Hell to Heaven (48 page)

We ran to the end of the tunnel. The guards stood there frozen, their eyes wide.

Simone gestured towards them. ‘I didn’t want guns pointed at me so I bound them.’

You can let them go, they won’t stop you
, the Tiger said.

The guards sagged and took deep breaths, then pointed the guns at us.

‘My apologies,’ one of them said. ‘We’ve been ordered to keep you here.’ They moved into position so that all four of us were covered. ‘Raise your hands, please.’

Now stay there!
the Tiger said.

‘Do as they say,’ I said, and we all raised our hands.

Simone concentrated. ‘They’re bound again. Let’s go.’

‘Liar!’ I said to the Tiger.

Only for you, baby.

Simone pointed at the blank wall. ‘The vault door’s there. Michael?’

‘Got it,’ Michael said, and the door appeared. The wheels turned and it opened.

‘If I remember right, there’s a corridor, then a guard station with three guards in it,’ I said. ‘Tiger, if you can
hear me, please tell them to stand down. I really don’t want to mess with any ridiculous code words, I just want to get to my demons.’

They won’t stand down on telepathic command
, the Tiger said.
The code phrase is: ‘Help, I’m being held hostage by this evil snake demon.’

‘Bastard!’

Thank you.

‘Did you get that, Simone?’

Simone was silent for a moment, then she replied, her voice full of suppressed laughter. ‘Yeah, I got it.’

Michael opened the doors for us and the guards stood waiting with their weapons pointed at us.

‘Help, I’m being held hostage by this evil snake demon,’ Simone said. ‘Now please don’t point those at my family.’

The soldiers lowered their weapons and stepped back.

‘Thank you,’ I said.

You’re welcome.

‘I wasn’t talking to you.’

‘I’m glad you’re here, ma’am,’ one of the soldiers said to Simone. ‘These things are nasty. Some of our brothers have died, and our mothers are outside at the other end. We’re counting on you.’ They saluted her, raising their weapons to her. ‘Ma’am.’

Simone was silent for a moment, then said, ‘I’ll do my best.’

‘That’s all we can ask for, ma’am,’ he said, and they stepped back.

‘There’s a maze on the other side,’ I said.

‘I can see it,’ Simone said. ‘Don’t worry, I can see it all.’

‘The path through the maze is the character for
Tiger,’ Michael said as he made the doors materialise and open. ‘Pretty stupid and obvious, really.’

‘Oh, it is too!’ Simone said with wonder. She turned to Michael. ‘You’re right!’

‘About it being stupid and obvious?’ he said as we went down the first path in the maze.

‘Well, it is your dad we’re talking about.’

As we wound through the corridors, the air became warmer. I tasted it. ‘The air tastes of ash and burning,’ I said. ‘Not a good sign.’

Simone raised both arms to the side as we reached the end of the maze and a group of ten water elementals, each of them a sphere of water about the size of a basketball, materialised around her. ‘These will help.’

Michael opened the final door for us and the two guards stood with their weapons ready on the other side.

‘Don’t bother with the code words, ma’am,’ one of them said to Simone. ‘Just please go and help. My mother is outside.’

Michael opened the doors and we entered the lobby of the demon hotel. The hotel staff wore standard uniforms, but all of them carried swords and had the demons gathered in groups in the lobby, sitting on the floor with their hands behind their heads. I saw my demons and slithered to them.

‘Yi Hao, Er Hao,’ I said.

They jumped up and ran to me, and the guard raised her sword to attack them.

‘Stand down,’ Simone said. ‘This is Lady Emma, and they are her demons.’

The guard subsided. Yi Hao and Er Hao fell to their knees in front of me.

‘They won’t tell us what is happening, ma’am,’ Er Hao said. ‘Are they going to destroy us? We’ve done nothing.’

‘You are in danger,’ I said. ‘There are fake fire elementals on the other side.’ I tasted the air: stronger ash and burning, a raw taste that seared my throat.

‘They should let us go then,’ one of the other demons called.

‘No,’ Jeremy said loudly. ‘We’re demons, and we can’t be trusted.’ He rose and took a few steps towards me. ‘Princess Simone is here. Lady Emma is here. They can take down anything that attacks.’ He turned back to the demons. ‘We’ll be fine, we just have to stay put and wait.’

I glanced back at Simone and we shared a look.

We can’t let them go
, she said.
They’re controlled by the Geek or the Death Mother.

I know.

‘Stay here,’ I said. I touched my nose to Yi Hao and Er Hao and they nodded, tears flowing down their faces. ‘We’ll fix this.’

‘We trust you, ma’am,’ Yi Hao said. She raised one hand and touched my nose. ‘Who’s looking after you? Your diary must be a mess, and you had some urgent business in your in-tray—’

‘Don’t worry about that,’ I said. I raised myself on my coils to talk to all of them. ‘Go to the far end of the building and stay there. If the fire elementals come in and get past us, try fire extinguishers on them, and run.’

Yi Hao nodded. ‘We trust you.’ She touched Er Hao on the arm and they rejoined their group.

‘Come on,’ the guards said, and guided the demons to the other end of the building. This version of the
hotel had no indoor swimming pool, just a large hall under the building, and they all sat on the ground there.

‘I would really, really like to see a turtle here right now,’ Simone said.

‘So would I,’ I said. ‘But we have to assume that it isn’t going to happen.’

W
e took the lift up to where the restaurant and conference rooms were located. The smoke was visible in the air.

‘This is very bad,’ I said, looking around.

Simone pointed to the airlock entrance. ‘Do we go through there?’

‘Yes,’ I said. ‘And it’s supposed to be a vacuum seal.’

‘But there’s smoke here,’ Michael said.

‘That means the seal is down,’ Simone said.

‘There’s nothing but a couple of doors between this area and all those demons,’ I said.

‘What did your dad have in there?’ Simone asked Michael.

‘All the nastiest things he caught. At least three or four real big Snake Mothers. A couple of oozes, a buttload of really big humanoids. He even caught two or three dinosaur shape changers—raptor types—and they’re in there too.’

‘All of that and a group of fire elementals,’ Simone said, facing the door with her water elementals floating around her. She took a deep breath. ‘A turtle right now would be really, really good.’

Something hit the door, denting it, and we all took a step back. The smell of burning intensified.

‘Emma, move back,’ Simone said without looking away from the door. ‘In fact, I think it might be best if you went all the way back to the hotel.’

‘You can’t fight these, they’re too big even for your snake,’ Michael said.

‘You kids should both go back, you’re not Immortal,’ Leo said. ‘And take Emma with you.’

‘We can fight,’ Michael said, and summoned his sword, the White Tiger.

Simone raised one hand and Seven Stars appeared in it, the blade bare. ‘Emma can’t fight. Emma, go back.’

Leo changed from lion to human form, wearing a Wudang uniform, and stood without difficulty. He concentrated and grew even taller, becoming darker and wider and deeper. He remained big, black and bald, but he was nearly three metres tall. His face lost its late-forties appearance and became younger and full of intensity.

‘I didn’t know you had a Celestial Form, old man,’ Michael said.

‘I didn’t either,’ Leo said. ‘How about that.’

Something hit the doors again, and a hole appeared in the centre. The edges of the hole changed from grey to glowing red.

Leo glanced at me. ‘I think they’re right, Emma. Go back.’

‘I’ll stand at the rear. Don’t forget what I am,’ I said.

‘You’re just a snake,’ Simone said. ‘You’re just your ordinary snake self, not the super-powered version—and you can’t fight these.’

‘I’m not here to fight,’ I said. ‘I’m a healer.’

The middle of the door began to melt and we all moved back at the intensity of the heat.

‘Just stay back and don’t try to help then,’ Simone said.

‘The demons on the other side of the door are holding back as well,’ Michael said. ‘The heat from the melting metal will be as intense for them as it is for us.’

A two-metre-long, tentacle-shaped flame poked through the hole in the door and lashed around. It touched the floor and the flames oozed to the end of it, forming themselves into a human-shaped demon made of flame.

We all took another step back.

Simone raised one arm and gestured and one of the water elementals flew towards the fire elemental. The water elemental grew to a sphere of three metres across and encased the fire elemental. The water touching the fire boiled, the bubbles visible within the water, and the water around the edges froze.

‘Compensate, compensate!’ Simone said, concentrating on the elemental. ‘Colder!’

A floating mist of condensation appeared around the water. Crystals appeared in its structure and the boiling within it eased.

Simone gasped and sagged. ‘I have it. It’s contained.’ She turned to look at us. ‘But I can’t hold it forever.’

Another flame tentacle came through the door and Simone turned back to face it.

‘How many of those things are there?’ I said.

‘Five,’ Michael said. He backed up again. ‘That’s why we never saw any fire elementals when we were attacked before. Always the other elements, but not fire. He was saving them for this.’

This tentacle turned into two fire elementals, which stopped when they saw us. They merged into one, and it wrapped its arms around the fire elemental held inside the ice bubble.

Simone raised one hand and three of her water elementals joined together, grew into a larger sphere and engulfed both of the fire elementals and their frozen brother. The sphere froze with an audible crack.

‘This is not a good time for me to be without my yin,’ Simone said, her voice strained with effort.

‘You don’t have yin?’ Michael said.

‘Daddy locked it out of me. He said I might destroy the world.’

‘Makes sense.’ Michael readied himself. ‘The other demons are approaching.’

We’re fighting the demons from the other side but it’s not looking good
, the Tiger said.
We’ve taken down the raptors and most of the humanoids, but the Mothers are too big, and we have two more fires back here that we can’t even get close to.

A siren went off over the intercom system.

Evacuate
, the Tiger said.
Destroy the demons and run. Everybody out.

‘No!’ I shouted, slithering quickly back to the demons being held in the demon hotel. The staff had already started to slice them up. They ran around in terror and cowered in the corners.

‘I am Emma Donahoe, First Heavenly General, and I order you to stop this!’ I roared.

The staff ignored me.

I went to one of them and stood between him and the demons. ‘That is an order!’ I looked around. ‘Stop destroying these demons now. Stand down! Tiger,
order your staff to stand down right now, that is an order!’

Do it
, the Tiger said.

The guards looked at each other, then lowered their weapons.

‘I am First Heavenly General and you obey my orders above all others,’ I hissed at the guards. ‘The Tiger should not have had to confirm that. Do not for a moment forget who I am.’

You pulling rank on me, girlie?
the Tiger said.

‘Damn straight,’ I said. I focused on the guards. ‘Evacuate these demons under guard. Take them to the lobby of the other hotel down the bottom and keep them under guard and separate from the wives. The reason they’re in this part of the facility is because they’ve turned, and demons that have turned must be protected.’

I moved to face the demons. ‘Go with the guards. I’ve made sure they won’t hurt you. Follow orders, go quietly and behave.’

I turned back to the guards. ‘If any of them disobey you, even for a second, destroy them without hesitation.’ I couldn’t slither backwards so I turned and moved out of the way. ‘Now go.’

‘Thank you, ma’am,’ Jeremy said.

‘Watch those ones particularly carefully,’ I said, indicating Jeremy’s group with my nose. ‘They haven’t turned; they’re demon copies of humans.’

Jeremy’s expression darkened and he dropped his head as he walked past.

‘Just be yourself, Jeremy, and nobody will hurt you,’ I said more gently.

He smiled slightly at me, dropped his head again and went out.

I rejoined Simone, Michael and Leo at the top of the stairs. The fire elementals remained frozen inside the water, but another fire elemental had come through the door. Simone was in the process of freezing it. Something struck the door again, and hands appeared in the hole, trying to make it bigger. The hands disappeared and a sword poked through; an armed demon was attempting to widen the hole.

‘I can’t hold these fire elementals forever,’ Simone said. She loaded Seven Stars with her own chakra energy, each chakra forming a different-coloured ball of light in one of the seven indentations in the sword. ‘Michael, help them through the door so we can destroy them and then leave.’

‘What’s happening on your side, Tiger?’ I said.

There was no reply.

‘Nobody’s left alive, it’s just us. It’s a good thing we came up,’ Michael said.

He raised one hand towards the door and it shattered. He readied himself with his sword. ‘Come on in, demons, we can take you.’

Two armed humanoids came through, followed by three enormous Snake Mothers.

‘Permission to use Dark Heavens, ma’am,’ Leo said.

‘Granted,’ Simone and I said in unison.

‘I need to talk to the forge about getting something made for me,’ Leo said as he raised the sword. His voice changed to surprise. ‘Well, how about that.’ Dark Heavens had grown in his hands to match the size of his Celestial Form.