Robin suddenly found that she was angry. She spat, "Well, fuck you. Don't think I haven't blamed myself enough. If you hadn't treated me like some little trophy, maybe you wouldn't be here now, so don't get self-righteous with me. I think I prefer you, Dev, as a hyena or whatever you're supposed to be. Maybe that's more real."
"Maybe," the thing said softly. Deveth was gone, and so was the beast. The spirit rose up into the air, a whirling mass of color. Pressure built inside Robin's skull, and there was a sharp bursting pain at the bridge of her nose. Automatically she wiped her upper lip: her nose was bleeding and she felt wetness trickling down her cheeks. Her heart hammered in her ribcage, great, slow beats growing louder and louder until all she could hear was her heart and a thin, high wailing. Through a pinpoint she saw Mhara, on his knees with his arms futilely raised. His face was streaked with blood and the swaying mass was beating at him, each lash laying open his arms and his ribcage. The silvery droplets of blood trailed slowly up into the air and floated away. Something was licking his face as it bled.
As the car pulled out behind the Pellucid Island Opera House, Zhu Irzh broke a long, tension-filled silence and said, "That—thing—that attacked me. You saw it, I'm sure."
"Yes. Yes, I saw it." Jhai shifted in the seat beside him.
"It was a Celestial being, wasn't it?"
"Yes, it was."
"I thought they were supposed to be nice?"
"They are."
"Well, that one wasn't. It tried to garrote me with its tongue."
"There's a reason for that." Jhai murmured.
"And that would be?"
"The drug you were given via the virus is a neurological enhancer. It taps into aggression and anger. It acts as an override on normal states of consciousness."
Zhu Irzh didn't have a very scientific mind, but he was beginning to see where this conversation was leading. "You fed the drug to a
Celestial?"
Jhai nodded. "Yes. A while ago, I was contacted by an old friend who had become versed in dark magic. She told me that she had found a way to break the seal between the worlds, an ancient and powerful summoning spell, to bring demonkind and Heavenkind through to Earth. Normally, as I'm sure you know, it's easier to summon demons than the Celestials, but this spell worked admirably."
"And that friend was Deveth Sardai?"
Jhai nodded. "That's right." She gave him a sidelong glance and he could see the flicker of gold behind her eyes. "We activated the spell. And we summoned a Celestial, who was already on Earth for some reason—I never found out why—and bound him here."
"Do you know which Celestial?"
"He called himself Mhara. I don't know the name, but then, I'm not very well versed in the hierarchies of Heaven."
"No, I don't expect you are."
Jhai squinted at him. "And are you?"
"No, not really," the demon was forced to admit. "I know most of the major players, of course. But there are a lot of Celestial beings and none of them are that interesting, frankly."
"Anyway, we started experimenting. I told the lab staff that he was a demon, that we were working on ways to protect Earth from another invasion by Hell."
"But, in fact, your plans were somewhat more grandiose," Zhu Irzh said neutrally. "You're planning to storm Heaven, aren't you?"
She smiled. "You're quick. Yes. But not with an army. The original plan was to infect the Celestial with the drug in a viral carrier, wipe his memory and send him back."
"You can do that? Your technology's that advanced?"
"Paugeng's R&D division is cutting edge, Zhu Irzh."
"So Heaven would become infected with an aggression drug, turn against itself, be thrown into chaos. And then—what?"
"Then the people who are paying me to undertake the research would move in."
"And who are they?"
Jhai paused. "Let's just say that they have unlimited funding."
"It's one of the Ministries of Hell, isn't it? Which one? War? Though it's more the style of Epidemics, and they've certainly got reason to try and recapture some of the power they lost earlier in the year." He glanced at her closed face. "You're not going to tell me, are you?"
"I can't. I'm under oath. It would literally kill me to tell you."
"What happened with Deveth? Did she become a liability?"
Jhai grimaced. "She started asking for too much. Power crazy. She knew what I was. I couldn't hide it from her; I started to change during the summoning, and she saw enough to guess the truth. She threatened to expose me unless I handed over control of the project to her. I couldn't risk that, Zhu Irzh. Deveth had no managerial skills; she couldn't have run a bath. So I tried out the Celestial's new-found aggression on her."
"What's that Western expression? Killing two birds with one stone?"
"Exactly."
"So," the demon said, turning in his seat to look at her. He reached out and touched her cheek. "Why are you telling me all this? So that I can take you down to the police precinct and charge you with all manner of iniquities?"
"You think you could make any charges stick? It's your word against mine, Zhu Irzh. You're a demon from the realm of Hell. And I'm Singapore Three's premier businesswoman. I could
buy
this city. In fact," Jhai frowned, as if trying to remember where she'd purchased a pair of shoes, "I think I already have. If the police department gets too close, I might have to do something about that, but they haven't so far and I've been all co-operation, of course. The Chinese government might have believed Deveth—her father has close connections to it—but I don't think they'll believe you. Anyway, why would you want to expose something that could be to your immense advantage?"
"Then what are you offering me?" Zhu Irzh asked. He did not want to seem dense, but he wanted to hear her say it.
"A partnership. You could be the next Celestial Emperor, Zhu Irzh, if we get this right."
"And if we don't? I could end up consigned to the lowest pit of the farthest level of Hell as something the size of a toe, and you with me."
"That won't happen. My sponsors are protecting me."
Zhu Irzh's eyebrows rose. "You've made a bargain with someone in Hell and you
trust
them?"
"If I go down, I'll make sure they go with me. They won't risk that. And also, remember that my ancestry might be Hellkind of a sort, but it's not from the Chinese afterlife. I have somewhere to bail out to if I have to. So what do you say? Are you with me?"
"I'll think about it," Zhu Irzh said. Jhai nodded.
"All right."
The car slowed at the entrance to the harbor.
"I'll walk from here," the demon said. He gave Jhai a sidelong smile. She hid her disappointment well.
"When am I going to see you again?"
"Tomorrow," Zhu Irzh said firmly. "I need some time to think." Leaning over, he kissed Jhai hard, and was out of the car before she had time to respond. He did not look back, but he smiled again as he heard the car pull away. Well, he had wanted to know what she was up to, and now he did. High stakes indeed. And a great deal of power for someone brave enough, or foolish enough, to grasp the nettle. Zhu Irzh had already become involved in a political battle in Hell, and he wasn't keen to court another one. Besides, he could see that Jhai was making a classic mistake: even in spite of her ancestry, because of her Earthly power, she was tacitly assuming that Hell had little influence over her, as long as she was not actually there. Zhu Irzh knew better. The first slip, and Jhai's masters would make a sacrificial lamb of her.
Zhu Irzh blinked up into the glowing darkness, and wondered what exactly he was going to do about this. Telling the human authorities did not seem to be an option: he believed Jhai when she spoke of her control over the city council. She could make life difficult for him, demon though he was. Nor was he inclined to sell her out; if the plan worked, then there would undoubtedly be something in it for most of Hellkind, and some dark part of Zhu Irzh's demonic consciousness reveled in the idea of the chaos to come. So, he thought, ambling down the wharf, this was one situation that he would simply wait out.
Achieving such neutrality might be easier said than done, given that Jhai had already drawn him a certain distance into her schemes, but Zhu Irzh was confident of the degree of power that sexual authority conferred upon him. The demon rarely underestimated women; Jhai, however, owed him a debt, and he intended to capitalize upon it as much as he possibly could.
He stepped carefully over the pontoons, and halted as he came within reach of the houseboat's ladder. There was a light in the main room, showing through the shutters. The badger had no need of illumination, and Zhu Irzh had left the boat in daylight . . . His sword whispered through the darkness. Lightly, the demon grasped the ladder and slid up it onto the deck. The door to the main room was ajar. Zhu Irzh listened, but heard nothing. Sword drawn, he kicked open the door and plunged in.
"Glad to see you're on the ball," someone said mildly. Zhu Irzh gaped. Detective Inspector Chen was sitting in the armchair, nursing a cup of tea.
"But—you're in Hawaii!"
"Not anymore. Sergeant Ma called me yesterday. He expressed some concern as to your welfare. I thought I'd cut the vacation short and come home."
"What about Inari?"
"She's enjoying herself with Lao and his wife. She sends her regards." Chen regarded the demon owlishly. "Could you put that away?"
"Sorry." Slowly, Zhu Irzh sheathed the sword.
"Want some tea?"
"No. Yes. Thank you."
In silence, Chen poured him a cup and handed it over. The demon sank heavily into the nearest chair.
"Want to give me your version of what's been happening?" Chen smiled helpfully.
Zhu Irzh reminded himself that he was Hellkind. He was over two hundred years old. He was stronger than almost any mortal man and he had the powers of Hell at his back. So why had he not felt so uncomfortable since being called to his grandfather's study at the age of ten, to explain how he had managed to break each and every window in the Irzh family mansion? Taking a deep breath, he gave Chen a swift, highly edited summary of recent events. He recounted the attack on the dowser Paravang Roche, pleading ignorance of its cause, and told Chen that he had spent the afternoon with Jhai, examining her premises. Nothing was actually untrue, but there were significant omissions.
"That was concise," Chen said when he'd finished. It was impossible to tell whether he believed the story or not. "So let me get this straight. At the moment, we're looking at Jhai Tserai as a chief suspect? And we're working on the hypothesis that she is at least heavily implicated in both murders, even if she didn't carry them out herself."
"Yes, we are."
"And am I to assume that, cultural differences aside, your division in Hell considers such criteria as objectivity, neutrality and so forth critical when interrogating a suspect?"
"Yes, to some degree," Zhu Irzh said warily, not liking the turn that the conversation was taking.
"So having established Jhai Tserai as principal suspect, you brought her back here and spent what is by all accounts an active night with her? In my bed?"
A distant part of Zhu Irzh noted that it was an interesting sensation to experience all the blood draining out of one's face.
"How did you—?" He could not go on. Chen pointed at the silent, accusing presence of the iron teakettle upon the shelf.
"Oh, fuck."
"So I am given to understand. Sergeant Ma is not the only being capable of using a telephone. And why, exactly, did you consider that becoming Jhai's lover was crucial to the course of this investigation? Some disarming ploy, no doubt? A subtle maneuver designed to throw her off guard and elicit the truth from her?" Chen enquired, still terrifyingly bland.
Belatedly, Zhu Irzh resorted to the truth. "No. She has this—this effect on me. When I see her, all I can think of is sex."
It was clear that Chen was sorely tempted to make the obvious retort, and Zhu Irzh winced in anticipation of being told that this was all he ever thought about anyway. But Chen said nothing, and the demon went hurriedly on: "It seems to be mutual; I'll explain why in a moment. She turned up here, one thing led to another, and next thing I knew, we were in bed. And I'm sorry it was yours, but it
is
the only bed here. I promise I'll wash the sheets."
"That would be nice. Why is it mutual?"
"She's not human."
That got Chen's attention. His eyes widened. "Then what is she?"
The demon told him.
"That," Chen said, unwittingly echoing Zhu Irzh on an earlier occasion, "would explain a lot. About her family's origins, about their rise to power . . . She's in a startlingly vulnerable position, isn't she, even with all her influence? And she's risking that for
you?"
His eyebrows rose.
Trying to ignore the unflattering implications of that remark, Zhu Irzh said, "It's because I'm Hellkind, I think."
"And you know, don't you?"
"Know what?"
"You know, Zhu Irzh, just what Jhai's role is in all this. I can see it in your face. The badger passed on some remarkably disturbing hints, about what Jhai said to you the next morning."
"Was that damned creature spying on me all night?" Zhu Irzh bridled. He had no objection to voyeurism, as long as he was the voyeur. At that point, the teakettle , at which Zhu Irzh had been staring accusingly, blurred and became badger. The night-black eyes were cold. The badger gave a soft, slow hiss.
"Yes," said Chen, coolly. "He was. And just as well. Now. Out with it. What is Jhai planning? I should add, Zhu Irzh, that although I hold you in rather higher regard than you probably think, and I might—under certain circumstances—even view you not only as a colleague but as a friend, I'll have absolutely no hesitation in binding you here and summoning Exorcist Lao back from Waikiki to drag the truth out of you by magical force if I have to. But I'd rather you just told me—not for the sake of the world, or Hell, or Heaven, but for my sake, and Inari's."