Demon Child (36 page)

There was a breathless hush of anticipation from both sides as the demons drew back to hit the wall again.

‘Let it go,’ I said into the silence.

Laser-equipped warriors to Hell and hold it against the armoured demons
, the Jade Emperor said.
Heavenly forces
, his voice changed to deep regret,
retreat. Fall back to the Celestial Palace
.

The demons rushed the stone wall, and as they struck the Jade Emperor dismissed it. The demons roared with victory and charged through the Gates into Heaven. The Demon King summoned a flyer, mounted it and led the demons west.

‘No!’ the Tiger yelled, and ran to follow them.

Tiger, to Hell. Now
, the Jade Emperor said.
Number One son of the Tiger, Michael, are you there?

Majesty
, Michael said.

Go with Ah Wu to the West and observe. When they are settled there
, his voice changed,
yang it to the ground with all of them in it. Extra commendation if you can take the King with them
.

Majesty
, Michael said, and he and John headed west.

‘Emma, the Serpent is to liaise with Ming Gui as to the disposition of laser-equipped cats in Hell. We must hold Hell at all costs.’ The Emperor collapsed into Er Lang, his skin and robes returning as he healed. ‘As soon as Hell is absolutely secure, both of you come to the palace. You’re almost completely merged with him and if we wait much longer I will not be able to extract you. Er Lang, help me to the palace.’

‘Majesty,’ Er Lang said, gruff with grief.

John and Michael followed the demons to the Western Palace and positioned themselves in the desert not far from the walls. They watched as the demon army, with the King at its head, marched triumphantly through the gates of the palace. A few of them stopped to urinate on the walls before they entered, but the King angrily prevented them, destroying any that broke ranks.

‘They can’t see us?’ Michael said.

‘I have it,’ John said. ‘They don’t know we’re here.’

‘There are still some demon servants there,’ Michael said. ‘There are about seventy demons in our main hall.’

‘Order them to leave immediately.’

My Lord
, Franklin said.

Leave now, Franklin
, John said.

My Lord. We know the demons are coming. We will talk to them, welcome them and keep them in a limited location so they can be yanged without destroying the entire palace
.

You are worth more than that ugly pile of rock
, John said.

What he said
, the Tiger said.
All of you, out. They’re just stones and I can rebuild
.

You want to destroy all of them, Highness, and this will ensure it
, Franklin said.

Dammit, you are the last of your kind and so close to Ascension it doesn’t matter. You are not to do this, I forbid it!
John said.

We waited a long moment before Franklin replied,
No
.

Franklin, dude
, the Tiger said.
If you can disobey him, you’re in the middle of Ascending. Get the fuck out of there because if you’re yanged before you do it
—

The King is here, my Lords. The other servants have obeyed you and left the palace, but I’m holding him for you. They are in the main hall; we prepared a feast for them
.

All the wives and children are out, right?
Michael said.

They are. It is just me here
.

Did you at least get the fucking horses out?
the Tiger said.

Uh … that’s the feast
, Franklin said.

The Tiger howled with rage and pain in John’s head.

I’m ready. Do it
, Franklin said.

Are you seeing gold yet, Franklin?
John said.

No, Gold’s not here. Oh! Oh. I see what you mean. Wow. Gold. Everything’s gold
. His voice became urgent.
The King is gathering a large force to move to the next Bastion. You need to do this now!

‘Do it, Michael,’ John said.

‘But Franklin —’

‘Do it, that’s an order. And don’t just take out the main hall; yang the entire thing to bedrock. Everything.’ He lowered his voice. ‘That is a direct order.’

‘Please witness my execution of this order under extreme duress, Celestial Highness.’

‘Acknowledged,’ John said. ‘Now
do it
!’

Michael stood, dropped his head and stared at the Western Palace. He raised his hands and the sky glowed.

Memories flooded John as he watched the sky ignite above the red stones: the good times he’d spent there with his brother the Tiger. Helping the Tiger design the ingenious system of cooling fountains; arguing over the finest steeds to stock his stables. Feasts and merriment, shared with their families. All to be destroyed.

I am so sorry, brother
.

Fuck this. When I rebuild, you’re paying for it
.

Of course
.

John hoped that Franklin had made it out before the twenty-metre-wide circle of blindingly white light appeared directly above the centre of the palace. It expanded to fifty metres and the waves of heat coming from it made the stones of the palace appear to ripple. Michael made a soft sound of effort and a shaft of hot white light exploded from the sky into the earth with a deafening roar that made the ground shake.

‘Nice control,’ John said softly.

A ring of light shot from the pillar, then two more. They expanded so fast they were almost invisible, rushing outwards past Michael and John into the distance and fusing the sand and every stone around them into glass.

The deafening shockwave hit a moment later, full of dust and debris, and the ground shook again.

The circle in the sky contracted. The pillar of light crashed into the earth with another tremendous impact felt through the ground, and spread in a dome of light, kilometres across, that expanded then shrank to a white-hot dot in the centre of a circle of destruction.

The dot disappeared, the stones fell from the air and there was silence; the only sound the pinging of the fused stones cooling around them. No mushroom cloud in the aftermath; the destruction was complete. A smooth polished circle three kilometres across remained where the Western Palace had been.

Michael fell to his hands and knees with grief. John held him, then sent his senses out, searching for demons, and found none.

‘Majesty?’ he said. ‘I can’t sense any. Did we destroy them all?’

I cannot sense any
, the Jade Emperor said.

John sagged with relief. The cost had been appalling, but they’d won.

‘Did Franklin Ascend?’ he said.

There was a long silence, then the Jade Emperor said,
No
.

John punched the ground and the glass surface shattered over the dust beneath.

He silently helped Michael to his feet and escorted him to the safety of the Celestial Palace. There, he would meet with Emma — and kill her.

‘I think we’re good to go here,’ I said as we did one last pass over the demon camp in Hell. ‘They’re all gone —’

A fake stone elemental surged out of the ground and grabbed me, one arm around my waist and another over my mouth.

Simone summoned yin around her hands and stood frozen.

I tried to free myself and failed; Emma wasn’t strong enough. The Serpent could break the demon’s hold, but I knew what that would do to Emma — to me. I stayed still and waited, ready to strike against it.

‘I have her, Majesty,’ the demon said in a very cultured English accent. ‘Yes. Emma. Yes. No. Majesty.’

The Celestial island blurred around me and I landed on the dais in the Demon King’s throne room. The room was completely empty; no demons or guards were present, just the two Kings reclining on the throne together, kissing with passion.

Shit. They weren’t destroyed.

‘Majesty,’ the demon holding me said, its voice rumbling through me.

The Kings jerked up, then separated and rose, fixing their clothing.

‘Well done,’ the Eastern King said, and the demon nodded its head over mine. The King sauntered to stand in front of me and put his hands behind his back. ‘This is what we’re going to do.’

John charged out of the Celestial Palace and straight to the Celestial island in Hell. Simone was still standing, stricken, in front of the hole that had held the demon. It was a clever ambush: none of his family could sense the stone elementals.

He checked Emma’s location — the King’s throne room. He tried to teleport directly there and couldn’t. That side of Hell was still outside Celestial jurisdiction and sworn Celestial Retainers like himself were barred from entry. Perhaps Simone …

The King slapped me across the face and I landed back in my own head.

‘What?’ I said.

‘That worked. Who were you talking to? When did
you
learn telepathy?’

‘You need me, right?’

‘Of course I do.’

‘If you don’t release me right now, I’m gone anyway. Look at me. Take a good hard look, George.’

He put his hand on my face and held my chin and his cruel essence lanced into my brain like a hot knife. I tried to stay silent and failed, whimpering as he tore my head open and roughly examined me. The Serpent surged inside me, threw him out and slammed my head shut so that he couldn’t re-enter.

He fell back, stricken. ‘There it is again, that same snake thing inside your head. You’re the
Serpent
? You were the Serpent all along? No — I had the Serpent. What the fuck was that then?’

‘I’ve merged with the Serpent,’ I said. ‘It’s consuming me. I must go to the Jade Emperor so he can extract me.’

‘Is she still Frankie’s mother?’ Francis said. ‘We need his mother more than we need the stupid Serpent.’

‘She’s both at the same time.’

‘She’s way too small to stay separate. It will eat her.’

‘Let me look. Hold her tight,’ the King said to the armoured demon.

It gripped me, and he took my face again and examined me more carefully. The Serpent sat coiled at the back of my head and glowered at him.

John walked along the street in Beijing. There were the pagodas of Jingshan Park, there was the entrance to the subway … the bicycles flowed everywhere. Where had the gateway been? He sent his senses out and found it. He pushed through the crowd and couldn’t enter the gateway; it was blocked to him.

The Demon King slapped me again, bringing me back.

‘Let the Turtle in,’ I said. ‘Let him take me to the Jade Emperor and extract me. If I’m not extracted soon I’ll be gone. You will lose any chance of taking my son to Heaven for the next fifteen years.’

Come and destroy them, Turtle. Merge with me in True Form and take them both down. We can do it
.

If we take True Form, Emma will be gone. I know how little of you remains, love
.

Worth it
.

No!

I jerked my head back. ‘Don’t hit me, I was talking to him. Let him in.’

The King looked me in the eyes, studying me. ‘How joined are you? If I talk to you, will he hear me?’

‘Yes,’ I said with both voices.

He grinned with malice. ‘Let’s do a deal.’

Shit
.

Just agree to everything they offer. Then come and take merged True Form and destroy them
, I said.

No!

‘I’ll let you have her, Turtle, but if I ever want to take the child to Heaven, she has to escort him for me.’

We hesitated.

‘That’ll only happen when I win, Ah Wu. And you’ll be gone anyway. Your Lady and child will be safe in Heaven.’ The King moved closer to see into my eyes. ‘Not such a sacrifice, eh? Give me your word and you can take her.’

‘Guarantee Simone’s safety as well,’ I said.

‘Done. Turtle?’

You vowed to protect the Celestial, Xuan Wu, and you can end this now. Agree to everything they offer, then combine with the Serpent and destroy them when you are here
.

The Turtle was silent for a long time, considering. He could renounce his Celestial alignment, throw it all away, and come to collect me and keep me safe …

And you can’t extract me yourself. Stop pretending you could betray the Celestial and come destroy both Kings with one strike. I love you, John. Come and take these monsters down and free the world from their cruelty
.

No!

Once they are gone, the King’s Number One will become King. He has agreed to stay on his side of Hell and renounce all claim to the Earthly. Make sure he keeps his word with a blood oath, and both the Earthly and Heaven will be safe
.

He was silent for a long time, then:
You were the best thing that ever happened to me, Emma
.

Thank you, Xuan Wu. Free our son when they are gone and tell him that I loved him
.

I will
.

‘You have my word as the Xuan Wu,’ I said. ‘Release Emma into
my care, and when you need her to escort the child into Heaven, she will do it.’

‘Good,’ the King said. ‘Meet her in Tin Hau station in Hong Kong.’

‘No, let me in to collect her. We need to hurry!’

‘Don’t be ridiculous. Let you in here? No. Tin Hau. I’ll let her out from the gateway there.’

John was full of relief as he teleported from Beijing to Hong Kong. He no longer had the option of merging and taking down the Kings. Emma would be safe, and now she could be extracted.

He arrived at Tin Hau station with the evening rush hour — so normal and mundane. These humans had no idea of the conflict that had occurred above them.

Emma stood blank and unseeing on the concourse before the turnstiles, in front of the unmarked metal door that was the gateway to Hell. People swirled around her, paying her no attention. He took her hand and she didn’t respond. He checked inside her and it was like looking into a mirror: his own consciousness looked back.

‘Emma? Can you hear me?’

She didn’t respond.

He sought her inside himself and heard an echo, a glimmer …

We may still be able to extract her
, the Jade Emperor said.
Bring her now
.

John followed the Jade Emperor’s guidance to his own quarters in the Celestial Palace. Simone was there waiting for them.

‘You need to do this now, Ah Wu. Emma is almost completely you,’ the Jade Emperor said.

The Jade Emperor was right. Emma stood stiff and unseeing when John released her hand. He waved his hand in front of her face …

And I snapped back into my own head.

‘Now, Ah Wu.’

‘I can’t just kill her!’ John looked into my eyes, desperate. ‘You must survive this.’ He nodded over my head to the Jade Emperor. ‘Give her a scale or a claw or something. Anything!’

‘She’s already back inside your head, Ah Wu,’ the Emperor said, and John pulled back to see … Emma was blank again.