‘I need to see the King right now. Immediately. It’s very important.’
‘Did something happen to the kids?’ he said as his eyes unfocused.
‘Just find him,’ I said.
‘He’s in the Celestial Palace fucking a couple of senior Mothers, and that’s always tricky. If he doesn’t finish up carefully he’ll kill them. He wants to know what the huge problem is.’
‘How long will he be?’
The Duke nodded, obviously listening to the King. ‘Show me first. The King has the Heavens to run. Is one of the kids sick?’
I pulled back inside, leaving the door open to speak to the Duke. ‘I’ll wait for him.’
‘No, tell me. If something happens to either of those kids on my watch, my head is gone.’
‘There’s no problem with the kids. This is to do with something else entirely unrelated and I can wait for him. It’s urgent, but not that urgent.’
The Duke shrugged. ‘Suit yourself.’
I closed the door and went back to the kitchen. I should have asked the Duke how long it usually took to ‘finish up’ a couple of Mothers but I really didn’t want to know.
An hour later I was in the bathroom arguing with Frankie.
‘You’re too little,’ I said. ‘It will go everywhere.’
‘Then they clean it up. It’s what they’re here for.’
I opened my mouth to tell him that wasn’t what they were there for and realised that in the case of these demon servants it was true.
‘When we’re in the Heavens you’ll treat your staff like human beings or . . .’ I heard what I was saying. ‘You’ll treat everybody with respect. And clean up after yourself.’
‘But I don’t know how!’
‘I’ll teach you — that’s what I’m here for. Now you sit down here,’ I picked him up and sat him on the toilet seat, ‘and do your business without making a mess.’
‘I’ll fall in,’ he said.
‘I know it’s hard, but I’ll find you a toddler toilet seat and that will make it much easier for you.’
The King came in. ‘So what’s so important you had to drag me away from a couple of my girls who haven’t seen me in weeks?’
‘Chang’s orphans,’ I said. ‘They’ve been thrown out of the hotel in Australia. Do you have contacts there to retrieve them?’
‘No,’ the King said, and moved to go out. ‘I thought it was important.’
‘It is important!’ I said, helping Frankie pull his little pants up. ‘Those kids will be homeless again. We have to bring them —’
‘Oh, we have to, do we? No, we don’t. The Australian authorities will deal with them. They’ll find them a shelter or something.’
‘If they think those kids are illegal immigrants, they’ll put them in one of those awful detention camps!’
‘So?’ he said, leaning on the door frame. ‘They’ll be fine. They’ll have food and water and a roof over their heads, and nothing more than that. Good motivation to make something of themselves — get a job and an education and do something with their lives.’
‘There’s no job or education in the refugee camps!’
He shrugged and turned away. ‘Not my problem. Don’t call me unless it’s something to do with my kids, okay?’
‘Please. The children,’ I began, but he’d disappeared.
‘Can we play now?’ Frankie said.
‘Sure,’ I said absently as I tried to think of a way to find the orphans and re-home them. ‘Let’s pull some Lego out.’
If we had a phone, I said to BJ as I sat on the living room floor with Frankie and the Lego.
We don’t, BJ said. There’s no phone network, no wireless and no cables in this place. He’s way ahead of us.
Is there any way we can contact Simone to help them?
Only if she comes down here to see you.
There has to be something I can do!
Lady Emma, BJ said, I’m sorry. There isn’t.
‘Emma?’ Edu said, and slapped my shoulder. I realised she’d been speaking to me for a while.
‘Sorry, Edu. Yes?’
‘She asked you what a pony is,’ Frankie said. ‘Remember you showed me?’
‘I can’t show you,’ I said. ‘I need a computer to do it and your dad won’t let me have one.’
‘Why not?’ Frankie said. ‘That was fun.’
‘I’ll see if I can find some DVDs for you,’ I said.
‘What’s a DVD?’ they asked in unison.
* * *
‘What’s this?’ Frankie said, looking at the peanut butter sandwiches I’d placed in front of them.
‘Human food?’ Edu said.
I explained about sandwiches, and watched as they tried peanut butter for the first time and, like most demons, were instantly appreciative.
The front door opened and the King came in, accompanied by three silent wide-eyed children. My heart plummeted. It was Gold’s kids, Jade and Richie, and my nephew Matthew.
Oh god, no! BJ wailed in my head.
‘Where’s Amy and my sister?’ I said.
‘Who?’ the King said.
‘Their mothers!’ I shouted, pointing at the children, who didn’t move. He must have been controlling them, otherwise they’d be distressed.
‘I sent them home,’ the King said. ‘I have no use for them.’ He pushed the children forward. ‘Go to Aunty Emma, she’ll look after you.’ He turned and opened the door to go out.
‘These children can’t be here,’ I said to the King. ‘They don’t belong. Take them back to their parents.’
‘These are friends for Frankie,’ he said. ‘Better still, these are relatives. Well, except the stone’s ones, but I want Frankie to be happy and these children can play with him.’
‘They can’t be here, they’re human, and not dea . . .’ I didn’t finish the word. ‘This is not the place for them.’
He shrugged. ‘All the rules are being rewritten.’
‘There isn’t space for them all,’ I said.
‘There will be plenty when we move them up. How much space do they need?’
‘They need their own rooms, so send them home to their parents.’
‘No, Frankie needs playmates. Be ready, I’m letting them go.’
The three children all took a deep breath together and their eyes widened.
I crouched to speak to them, touching their shoulders to reassure them. ‘You’re safe, kids, nobody will hurt you.’
‘Where’s my mummy, Aunty Emma?’ Matthew said.
‘You know how you’re a lion?’ I said, and he nodded. ‘Well, right now I need you to be a lion. I’ll look after you here for a little while, and then you can go home.’
‘Okay.’
I rose. ‘Send them home. They can be playmates when Frankie moves up to the Heavens.’
The King moved closer to me. ‘They’re insurance right now.’
‘I won’t try to escape. I’m doing the job to the best of my ability. You don’t need to take these children away from their mothers!’
‘When it comes to you, having insurance is always a good idea. They stay.’
‘Then I need clothes for them, and clothes for me too. I need a DVD player and an online ordering account.’ I gestured towards Frankie and Edu in the living room, who were still eating the peanut butter sandwiches and watching us with wide eyes. ‘They need to see what I’m talking about. If you won’t give me a computer with internet, at least allow me to show them videos.’
‘Draw pictures,’ he said.
‘Not good enough! They’ve been stuck inside for weeks. They need to go outside into the fresh air and sunshine. I have to take them to the surface . . .’ I realised what I was saying and that the children could hear me. ‘They need to see the sun!’
‘You’re a fucking pain in the ass, you know that?’ he said, and stormed out.
‘Good,’ I said as he slammed the door. I crouched to speak to the three little ones. ‘Come and have a san
dwich.’
Matthew looked around, then his face went red and tears ran down his cheeks. ‘I don’t think I can be a lion, Aunty Emma.’
‘Oh, darling,’ I said, and crushed him to me.
His crying set the other two off and the three of them wailed. Frankie’s eyes were wide with concern, but Edu watched with an expression of cruel pleasure.
23
The King entered without knocking, accompanied by a Duke carrying a large cardboard box. He stopped in the living room when he saw me reading to the children.
‘That’s what I like to see.’
‘Is that a DVD player or a computer?’ I said.
‘It’s more clothes for all of you.’ He frowned. ‘Humans are disgusting.’
‘I need to shop for DVDs and I need access to the internet,’ I said. ‘I need more books than this. You have to give me shopping rights because there’s a bunch of stuff I need to buy for them.’
‘You need, you need — that’s all I hear from you. So needy. I brought you the clothes you asked for, isn’t that enough?’ He waved one hand over his shoulder towards the guard Duke standing behind him in human form. ‘Bring her.’
‘Where are you —’ I began, but couldn’t finish it.
The Duke took three swift steps towards me and put his hand on my shoulder. We teleported to the middle of a soccer pitch in a factory compound somewhere in China. Ten five-storey blocks of ugly residential monoliths stood in a row, with hard-faced uniformed guards on every corner. Nets were strung between the buildings to thwart workers’ suicide attempts. A three-metre-high wall stood on the other side, with a few stunted trees attempting to screen it.
BJ, contact them!
Processing, BJ said.
The air was bitingly cold, and the sky was brown with a pollution haze that obscured everything on the other side of the wall.
The King led me away from the residential buildings towards the blank windowless factory buildings.
‘Where are we?’ I said. BJ?
Can’t talk and download at the same time. Wait.
‘Not important. You need to see this, it’s fascinating.’ He grinned over his shoulder at me. ‘Francis is in Europe showing his scientists, so you’re the only one around here who has the brains to appreciate this. It’s a breakthrough.’
‘How are my family? I need to talk to them.’ BJ? My family?
I’m doing a big data download from Dad. Big dump. Bear with me. Any messages for anyone?
‘There we are again with the needy,’ the King said.
The entrance to the factory building had more guards on either side. They had the same faces as the ones in the residential section: demon duplicates.
The Demon King noticed my distraction. ‘Are you talking to anyone? I thought your telepathy was intermittent.’
‘It is. I’m trying to contact Simone.’
‘Good! Tell her to come in — all is forgiven. She can stay with your family.’
Tell them that I love them, and that I’m trying to send Little Jade and Richie back to your dad and Amy.
I am. I’m talking to Dad.
‘She’s not replying,’ I said.
‘Shame.’
I glanced at the guards as we went through the door. ‘Do you have human workers? The identical copy guards must freak them out.’
‘I’m in their heads. They don’t see anything.’
‘They still try to kill themselves though.’
‘I can’t be in their heads all the time. I don’t know why they jump. They come from villages where they had nothing. I give them jobs and income, and within weeks they forget to be grateful. They start asking for ridiculous things like days off. Stupid.’
The reception area was clean and modern, all white with a black granite counter. A pretty young woman sat at the desk in a blue mock-military uniform, under a huge logo on the wall that said Franskit Industries in English and Kwok Ho Fan See — a phonetic version — in characters.
The receptionist quickly rose and bowed to the Demon King. ‘Good morning, Mr Kwok.’
The King patted her shoulder. ‘Good morning, Stella. It’s good to see you again.’
She flushed and looked down. ‘It’s always a great pleasure to see you, sir.’ She looked up into his eyes. ‘If there’s anything at all you need, please don’t hesitate to contact me.’ She swept one hand towards her empty desk. ‘I am always here for you.’
‘That’s what I like to hear,’ he said, moving closer. His smile widened. ‘Would you like to come have dinner with me later? Just you and me?’
She gasped, then opened and closed her mouth like a goldfish, the blush spreading to her neck. She trembled.
‘Good girl,’ he said, and turned away. He nodded to one of my guards. ‘Bring her later.’
I opened my mouth to tell her the truth but didn’t get a chance. The door in front of us clicked open and the guard shoved me through.
‘Don’t you dare eat her!’ I shouted at the Demon King before the door closed.
‘Heh,’ he said as he led us into a lift lobby with three lifts in it. ‘Don’t be stupid. She’s useful, and she’s human — I’m just having fun with her. She thinks she has a chance. She’s a virgin though, and her blood is choice.’
The Duke made a low sound of appreciation as he pressed the button for the lift.
‘How can virginity make a woman taste different? It makes no sense,’ I said.
‘It doesn’t taste different.’ He shrugged. ‘It’s just the concept. Precious. A virgin’s never been used by any other man.’
‘Used?’ I said. ‘Like a thing? I thought you were a woman yourself.’
He didn’t reply.
The download’s done, BJ said. Everybody’s safe. I have pictures and messages for you — I’ll show them to you later. Simone hasn’t responded yet, I’m still trying to contact her. Dad and Amy say thank you for looking after my little brother and sister.
Thanks, BJ. Are my sisters okay?
Yes.
Even Jennifer?
Lady Jennifer . . . didn’t talk much, but she did ask after Matthew.
Tell her he’s fine.
I already did, she said.
Have you contacted Simone?
Simone’s not replying. She’s left Ronnie’s apartment in Hong Kong — it’s deserted.
What about the orphans? I said. Has Chang found a place for them?
The lift doors opened. I followed the King out, with the Duke behind me.
They’re being held by the Australian authorities. I’m trying to break into the Australian records system remotely but it seems to be stone-proof. They know about our abilities. I’m working on it.
‘Now I know for sure that you’re talking to someone,’ the King said.
‘What did you do to my stone?’ I said.
‘Nothing,’ he said, and his voice had the ring of truth. Great, now I couldn’t tell when he was lying. ‘I never had your stone. Are you talking to it? Tell it to come in as well, I’ll be merciful. You need it.’
‘Never mind,’ I said.
‘Look,’ he stopped and turned to speak to me, ‘I’m not a monster. I want the Heavens to prosper. I don’t want to watch my back all the time. I am prepared to be merciful to all who pledge allegiance. Tell them to come in and all is forgiven. Simone can have the Crown Prince’s Residence. If Leo returns from the US and surrenders, I’ll free Martin from the Pits and they can stay in the Peak apartment with the little black girl.’ He spread his hands. ‘I want peace and prosperity.’
Should I tell Leo that? BJ said.
Go right ahead, but it’d be a waste of time.
‘I’ll keep that in mind,’ I said. ‘So where are we going?’
‘This way.’
He took me to the end of the plain concrete corridor and opened a door on the right. We entered a lab, with benches, sinks and microscopes. A stainless-steel table stood in the middle of the room holding a half-dissected three-metre-long sna
ke corpse packed in ice. Its white flesh glistened where the skin had been peeled away.
‘Oh god,’ I said, and put my hand over my mouth, which suddenly tasted of sour peanut butter. ‘Is that my nephew?’
The King pointed at six decorative octagonal fish tanks, each half a metre high and the same across, that stood on pedestals at the other end of the room, bubbling with grey liquid. Each of them held a floating black snake, forty centimetres long.
‘Your nephew lives,’ the King said.
I was rooted to the spot with horror. ‘Colin?’
‘Was that his name? Oh, that’s right, the oldest one. These are clones. A masterpiece. A breakthrough.’ He put his hands in his pockets. ‘I am so proud of this.’
‘You carved up his corpse!’
‘Well, of course I did.’ He shook his head. ‘Better than carving him up while he was alive, eh? There are twenty more clones growing in eggs in the next room. We ran out of eggs and put the leftovers in tanks, but these ones aren’t doing as well.’ He studied me appraisingly. ‘As soon as we have more eggs to put them in, I’ll take some tissue samples off your snake form and make clones of you. You’ll finally have all the children you’ve dreamed of.’
‘Not happening,’ I said.
He shrugged. ‘Makes no difference. Once Frankie’s on the throne, everybody will have no choice. You’ll have to obey him.’ He nodded towards Colin’s corpse. ‘This one’s good, but you’ll be way better.’
‘He was my nephew.’ I went to the table and touched Colin’s shining black scales. The little bully who’d made Simone’s life miserable in London had grown into a noble young man, and could have been great with more training. I dropped my head as my eyes filled with tears. I hadn’t been able to protect him. ‘I am so sorry, Colin.’ I turned back to the King. ‘You killed him. He needs to be returned to his family so they can bury him.’
‘He’s not dead!’ the King said. ‘We have more than twenty of him here. I’ll give one to your family as payment for his death, and do some work on the others to make them even more powerful and obedient. They’ll have their child back.’
I stepped back, full of nausea. Twenty of these things. ‘This is not Colin.’
‘Of course it is! The DNA is identical. It’s him!’