay by living. Then you will pay by helping us to get her back. And then, if we do get her back and you survive it, you will pay by guarding her until the day you die. A natural death. That’s an order.’
Leo collapsed over his knees and moaned, a wordless sound of agony.
‘You have failed me, Leo,’ John said mildly. ‘And your punishment will be: that you live.’
‘No,’ Leo whispered into the floor.
‘Get up, collect your weapons and prepare,’ John said. ‘Both of you.’
‘I still don’t have your promise, Emma,’ John said as Leo drove us to Kowloon City. John sat in the front seat, I was in the back.
‘Where’s Michael?’ I said. ‘Do you have any other Celestials to help out?’
‘I sent Michael home. He and Gold will guard the apartment so you have a safe place to return to. The Tiger, the Phoenix, the Dragon and the Third Prince will meet us at Kowloon City Park. I want your word, Emma.’
I tapped the stone.
‘I was awake. I know what’s happening,’ the stone said.
‘Do you know where the entrance to the tunnels is?’ I said.
‘In the yamen building,’ the stone said. ‘I couldn’t find exactly where. Gold will have to help me look. We will both need to move around the room to find it.’
‘Your word, Emma,’ John said. ‘Promise me.’
I was silent.
‘Please, Emma, don’t make me beg you. I will if I have to. Ngoh kow—’
‘Don’t you dare beg me—you’re a Celestial Emperor!’ I snapped. I ran my hands through my hair with exasperation. ‘I don’t want to give you my word on this, John, you know I don’t.’
‘I want you safe when I return, love.’
‘What’s he asking, Emma?’ Leo said softly.
‘He wants me to pretend to fall for the Demon King if I have to use the phone. So that I won’t be thrown to the Mothers.’
Leo was silent, watching the road.
‘Promise me, Emma.’
‘Only if I have no other recourse. Only if that’s the only way to avoid the Mothers. Only as a last resort,’ I said.
‘Your word,’ John said.
‘Do it, Emma,’ Leo said without looking away from the road. ‘This is about as close as he can get to a last request. Both of us will be able to die with our minds at ease, knowing that you won’t be hurt.’
‘We will find Simone and get her out of there,’ I said grimly. ‘And then we will all go home and spend a few more weeks together.’
‘I will not come out the other side of this, and you know it,’ John said. ‘Either the demon will capture me and take my head, or I will take True Form and tear it into very small pieces. There is no other way out of this. So I ask you, Emma Donahoe, as a woman of your word. Promise me.’
‘No,’ I whispered.
‘Promise him, Emma,’ Leo said.
‘Do it, dear,’ the stone said. ‘It would reassure me as well. I don’t want to see you thrown to the Mothers. All three of us are asking you here.’
‘Promise me,’ John said. ‘You will only use the phone if I go down or if Simone is in real danger. And if you must use the phone, you will pretend to give in to the King’s advances. Promise me.’
‘Only if I must,’ I said. I took a deep breath. ‘I promise.’
‘I thank you, my Lady,’ John said, and turned back t
o the road. ‘Now let’s go and destroy this demon and get our little girl back.’
‘This is all my fault,’ Leo whispered.
‘You have failed us, Leo,’ John said. ‘If you wish to redeem yourself, then do your best to stay alive.’
‘My Lord.’
Leo stopped the car in a yellow-lined no-parking zone directly in front of the Kowloon City Park gates. We slammed the car doors shut, pulled our weapons out of the trunk, and moved as one through the gates of the Park. John took Dark Heavens; he was too weak to carry Seven Stars. I had my Serpent sword. Leo carried Michael’s white sword.
It was nearly six o’clock and there were still many people strolling around. The park was Chinese-style gardens with paved paths meandering between them, and pavilions alongside the paths. A large pond formed the centrepiece. We attracted quite a few concerned glances as we stormed along the path holding the blades.
The Tiger, the Phoenix, the Dragon and Na Zha appeared from behind a pavilion and joined us. They all appeared as perfectly normal Chinese; they’d even made themselves very plain. The Phoenix was a middle-aged Chinese lady; the Dragon and Tiger were men of similar age. Na Zha looked like a regular Chinese teenager.
‘There is an entrance under the yamen building,’ I said.
‘Let’s go,’ the Tiger said, and we headed through the gardens towards the building.
John stopped dead. ‘Wait.’ He concentrated. ‘Stone.’
‘My Lord?’ the stone said.
‘Will you be able to talk to us once we’re under here?’
‘I will be able to communicate with the Lady,’ the stone said. ‘Other than that, I will be silenced.’
‘Not even Gold?’ John said.
‘No,’ the stone said. ‘Only the one who bears me.’
‘Okay,’ John said, glancing around. ‘Mark this place. About one hundred metres below us, directly below me, Simone is being held. Can you guide us back to this location once we’re under?’
‘Yes,’ the stone said. ‘Done.’
‘Can you see through, John?’ I said.
‘No,’ he said. ‘I can just sense her presence. She is there.’
‘Can you talk to her?’
‘No,’ he said. ‘From what I can see, however, she is unharmed.’