‘Where will you sleep?’ John said, gesturing towards Gold.
‘I’ll move,’ Gold said.
‘You’ll stay right there,’ I said quickly. ‘That’s an order. I’ll find somewhere to sleep, don’t worry about me. I can share with Leo, sleep on the floor in the student room he’s using. Or on the floor here.’
‘Leo won’t let you sleep on the floor; he’ll give you his bed and you won’t be able to stop him,’ Gold said with amusement, without moving.
‘Now go and do those sword katas,’ John said. ‘Round Leo up, he can do them too.’
‘You really have to do that?’ my father said.
‘Oh yeah,’ I said, rising. ‘Absolutely. When it comes to the kung fu, he’s the Master and I’m just the student. If he tells me to do a hundred push-ups, then I have to do it.’
‘You still owe me a hundred push-ups from last week,’ John said. ‘You are extremely disobedient sometimes, Emma.’
‘Oh, shut up, old man,’ I said as I took my father’s arm in mine and opened the door.
Gold made a strangling sound behind us as we went out.
While Jennifer settled herself in the room she would share with my parents, the rest of us went into the training room for the demonstration. Jennifer didn’t want to see it, and the children were too little to stay still in such a small space.
‘Did you do those katas yet?’ John said from the doorway as my parents, Amanda and Alan lined up against the long wall.
‘After we’ve done this,’ I said.
John nodded and went out. ‘I’ll call the carriers for tomorrow.’
‘What would you like to see?’ I said.
‘I’d love Alan to see you take down Leo,’ my father said with a grin.
Alan gestured towards Leo. ‘He’s huge, Brendan, no way could Emma do anything like that.’
‘I saw her knock him down with a staff,’ my father said proudly.
‘She can take me down hand-to-hand, without a weapon, as well,’ Leo said. He sounded as proud as my father did. ‘And she’s one of the finest energy workers that Lord Xuan has ever seen.’
‘Lord Xuan?’ Amanda said.
‘John’s real name is Xuan Wu,’ I said. ‘It means “Dark Martial Arts”.’
They all went silent.
‘It doesn’t mean he’s bad,’ I said. ‘It just means that he’s dark and he’s the God of Martial Arts.’
‘Dark?’ Amanda said.
John poked his head in the door. ‘Yin. Dark, cold, water, winter, death. That’s me.’ He grinned. ‘I rounded up enough carriers for tomorrow. About 10 a.m. Is that okay with everybody?’
‘Death?’ my mother whispered.
‘He’s Death?’ my father said.
‘No, that’s Yanluo Wang,’ John said. ‘Lord of the Underworld. Great guy. Haven’t seen him for ages, haven’t been killed in years. I’m just yin.’ He pulled his head back into the corridor and disappeared.
‘Ten is okay,’ I called.
‘Good,’ he said from halfway down the hall.
‘He doesn’t seem like a god,’ Amanda said. ‘He’s more like just an ordinary sweet guy.’
Leo and I shared a smile. I turned back to my family and shrugged. ‘That’s because he is.’
‘What did he mean, he hasn’t been killed in years?’ my father said.
I was silent.
‘Tell us, Emma,’ my mother said.
‘When Immortals are killed, they go away for a while, then return. Every time John’s mortal body is killed, he pays a visit to Yanluo Wang, in the Underworld,’ I said.
‘Don’t mince words, Emma,’ Leo said.
I sighed. ‘Hell.’
There was complete silence.
‘They won’t talk about it,’ I added. ‘So don’t bother asking him.’
‘Hand-to-hand, Emma?’ Leo said, moving to the other end of the room, ignoring the looks on my relatives’ faces. ‘How long has it been?’
‘I don’t know,’ I said, moving into a fighting stance. ‘A couple of weeks?’
‘Everybody stay still,’ Leo said, moving into a guard stance as well. ‘We won’t touch you, but if you move you could be moving into the line of fire. So stay exactly where you are; we know you’re there.’
‘Don’t worry, as long as you don’t move we won’t touch you,’ I said. ‘But if you’re freaked out by any of it, just say something and we’ll stop.’
Leo grinned and waved a come-on.
‘Oh no,’ I said, shaking my head. ‘You first, Lion.’
‘He’s a
lion
?’ my father said with disbelief.
‘Yes,’ I said.
‘No,’ Leo said, and performed a magnificent jumping high kick right at my head.
I ducked and rolled underneath him. ‘Oh, come
on
, Leo,’ I said, exasperated, as I spun to face him, ‘don’t treat me like a first year.’
Leo moved forward until he was just out of reach. Then he attacked me. He swung at my face with the blades of his hands, left and right, and I blocked both. I ducked and spun, throwing my leg out with the movement, trying to take his feet out from underneath him, but he easily jumped over my foot and performed
a backward somersault, landing in a long defensive position.
‘Whoa,’ Alan said softly.
I threw a spinning high kick at his head and he grabbed my foot. I used the energy centres and twisted my body, knocking him sideways. He released my foot, rolled and spun upright next to Amanda, who flinched away.
‘Don’t move,’ he said, and raced forward to throw punches at my head and chest, again left and right.
I blocked each fist, but I didn’t release them; I held them. I crossed his arms in front of him and arm-locked him with one hand. I readied myself to quickly take his feet out from under him before he could free himself.
Leo grimaced, the muscles of his arms bulged and he moved to throw me off before I could complete the spin. I held him, then hesitated, still holding him.
He tried again and I still held him.
It became a test of strength. He couldn’t move his arms; I had them. With one hand.
Holy shit, I’d never done this before, and I was
stronger than Leo
.
Leo fought me, but he couldn’t move his arms at all. His face filled with bewilderment. ‘Damn, Emma,’ he said quietly, and I released him. He stepped back and studied me with awe.
I tapped the stone.
‘No need to hit me, I saw it,’ it said. ‘Why are you acting so surprised?’
‘What is it, Emma?’ my mother whispered.
‘I’m stronger than Leo,’ I said.
‘What?’ my father said sharply. ‘How is that possible?’
‘The stone told me,’ John said from the doorway. ‘Emma, see if you can lift Leo.’
‘No,’ I said.
John came to me. ‘Hold out your hand.’
I held my hand out. John gestured to Leo without turning. ‘Put your hand on top of hers.’
Leo moved forward and put his dark hand on top of mine.
‘Up,’ John said.
Leo didn’t hesitate. He readied himself, then did a handstand on my hand. I shifted my weight, pushed my elbow into my side, and I could hold him. He held his other arm out, steadying himself, but his balance was perfect. I raised my left arm to help me balance as well. The tips of Leo’s toes in his soft leather martial arts shoes brushed the high ceiling of the training room.
‘Holy shit,’ my father said.
‘I’m inclined to agree with you,’ John said, watching Leo as he balanced on my hand. He glanced at me. ‘Can we put Michael on the other hand?’
‘No,’ I said. ‘I couldn’t hold him as well. Leo is about as much as I can handle.’
‘How much do you weigh, Leo?’ John said.
‘Two hundred and ninety-five pounds,’ Leo said, still hovering above me.
‘Holy
shit
,’ my father said again.
‘Down,’ John said.
Leo effortlessly lowered himself. He hesitated, watching me. There was complete silence as everybody stared at me with awe. Then Leo fell to one knee and saluted me, bowing his head.
‘What are you, Emma?’ my father whispered.
‘I wish the hell I knew, Dad,’ I said. I ran my hands through my hair and went out. The silence followed me down the hall.
After breakfast the next morning the entire Donahoe clan was sitting around the dining table when John poked his head in the door. ‘They’re here.’
I sighed and rose, the rest of the family following me. We went into the living room. The Dragon, the Phoenix and the Tiger were there, as well as a couple of the Academy dragons, and Gold. The Celestial Masters Meredith and Liu had also come to help out.
‘Step forward,’ the Dragon ordered brusquely. ‘I want to re-evaluate you, to see who would be the best to carry you.’
My family stepped forward without saying a word.
‘Okay, say goodbye now,’ the Dragon said, gesturing impatiently.
I hugged my father and kissed my mother. ‘Goodbye,’ I choked. ‘I’ll see you soon. I’ll come and visit you in the Western Palace.’
My mother held me close and stroked my hair. ‘Come and see us soon, love.’
I went to Amanda and Alan. ‘I am so sorry about this, guys.’
‘We’ll live,’ Alan said. ‘As long as the boys are safe.’
We hugged and kissed goodbye. Simone raced to Mark and David and kissed them both on the cheek, embarrassing them horribly.
I went to Jennifer and stood in front of her, silently, for a while.
‘I’m sorry, Jen,’ I whispered without looking up.
‘Emma,’ she said, and I looked at her. She held her arms out and I fell into them and held her tight.
‘You know I can’t stay mad at you,’ she said.
‘I don’t deserve a family as wonderful as you,’ I said into her shoulder.
John came into the living room. He paused in the doorway, looked down and put his hands behind his back.
‘You don’t need to say anything, John,’ my father said. He gestured with his head. ‘Come on.’
John looked up at my father, his face rigid, then strode to stand in front of him.
My father put his hand out. ‘Will we see you again?’
John shook his hand. ‘I don’t know. If you come down from the palace I can see you, but I can’t travel there. And it might be best if you stayed in the palace until the demon is destroyed. Destroying it will probably kill me as well.’
‘But you’ll come back?’ my mother said. ‘Emma said you’ll come back.’
John released my father’s hand. ‘Yes. I’ve promised Emma that I’ll come back.’
‘How long will it take?’ Alan said.
John was silent.
‘Anything from ten to a hundred years,’ I said without looking up. ‘Probably something in the region of twenty to twenty-five years is the best bet.’
‘Oh God, Emma,’ Jennifer said.
‘A hundred years? So it’s possible that you could already be dead when he comes back?’ Amanda said.
‘More than possible,’ I said. ‘But he’s promised.’
‘What if you’re very old?’ Amanda said. ‘What if it takes a very long time?’
I just shrugged.
My mother went to John and embraced him. He seemed surprised for a moment, then put his arms around her and held her.
‘Look after her,’ my mother said into his chest.
He pulled away to smile down at her. ‘You know I will. I love her more than anything in the world. She and Simone—the two most precious things in the world to me.’
‘He’s given up everything for us,’ I whispered.
‘This is all very delightful and pleasant,’ the Dragon said loudly, ‘but I have places I need to be.’
John didn’t look at the Dragon; he remained holding my mother. ‘Wait.’
The Dragon shifted his feet and sighed loudly.
‘If you need anything at the palace, tell the staff,’ John said. ‘You will be allocated servants. If they are insufficient, then just tell the Tiger.’
‘Don’t worry, Ah Wu, you know I’ll look after them,’ the Tiger said gruffly. ‘I’ll bring Michael back with me when I return.’
John dropped his head and released my mother. ‘Goodbye.’
‘I wish circumstances could have been different,’ Alan said.
‘So do I,’ John said. ‘Now, each of you has been assigned a carrier. Go to them. Goodbye.’
‘Bye, all,’ I said.
Simone ran to my parents. ‘Bye, Mr Donahoe, Mrs Donahoe,’ she said, reaching up to hug both of them. ‘I love you.’
My mother crouched to hold her close. ‘Bye, darling Simone. I didn’t have a granddaughter until now, and I always hoped Emma would give me one. And she already did.’
‘When Daddy’s killed One Two Two you can come and stay for a long time,’ Simone said. ‘Promise you’ll come back.’
‘I promise,’ my mother said. ‘And you must come to Australia.’
‘Okay,’ Simone said, pulling away. ‘I think you should go now, otherwise Emma’s going to cry.’
My family moved to the Shen and Immortals. The carriers lowered their heads and everybody disappeared.
None of us said a word. I turned and went down the hallway to the student room to collect my stuff and return it to my bedroom. John went to his office. Simone went into her room. We were all very quiet for a long time.
I
didn’t need to see John’s face to know that he wore an expression of amused satisfaction as we entered his office on the top floor of the Hennessy Road Academy building. Chinese New Year had come and gone; there had been no more attacks; and it was time for me to take up my duties as Regent-to-be. But mostly I had to do it because by February I had run out of excuses.
The Generals were already sitting around a conjured conference table, waiting for us. They all rose and saluted formally and carefully. John nodded back and gestured for them to sit.
They turned and saluted me. I hesitated. Then I decided: what the hell.
‘Hi, guys,’ I said with a small wave.
‘Lady Emma,’ they all said, not completely in unison, and waited for John and me to sit before they sat themselves.
Damn. I
hated
that. It took most Chinese a very long time to loosen up. Australians were usually cheerful and relaxed right from the start; Chinese stayed stiff and formal for ages.
‘Lady Emma’s time is limited, she has a class to teach
in an hour, so we will dispense with the formalities,’ John said. ‘Let me introduce everybody—’
‘Don’t bother,’ I said. ‘I’m hopeless with names; I’ll just forget them straightaway. Let me ask you your names when I need them, and I’ll try to remember them. But I’ll probably have to ask you all more than once. If anybody’s offended by that, let me know now.’
Nobody said anything. The Generals all watched me, emotionless.
Great.
I looked around the table. Eight of them, standardlooking Chinese men, all very stern, all middle-aged. A variety of shapes and sizes, all wearing old-fashioned Chinese lacquer armour, some with short hair, some with the more traditional long hair. A couple of them looked really severe and scary, but three had definite twinkles in their eyes.
I stole a glance at John. He was already taking notes. I took a deep breath. Okay.
John slid an agenda across the table to me. I didn’t look at it immediately; I watched the Generals.
‘First item,’ John said. ‘Demons.’
One of the severe-looking Generals leaned forward and put his hand on the table. ‘The Fifth Battalion has had one hundred and fifty demons attain perfection in the last year; the Fourth has had only five or six. The Fifth has no new recruits; the Fourth has had seventy-five. We need to transfer the new recruits to the Fifth.’
‘They will stay where they are,’ John said.
‘The Fifth is undermanned.’
John didn’t move or speak.
‘My Lord,’ the General said, obviously impatient, ‘you need to set up some sort of administrative procedure for the allocation of the demons. We need to ask you every single time, and every time it’s different.
We need something down on paper to define the methods you use for allocation.’
‘Lady Emma?’ John said.
I glanced down at the agenda and nearly gasped. He’d read my mind. At the bottom of the first page was a diagram of the table with names where everyone was sitting. He’d even used phonetic spellings, not
pinyin
, so that I could pronounce the names easily. I shot him a quick, grateful glance. His face didn’t change but his eyes sparkled.
‘General Song,’ I said. The General didn’t move. ‘I thought that all of you had been Raised and were Immortal.’
All of them straightened slightly at that.
‘That is true,’ General Song said.
‘Then why do you want the Dark Lord to write down administrative procedures? You want to make a rod for your own back? You start with the paperwork, it never finishes. You make rules, then you have to make exceptions. Endless exceptions. And the rules give you no flexibility. You can’t take each situation as it comes. If Lord Xuan wants to allocate the demons differently each time, then it’s his prerogative. He knows what he’s doing. He probably doesn’t even have a set of rules; he just does it how he sees fit at the time.’ The General’s face didn’t move at all while I made my little speech. ‘Frankly, I can’t see how you’ve attained Immortality if you want to put everything down on paper.’
All of the Generals heaved a sigh of relief and relaxed. A couple of them even smiled slightly.
John spread his hands over the table. ‘See? What did I tell you.’ He pushed his agenda away. ‘Right. Now let’s have this meeting.’
‘You mean that was a
test
?’ I said.
‘They didn’t believe me,’ John said.
I glanced around at the Generals. Now
all
their eyes sparkled at me, even though their faces were still grim.
‘Will all of you stay in the same seats at the table until I have you worked out?’ I said.
All of them nodded without saying a word.
‘There are thirty-six of them altogether, Emma,’ John said without turning to me. ‘Hopefully we’ll be able to rotate everybody through so that you can meet all of them. I’ll give you a diagram each time.’
‘Okay.’ I shrugged. ‘Meeting. Let’s get this over with.’
One of the Generals raised his index finger slightly. ‘One Two Two. Tell us.’
‘It’s easier to tell everybody like this rather than directly one at a time,’ John said, explaining. ‘Questions can be asked, information can flow, ideas can bounce. One Two Two. Gold has been cultivating a police officer in the investigative squad…’
I glanced down at the agenda. A short message was written underneath the diagram in John’s English scrawl.
I tried to tell them but they wouldn’t believe me. Can’t wait to see the looks on their faces. Oh, and by the way, give them hell.
I tapped on the door of John’s office. ‘Come in, Emma,’ he said.
I entered and sat across the desk from him with the school calendar in my hand.
‘You know you don’t need to knock. I can feel you coming. When’s spring break?’ he said.
‘April,’ I said. ‘Same time as Easter. About eight weeks from now.’
He didn’t say anything, he just watched me expressionlessly.
‘If you won’t make it that far, then we’ll take Simone out of school for a week and leave Michael here,’ I said. ‘Try not to push yourself too hard, love.’
He glanced down at his hands. His face was still expressionless.
‘Simone’s not ready. She can’t defend herself. If something really big comes after us, there’s nothing we can do. You
have
to stay longer,’ I said.
He looked directly at me. His eyes blazed.
‘Can you sense it?’
He shook his head.
‘We
need
you. I knew we should have done it at Chinese New Year.’
‘If I go into a coma before April, call the Lady,’ he said.
‘A
coma
?’
He shrugged and smiled slightly.
‘If you go into a coma, how long will we have to get her here?’
‘Hours.’
‘What if she’s in retreat, John?’ I said desperately.
He shrugged again, but the smile had disappeared.
‘We should do it before April then,’ I said.
‘I want to leave it as long as I can. I only have two more.’ His face was rigid with control. ‘I will need at least ten days.’
I glanced at the calendar. ‘You’ll get it. The break is two weeks altogether. We’ll have fourteen days, so we can go to London as well. You want me to organise the trip to Europe?’
‘No. I won’t make it to Paris. It’s too far from my Centre now. I’ll arrange something else.’
‘How long will you last afterwards?’ I said, studying the calendar.
He leaned back, grimaced, and retied his hair. ‘December if we’re lucky. Earlier if we’re not. Probably earlier.’
‘December.’ I counted the months. ‘And then August next year…the end.’
‘Probably before then, love, if we’re attacked again,’ he said.
‘We’ll be attacked again, I know we will,’ I said grimly. ‘That little bastard won’t sleep until he has your head.’
‘If it comes to a choice between you using that phone and him having my head, give him my head,’ John said. ‘Do it.’
‘His word’s not good, you know that,’ I said. ‘He’ll come straight after Simone if he has your head. And me. And Leo, and Michael, and anybody else he can get his hands on. I won’t have a choice, love.’
John studied his hands.
‘Just make sure you stay with us,’ I said. ‘As long as you’re with us, we’ll be okay.
Look after yourself
. For Simone.’
‘If I run into the Serpent alone, that will be the end of it,’ he said.
I didn’t say anything.
He looked me straight in the eye. ‘There is a way to hold the Serpent off. We can be imprisoned.’
‘What?’
‘You can bind us. With the right sort of enclosure, it’s possible to bind the Serpent. Stop it from joining.’
‘Could the Turtle be bound as well? With the right sort of enclosure?’
‘Yes.’
‘Even at full strength?’
‘Yes.’
‘Even the combined creature?’
‘Yes.’
‘Oh my God. How many people know of this, John?’
‘Myself. The Lady. The other three Winds—a similar thing may be inflicted upon them. The Celestial. Others, I don’t know.’
‘Does the Demon King know?’
‘I don’t know. He’s never tried me.’
I put my head in my hands. ‘Oh
God
.’
‘We should try to enclose the Serpent. That way there is no risk of me running into it alone and rejoining.’
‘I couldn’t do that to you,’ I whispered. ‘I love you too much to do that to you. Either of you.’
‘Get out! Quickly!’
I shot out of my seat and ran to the door. I fumbled with the handle, eventually managed to open the door and threw myself out. I leaned against the wall of the hallway and breathed. I had to stop doing this to us. Every time we mentioned our feelings for each other, I had to leave the room before he drained me completely.
We won’t be going to Paris, I will arrange another place. I am calling the Lady now.
After school the next day Simone and I were spread out in the living room doing her homework. She didn’t really need my help, she was exceptionally bright, but we enjoyed the time spent together.
The doorbell rang. ‘It’s Aunty Kwan,’ Simone said, ‘and Qing Long. With Jade.’
‘Wonderful! Jade’s back!’ I cried, shooting to my feet.
I rushed to answer the door, but Leo was ahead of me. He opened the door. ‘My Lord. My Lady.’ He nodded to Jade and she nodded back without smiling.
Qing Long didn’t say anything as he stepped through the door. He was in his normal human form, taller than Leo, slim and elegant as a dancer, with turquoise hair and matching eyes, and wearing a grey silk embossed robe.
Kwan Yin stopped and took Leo’s hands. ‘Hello, Leo. Let me look at you. You look well.’
‘Thank you, my Lady,’ Leo said.
I took Jade’s hands and studied her. ‘Are you okay?’ I said.
Jade nodded without looking up. ‘Just fine, my Lady. Lord Qing cared for me exceptionally well.’
Leo stopped and listened. ‘Lord Xuan says Ms Kwan and Lord Qing are to go to the dining room.’
‘What’s happening?’ I said.
Come in too, Emma,
John said into my ear.
‘I have to go too,’ I said to Jade.
‘I have work to do,’ Jade said. ‘The accounts will be backed up for weeks. By your leave, I’ll return to the Academy.’
I nodded to Jade and she disappeared.
‘Leo, I’ve been called in as well,’ I said. ‘Mind Simone for me? Help her with her maths?’
Simone giggled. ‘More like I help him with his maths.’
Leo grinned. ‘That’s right.’
I followed Ms Kwan and the Dragon into the dining room. Qing Long stopped and saluted John before sitting.
John nodded. ‘Qing Long.’
I remained silent, wondering.
‘For your benefit, Emma, I’ll tell you what I’d like to do. Paris is too far; I won’t make it such a distance from my Centre, now. But I do want to be as far from the demons’ Centre as I can manage.’
‘The resort is on the Eastern Rim. It should suffice,’ Qing Long said. ‘I will provide you with suitable accommodation. Do it there.’
‘Where?’ I said.
‘Kota Kinabalu,’ John said. ‘Sabah. Borneo.’
‘I’ve heard about KK,’ I said.
‘It is as far away from the Centre as the Dark Lord can manage in his current state,’ Ms Kwan said. ‘Far enough
away from the demons’ Centre, yet still close enough to our own.’
‘Is the water there clean enough for you to swim?’ I said.
‘Dragon?’ John said.
‘Yes,’ the Dragon said. ‘The shoreline is slightly polluted, but if you go through quickly it shouldn’t be a problem. Out on the islands, in the marine park, absolutely. Should be clean enough.’
‘Excellent!’ I said. ‘You can do both!’ I grinned at the Dragon. ‘Lord Qing Long, thank you so very much. You have no idea how much we appreciate this.’
‘Good,’ the Dragon said with a small smile. ‘I’m losing a lot of income giving you the Presidential Suite and providing you with demon staff.’
‘I’ll give you a pile of gold to sit on,’ John said.
‘Ah Wu! That was uncalled for,’ Ms Kwan said.
John and the Dragon flashed each other a quick smile.
‘Will we take everybody?’ I said.
‘Michael is to go to the Western Palace and spend time with his family,’ John said. ‘So are you.’
I shot to my feet, ready to shout. Then I changed my mind and sat down again. ‘I should spend this holiday time with my family,’ I said softly.
‘Exactly,’ John said.
‘So I will spend it with you. And Simone, and Leo. And Ms Kwan. My family.’
He opened his mouth to protest.
‘I don’t have much longer with you. Every second counts.’
He closed his mouth with a snap.
‘Good,’ I said. ‘Can we take the jet to the airport there?’
‘Yes,’ Qing Long said. ‘I will arrange it. Leave it to me. Enjoy. The resort is quite new and very elegant. I think you will like it.’
‘What are the chances of us being attacked while we’re there?’ I said.
‘Minute,’ the Dragon said. ‘I have placed extensive seals on the resort. I will be there. You will be undisturbed.’
‘Dragon, thank you so much,’ I said.
‘You are most welcome, my Lady,’ he said with a small blue smile.