Black Jade (17 page)

‘It's me, Emma,' I said without moving closer to him, both men behind me. ‘I'm the lady who played with the cars with you. Remember?'

‘He's a bad guy,' Frankie said from behind the bed.

‘Goddamn television,' Leo grumbled under his breath.

‘What?' Martin said.

‘I'm black,' Leo said, ‘and he's been watching television while his “mother's” away. Every black man on American TV is either a gangster or a thug. It's the stereotype. I have this problem in Hong Kong as well. Everyone assumes I'm a bad guy.'

‘They can be police chiefs too,' I said, sitting on the bed to get closer to Frankie. ‘And the production companies are attempting to subvert the thug stereotype in kids' shows by making the black kid the geek.'

‘Still . . .' Leo began.

‘We do not have time for that particular discussion,' Martin said. ‘Guards will be here soon.'

‘I know.' I leaned over the bed to speak to Frankie. ‘It's okay. These are my other sons. They're like brothers to you, even though they're grown-up, and they love you as well. They want to play.'

Frankie didn't move, his terrified breathing echoing against the wall.

‘Have you ever wanted a pet lion?' I asked him. ‘I've brought you a tame
lion
to play with.'

‘Tame,' Leo muttered.

‘Hardly,' Martin said in the same low tone.

Frankie's breathing accelerated. Wrong move.

‘If they go away, will you come out and talk to me?' I said.

There was no reply except for the sound of his head moving against the blankets.

‘Quickly, Emma,' Martin said. ‘We don't have much time.'

They went out.

‘They're gone now,' I said.

Frankie crawled down the side of the bed and appeared at the end. He looked nearly ten years old, but his dark eyes held the innocence of his real age; he was just over a year and a half old. He stood up and looked around, then threw himself at me and buried his head in my chest.

‘Hello! Thank you for coming back!' He pulled back and wiped his eyes, and I did as well. ‘Mummy says I have to tell her if you come visit. Will she send you away?'

‘Probably,' I said sadly. ‘But you don't have to tell her right away. We can play for a little while first, and then you can tell her.'

‘But she'll send you away,' he said.

‘I'll come back.'

He thought about it for a moment, then nodded. His mid-brown hair needed a cut and his fringe flipped over his forehead and nearly into his eyes. His smile was so full of desperate yearning for affection that I pulled him in for another hug.

‘It's okay. I love you, Frankie, and I want to look after you and make you happy.'

He trembled in my arms.

‘I will never hurt you,' I whispered.

He clutched me. ‘That's what the lady said. She said you were good, and to talk to you if you came to visit.'

I pulled back to see him. ‘The Lady?'

He nodded.

‘Is she wearing all white and really nice?'

‘I don't know, I've never seen her. She just talks to me.'

‘She's wonderful, isn't she?' I said, and he nodded. ‘Listen to her because she's always right.'

‘Don't tell anyone about her,' he said. ‘I like talking to her and I don't want her to be in trouble. Promise you won't tell anyone? Promise!'

I hugged him again, he was close to tears. ‘Of course I promise. I won't tell anyone you talk to the Lady.' I looked around. ‘Would
you like to play? Do you have any toys in this horrible little house? The other house was much nicer, this one is small and dark and awful. If
I
was looking after you, we'd be living in a lovely big house with a
garden
and dogs and cats and ponies and lots of friends and . . .' I took a huge risk that he was our son in every way. ‘A
big
room for practising martial arts, with a whole
wall
full of interesting weapons to learn.'

He inhaled sharply and pulled back, his eyes huge.

‘You have a sister who would love to play with you and teach you to ride a pony, and the two men outside are like your grown-up brothers and would take you shopping and to theme parks,' I said.

‘What's a theme park?'

‘A place with fun rides and things to do. Do you like Batman?'

‘Yeah! I saw him on the TV.'

‘You could
meet
Batman.'

‘Cool!'

‘Would you like to go to one now?' I said. ‘I can take you.'

He hesitated. ‘Daddy wouldn't like that.'

‘Your father thinks going with me is the best thing you could do.'

‘You talk like my father is someone different,' he said, morose. ‘Daddy doesn't like me.'

So young to be so perceptive.

‘Maybe there's another daddy, your
real
daddy, out there who would be kind to you,' I said. ‘Maybe there's another mummy out there who loves you and wants to be with you all the time. Maybe you should have a real mummy and daddy who would never, ever hurt you.'

He wrapped himself around me and gasped into my chest. He knew they were cruel to him.

‘Would you like to come home with me?' I said.

‘I can't. They'll punish me. I have to stay here.' He looked up into my eyes, his own full of tears. ‘If I leave, they'll kill every servant in the house.'

‘Are the servants kind to you?'

‘They're really nice,' he said. ‘Last time you came, they found out and they killed Three-Eighty.' His shoulders heaved. ‘They
killed
her.'

Time, Emma,
Leo said.
There's movement over at the lake.

‘I have to go,' I said. ‘If they find me here, they'll destroy your servants.'

‘I understand,' he said, looking up into my eyes. ‘Please come back again.'

‘I will, and I'll arrange a way for you and all your servants to come with me. But before I go,' I said, ‘do you remember that sword I gave you? The mean black one?'

He nodded.

‘Can I borrow it for a while? I promise I'll give it back to you.'

He shrugged. ‘Sure.'

He took my hand to lead me into the living room. The Murasame was on a carved ebony stand that seemed even blacker from the sword's dark aura.

‘Put your hand on the sword and say that I'm its master now, the same as I did for you,' I said.

‘Okay,' Frankie said. He went to the sword, put his hand on it, and concentrated. He shook his head. ‘It doesn't want to go with you, it wants to stay with me.'

‘I don't blame it; I want to stay with you as well,' I said, and his little shoulders sagged. ‘Tell it. Be the boss!'

His face screwed up with determination.

‘I am so proud of you,' I said.

He glanced at me, grinning, then turned back to the sword. He growled under his breath. ‘It really doesn't want to go with you.'

I put my hand on it as well and jerked it away at the pain. I bent to speak softly to the blade. ‘Do as the child tells you, you black b—' I didn't finish it. ‘He's your master, you lousy piece of scrap iron, and you damn well do what he says.'

Frankie giggled. ‘It said a bad word!'

There were crashes and the sounds of conflict behind us and Frankie spun towards the door, his face filling with fear.

‘The guards have come for me. I have to go,' I said.

Cold realisation went through me: if Leo and Martin were killed, there was only one way for me to escape — through Court Ten — and if I did, the child would see me die in front of him.

‘One last chance, quickly,' I said, taking his hand and putting it on the sword, then flinching away at the contact. ‘Tell it!'

He concentrated and shook his head. ‘It's being really . . .' He searched for the word.

‘I know. Stubborn. It runs in the family.' I pulled him in for a quick hug. ‘I'll go before you're in trouble. I love you, Frankie.' I released him and tousled his hair. ‘You need a haircut. Stay here, stay away from the guards, and I promise I'll be back.'

I kissed him on the cheek.
I'll talk to you silently sometimes, how about that? We can chat.

He stared at me, uncomprehending, and I had no choice. I turned and ran back to Leo and Martin so we could escape.

I slid to a halt when I saw them. It was the Demon King himself, with a couple of guards, and Martin and Leo were standing next to him, their eyes wide with effort but unrestrained otherwise.

‘Emma, darling,' the King said.

He was in his small twenty-five-year-old male human form, the same height as me. He approached me, and I tried to step back but couldn't move. I was frozen as well.

His blood-coloured eyes looked deep into mine. ‘I thought for a moment that this would be unpleasant,' he said. ‘But you sneaked in here through Court Ten, didn't you? You
made the choice
to come to my side of Hell.' He stroked my cheek and I was unable to move away. ‘You're in my dominion now, and I can do what I like with you. I can send all three of you for a grand tour of all the Pits.'

‘Please don't hurt her, Uncle George,' Frankie said behind me, his voice small.

‘What did she say to you, Frankie?' the Demon King said, still stroking my face.

‘She just wanted to play!'

‘She wants to take you away from your mother and lock you up,' the King said.

He's locked up now!
I shouted at him, unable to speak.

‘Go inside, Frankie. Your father is on his way and he's really mad with you for not telling him that Emma was here,' the King said, his voice sleek with menace. ‘You were supposed to tell anybody if she came.'

‘I was about to!' Frankie said, full of tears. ‘Don't hurt her. I
like
her!'

‘Oh, I like her too,' the Demon King crooned into my face. ‘I'd love snake for dinner.'

He gestured towards one of the guards and the demon walked around me. I couldn't turn to see what it did to Frankie. Frankie made some loud sounds of protest, then the door closed behind us.

The King paced in front of me. ‘Emma, Emma, Emma. Why can't you just wait? As soon as I control the Heavens you'll be spending all your time with Frankie, teaching him how to be a good Celestial. It's only a couple of days; why can't you learn some patience? Now I'll have to force you to stay away from the Murasame, and unfortunately that probably means I'll have to torture one of the lads here to make you do as you're told.'

‘I have passage out for them,' I said. ‘I have two black jade coins.'

The King studied me with interest. ‘That you do. Very well.' He held his hand out, and released me so I could move.

I removed the black jade earrings and passed them to him. ‘Now let them go.'

‘I choose who goes and who stays, my love,' the King said. He turned away from me to Leo and Martin, who were also standing unmoving. His voice became businesslike. ‘Pick a Pit, Ming Gui.'

‘Don't send him to the Pits,' I said. ‘This was my idea. Send me.'

‘But you don't care about yourself, you're far too noble. Threatening you will achieve nothing. The only way to make you behave is to torture the ones you love.' He turned back to Martin. ‘So where would you like to go? How about I toss you back into the lake, Turtle? You spent a great deal of time there, you should be used to it. Warm and comfortable, eh?'

Martin made soft sounds and his throat worked. He looked nauseous. Leo trembled as he fought the binding.

‘I'll leave and won't return if you'll let me take both of them with me,' I said.

The King spun and spoke quickly. ‘Promise you won't try for the sword again, and that you won't talk to Frankie without my permission. Promise you'll stay out of my dominion until I give you permission to return.'

I hesitated. If I relinquished the Murasame, I was handing the Heavens to him. I couldn't do it.

‘Red Hot Grates. Nice change for him,' he said. ‘I'll rotate him between the lake and the grates.' He put his hands on my arms. ‘The sword wouldn't go with you, Emma, you're wasting your time. When I win, you can spend all your time with Frankie anyway. Face it, dear one, you've lost, so take your boys home where they are safe, and pack your bags ready to move down here and do your job as nanny when I take over.'

I couldn't look at Leo and Martin. ‘I won't try for the sword again. I promise.'

‘Good girl.' He turned back to Leo and Martin. ‘Take her home and never again enter my dominion without my permission, or you will join the old mad Kings and I will raise your daughter as my own, as a sister for Frankie. He needs a sibling and Buffy is adorable.'

‘Don't you touch Buffy!' Leo said.

The King nodded to him. ‘Out.'

We landed on the Demonic side of Hell at the end of the causeway, outside the huge doors. Martin collapsed, curled up on the ground, and shook with gasping sobs. Leo sat cross-legged and took Martin into his lap, holding him like a child as he choked with fear and desperation. I sat on the pavers next to them and let Martin work it through.

* * *

‘Crown Prince Xuan Ming Gui of the Northern Heavens. Lord Leo Alexander of the Northern Heavens. Lady Emma Donahoe of the Northern Heavens,' the guard said, and gestured for us to enter the Jade Emperor's small audience chamber.

We knelt and did the obeisances, then waited as the Emperor sat on his throne, which was two metres long with silk cushions.

‘Before you say anything, the answer is no,' the Jade Emperor said.

‘We're not here to ask you to let us marry,' Leo said.

‘I know,' the Emperor said.

Martin bowed his head. ‘This small Shen requests that you release him from the Heavens and reattach him to the Wheel.'