The demon raised his hand and absorbed the energy.
‘I don’t want to hurt you, ladies,’ Wong said. ‘I want you both intact. Are you okay, Simone?’
Simone’s face was ashen. I looked inside her. She had very nearly drained herself.
I grabbed her hand and fed her some of my chi. She absorbed it. I felt her terror.
‘We’ll get out of this, one way or another, sweetheart,’ I whispered.
‘Oh, well done, Emma,’ Wong said. ‘I didn’t know you could do that.’
‘Wake up, Daddy,’ Simone said loudly.
John didn’t move.
‘I don’t think he has much longer, dear one,’ Wong said. ‘I do hope he remembers to leave the human form behind. I need the head. The rest of it isn’t too bad, either.’
‘You’ll have to go through me to get to him,’ I said. ‘Try me.’
‘Oh, with a great deal of pleasure,’ Wong said. ‘Try you? Something I’ve wanted to do for a very long time. Kitty?’
Kitty Kwok appeared behind him, moving cautiously.
‘What the hell are you doing here?’ I said.
‘Emma,’ Kitty said loudly.
I remained still and silent, waiting, wondering.
‘
Emma
!’ Kitty ordered sharply. ‘Obey me!’
I lowered my sword.
‘Well, what do you know,’ Wong said. ‘It worked.’
‘Drop the weapon,’ Kitty said.
I dropped the sword and it hit the carpet with a thump.
‘What are you doing, Emma?’ Simone said. ‘Why are you doing what she says?’
‘Tell her to come and give me a big wet kiss,’ Wong said with delight. ‘No, wait.’ He pulled Leo up, buried his face into the side of his neck, then dropped him again. ‘Now,’ he said with a mouth full of blood.
‘God, Simon, you are so disgusting sometimes,’ Kitty said.
‘If she can do this without hesitation then we have her,’ Wong said. ‘Whoops. Lost it.’ He swallowed. ‘Wait.’ He bent over Leo and sucked some more blood out of his neck. ‘He tastes funny. Different. Wonder if it’s because he’s black, or because he’s a girl?’ He looked up at Kitty and grinned. ‘You should try it.’
‘Come here and kiss Prince One Two Two,’ Kitty said wearily. ‘I don’t know why I put up with you, sometimes, Simon.’
Wong pulled himself to his feet and waved me closer.
I didn’t hesitate. I went to him, put my arms over his shoulders and raised my face.
‘No, Emma,’ Simone whispered. ‘Daddy, Daddy.’
Wong grinned down at me, his mouth covered in blood. He put his hand behind my neck and held me as he lowered his face to mine.
I kissed him with everything I had. I pressed myself into him and felt his body respond. I put my hands behind his head and pulled him hard into me. He
squirted the blood into my mouth and I swallowed it, trying to control the gag reflex. But then I realised: there wasn’t one.
The blood tasted
good
.
I pulled away and smiled into his eyes. ‘More.’
‘Well done, Kitty,’ Wong said. ‘Lots of new toys. Now let’s take the Dark Lord’s head.’
‘I want more blood,’ I said huskily. ‘I want you.’ I rubbed myself against him. ‘You. Now. Blood.’
Wong grinned down at me. ‘What a good job, Kitty. You want to share?’
‘That bitch?’ Kitty said with disdain. ‘Kill her.’
‘Blood,’ I whispered. I reached down, pushed my hand into him and felt him respond. He arched his body into my hand. ‘You. Now.’ I gestured with my head towards the main cabin. I put my other hand behind his neck and pulled him down and spoke into the side of his throat. ‘Blood. You.’ I nipped at the flesh of his throat just enough to make him moan without breaking the skin. I shoved my body into him. ‘Now.’
‘No, Emma,’ Simone whispered. ‘What’s wrong with you?’ Her feet thumped on the carpet. ‘Wake
up
, Daddy!’
Wong covered my mouth with his again. He tried to swallow me whole. I tasted the blood. It tasted good. He pulled away slightly to speak. He dug his fingernails into the back of my neck, into the pressure points, making me gasp with pain and arch my back.
‘Plenty of blood, plenty of pain, plenty of
me
for you, my sweet. Just let me take the Dark Lord’s head and then we’ll have some
real
fun. You want to feed? You can feed off him, and Leo. Lots of fun. Lots of
sweet
blood.’
‘No. You. Now,’ I whispered.
‘We have to take care of your boyfriend first, honey,’
he said with a malicious grin. ‘Then we’ll have some fun with
both
the little girls. Simone
and
Leo.’
Okay, this wasn’t going to work. I released him and stepped back. I gathered myself, then made a huge leaping attempt to pass him so that I could reach the phone in the main cabin.
He grabbed me in mid-air with one hand and threw me to the floor of the plane onto my back, knocking the wind out of me.
‘What an actress,’ he said with amusement. ‘Had me fooled for a moment.’ He dropped to straddle me, sitting on my stomach. ‘Well, well. Look what we have here.’
‘Please don’t hurt my Emma,’ Simone whispered. ‘Please, Daddy, Daddy, wake up, wake
up
.’
‘Oh, don’t worry, sweetheart,’ Wong said loudly without looking away from me. ‘She’s much more valuable in one piece.’ He lowered his face to mine and dropped his voice, speaking right into my face. ‘And much tastier too.’ He slowly licked my cheek, taking his time about it. I tried not to let my expression betray my disgust.
He pulled back and put his hands on either side of my throat, with the thumbs on my windpipe. He squeezed. I couldn’t breathe. He was strangling me. I struggled but he had me down tight. I grabbed his arms but his grip was like steel. I faded; then he released me and I gasped for breath.
‘You didn’t go blue,’ he said with disappointment. ‘Let’s try again.’
He wrapped his hands around my throat again and squeezed. I tried to relax into a trance so that I wouldn’t need to breathe as much. He saw me do it. He released me to slap me across the face but I ignored it.
He put his hands on my arms and shifted so that he was stretched out on top of me. ‘You really don’t give a
damn about yourself, do you,’ he growled into my ear. ‘All you care about is the little girl.’ He shoved himself into me. ‘She has to be intact, you know. But I can still have some fun with her, and I’d love to watch your face while I make her play. Right now is as good a time as any—it’ll be a long flight before we get there. I can have some fun with her before I give her to my dad. But I’m keeping you. He won’t even know I have you.’
I looked him in the eyes and felt nothing but hate. He had nearly killed Leo. He wanted to hurt my little Simone.
I tasted the blood.
I tasted the rage.
I tasted the pain.
Ice.
Cold.
Fury.
Something between my eyes went
snap
. And suddenly I was huge, and dark, and powerful, and mad as hell.
Wong’s face changed from menace to fear.
Both Kitty and Simone screamed.
I easily threw him off, raised myself on my black coils and opened my mouth to strike. My fangs flew out, spraying venom.
Wong and Kitty disappeared. Gone. I tried to follow their movement but they had taken off and gone fast and far.
I looked around. Simone had collapsed into the corner, sobbing. I glanced down at Leo. His neck was broken and he was bleeding profusely from the wound on the side of his throat, but he was alive.
I closed my mouth, refolding my fangs. What was happening?
They’d hurt Leo. They’d frightened Simone. Not good enough. There was a demon nearby. I stalked it.
I slithered silently through the galley into the main cabin. Demon. Kill.
The other side of the door. Demon. Kill it.
I went through the door without stopping. The demon wasn’t paying attention. I reared up and bit its head off. It exploded into a cloud of the black stuff. I vacuumed it all into me. Not as good as blood, but it would do.
There was a corpse in the other seat. I nudged it with my nose. Dead. Too bad. I couldn’t heal him. Oh, well.
I turned. The door was still closed, but again it didn’t stop me. I just went straight through it, as if it wasn’t there. I returned to Simone and Leo. I hesitated.
Simone: drained, but okay. Leo: near death. John: also near death.
I touched my nose to Leo and healed him. He didn’t wake.
‘Call the Dragon. Call the Lady,’ I said.
Simone remained frozen, sobbing.
‘Call them, child,’ I said.
‘I won’t hurt you.’
I felt them coming. I changed. I fell.
I
gasped and shot upright. ‘
Who’s flying the plane?
’
‘The Dragon is,’ Leo said.
‘John!’ I said, casting around.
‘I’m fine,’ John said from my left. He was sitting on the bunk and smiling. Simone was sitting on his lap, also smiling.
I sagged back and ran my hand over my forehead. ‘Whoa. That feels weird.’ I tasted my mouth and gagged.
Leo handed me a cup of something strong, sweet and fizzy, and I downed it.
‘Thanks, but I need to brush my teeth,’ I said. ‘My mouth tastes of blood.’ I looked around. ‘What happened?’
‘How much do you remember?’ Leo said softly. He crouched next to me, studying me intensely.
I hunted through my memories. ‘Oh my God.’
He dropped to sit next to me on the grey carpet. ‘Yep.’
‘Emma,’ John said sharply from the bunk, ‘did they have control of you?’
‘No, of course not,’ I said. ‘I was just playing for time. I was hoping he’d try to…’ I stopped. I didn’t
want to say it in front of Simone. ‘I was hoping he’d take me into the main cabin first. The phone’s there.’
John and Leo both sighed. Simone didn’t seem concerned.
‘It was the taste,’ I said.
‘That was what was different,’ the stone said. ‘In Central, she injured you.’
‘I was bleeding in Central,’ I whispered.
‘Thought so,’ John said.
‘What, Daddy?’ Simone said.
Nobody said anything.
‘You healed me,’ Leo said.
‘He broke your neck,’ I said. ‘If he had ripped your carotid you’d be dead. I don’t know whether he missed it on purpose or not.’
Leo put his arm around my shoulders and kissed me on the cheek. ‘Thanks, Emma.’
I wrapped my arms around him and gave him a squeeze. ‘I am so glad I could do that. What happened after I changed back?’
‘The Lady and the Dragon came,’ John said. ‘The Lady gave me enough energy to make it to the resort. She didn’t want to feed me too much on the plane, it’s not sealed. We’d attract flyers. I’ll make it.’
‘And the Dragon’s flying the plane?’ I said.
‘No, actually he’s on the outside carrying it,’ John said with amusement. ‘He hasn’t stopped complaining about the damage to his claws.’
‘Oh, poor baby,’ I said. ‘Broke a fingernail.’
Leo chuckled and his arm shook around me.
‘You were a big black snake again, Emma,’ Simone said.
‘Yes, I know, sweetheart,’ I said. ‘Don’t be afraid of it, it won’t hurt you.’
Simone levered herself over the edge of the bunk and dropped to the floor. She came to me and fell into my
lap. I released Leo, wrapped my arms around her middle and kissed the top of her head. Leo’s arm didn’t shift from around my shoulders.
‘It’s awfully big and scary, Emma. Was it really you?’ Simone said.
‘It’s really me,’ I said.
Leo let go of me and pulled himself to his feet. ‘Coffee,’ he said, and went into the galley. He poked his head back out. ‘My Lord?’
‘Tea,
tikuanyin
,’ John said.
And a big glass of blood for the Serpent Lady.
‘You are really revolting sometimes,’ I said.
‘What did he say?’ Simone said.
‘Don’t you like it?’ John said.
My Serpent does
.
‘No!’ I said fiercely. I hesitated. ‘Strange. I liked it when I was really mad. Now I can taste it and it’s nauseating. I need to wash it out.’
Your Serpent likes it.
‘Yeah. I know. But I don’t.’ I sagged. ‘I have a split personality. I need to see a shrink.’
‘Perfectly normal insanity,’ John said.
‘Yeah. I cannot believe I just tried to…’ I didn’t say the word, ‘…Simon Wong. I must be insane.’
‘I think the insanity is the most attractive thing about you,’ John said. ‘That and the black scales.’
‘You two are
stupid
,’ Simone said.
‘Oh, I don’t know, Simone,’ John said. ‘Those who are simple-minded or insane have the easiest path to the Tao.’
‘Then I’m already there,’ I said. ‘Doubly so.’
‘You want something, Emma?’ Leo said from the galley, ignoring us.
‘Yeah,’ I said, gently moving Simone off my lap and pulling myself unsteadily to my feet, leaning on the wall. ‘I want to brush my teeth. Then coffee sounds really good. Strong. With lots of sugar.’
Simone ran to her father and threw herself onto her stomach on the bunk next to him. She turned onto her back and smiled up at him. ‘Are we there yet?’
He didn’t say anything, just tickled her until she fell off the bunk onto the floor with a thump.
We sat together in the main cabin. John was drowsy but awake. Simone sat in his lap, her head on his chest. It had caught up with all of us.
‘What will we do about Brian?’ I said.
‘The Dragon will fix it for us,’ John said. ‘We’ll make it look like Brian had a heart attack on the way here, and the co-pilot flew the plane. The Dragon will provide a tame demon to take the place of the co-pilot.’
I tried to remember if Brian had been physically injured. I couldn’t.
‘Did he have family?’ I said softly.
‘Yes,’ John said.
We were all silent for a while.
‘They thought they had control of me,’ I said eventually.
‘The important thing is that they didn’t,’ John said. ‘Is that the first time they’ve tried?’
‘Yes,’ I said. ‘As far as I can remember anyway.’
‘Then they probably weren’t expecting it to work,’ John said. ‘But they made an attempt anyway.’
‘What did they do to me?’ I whispered fiercely. ‘Did
they
turn me into a snake?’
‘If they did, then they made a huge mistake, didn’t they,’ John said placidly.
‘They sure did,’ Leo said with satisfaction. ‘You
healed
me. The Snake healed me. The ulcers are gone.’
‘Uh, Leo…’ I began.
He understood. ‘You couldn’t heal all of it, could you?’
‘I’m so sorry,’ I said, my voice thick. ‘More than anything else in the world, I wanted to do that for you. But your neck was broken and you had lost a lot of blood. I did what I could.’
‘You couldn’t make him better from the bad disease?’ Simone said, her voice small. ‘He’s still going to die?’
I couldn’t face them. I got up and went into the galley. Leo followed me. I stood facing away from him.
‘Next time, don’t bother,’ he said softly.
I nodded without looking at him.
He turned and went out.
Two hours later we approached the coast of Borneo.
‘Look out the window,’ John said.
‘I can’t see anything. His front foot is in the way.’ The window was blocked by the Dragon’s huge claws.
‘Wait,’ John said. The claws disappeared. ‘He needs to be invisible to bring the plane in anyway.’
Simone and I rushed to the window to see out. A few tiny islands were dotted through the brilliant aquamarine sea. We approached the land; the shore and the city of Kota Kinabalu came into view. The city wasn’t too impressive: there were only a couple of buildings more than ten storeys high; most of the structures were low-rise and shop houses. But the water was a stunning sparkling aqua and the sky was brilliantly clear.
‘The resort is below us,’ John said. ‘On the waterfront.’
Simone saw it. ‘There it is, Emma. It’s huge!’
She was right. The complex was enormous and embraced the edge of the water. It had bright green grass and a marina with white mooring posts. Two swimming pools glittered below us. A golf course flanked the resort on the landward side.
‘The golf course is really big too,’ I said. John chuckled. ‘You play?’
He shook his head, still smiling. ‘Tried for a while, but I gave up. Can’t see the point.’
‘What, you’re no good at it? I find that hard to believe.’
He grinned. ‘Apparently my style or technique or whatever is hopeless, but that’s beside the point, because I just hit the ball into the hole.’
‘You’re joking,’ I said. ‘A hole in one? Every time?’
He shrugged.
‘You could make a fortune on the pro golf circuit,’ I said, turning back to the window.
‘They’d pay me to stay away, I think,’ he said.
The bottom fell out of my stomach and I grabbed the arm of the chair. Simone squeaked. We plummeted towards the ground; I could feel it.
Leo jerked awake from where he’d been sleeping in his chair. ‘What the hell?’
John went rigid and his eyes unfocused.
The plane stopped falling.
Sorry,
the Dragon said into my ear.
That’s the way I usually land. I’ll take it slowly for you.
‘Is he okay with air traffic control?’ I said.
‘Yes,’ John said. ‘They think he’s the pilot.’
‘Well then, he’d better land like one,’ I said.
All taken care of, my Lady,
the Dragon said.
No need to put your seatbelts on, you are perfectly safe with me. We will be on the ground in about ten minutes.
‘Thank the Heavens,’ John said softly.
So sorry about the damage to the outside of the plane, my Lord,
the Dragon said.
My claws are awfully sharp.
‘I don’t think he is,’ I said.
John just shrugged.
The airport wasn’t a big cosmopolitan complex, it was just a large two-storey square block. We went down the stairs out of the plane and towards the terminal.
The Dragon met us and we proceeded together into the terminal building. He had taken the appearance of a good-looking Chinese of about thirty. He was still very slim and graceful, and more than two metres tall, but his long turquoise hair was now standard short and black. He wore a pair of elegant grey slacks and a matching silky shirt.
The customs and immigration counters were deserted.
‘Too late,’ the Dragon said. ‘It’s already past six. And we were the only plane coming in.’
‘What will we do?’ I said.
‘Just go through. I’ll have my staff take your bags. Don’t worry about the paperwork, I’ll arrange for it to be fixed up for you.’
‘We could get into trouble for this,’ I said.
‘Wait,’ the Dragon said.
A bubbly tingling sensation moved through me.
‘Go straight through. Hurry,’ the Dragon said. ‘I can’t make the Dark Lord invisible for very long, he is extremely large. Quickly.’
I took Simone’s hand and we rushed past the customs and immigration counters together.
Stay quiet,
the Dragon said.
They can still hear you, even though they can’t see you.
A few drowsy security guards didn’t notice us, even though our feet probably made some noise.
‘This is
so cool
,’ Simone whispered.
I hushed her until we were on the other side. The bubbly sensation stopped.
‘Can I learn to do that too, Daddy?’ Simone said as we went out the terminal to the car waiting area.
‘Invisibility? Probably,’ John said. ‘We’ll have a
session together when the Lady is finished with me. We may try a few things.’
‘Cool,’ Simone said.
A large van with tinted windows waited for us.
‘This is it,’ the Dragon said. ‘The driver is one of mine. He will take you directly to the resort. I will follow when the luggage is secured. I’ll meet you there.’
‘Thanks, Dragon,’ I said.
He smiled slightly. ‘You are most welcome. Let’s get you sealed and safe.’
I stopped before I entered the van and looked inside. The driver smiled at me. I held Simone back. ‘Dragon, please double-check for us.’
The Dragon opened the front passenger door and poked his head in. There was a blinding white flash and the driver disappeared.
‘They are certainly on to you, my Lord,’ the Dragon said. ‘Please wait, I will get another driver for you.’
‘Damn,’ John said under his breath.
‘On second thoughts, I will come with you,’ the Dragon said as another grinning driver materialised in the van. ‘They’re probably planning to ambush us on the way to the resort.’
‘How did you know?’ John said.
‘I have no idea,’ I said. ‘But I think it’s just application of Murphy’s Law.’
‘What’s Murphy’s Law?’ Simone said as I strapped her into her seat.
‘If something can go wrong, it will go wrong,’ I said.
‘Once you are at the resort you will be safe,’ the Dragon said, pulling himself into the front passenger seat. ‘The seals there are the most powerful in existence. I had them set when the building was erected. They are part of the structure. Nothing will get in.’
‘The seals on my house in Guangdong were breached,’ John said grimly.
‘These are
blood
seals, my Lord,’ the Dragon said.
John stiffened. ‘You will tell me more about this later,’ he said, his voice a low rumble.
‘Let’s go,’ the Dragon said.
No one tried to ambush us with the Dragon in the car.
The lobby of the hotel was at least five storeys high with a soaring pitched roof. Splashing fountains decorated the centre, and the walls were rich with Malaysian designs and local Borneo handicrafts. The check-in counters were to one side.
‘I suggest you go to the end of the lobby and take a look at the resort while I arrange keys for you,’ the Dragon said. ‘I will need to have the keys put through the computer. How many do you need?’
‘How many rooms are you giving us?’ I said.
‘The Presidential Suite,’ the Dragon said. ‘Fourbedroom apartment.’
‘One for me, one for John, one for Leo should be enough, I think.’
‘If they are blood seals then the Lady will not be able to materialise in there,’ John said. ‘One for her too.’
‘Very good,’ the Dragon said. He hesitated and his face went blank. ‘Good. Your bags are here. I will arrange the keys. Go,’ he said and gestured towards the end of the lobby. ‘Have a look.’
I took Simone’s hand and we walked across the lobby, John and Leo following us.
Simone looked around, goggle-eyed. ‘This place is
huge
.’
When we reached the end, we could see over the edge of the lobby to the swimming pool and the ocean beyond. We were about two storeys up; the back of the lobby was higher than the front.
‘
Wah!
’ Simone said.
Leo chuckled.
The vast pool below us was a deep shade of blue, surrounded by lush tropical plants and vibrantly green lawn. A barbecue had been set out on the lawn, and guests sat at tables spread on the grass enjoying a barbecue buffet. Beyond the lawn was the stone-edged shore of the ocean, which was a deep shade of indigo, rippling with small waves. Across the water, right on the horizon, were four tiny islands.