‘They feel the same way,’ he said.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket. ‘What if I call Bridget and ask her?’
‘She will say the same thing,’ the demon said with confidence.
I called Bridget.
‘Hello?’ she said.
‘Hello, Bridget, it’s Emma. I have the David copy here, and it’s . . .’ I glanced down at the demon. ‘He’s asking to stay with you. We’re in the process of arranging accidents for the copies, because they were torturing the families they were assigned to and corruptly undermining peaceful governance. This one claims that he’s been treating you and your boys well and that you want him to stay with you.’
‘Is he there?’ she said.
‘I’m right here, love,’ he said.
‘Put me on speakerphone,’ she said.
‘I know I was cruel to you at the start, but when I realised I loved you I never touched you again,’ he said. ‘Will you have me back? Tell the Dark Lord that I’ll treat you right, otherwise he’ll destroy me like he did all the others.’
‘Let me tell you about David, Emma,’ she said. ‘The real David.’
‘Yes, Bridget?’
‘He would give the staff two days off on the weekend instead of one. He gave them Saturday and Sunday, even though he was only obliged by law to give them one day.’
‘Well, that was stupid,’ the demon copy said with scorn.
‘And on Saturday and Sunday, he would spend the days with us. One of us would cook, and the other would clean up and wash the dishes. He was a much better cook than I am, and he enjoyed making meals for the family. Often he’d wash the dishes as well, and then we’d spend the evening playing games with the boys.’
‘He did servants’ jobs?’ the copy said with disbelief.
‘Would you do that?’ she said.
‘No, of course not. I don’t serve people, people serve me,’ the demon copy said.
‘If I was to have you back, would you be gentle and caring like he was? He lived to please me. He took me out for dinner cruises on the harbour, just the two of us, and he was so patient and attentive. He was endlessly romantic.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous. I’m a man, not a child,’ the demon copy said.
‘You stopped raping me,’ she said.
‘Yes, when I realised that you are far more than you seem. You might not be beautiful, but you have a good heart. So I stopped forcing you.’
‘You stopped raping me. Do you want a medal?’
‘No, I want to be with you,’ he said, completely missing the sarcasm.
‘Emma, is John there?’ she said.
‘Yes, I am,’ John said.
‘John, could you cut that monster’s head off so it never approaches me or my boys ever again? It was cruel to the family. It beat the boys. It raped me. It took bribes in the business. It is . . .’ She took a deep breath. ‘An absolutely disgusting piece of fucking shit and I never want to see it again. Do me a favour and do your demon-killing thing on it. Fast and hard, so it never comes near me or my boys again.’
‘One question,’ John said.
‘You worthless bitch! I was willing to give you a chance and you destroyed everything!’ the demon shouted, and disappeared.
‘Yes?’ Bridget said.
‘Would you like me to change or remove your memories of what happened?’
‘You can do that?’
‘Yes, I can.’
She hesitated, then, ‘Yes,’ she breathed. ‘Yes. Because that worthless piece of scum is an insult to everything that David stood for. My David was a noble gentle man, and this demon was a travesty of everything about him. I’d rather remember David as a good man who died before his time.’
‘I will visit you and the boys as soon as I have tracked down the copy and taken its head,’ John said. ‘It will take me less than an hour.’
‘Can you change the boys’ memories as well?’
‘Yes, I can,’ he said.
‘Thank you.’ She broke down, weeping into the phone. ‘I’ll be waiting for you. All of us will be waiting for you. Thank you so much.’ She hung up.
‘Now you,’ John said to the black-armoured demon. ‘Are you here to turn?’
‘No, my Lord,’ the demon said.
‘Another one,’ I said.
‘So why are you here?’ John said.
‘Look inside me,’ the demon said. ‘I will open myself to you, and you can see what I am.’
John focused on the demon, and his eyes went wide. ‘Holy shit.’
‘What?’ I said.
‘You can look, ma’am, it will not hurt me,’ the demon said.
I opened my Inner Eye on it. The tiny face belonged to a child, hanging suspended inside the demon.
‘Holy shit,’ I said. ‘Is that a human child?’
‘Yes, it is,’ John said. ‘Every time we destroyed one of you, we destroyed a human child?’
‘It screams in my head,’ the demon said with misery.
‘Releasing the child will destroy you,’ John said.
‘I know that, but I am dead anyway,’ the demon said. ‘You will track us all down and kill us. The new King does not want us; we are spawn of the West. So I beg you, Dark Lord, destroy me carefully and extract this poor innocent from inside me.’
‘What about the others like you?’ I said.
‘If you agree to do this, I will tell my brothers before you do it. Some may choose to come to you and not fight it; others may choose to flee. Either way they are dead.’
‘Kneel,’ John said.
The demon fell to its knees. It was so large that its head was level with John’s chest.
‘Tell your brothers I will make it swift and painless,’ John said.
‘I am, my Lord. Many will come.’
‘Now close your eyes and think compassionate thoughts about the child.’
The demon closed its tiny eyes. ‘Thank you, my Lord. Even if you cannot save me, the child will be free.’
John pushed his fingers into the demon’s head around the face and ripped the child out. The child screamed. The demon’s body dissolved into black demon essence that dissipated quickly.
John lowered the child to the ground and she crumpled. She appeared about four years old, with fair skin and blonde hair through the coating of demon essence.
He concentrated with his hands on either side of her face. ‘Not injured, just in shock from the transition.’ He conjured a blanket and wrapped her in it. ‘Let’s take her upstairs and clean her up. How many of these demons did you say there were, Emma?’
‘Close on a hundred.’
‘Have we found Chang yet?’
‘He’s on his way home with the rest of the orphans.’
‘Good, because we have a great deal more work for him to do.’
The little girl opened her eyes, took a deep breath, and screamed again.
John looked her in the eyes. ‘You are free now, little one. You’re not a prisoner any more. You’re safe.’
She buried her face in her arms.
‘The demon was right when it said it was Western,’ I said as John picked her up, still wrapped in the blanket, and carried her to the lift lobby. ‘Blonde and everything.’
When we were on the eleventh floor we went straight into the flat. The rest of the family crowded around us.
‘And she was inside the demon?’ Leo said.
‘Stay back, give her room. Don’t freak her out,’ I said.
Michael stood transfixed, staring at her. ‘Oh my god. Oh my god.’ He repeated the words over and over, his voice thick with emotion. ‘Oh my god.’
‘Michael?’ John said. He carried the child to one of the student rooms. Yi Hao rushed out of the kitchen to help us. ‘Do you know her, Michael?’
‘That’s my mother,’ Michael said. ‘I’ve seen photos of her when she was young, and that’s her.’
‘That’s what the King did with her when she stayed there a week,’ John said.
‘I suppose we should not be surprised.’
‘More clones,’ I said with misery.
The Tiger appeared next to us. ‘I’ll take them. I’ll take all of them.’ He put his hands out to John. ‘Contact me when you free them and I’ll care for them.’
‘No, you won’t,’ Michael said fiercely. ‘You will groom them to be wives when they’re old enough. They’re children.’
‘All of my wives were children at one stage, boy,’ the Tiger said. ‘Give her to me, Ah Wu. I’ll take her and raise her myself.’
‘No,’ John said. ‘Michael’s right. They will go to Chang’s orphanage, and they will not be introduced to you until they are well and truly old enough to make up their own minds.’
‘But —’
‘That is an order, Bai Hu,’ John said. ‘Disappear.’
‘Humph,’ the Tiger said, and disappeared.
John handed the child to Michael. ‘I have a demon . . . several demons to track down. I am delegating care for these children to you. You will need to find accommodation for all of them. How long before Chang arrives, Emma?’
‘He’s flying in tonight,’ I said.
‘Meet with him then and set to work, Michael. You have an unlimited budget to arrange accommodation for them until you find a place to put them all.’
‘My Lord,’ Michael said, taking the child in his arms. She lay there, unmoving and unblinking. ‘We need to clean you up, honey,’ he said. He raised his head. ‘I’ll bring Clarissa in to help.’
‘I’ll go bring her,’ Simone said.
‘No, I will,’ Michael said. He held the child out to me. ‘Can you bathe her? It will be more appropriate and less scary.’
I took the child. ‘Sure.’
‘I must go. That copy will probably go to Bridget and try to terrorise her into letting it live,’ John said. ‘I need to reach it first. Call me if more of these child demons arrive.’
‘We will, Daddy,’ Simone said. ‘Go. We can handle this here.’
John disappeared.
35
The wedding was on the first day of winter, the Xuan Wu’s seasonal ascension. We stayed in the Imperial Residence in the Northern Heavens the night before the ceremony.
Jade dropped off the boxes containing the robes, and made one last check.
‘I need you awake at six thirty so we can start early with the make-up and hair,’ she said to me. ‘Then we’ll take all the photographs with the dignitaries on the front court of the Palace, and after that proceed to the ceremony at the Hall of Dark Justice.’
‘What time does the actual ceremony start?’ John said.
‘Ten.’
He grew pensive.
‘No, you cannot meet up with the Tiger and go harass my family,’ I said. ‘Leave them alone.’
‘But the groom and his friends are supposed to take gifts to your family and negotiate a price for you,’ Jade said. ‘It’s traditional.’
‘So is the bride wearing red.’ I pointed at the boxes. ‘Black all the way.’
‘Don’t worry, Emma,’ John said. ‘I won’t do it.’
‘Damn straight you won’t,’ I growled.
Jade bowed to each of us in turn. ‘I’ll see you at six thirty in the morning. Lord Xuan, I’m counting on you to ensure that she doesn’t make a run for it.’
‘I may make a run for it myself,’ he said.
She saluted us with a grin and disappeared.
John opened the boxes and took the robes out. He ran them carefully through his fingers, then ran his hands over the interior of the boxes.
‘Looking for stones?’ I said.
He nodded. ‘None here.’
I sighed and sat on the bed. ‘I just want this over with so we can start living our lives as a normal family.’
‘Normal?’ He sat on the bed next to me and held my hand. ‘Heaven forbid.’
I leaned into him. ‘Bath. Bubbles.’
We lay in the warm water together, the bubbles swirling around us. He pulled me into his lap, and kissed the side of my neck.
‘I know this sounds strange,’ I said, ‘but I’m not interested.’
‘In making love?’ he said to the side of my throat.
I nodded. ‘I’m too concerned. What if I’m replaced? What if you don’t know?’
He shrugged behind me. ‘Soak. Relax. Sleep. I understand.’
I wriggled against him. ‘Some of you doesn’t understand.’
‘I’m a Turtle, that part will always be interested. But the important part is up here.’ He rapped his forehead gently on the back of my head. ‘And I will never make you do anything if you don’t want it as much as I do.’ He pulled me tighter. ‘Just be aware: only one demon has ever been human enough to fool me, and that demon is dead.’
‘I fooled you,’ I said.
He didn’t reply, he just held me close.
‘Can you see anything in the future?’ I said. ‘I can’t.’
‘I don’t have any major premonition of disaster. The future seems serene, apart from the usual messy minor catastrophes that occur in any big ceremonial occasion.’
I snuggled into him. ‘Thank you.’
He sighed beneath me. ‘We will survive this.’
‘The most challenging thing that either of us has ever done?’
He nodded into my shoulder.
‘How many marriages is this for you? And I don’t mean just humans. Have you married Shen before?’
‘Let me think,’ he said. ‘Twenty-five? No, the two at the end of the Qing . . . twenty-seven. Twenty-eight including Michelle. You will be my twenty-ninth wife.’
‘Damn.’
‘And if you take male form . . .’ He dropped his voice to a whisper. ‘My sixteenth husband.’
‘Damn.’
‘None of them were ever as close as we are. What I have with you is unique. There will never be any other for me.’
‘I feel the same way.’
‘Bedtime, my Empress,’ he said, carrying me out of the bath and pulling a towel off the rail. He gently lowered me and wrapped the towel around me. ‘Sleep now, and tomorrow will hopefully be the last time I kneel and present tea to the Jade Emperor at my wedding.’
‘All I want in life is to be with you and our family,’ I said. ‘This is an unnecessary formality.’
‘I feel the same way,’ he said, kissing the side of my neck.
He stopped and listened before we climbed into bed together.
‘They okay?’ I said.
He nodded. ‘Your mother says that Frankie is over-excited. He doesn’t really understand what’s happening but he’s still thrilled. Oh.’ His expression cleared. ‘The Jade Emperor has lent that ring to Simone. She can come after all.’
‘Can she keep it so we can move up here?’
‘It’s one of the symbols of office; he has to wear it when issuing Edicts. The answer to your question is: no.’
‘Is there another artefact that would work similarly? I forgot he had that.’
‘No.’
I lowered my voice. ‘Any stones nearby?’
He concentrated. ‘No.’ He sighed and lay back, and I joined him. We pulled the covers over ourselves and snuggled under the warm silk quilt. ‘Perhaps destroying the Demon Kings has worked.’
‘When we find the stones I’ll believe you,’ I said.
‘Go to sleep,’ he said, holding me close. ‘Once we have this out of the way we can arrange something just for us.’
* * *
There was a rap on the door. ‘Emma,’ Jade said from the other side, waking me.
‘Is it time already?’ I said.
The early morning light shone through the shutters, and John was still asleep beside me. I checked the clock: six thirty. I had slept less than an hour. I’d spent most of the night awake, staring at the ceiling and wondering when they’d try to replace me. I could easily have gone straight back to sleep.
John made a soft sound, turned away and pulled the quilt
over himself. He’d probably been awake most of the night as well.
‘We have your hair and make-up people here,’ Jade said. ‘I’ll give you some time to come out. Bring your robe.’
I kissed John on the hair and he muttered something into the pillow.
‘Check me,’ I whispered at the back of his head.
He turned to me, smiled, and stroked my cheek. ‘It’s you. They didn’t do anything.’
‘I’m glad,’ I said, and went into the bathroom to prepare.
When I was ready, wrapped in a simple cotton dressing gown over my underwear, I grabbed the wedding robe and went out. I still felt stupidly fatigued, and it was a dull and grey day, with winter’s chill beginning to bite.
Jade smiled and linked her arm in mine. ‘Come on, Emma, things to do. Breakfast is ready. What would you like?’
‘Coffee,’ I said. ‘I haven’t slept, I was too worried. Toast with peanut butter.’
‘I’ll have them brought for you.’
I was in a dream as they fussed over my hair and make-up. After an interminable time trying to make me presentable, Jade had me stand and take Celestial Form, and she helped me into the robe and armour. John and I had chosen identical black silk with gold twining snakes and turtles over it, to match the engraving on our dress armour.
‘Did you slip a valium into the coffee you gave me so I wouldn’t run?’ I said. ‘I’m wrecked.’
She smiled. ‘I would never do anything like that.’
‘It certainly feels like it.’
‘Probably lack of sleep. Would you like another coffee?’
‘How long before the ceremony begins?’
‘We’ll have the photos in thirty minutes. Then the entourage will arrive for you and Lord Xuan. Have another coffee and then we’ll go.’ She patted my shoulder. ‘I have to put my face on too.’
My mouth tasted of bitter stale coffee as John and I stood side by side and smiled with various groups of Celestial dignitaries.
The Tiger studied me carefully as he joined us with five of his most senior wives. ‘You look half-asleep.’
‘I am,’ I said. ‘I didn’t sleep at all last night.’
We smiled for the camera and the flash dazzled me again.
‘Where’s this mysterious honeymoon anyway?’ the Tiger said without turning away from the camera.
‘Tell him where we’re having it, Emma,’ John said. ‘He can’t do anything to ruin it; I won’t let him.’