Journey to Wubang 01 - Earth to Hell (44 page)

‘No,’ I said. ‘Book our usual conference room at the Hyatt. Let’s do this right. I want to invite the Demon King along, and we’ll thrash something out. He wants Six dead as much as we do.’

The Monkey King gestured towards me. ‘You cannot do this. You don’t have precedence.’ He turned to the Tiger. ‘She’s a goddamn human!’

‘She’s fucking First Heavenly General,’ the Tiger rasped. ‘You gonna argue with the Jade Emperor? ’Cause for some reason the old bastard’s on her side.’

‘Shit,’ the Monkey King said. He raised one hand and summoned his cloud. ‘Let me know if there’s any demon killing involved and I’m in. Otherwise, this is all your show, Gweipoh.’

Na Zha saluted me cursorily and disappeared without saying a word.

‘You’ve made
so many
friends in your time as First Heavenly General,’ Simone said. ‘But don’t worry, Emma, you’re doing the right thing.’

I sagged slightly. ‘I hope I am.’

The Tiger slapped me on the back. ‘It’s what Ah Wu would have done. You even sounded like him. Don’t worry.’ He grinned with malice. ‘You’re doing fine,
Gweipoh.
’

‘Rude bastard,’ I said. ‘Take the Rabbits home, my friend. I appreciate your help.’

‘You really should be a snake more often, ’cause you sound totally like Ah Wu,’ the Tiger said, then turned and strode to the Rabbits. They all disappeared.

Gold appeared at the bottom of the road driving the Mercedes.

‘Don’t worry, Gold, we’ll find it,’ I said as we climbed in.

‘I trust you, ma’am,’ he said.

‘The conference room is booked; they will be there in ninety minutes,’ the stone in my ring said. ‘Let’s go home and see what we have.’

M
eredith and Marshal Ma were waiting for us when we arrived home.

‘I heard what happened,’ Meredith said. ‘But we have other things happening, Emma. I need to give you an update.’

I raised my arms. ‘I’m covered in dirt and ash. Can you make it fast?’

‘When we removed the stones that had been eroding the seals, we reset the seals and fourteen students were destroyed trying to run out.’

‘Fourteen students were copies?’ I said, horrified.

‘Yes, and two of them had been in the Academy for more than a year.’

‘Damn!’ I said. ‘Do you think the originals are dead?’

‘Demons do not normally kill humans without provocation,’ Marshal Ma said.

‘But it’s quite likely that our students provoked them when they tried to take them,’ Meredith said. ‘I don’t think there’s much chance that our students are still alive. We need to find the demon that’s making the copies.’

‘We will,’ I said.

‘Oh, and there’s one other thing. Just FYI, we are having problems with a dragon,’ Meredith said.

‘What?’

‘One of the little prostitutes was a dragon, remember?’

‘I remember,’ I said. ‘Her name was Hien, she’s Vietnamese.’

‘She’s a drug addict,’ Meredith said. ‘Her captors put morphine in their food to keep them placid. We didn’t find out until she changed to a dragon, broke into the infirmary and held Regina hostage. She’s threatening to kill Regina unless we give her something for the pain.’

‘And Regina hasn’t given her something to calm her down?’ I said, then I realised. ‘Nothing will work on her in dragon form.’

‘And she doesn’t know how to change back,’ Meredith said.

‘I need you to handle that while I work on getting Gold’s child back,’ I said. ‘Can you guys put some dragons on it?’

Meredith nodded once, sharply. ‘We’ll manage. Talk to the Demon King about Gold’s baby. This is the most important thing.’

‘I’ll be at the Hyatt in forty-five minutes. Michael is bringing the car around now. I just need to change out of these filthy clothes.’

‘Good,’ Meredith said. She nodded to Marshal Ma. ‘If I’m not at the meeting, it’s because I’ve been delayed.’

‘Don’t worry, Meredith, we’ll help Emma sort this out,’ Ma said. He saluted me. ‘By your leave, ma’am, we’ll secure the conference room for the meeting with the King.’

‘Thanks, Hua Guang. Most appreciated,’ I said, and he and Meredith disappeared.

The doorbell rang while I was pulling on some clean jeans and a shirt.

Ah Yat shrieked, ‘Ma’am!’

‘Emma!’ Gold shouted. ‘Come quickly!’

I raced out to the hallway. Ah Yat had opened the front door, but the gate remained closed. On the other side stood a demon in True Form, human-sized but black with bulging eyes, tusks and long bright red hair.

‘Protect me, ma’am!’ Ah Yat cried, and scurried into the kitchen.

I summoned the Murasame and stood just inside the door. ‘State your business here, demon.’

‘It’s Martin,’ Simone said from where she’d come up behind me.

I lowered the sword. ‘No way.’

The demon nodded its massive ugly head. ‘I am Ming Gui. I have taken this form to avoid detection by the Demon King. Please, let me in, I have important information for you.’

Simone laughed without humour. ‘Like I’ll let you in after all the times you’ve betrayed us.’

The demon glanced from Simone to me. ‘I give you my word, I have information on where Leo is.’ It glanced backwards, as if expecting someone to follow. ‘Let me in! I vow I will not hurt you.’

‘Can you take him down?’ I said.

‘Yes,’ Simone said. She strode to the door and pushed the gate open. ‘You may enter.’

The demon bowed slightly and walked inside, grimacing as it passed through the seals. It changed form to Martin: tall, with long black hair, wearing a dark green polo shirt and tan slacks. He looked like a younger, slimmer version of John and my heart ached to see the resemblance.

Martin strode to one of the couches and sat, leaned his elbows on his knees and clasped his hands together.
‘We must be quick, before the Demon King finds that I have gone. You have to kill me.’

‘
Kill
you?’ Simone said.

‘It is the only way to free me from my servitude.’ He sat straighter. ‘Once I am dead, I am free from my oath, and I can be Judged and return to assist you.’

‘What oath?’ I said.

‘I cannot tell you. You must work it out yourself.’

‘You made an oath to the Demon King?’ I said.

‘That…’ Martin grimaced. ‘I am bound and cannot answer that question.’

‘Great, a game of twenty questions while someone has Gold’s child,’ I said. ‘Can you tell us
anything
? And if not, why are you here?’

‘Simone must kill me. Then I will be free.’

‘Why Simone?’

‘She vowed I would taste her blade. I will give her the chance to fulfil her oath and free me from mine.’

‘Okay, you swore some sort of oath. Probably to the Demon King, and that’s why you’ve been following him around. Why?’

Martin grimaced. ‘When Father returned to True Form, he was in two pieces and so weak…’ His voice trailed off and he pulled himself together. ‘Simone was so tiny! The Demon King wants more than anything to be able to return to the world above. If he were to destroy Father, or hold Simone to control Father, he would be able to do this. I had to protect them both. I swore an oath…’ He struggled to continue, then obviously gave up.

‘You made a deal with the King to protect me and Daddy?’ Simone said.

‘I cannot answer that.’

‘So you’re saying that the reason I’m alive today is because you’ve gone off with the King to live in Hell,’ Simone said with scorn.

‘You’ve never been attacked, Mei Mei,’ Martin said. ‘They’ve defended themselves if you attacked them, but no demon has ever come after you.’ He slashed one hand through the air. ‘But all of this is beside the point. You need to kill me now so that I can come back and take you to get Leo out.’

‘I seem to recall you coming here with a certain Number One Demon Prince in a similar situation offering us help,’ I said.

Martin leaned on his knees again. ‘That was before I met Leo.’ He looked up at me, his eyes full of pain. ‘Leo taught me the path of true nobility; he taught me what it is to truly love.’ He glanced at Simone. ‘I would do anything to keep you, my sister, and him safe. We must bring him out of Six’s nest before they use him in any more…’ His voice trailed off again.

‘In any more what?’ I said. ‘Experiments? Duplications? What?’

‘I cannot tell you until I am freed.’

‘And you’ve just decided that I don’t need protecting any more, eh?’ Simone said.

‘We need to find and free Leo and Gold’s child. The stone baby will be destroyed if we do not move quickly. I do not want to risk your safety, Simone, but I could not live with the death of this child on my conscience.’

‘I think you know way too much and this is all a trap,’ Simone said.

Martin raised one hand, palm-up. ‘Ask Gold. I can see him.’

Gold had taken the form of a tiny pebble and hidden in the corner of the room, helping to guard us. ‘He’s telling the truth,’ he said, his voice full of misery. ‘All of it. He sincerely wants to help.’

‘What are they planning for Leo and Gold’s baby?’ I said.

‘Leo was just a way of making you come out to find him. What they were really after was the stone child,’ Martin said.

‘Why?’ Gold said, almost a wail of grief.

‘They are banished from Hell,’ Martin said. ‘As long as they are outside Hell, they are dying. They feed off the energy…I cannot tell you more.’

‘They feed off the energy of stone children?’ I said. ‘That’s why they wanted Gold’s child?’

He hesitated, choosing his words carefully. ‘If you break a stone, the small piece becomes a stone child. If you do this in an artificial situation, you create an artificial child. But artificial is never as good as the real thing.’

I was silent, appalled.

‘I cannot say more. I will be able to tell you more after you kill me and I return. You must do it right now. I will request a quick return to the Earthly to assist you.’

‘We can shelter you here. You don’t need to die, Martin,’ I said.

‘I am bound into servitude, Emma. If I am ordered to kill you, I will obey. The only way for me to break this bond is to die.’ He nodded to Simone. ‘Is there a private place where you can do this?’

Simone ducked her head into her hands, then ran her hands through her hair. ‘Is this really necessary?’

‘Yes.’ Martin quirked a small smile. ‘You vowed I’d taste your blade, sister. Here is your opportunity.’

‘How long will you be gone?’ Simone said, desperate. ‘If you’re gone too long, they’ll kill Gold’s child before you’re back to take us in! You should just show us where it is.’

‘I can’t tell you until I’m released,’ Martin said. ‘I’m bound by a vow of silence. I can only tell you once I’ve died.’

‘Damn!’ Simone said, and turned away.

‘One last thing before we do this,’ I said.

‘We need to hurry,’ Martin said. ‘The meeting is soon. The minute the King leaves Hell, he will know I am here. If he orders me back, I will obey, and then our chance is lost.’

‘Why can you take demon form?’ I said. ‘That wasn’t an illusion, that was
you.
’

‘It is because of my mixed heritage of Heaven and Hell,’ Martin said. ‘Because of the nature of my father. When I return, I will tell you more. Now.’ He rose. ‘Please, the King will be here soon. Do it, Simone, quickly.’

I gestured. ‘In the training room.’

‘You do it, Emma,’ Simone said, her voice small.

Martin rose and touched Simone’s hand where she sat on the couch. ‘I’d prefer it was you, Mei Mei. Show me what you have learned. Free me from my bonds.’ He touched the top of her head. ‘I know you can do it.’

Simone threw herself up off the couch and summoned Dark Heavens. ‘All right!’ she snapped. ‘Let’s just do it and get it over with, and then slap the living daylights out of the Demon King for letting this happen!’

‘He said he’d killed Six,’ I said as we walked down the hall to the training room.

‘He probably phrased it so that he wasn’t telling a lie,’ Martin said. ‘He can be very clever with words. If you can pin him down and force him to state the truth, he will. Otherwise, he will use words to twist a lie to make it sound like the truth.’

‘I’ll remember that,’ I said.

I opened the door of the training room and let them in. ‘This will completely ruin the mats.’

‘Do it in a bathroom?’ Martin said. ‘I’ll take the body with me, but I can’t guarantee that there won’t be some…spillage.’

‘No way am I showering in a room I killed someone in,’ Simone said. She took the sword from the scabbard, and glanced at me. ‘I don’t think I can do this, Emma.’

Martin strode to her and held her with one hand on either side of her face, staring into her eyes. ‘Please, Mei Mei, be brave. Free me. I will feel nothing. I will return as soon as I can, and we will bring out Leo who we both love so much.’

Simone hesitated for a moment, staring at him, then threw herself at him to hug him, one hand with the sword behind his back.

Martin buried his face in her hair. ‘I love you, Mei Mei. Be strong.’ He stepped back and smiled slightly, then dropped to one knee and bent his head. ‘Free me.’

Simone didn’t say another word, she just raised the sword and, with an effortless, elegant swipe, took his head. She looked away as his head hit the floor and rolled away slightly, then his body crumpled, blood pumping from the arteries in his neck. The body disappeared, leaving a bloodstain on the mats.

Simone bent and walked, devastated, out of the room, the sword dragging behind her.

‘You don’t have to come to the meeting,’ I said to her back.

‘I’ll come,’ she said. ‘Wait for me. I need a tissue.’

‘I’ll meet you downstairs,’ I said.

‘I think Martin must have been passed over when it came to the brainy genes in the family,’ Simone said, looking out the window of the Mercedes as Michael drove us down the hill. ‘He keeps doing really dumb things, with the best intentions in the world.’

‘He kept you safe, Simone,’ Michael said.

‘He let the Demon King boss him around, and he let himself be thrown to the
Mothers
!’ Simone cried, anguished. ‘What an
idiot
!’

‘We need to contact the Celestial to arrange for him to be released from Hell as quickly as possible, so we can find Leo and Gold’s baby,’ I said.