Demon Child (26 page)

‘Oh, I’m so happy for them,’ my mother said with genuine delight. ‘They’ll make wonderful fathers.’

‘Wouldn’t they all be safer up here?’ Amanda’s husband, Allan, said.

‘A child can’t travel here without its mother to protect it from the transition,’ Greg said. He nodded towards John. ‘That’s what started this whole mess in the first place — Simone’s mother dying.’

‘This whole mess has been coming for a while,’ John said. ‘And you’re right about them being good fathers — I’ve never seen a little girl quite so cherished.’

‘More than Simone?’ I said.

‘About the same,’ John said. ‘But Simone has all your family to spoil her as well.’

‘That’s a grandparent’s prerogative,’ my father said.

John stopped for a moment, then said with wonder, ‘I suppose it is. My son has a child, and that makes me a grandfather.’ He shook his head. ‘This is a first.’

‘Feel old?’ my mother said with a smile.

‘It does tend to creep up on you,’ John said, returning the smile.

‘Don’t be ridiculous, Vincent’s your great-great-grandson,’ I said with scorn.

‘Vincent?’ my mother said.

‘We found him a couple of years ago,’ I said. ‘He didn’t know who he was, only that he changed into a huge snake. He was thrilled to bits to discover that he had a home and a family.’ I gasped as I realised. ‘Oh dear Lord, he was an Imperial Elite Guard and only three Elites are left. He’s probably dead.’

John nodded silently, his face grim.

I rested my forehead on my hand. ‘People keep popping up … not there. So many dead.’

‘Are you okay?’ my mother said. She came and knelt in front of me. ‘Emma?’

John moved behind me and put his hands on my shoulders.

I sat straighter and smiled for them. ‘No. I’m fine. We have too much to do. We’ll win Hell back and everything will return to normal.’

My mother shot John a glance. He obviously said something telepathically to her that they both tried to cover. I didn’t bother calling them on it.

‘Let’s take you over to the Northern Heavens and settle you in,’ John said. ‘I’m sure Emma will want to talk your ears off, and Thirty-Eight will be delighted to have a large family to look after.’

I looked up at John. ‘You’re supposed to be resting.’

‘I know,’ he said. ‘First thing tomorrow morning, I’ll go down and take a nap.’

‘Are you all right, John?’ my mother said, concerned. ‘I saw you limping. Are you okay?’

‘I will be,’ John said. He released my shoulders. ‘Let’s go.’

Martin and Yue Gui had breakfast with us the next morning, to discuss strategy before John went into the cage.

‘Before I go down, Emma,’ John said, ‘I need to give you something. Come upstairs.’ He nodded to Yue and Martin. ‘We won’t be long.’

‘Don’t be two hours,’ Martin said with mischief, and Yue slapped him on the arm. He winced and rubbed it. ‘You’re a turtle too,’ he said with indignation, and she slapped him again. He raised his hands. ‘All right, all right.’

John shook his head and led me up the stairs to our bedroom.

He went to the end of the bed and opened the camphorwood chest carved with a scene of pagodas on pine-covered mountains that looked very much like the peaks of Wudangshan. He rummaged through the silk quilts and pulled out a small ebony box. He guided me to sit on the bed and opened the box; it contained a pair of black jade earrings in the shape of ancient coins: round with a square hole in the middle. Each hole was filled with a black diamond on a post.

He passed them to me and I turned them over in my hands. ‘How many of these do you have?’ I said, incredulous.

‘I think altogether I have about fifteen pairs,’ he said. ‘The Demon King has a great many of them, for obvious reasons, and when he gambles he tends to use them as currency.’ He shrugged. ‘They become extremely valuable after a hundred years or so up here, and I give them as funeral gifts for people whose relatives have died.’

‘I’m sure they appreciate them.’

‘They do, but unfortunately it reinforces my image as a creature aligned with darkness and death.’

‘Black jade — I’ll be sure to wear them at the wedding, just to cause trouble.’

‘That would be a scandal all over the Celestial,’ he said. ‘I love it. Make sure you do.’

He closed the chest and rose.

‘Wait, this is why you brought me up here?’ I said, glancing down at the earrings.

‘Yes. Wear them, please.’

My breath left me in a long rush. ‘You think I’ll be lost again?’

‘I don’t know. I want to be sure.’

I looked up at him. His face was rigid with restraint and his eyes were glittering.

‘John … what’s the matter?’

‘Nothing. Just please wear them.’

‘I don’t think you’ve ever lied to me before, Xuan Wu, and I hate to think you’ll start now. Tell me why you’re giving me these now instead of when you come out of the cage …’ My voice trailed off. ‘Oh geez.’

‘I have no sense of time while I am in there; my sentience is gone. If I am not back within two weeks, Ming and Ma will lead the armies and we will try to retake Hell anyway.’

‘Two
weeks
?’

‘I have ordered them to release me from the cage if the battle is close and my True Form could be the difference between victory and defeat. The Turtle may attack the demons before it rejoins.’

I choked on the words. ‘Don’t go into the cage then. Don’t risk it — we need you too much.’

He dropped his voice. ‘If I don’t go into that cage soon, I will be lost anyway. I cannot resist the Serpent’s call for much longer — its suffering is too much for me to bear.’

‘It’s that bad?’ I looked up into his pain-filled eyes. ‘Never mind. I can see.’

‘Emma.’ He took my hands in his. ‘This is just a precaution. Wear the earrings, and it’s quite possible I’ll be back out for dinner and looking for some,’ he smiled slightly, ‘extremely invigorating intimacy with the Lady love of my life.’

‘Okay.’ I wiped my eyes with the palm of my hand and took a deep shuddering breath. I removed the black pearl earrings he’d given me for my last birthday from my ears and put the coins in. ‘I wish you hadn’t told me this; it will be in the back of my mind all day with my family.’

‘Don’t worry about me. Yue will watch me, and I will have her try to wake me at dinnertime if I haven’t come back.’ He put his hand on the side of my face. ‘But please, ease my concern and wear the earrings all the time until this is resolved.’

‘Okay.’

‘And if I’m not back before you go down for the funeral the day after tomorrow …’ He slipped his arm around my back and pulled me into an embrace. ‘I know better than to ask you not to go; I know how much Monica meant to you. I would go myself if I could, she was part of the family. But please, be very careful down
there. Always be with Martin or Simone. As long as the King has our son, he needs you.’

I buried my face in his shoulder. ‘I know. Don’t worry, I’ll be careful.’

He pulled back to study my face and moved a stray lock of hair out of the way. ‘I still worry about you.’

‘Don’t,’ I said. ‘Rest in the cage.’

He kissed me for a long time.

‘I said
don’t
be two hours!’ Martin called from downstairs, then howled with outraged pain. ‘Jie Jie, that was unnecessary!’

We rose together, and I put the pearl earrings onto the bedside table as we went out.

After dinner with my family, Simone took me back to the Mountain and I went down to the Grotto. John was in the cage on the bench next to the water, but Yue was nowhere to be seen.

‘Yue?’ I said. I knelt in front of the cage. ‘John, are you okay?’

The Turtle didn’t reply.

Yue surged out of the water in turtle form and changed to human. She waved her hands in front of her as she approached us. ‘Sorry. The water is invigorating. Don’t worry, I’ve been watching him.’

‘The fish have been complaining nonstop about being constantly evicted.’ I nodded down at the cage. ‘Any change?’

She shook her head.

‘Go get some dinner. I’ll take over,’ I said.

‘No need.’

I put my hand on her arm. ‘I want to.’

Yue sighed. ‘All right.’

Late that night I blearily raised my head from the inflatable mattress as I heard tiny bells above me. It was Yue Gui, the silver ornaments in her hair tinkling as she came down the steps.

She sat on the end of the mattress and folded her legs under her silver robe. ‘Enough’s enough, Emma. Stop arguing with me. Go upstairs and go to bed. You’ll catch your death of cold down here in the damp.’

‘Cold and damp don’t make you sick,’ I said, my voice thick with sleep as I pulled myself up to sit.

‘If your immune system is compromised and you let your core temperature drop, they certainly can,’ she said. ‘And I haven’t seen an immune system quite as compromised as what I’m looking at right now. You’re so chilled your lips are blue, and you’re probably anaemic as well. I’ll take over. Go upstairs and have a soak in a hot bath and go to bed.’

I opened my mouth to argue, then realised that a hot bath sounded really, really good. My fingers and toes were freezing and my nose was so cold it hurt.

‘What time is it?’

‘It’s 1 am.’

I collapsed forwards over my knees. He’d been in there for fourteen hours and hadn’t come back to us.

Yue pulled herself gracefully to her feet and held her hand out to me. ‘Come on. Either he’ll return, or he won’t. What happens will happen regardless of whether you’re here or not.’

‘But he might come back for me,’ I said.

‘Tomorrow morning we will all gather here and bring him back together. Until then, go and rest and warm up.’

‘All who?’

‘All of his family who love him.’

She helped me to stand, and I went to the cage and crouched to see him. The outside of the cage was covered in a light layer of frost that formed a delicate tracery of crystals over the surface of the jade. He was asleep inside it, his beak forming a sad smile that was only an illusion of awareness.

‘Come back to me, Xuan Wu,’ I whispered, but the Turtle didn’t move.

‘Go. I have him,’ Yue said. ‘Tomorrow we’ll all come down here and wake him.’

I hugged her, and she embraced me back, resting her cheek on top of my head. She was as tall as her father.

She released me. ‘Go rest.’

I saluted her Western-style. ‘Yes, ma’am. See you in the morning.’

‘I’ll be here.’

It felt wonderful to be warm and clean after the bath, and I snuggled under the silk quilt, already missing John’s comforting presence beside me.

The next morning, Martin and Yue joined Simone and me in the Grotto. We moved the cage onto the floor and sat cross-legged around it.

‘So what are we supposed to do?’ Simone said.

Yue shrugged. ‘Make it up as we go along, I suppose. Just speak to him, Simone, ask him to come back.’

‘Daddy.’ Simone gathered herself and sat straighter. ‘We all need you. I need you. Come back to us, please.’ Her voice broke and she bent to wipe her hand over her eyes.

‘Father,’ Martin said. ‘The Heavens are on the edge. Hell has fallen, and the Earthly will shortly follow. We need your strength, your knowledge … we need
you
. Return to us.’

‘Ba Ba,’ Yue Gui said, and her voice gained a childlike edge I’d never heard before. ‘Even though you knew what I was, you let me come out with you. I want to stay with you. Come back to me.’

‘John,’ I said, keeping my voice tight and determined not to lose it, ‘I love you with all my heart, and I am lost without you. Your children need you. Come back so we can have a huge overblown wedding that we will both detest.’ I reached and touched the cage, then drew back at the cold. ‘Come back to us, Xuan Wu.’

We waited silently for him to respond.

‘Daddy?’ Simone said.

The Turtle didn’t move.

‘Try again, Emma,’ Yue said.

‘John,’ I said. ‘Please come back to me …’

After an hour and a half of begging, cajoling and reminding him of good times together, it became extremely obvious that he wouldn’t reply, and we gave up. We shared a morose breakfast in the Residence and then went our separate ways. We had to inform
the Celestial that the Dark Lord was probably gone for good, and to prepare for the assault on Hell that had a good chance of failing without him.

I hadn’t even been there to give him a final hug when he’d gone into the cage. I’d been in the North with my family and I’d never even said goodbye.

I tried to go back to work. I met Lucy Chen and Moaner at the forge, and we sat on stools around a black ceramic outdoor table with a pile of requisition sheets and a few sample swords on the table in front of us.

Lucy Chen held up one of the sample swords and eyed it appraisingly. ‘How long to make fifty of these?’

‘Twenty days,’ Moaner said.

‘How many can you make in ten days?’

Moaner pulled a requisition closer and scribbled on it with a ballpoint. ‘Twenty if we work day and night.’

Lucy put the sword down, carefully minding its edge, and sighed. ‘Better than nothing. Armour?’

‘Twenty swords will take all of our time. Swords or armour — choose,’ Moaner said.

‘Contact the Celestial,’ I said. ‘The Elites wore modern Kevlar body armour. See if they have any surplus.’

‘Good idea,’ Lucy said, writing on the paper in front of her.

My mobile phone rang and I checked the caller: Bridget Hawkes, David’s wife. I answered it. Bridget sounded scared and breathless, and I sat straighter.

She whispered into the phone. ‘Help, Emma, get us out. It’s not him.’

My mind worked furiously. ‘Is it a copy of him?’

‘Yes!’ She gasped with relief. ‘You know! Help us.’ Her voice was tight with desperation. ‘Help us!’

‘Where are you?’

‘In the bathroom at home. The house in Shek O. I’m hiding from him, I’m pretending that I don’t know … but it’s not him, Emma.’

‘Can you and the boys get away to be picked up?’

She sounded terrified. ‘I don’t know!’

‘Listen carefully,’ I said. ‘I’m going to hang up —’

‘Don’t hang up!’

‘And someone will call you back immediately. When they do, keep a normal conversation your side, and they will give you directions on where to go to be picked up —’

There was a splintering crash and she shrieked.

‘Oh dear Lord,’ I said as I heard the phone hit the bathroom floor. They struggled silently for a moment, then she collapsed into terrified sobs.

David’s copy picked up the phone. ‘Why hello there, Emma,’ he said, his voice sly. ‘Were you arranging to rescue her?’

It wasn’t worth pretending that I didn’t know. ‘What do you want in exchange for her?’

‘Nothing. I need her to keep my cover. They didn’t have the resources to make a copy of her too, so I have to use the real one.’ He grunted and she made a soft noise of pain. ‘Now,
honey
, you’ll do what I tell you when I tell you, and the boys won’t be hurt.’ He returned to the phone. ‘None of them will be hurt provided you stay well away and don’t blow my cover. I need them unharmed for this to work, so keep it quiet and stay out.’ He hung up.

I bent over the table. ‘They’ve already started to replace powerful people in this region.’

‘We knew it would happen,’ Lucy Chen said.

‘I know,’ I said. ‘But it’s happening to my friends.’

Moaner hesitated, then shifted the papers in his hands. ‘If you can find us one or two extra demons we can make you more weapons, and maybe try for some armour as well.’

‘I’ll see what I can do,’ Lucy said. ‘What about spears? Can you make spearheads?’

I didn’t hear his answer because Yi Hao contacted me telepathically.
The Emperor of the West is in your office looking at your files. I tried to stop him, ma’am, please come quickly
.

I jumped to my feet. ‘The goddamn Tiger’s in my office going through my stuff. I’ll be right back.’

Lucy and Moaner nodded, distracted, both of them looking at the personnel lists and forge schedule.

The Tiger was sitting behind my desk, going through my emails. Kenny was in one of the visitors’ chairs watching him with a panicked expression.

‘That was quick, I didn’t even have time to play with your Facebook,’ the Tiger said. He moved around the desk, leaned on the wall and grinned. ‘Don’t worry, Emma, I didn’t hurt anything.’

I sat behind my desk and checked my computer. He’d been in the middle of updating my Facebook status with something coarse and unfunny. I deleted it and turned to Kenny, who still appeared stricken.

‘Are the orphans okay?’

‘The kids are fine. This one,’ the Tiger nodded towards Kenny, ‘asked me to bring him back.’

‘Is something wrong?’ I asked Kenny.

He rose, fell to one knee and saluted me. ‘It’s good to see you still strong after losing so many of your students.’

I studied him carefully. He wasn’t being sarcastic, he really meant it.

‘They died doing what they loved and fighting for what they believed in,’ I said. ‘It would be a disservice to them to sit around here moping when I have a chance to finish what they started. We are determined to win this, in their honour.’

‘I am too,’ Kenny said. ‘Every Disciple counts, Lady Emma. I want to return and assist in the defence of the Mountain. I know I said I wasn’t a soldier, but this is more important. Will you take me back?’

I sat silently considering him for a long time. He’d been equipped before heading down to the orphan camp and was fully armed. He’d be an extra sword when we were short so many.

‘Please?’ he said.

‘Are the kids sufficiently guarded without him?’ I asked the Tiger.

‘Sufficient,’ the Tiger said. ‘But this one’s full of survivor guilt. He followed his heart in not fighting; he made the choice that was right for him. I’d think twice about letting him rejoin.’

‘I don’t care what it’s called. Guilt or no guilt, I want to protect the Mountain,’ Kenny said.

‘You’ll die,’ the Tiger said.

‘All my friends are dead already,’ Kenny said, still on one knee.

‘The children need you,’ the Tiger said.

‘The Mountain needs me more.’

‘You won’t make any difference,’ the Tiger said. ‘The Mountain army is so short-handed that if the demons make a try for you, it’ll be over in five minutes.’

‘Will it?’ Kenny asked me. ‘Will it make no difference? Tell me the truth.’

I hesitated again.

Kenny rose. ‘I will make a difference! Who do I report to?’

I ran one hand through my hair, which had already started to come out of its tie with all my running around. ‘Report to Lok in Leo’s office.’

Kenny’s expression went strange for a moment.

‘I saw that,’ the Tiger growled. ‘Share.’

‘Suddenly,’ Kenny said with wonder, ‘it was like a big bell, right in the middle of me, rang to say, “This is the right thing to do.”’

‘Go and report to the dog,’ the Tiger said, his voice soft with compassion. ‘Fight with honour, Dark Disciple.’

‘Celestial Highness.’ He saluted the Tiger. ‘Ma’am.’ He went out.

The Tiger flopped to sit in one of the visitors’ chairs. ‘Do you really think he’ll make a difference?’

‘If it comes down to it, it’s possible,’ I said. ‘I was just contacted by the wife of one of my Earthly liaisons, a good friend. They replaced her husband with a demon copy after Hell fell. She’s terrified.’

‘They killed her husband and she’s living with a demon?’

‘Yes. She called me, but the demon discovered her. He said that provided she behaves, she and the kids won’t be hurt.’

‘So stay away.’

‘I am.’

He studied me. ‘And look at you. Happy as a turtle in mud. Thoroughly in your element.’

I stopped for a moment and realised he was right. I wanted this to end, but I hadn’t felt so calm and focused on a task in what seemed like forever.

I shrugged. ‘I think Meredith did something to me. And I’m an adrenaline junkie anyway.’

‘No. You’re being just like him. Totally in his element and revelling in the chaos. When he comes out of the cage, move away from him for a while.’

‘He’s not coming out of the cage, Tiger. He’s been in there more than a day and there’s no sign of sentience. He’s gone.’ I smiled slightly. ‘The demons have one half of the Xuan Wu in a jade cage, and we have the other. The symmetry is delightful.’

‘There you go again: totally inappropriate reactions. Whatever.’ He levered himself out of his seat. ‘Come with me to Ah Wu’s office, there’s something we need to do.’

‘What?’ I said, walking around the desk to join him.

‘You’ll see. Oh, we caught one,’ the Tiger said as we headed for John’s office. ‘We took one of those armoured demons down. And you wouldn’t believe it — those useless fucking laser weapons we developed destroyed it.’

‘That’s excellent news,’ I said. ‘How many lasers can you make before we assault Hell?’

‘Not enough. Best we can probably do is five or six, and a senior child of mine has to run it — it chews up massive amounts of energy. Liaise with my Number Four, he’s in charge of the project. And my Number Two as well. He’ll be doing a great deal of management in the near future until we take Hell back and pull my One and Three out.’

‘Did the blood weapons work?’

‘They work, but they won’t last long at full blast.’ He raised his head as we approached John’s office. ‘Excellent, they’re here.’

The Dragon and Phoenix were waiting outside John’s office. The Winds stopped and held a silent conversation. They all shared a nod and the Dragon spoke to me.