‘How long before we can go back home and be safe?’ my father said miserably. ‘Before all of this blows over?’
‘Probably between one and two years,’ John said. ‘Depending upon how quickly I can take the head off that little bastard One Two Two.’
‘One Two Two?’ my mother said.
‘The demon that came after us at the graduation,’ I said. ‘No other demon is dishonourable enough to go after people who aren’t directly involved. He’s the only one who’s that much of a scumbag.’
‘What do you want to do, Barbie?’ my father said, turning to my mother. ‘I think it might be better to go with this Tiger guy.’
‘What would you do, Emma?’ my mother said.
‘Frankly,’ I said, leaning back, ‘I’d like to send you all to the Western Desert until this blows over. You guys, Jen and her family, Amanda and her family, everybody. Think of it as a family vacation. The palace is really nice, you’ll like it. And Jade or Gold can take me there, so I can visit you. Or you can come down here with guards, you’ll be fine. John?’
‘If that is your wish, and their wish, I have no objection,’ John said. ‘I will not let this situation continue for much longer.’
‘We have to get Simone up to speed.’
‘Yes we do. Brendan, Barbara,’ John said. ‘Would you call Amanda for us and explain? Then we can begin the arrangements. I will call Leonard and see what he wants to do.’
‘I just want to get out of here,’ my mother whispered.
The next afternoon we all waited in the living room: me, John and my parents.
The other three Winds materialised with Amanda’s family. They were all unconscious. John and I rushed to help with Amanda and Alan. Zhu Que gently lowered the boys onto the couch, one on each arm.
‘Are they okay?’ my father said urgently. ‘It is only temporary?’
‘They’re fine,’ the Tiger said as he placed Amanda onto the couch next to the boys. ‘It was quite a long way and it is a very stressful experience for humans to travel like this.’
‘It’ll be similar for you when you’re taken to the palace,’ I said to my mother. ‘But don’t worry, it doesn’t hurt.’
My parents hovered, concerned.
‘They will be fine,’ the Dragon said. ‘Phoenix, let’s go and get the others.’ He disappeared.
‘My Lord, my Lady,’ Zhu Que said, bowing slightly and saluting. ‘By your leave.’
‘Go,’ I said, nodding to her. She disappeared as well.
Alan came around first. He sat up and rubbed his hands over his face. Then he saw Amanda and the boys, still unconscious, and staggered to them.
‘Don’t worry, they’re okay,’ I said, putting my hand on his shoulder to reassure him. ‘They’ll wake up soon.’
Alan glanced up at me. Then he saw John and the Tiger. He looked around carefully. ‘We’re really in Hong Kong?’
‘Really,’ I said. ‘It’s all true.’
Amanda stirred and moaned. Alan, my parents and myself all crouched around her. John and the Tiger stood behind us.
Amanda opened her eyes and saw us. She cast around, confused, then saw the boys and with a small cry of pain struggled to sit up to check on them.
‘They’re fine, Amanda,’ I said softly. ‘They’re really okay. You’re all okay.’
‘Something was chasing us,’ Alan said. ‘The young man defended us, and then the people carrying us brought us here.’
Gold appeared in True Form at the other side of the room with the bags. He didn’t take human form; his stone fell out of the air and landed on the carpet.
‘He’s injured,’ the stone in my ring said. ‘Quickly.’
I raced to Gold. ‘Can I pick him up?’
‘Yes,’ the stone said. ‘Pick him up with both hands. Let’s see.’
I gently lifted Gold and examined him, but couldn’t see anything inside him. I didn’t risk turning my Internal Eye on him, but his energy level felt like that of an ordinary stone. He didn’t feel special at all.
‘He’s okay,’ the stone said. ‘Just exhausted. Put him on one of the beds. He’ll take human form when he’s strong enough, and he can rest.’
‘Stay here, everybody,’ I said. ‘I’ll pop him on my bed, he’ll be fine.’
‘Is that Gold?’ my mother said. ‘You said he was a stone.’
‘Yes, it’s Gold,’ I said.
‘Wait.’ John came to put his hand on Gold.
‘Is he okay?’ my mother said.
‘Emma’s correct,’ John said. ‘Drained. He’ll be okay. He must have used energy to defend himself. Lay him down, he’ll be fine in about four hours.’
‘Can you feed him energy?’ I asked the Tiger.
‘Nope,’ the Tiger said. ‘He’s a stone. Completely different type of Shen. The chi is the same, but our natures are incompatible.’
‘Can I feed him?’ I said.
Both John and the Tiger snorted with amusement.
‘Not a good idea, I think,’ John said. ‘He’d find that more embarrassing than coming around in your bed.’
‘Hop in with him,’ the Tiger suggested. ‘Freak him out when he wakes up.’
‘You’re worse than Leo,’ I said, and turned away to take Gold to my room.
‘Emma,’ John said, and I turned back. ‘Gold will be very weak when he comes around and probably won’t be able to conjure the clothes. Cover the stone.’
I shrugged. ‘Okay.’
When I was in the spare room where I was staying I laid Gold gently on the bed, roughly where his chest would be, and pulled a light sheet over him.
‘Is he all right like that?’ I said.
‘Yes,’ the stone in my ring said.
I hesitated, watching him. He had nearly given his life for my family.
‘I’ll really miss him when he’s freed,’ I said.
Gold transformed into his human form, lying on his side under the sheet. He turned onto his back and looked at the ceiling, puzzled.
‘Why?’ the stone said.
I knelt next to Gold and took his hand. He smiled at me, heaved a huge sigh, turned his head away and closed his eyes.
‘Because I really like having him around,’ I said.
Gold shot upright to sit and cast around the room.
‘Rest,’ the stone said. ‘I’ll handle it.’
‘What?’ I said.
‘I am in big trouble,’ Gold said softly, and fell back onto the pillow.
‘You’ll be fine,’ the stone said. ‘Rest.’
‘Am I in Lady Emma’s bed?’ Gold said.
‘Yep, quite a coup,’ I said. ‘Something to tell your friends. Rest now. Whatever the problem is, we can handle it.’
‘Go quietly into the living room, Emma,’ the stone said, very softly. ‘Let’s not wake it up just yet.’
As I entered the living room, John was kneeling in front of Amanda and smiling kindly at her.
‘Hello, Amanda,’ he said, very gently. ‘My name is John Chen and I’m the one that’s promised to marry Emma. I’m a Shen, a spirit. The closest word you have in English is “god”. Please stay very still. It is vitally important that you don’t move or speak.’
Amanda’s eyes went wide, but she didn’t move. Little David sat quietly on her lap.
‘Is Amanda a Shen? Or something like me?’ I whispered as I approached them.
‘No,’ John said, without turning away from Amanda. ‘Where did she get her pendant, Alan?’
‘I gave it to her,’ Alan said. ‘I found it in an antique shop. It was ridiculously cheap for such a large opal, so I thought it must be a fake or something. But it looked good so I bought it for her anyway.’
‘Her opal is a Shen?’ I whispered.
John nodded without turning away from Amanda. ‘Southern Shen.’
‘It will be beyond pissed when it wakes up and finds that we’ve moved it so far from its Centre,’ the stone in my ring said softly.
‘Can you take it
back without waking it?’ I said.
‘Nope,’ the stone said. ‘And I know this one too. It has a temper to rival yours, my Lady.’
John concentrated and Leo came out from the hallway.
‘Don’t move, Amanda,’ John said quickly when he saw her reaction. ‘This is Leo, our guard. He can take your boys and care for them while we sort this out.’
Amanda shook her head without speaking.
‘Let him, Mandy,’ I whispered. ‘He’s great with kids, he looks after John’s daughter, Simone. They’ll be safe with him.’
‘Alan, I think it would be a good idea if you were to go too,’ John said.
Alan hesitated. ‘Will the boys be safe with him?’
‘Perfectly,’ Leo lisped. ‘I swear I will guard them with my life. They can come into Simone’s room, she has a lot of toys. They’ll be fine.’
‘He’s right, Alan,’ I said.
‘Brendan?’ Alan said.
‘Leo’s good,’ my father said. My mother nodded.
‘If the boys will be safe with him, then I’m staying here with Amanda,’ Alan said firmly. ‘Is it okay with you if he takes the boys, Mandy?’
Okay, Amanda mouthed silently.
‘Boys, go with the big man, he’ll look after you,’ Alan said.
David looked as if he was about to cry and Mark’s little face screwed up with terror.
The Tiger concentrated and their faces went blank. They both rose and placidly took Leo’s hands, allowing him to lead them down the hall towards Simone’s room.
‘All suggestions welcome, stone,’ John said, still crouched in front of Amanda.
‘We don’t have a choice, we’ll have to wake the damn thing,’ the stone said. ‘Everybody move back, I’ll do it. Don’t move, Miss Amanda, I’ll handle this.’
The ring drifted off my finger and floated in front of Amanda. She watched it with wonder.
‘Lord Xuan, Lady Emma, back you go,’ the stone said.
‘Brendan, Barbara, you’d be safer with the children and Leo,’ John said as both he and I rose and moved back.
‘We’re staying here with Amanda,’ my father said. My mother nodded silently.
‘I’m waking it up,’ the stone said.
Nothing happened.
‘Hi, Opal,’ the stone said softly. ‘Sorry about this. Didn’t know you were there.’
Complete silence.
‘Please permit us to return you immediately,’ the stone said.
Again, nothing.
‘This was entirely unintentional,’ the stone whispered.
‘Dickhead,’ the opal said loudly with a very strong Australian accent. It sounded like a middle-aged Australian man. ‘Where the hell am I?’
‘Sorry,’ the stone said ruefully. ‘Hong Kong.’
‘That’s a bloody enormous Dark Spirit over there. What is it?’ the opal said.
‘I’m the North Wind,’ John said. ‘Good day to you, Opal. Thanks for not hurting the lady.’
‘I’d never hurt my lovely Amanda in a million years,’ the opal said, and everybody breathed a sigh of relief. ‘But this ugly green bastard floating in front of me, and that pretentious little prick who thinks he’s made of gold, are both in serious trouble.’
‘I’ve been wearing a stone that can talk for more than ten years?’ Amanda said with disbelief.
‘Remember when your car suddenly swerved out of the way of that runaway truck?’ the opal said. ‘And the time you fell off the ladder but weren’t hurt at all? And the car accident in Adelaide, where the car was a wreck but nobody was injured?’
‘I thought I was just lucky,’ Amanda said.
‘Lucky my arse,’ the opal said. ‘You and your lovely little family wouldn’t be around right now if it weren’t for me.’
‘Can I say thank you now?’ Alan said.
‘You are more than welcome, mate,’ the opal said. ‘You lot are the most delightful family it has ever been my pleasure to adorn. But why the hell are you in Hong Kong? And how come you know about these spirits? You’re just ordinary humans. How come you’re mixed up in this? That’s an enormous tiger over there behind the North Wind, you know that? And what the hell is this?’
‘What?’ Amanda said.
‘This snake thing. No, wait, it’s an ordinary human. Is that your sister, Mandy? Why the hell is she…Good God, but she’s a bloody great black snake, you know that? A human and a big snake at the same time. Never seen her like before. Hey, Emma, is that you?’
‘Yes,’ I said.
‘Geez, have you changed. What have you been doing to yourself?’ the opal said. ‘Come and pay a visit to the Grandmother with me one day, pet. I’m sure she’d love to have a look at you.’
I took the opportunity. ‘Am I a Rainbow Serpent?’
‘Mandy, dear,’ the opal said. ‘Do me a favour, love? Take me off and hand me to your little sister?’
Mandy removed the chain from her neck and passed it to me, the opal dangling from its links.
‘Hold me in your hand, I want to look at you,’ the opal said.
I dropped the stone into my hand and held it. It was warm and seemed to be pulsing with energy.
‘Nope,’ it said.
‘Damn,’ I said under my breath. ‘Any idea what I am? None of us knows,’ I said more loudly.
‘No idea,’ the opal said. ‘Pass me back. I feel lost without my little Mandy.’
I opened my hand to see the stone. It was quite large, about three centimetres long and two wide, a rough rectangular shape. It was almost jet black with flashes of midnight blue and fiery red through it.
‘You are absolutely spectacular, you know that?’ I said.
‘Yep,’ the stone said. ‘Pass me back, and then this geological mistake can tell me how I got here and what the story is.’
‘Humph,’ the stone in my ring said. ‘You always were a rude bastard.’
‘Shut the hell up and tell me what’s going on,’ the opal said.
The stone in the ring returned to my finger. Amanda put the opal back around her neck.
‘You can talk, I’ll just tell the opal what’s happening,’ the stone said. ‘Don’t mind us, we’ll have a little stone-to-stone talk.’
‘Dickhead,’ the opal said, and went quiet.
CHAPTER SIX
Iburst into John’s office without knocking. ‘We need some more pillows. Can I send—’ I stopped dead. A young Chinese woman I’d never seen before was sitting across the desk from John.
‘Whoops, sorry,’ I said, and moved to go out.
‘Wait,’ John said. ‘Obsidian here would like to apologise. This is Emma.’
Obsidian fell to her knees and saluted. ‘My profoundest apologies, my Lady. I have failed both you and the Dark Lord.’
‘She was your sister’s guard stone,’ John said. ‘She never told us that the opal was sentient.’
‘Why not?’ the stone in my ring snapped.
Obsidian didn’t move from her knees on the floor. She didn’t look up.
‘I do not believe this,’ the stone said softly. ‘A daughter of mine sleeping with one of them.’
‘It is the most spectacularly beautiful stone I have ever laid eyes on,’ Obsidian said, then she glared at my ring. ‘And it’s an absolutely fantastic lover,’ she added defiantly, ‘both stone and human. If you knew it was already protecting them, I wouldn’t be needed, and you’d assign me somewhere else. I wanted to be with it.’
‘Why didn’t you tell the Shen when they went to pick up my family, Obsidian?’ I said. ‘You should have warned them about the opal.’
Obsidian looked down, still on her knees. ‘I was at the post-Christmas sales in Brisbane,’ she said miserably. ‘Opal was looking after them, he said I could go. Obviously he—’
‘Fell asleep on the job,’ the stone said cuttingly. ‘Fine pair of guards you are. I’ve half a mind to reassign you anyway. This is the family of the Dark Lady we’re talking about here.’
‘Obsidian is reassigned regardless,’ John said severely. ‘And the punishment will be appropriate.’
Obsidian collapsed over her knees.
‘Good,’ the stone snapped. ‘Give her to the Dragon.’
‘No,’ Obsidian whispered.
I stayed quiet.
‘Report to Lord Qing Long,’ John said.
‘My Lord,’ Obsidian choked, saluted without looking up, and disappeared.
‘No attempt to defend her?’ John said softly.
‘She deserved it,’ I said. ‘Both of them should be sent to the Dragon. I take it you’ve sent her there because he’s Wood and Stone is weak against Wood.’
‘Yes. But mostly I sent her to the Dragon because he’s a complete bastard to all his staff,’ John said. He smiled slightly. ‘You are more and more cold-blooded all the time.’
‘You’re right,’ I said, miserable. ‘I can’t believe I just stood by and let you do that to her.’
‘You will make an exceptional Regent, Emma,’ John said. ‘And I am sincerely looking forward to taking up my Celestial duties again with you by my side. Together we will be the greatest team the Celestial has ever seen.’
I turned to open the door. ‘I’m sure they’ll be glad to have your warm heart to counter my cold blood.’
‘We will,’ the stone in my ring said softly.
‘I still can’t believe this stuff was all around us and we never even knew,’ Alan said as we sat at the dinner table. Simone, Mark and David sat with Leo and giggled together.
‘Some of the Celestials here in China have never been to the Earthly Plane since they were Raised,’ John said. ‘I don’t think the Celestial himself has been more than two or three times.’
‘Who?’ Amanda said.
‘Their Jade Emperor,’ the opal said. ‘Their biggest boss.’
Simone piped up. ‘Can you give us rides after dinner, Uncle Bai?’
The Tiger glowered at her, then grinned. ‘Sure. You eat your vegetables like good children, and you can all have rides.’
David and Simone put their heads together and whispered with excitement. Mark didn’t seem so sure.
‘You don’t have to if you don’t want to, Mark,’ I said.