Blue Dragon

CHAPTER TEN

Simone and Michael finally fell out of bed at eleven o’clock on Saturday morning. School had worn them out, and they’d both stayed up late the night before. Thank God the term was finished. They really needed the break.

I found them in the kitchen, bickering over their cereal.

‘Don’t call me squirt!’ Simone snapped.

‘What do you want me to call you? Princess?’ Michael said, glowering.

Simone straightened. ‘Well, I am.’

‘Simone! Cut it out, both of you.’ I sighed. Michael

particularly wasn’t a morning person. ‘Michael’s a prince anyway. You’re both very special.’

They glared at each other. Simone poked her tongue out at Michael, who turned back to his cereal and pointedly ignored her.

‘Ah Yat,’ I said, ‘where’s Lord Xuan? I just had a call from the Academy; he was supposed to be there and never turned up.’

‘The Lord is still sleeping, ma’am,’ Ah Yat said with a smile.

I glanced at the clock over the kitchen door. Eleven o’clock and he was still sleeping? Simone looked worried. I tried to control my face.

‘What?’ Michael said.

‘That’s very late,’ I said. ‘He wasn’t up late last night either. Where’s Leo, Ah Yat?’

‘In the training room, ma’am,’ Ah Yat said, the smile gone. ‘Is the Dark Lord all right?’

‘I hope so,’ I said softly. ‘He is just sleeping?’

Ah Yat’s eyes unfocused, and she nodded.

‘We should go and have a look, Emma,’ Simone said.

I hesitated.

Simone rose and took my hand. ‘Come on, Emma, you’re nearly married anyway. It’s okay. He won’t mind.’ She sounded much more mature than her six years. Her eyes unfocused, then she snapped back. ‘I told Leo.’

We went down the hall together, leaving Michael in the kitchen, his expression grim. Leo met us outside the training room.

‘He has been sleeping much more lately,’ Leo said. ‘Most days last week he wasn’t out of bed before we took them to school.’

I nodded. He was right.

‘He said to call the Lady if he went into a coma,’ I whispered.

Leo’s face went rigid. ‘Oh my God.’

‘Let’s go and see if he’s okay,’ Simone said, pulling my hand. ‘Come on, Leo.’

My heart was in my throat as we approached his door. Simone tapped on it. Not a sound. My stomach fell out.

Simone opened the door for us and led us in. The room was dark and he was asleep, as Ah Yat had said.

Simone dragged me to him. He was on his back, his noble face peaceful, his dark hair spread in a wild tangle around his head.

‘Daddy,’ Simone whispered. ‘Daddy, wake up.’

He didn’t move.

‘Oh, dear Lord,’ I said softly.

Simone reached under the covers and found his hand. She pulled it out and held it. ‘Daddy.’ She brushed her hand over his face. ‘Look inside, Emma.’

I put my hand on his forehead and concentrated. I sagged with relief. His eyes opened. He smiled slightly at us.

‘What are all of you doing in here?’ he said, his voice low. He turned to Simone. ‘Don’t let go of my hand while Emma’s touching me.’

I removed my hand from his forehead but Simone didn’t let go. I crouched to look at him directly. ‘It’s after eleven o’clock, John.’

He shot upright. ‘I have a class to teach!’ He grabbed his forehead and fell back on the pillow.

Simone and I both held him; she by the hand and I by the arm.

‘Are you okay?’ I said.

He nodded, his eyes closed. He opened them and smiled at us again.

‘Are you ill, my Lord?’ Leo said from behind us.

John shook his head. ‘No. Just…’ He didn’t finish.

‘We should get the Lady,’ I whispered.

‘How long until we go?’ he said, his eyes searching my face. ‘What day is it today? How long?’

‘It’s Saturday today. We go Monday,’ I said.

‘I’ll make it.’ He smiled. ‘Leave me. I just need to sleep.’

I dropped my head into my hands, then brushed my hands through my hair, desperate. ‘Leo, please take Simone out.’

Simone didn’t protest and I didn’t look as they left.

‘Can I feed you myself?’ I said.

‘No, of course not,’ he said. ‘You are the last person in the world who should try that.’

‘You won’t make it, John!’ I whispered fiercely.

He didn’t say anything.

‘Can Meredith feed you?’

‘I don’t want to risk it,’ he said. ‘I could easily destroy her.’ He turned his head to me. ‘More than death, Emma. If I were to drain her, it would be destruction.’

‘Call the Lady,’ I said. ‘She keeps saying she’ll come and do it here.’

‘I’ll make it,’ he said. ‘If I call her and she feeds me here, we’ll have demons down our throats straightaway. They’ll know how weak I am and come after all of us. Every single place will be under attack. Here, the Folly, the Academy, everywhere. Best to wait until we are far from their Centre. She is an incurable optimist offering to come here herself. But the consequences would be disastrous.’

‘You were okay to be fed by her here after the Attack,’ I said.

‘There weren’t any demons to come and get us then,’ he said matter-of-factly. ‘Most of them were destroyed on the Mountain, and the remaining ones were regrouping. But they are stronger now, and they would be here immediately.’

‘Oh God.’

He turned his head away and closed his eyes. ‘Leave me,’ he whispered. ‘I’ll make it.’

I threw myself up and stormed out. It was too late to rearrange the flight plan. I knew I should have arranged the flight for Saturday, but we had a lot of loose ends to tie up at the Academy before we left and the three of us had planned to do it together over the weekend with the kids home from school.

I should have arranged it for Saturday!

John slept the rest of Saturday and most of Sunday, only coming out occasionally to find something to drink; even so he became very dehydrated. The apartment was like a funeral home the whole weekend. Everybody tiptoed around, talking in whispers. Simone watched him. Wherever she was, whatever she was doing, she would unfocus to check him, and then snap back, her little face grim.

We were due to fly out Monday afternoon. I packed for Simone; Leo packed for John. John wasn’t even aware of Leo’s presence in his room until we woke him to clean him up. He hadn’t shaved in three days; his beard was almost completely white and his greying hair was a mess.

I hovered until Leo carried him into the bathroom and closed the door in my face.

John slept on the boat. When we arrived at Macau, Leo had difficulty waking him. He leaned on Leo as we went through customs and immigration. After he had coerced the staff into not seeing our bag of weapons, his hair was almost completely grey. Simone held his hand, stricken.

‘I’ll make it,’ he said softly. ‘A few more hours. We’ll get there.’

After we boarded the plane, John passed out. Leo caught him, scooped him up like a child and carried him to the back of the plane, Simone and I following. The airport ground staff closed the door of the plane and rapped the side: we were okay to go.

Leo gently placed John on the bunk bed. He was limp and his face was ashen. He looked very old. I didn’t waste any time. I dropped the carry bag on the floor next to the bunk and went forward to the main cabin to tell the pilot over the intercom that we were ready. I threw myself onto one of the chairs, dropped my handbag, and picked up the phone.

We were lucky: it was Brian, a cheerful Australian who did a lot of private contract work and had absolutely no idea of the true nature of his employer for this trip.

‘We can go, Brian,’ I said.

‘Okay, Emma,’ he said. ‘My co-pilot’s arranging clearance for us. We should be given the go-ahead in the next five minutes—the airport isn’t too busy right now.’

‘Brian,’ I said softly, ‘Mr Chen is terminally ill. We’re going for treatment in Borneo.’ Brian began to speak, but I cut him off. ‘Don’t ask. Just be aware that Mr Chen has already collapsed and we need to get him there as quickly as possible.’ I tried to control my voice. ‘We only have hours. For God’s sake, get us there. If there’s a delay, we could lose him. We have to make it. Please.’

‘I’ll do my best,’ Brian said. ‘Weather is good.’

‘Thanks.’

‘We have clearance,’ said a male voice with a Cantonese accent over the intercom; the other pilot.

‘Tell everybody to strap in,’ Brian said. ‘We’re up to go.’

I went through the galley to the little room at the back of the plane. Leo sat cross-legged on the floor next to the bunk, Simone in his lap, both of them watching John.

John was unconscious.

I went to him and took his hand. Leo moved to grab me, but I waved him back. ‘It’s okay, Leo, he can’t hurt me while he’s asleep.’

Leo nodded.

I looked inside him and my stomach fell out.

‘What, Emma?’ Simone said softly.

‘Look inside,’ I whispered.

Simone concentrated then made a sound of misery. ‘No.’

‘What is it?’ Leo said.

‘There’s nothing there,’ I whispered.

‘He’s gone?’

‘He’s still there,’ Simone said. ‘But there’s hardly anything.’

I dropped my head, still holding his hand. ‘He won’t make it.’

‘Call the Lady,’ Leo said.

‘We’ll be taking off in a minute,’ Brian’s voice said over the intercom. ‘Buckle up, everybody.’

‘I’ll call her when we’re airborne,’ I said. ‘Bring him into the main cabin. He’ll need a seatbelt.’

‘He’s better where he is,’ Leo said.

‘You know what take-off from this part of China is like,’ I said. ‘We could hit turbulence. He needs to be strapped in.’

Leo didn’t say anything. He gently lifted John and carried him into the main cabin. I took Simone’s hand and led her in as well. Leo strapped John in. I took care of Simone. Then we sat ourselves.

The plane taxied onto the runway. The engines roared. We were airborne.

Simone moved to undo her seatbelt but I stopped her. ‘Wait until Brian says it’s okay, sweetheart.’ She nodded and sat back, watching her father with an expression that belonged on a much older face.

I reached for the intercom, then decided against it. The pilots were busy flying the plane. They would tell us when we could move around.

It seemed like an eternity. We hit turbulence twice. Finally we emerged above the clouds and the late afternoon sunshine lit the interior of the plane with an orange glow. The seatbelt light blinked off with a musical chime.

We all hurried to undo the belts and crouched around John. He was limp.

‘Take him back into the bunk,’ I said. ‘Where’s the pearl?’

Leo had lifted John halfway. He froze. ‘Oh my God.’

‘Oh, dear Lord,’ I said. ‘It’s in the hold, isn’t it.’

Leo silently carried John to the back of the plane. I sat down and put my head in my hands, then remembered and looked up, full of relief.

‘Simone, pet,’ I said. ‘Call Aunty Kwan now.’

‘I am,’ Simone said. ‘But it’s really strange. She’s not answering.’

I grabbed her hand. ‘Simone, have you checked for demons?’

Simone’s eyes went wide. ‘The pilot’s dead. A demon’s flying the plane!’

I shot to my feet, grabbed Simone and ran to the back of the plane. Leo hunched over John, his face full of misery.

‘Leo,’ I said, gasping, ‘the co-pilot was a demon. The pilot’s dead.’

Leo spun to the bag on the floor and ripped it open. He scrabbled through and pulled out my sword, then Dark Heavens. He tossed my sword to me. ‘Get back, Simone.’

‘Get behind us, sweetheart,’ I said, turning to face the main cabin. I pulled my sword out of its scabbard and waited.

There wasn’t a sound.

Then I felt the plane turning. Turning right. I leaned to keep my balance.

‘Towards their Centre,’ Leo said softly.

‘Damn,’ I said. ‘If we take the demon out, there’s nobody to fly the plane.’

‘Before you ask, Emma, no,’ Leo said.

‘Well, well,’ I said. ‘There’s a first time for everything.’

‘I did basic on choppers. Not fixed wing,’ Leo said. ‘I’m not capable of flying anything solo anyway.’

‘What about John?’

‘I have no idea,’ Leo said. ‘But probably not, unless he learned for recreational flying. Never needed to.’ He glanced at me. ‘He can’t fly anything anyway, Emma, he’s unconscious.’ He went rigid as he understood. ‘Don’t you dare feed him energy, you’ll kill yourself. He wouldn’t be able to fly the plane anyway. You stay alive. We need to protect Simone.’

‘Simone,’ I said, ‘keep calling. Kwan Yin, Bai Hu, Qing Long, Zhu Que, Na Zha, Jade, Gold, Michael, everybody. Don’t stop, no matter what happens. Okay? Stone, you too.’

‘Okay,’ Simone said, her voice very small.

‘I’m silenced as well,’ the stone said. ‘Here they come. This demon is stronger every time we encounter it. What is it doing to itself? This is more than just training.’

There was a sound in the main cabin. Leo and I readied ourselves. I suddenly realised: the Demon King’s phone was in the main cabin, in my handbag. I’d left it there. I cursed myself for an idiot. I should never have let it out of my reach.

Wong appeared in the door from the galley.

Leo let his breath out in a quiet hiss.

‘Hello, everybody,’ Wong said. He leaned on the doorway with one shoulder and crossed his arms over his chest.

Leo attacked him, sword raised. Wong didn’t seem concerned at all, he smiled slightly. As Leo brought the sword down, he grabbed Leo’s arm and held it. With his other hand he hit Leo across the face with a sickening wet crunch.

He grabbed both of Leo’s arms and held him. Leo panted and hung limply from Wong’s hands.

Wong smiled and looked right into my eyes, then leaned over and bit Leo on the side of the neck. Leo screwed up his face as Wong bit down hard. Simone squeaked behind me.

Wong raised his face, blood smeared over his mouth, and grinned at me. He threw Leo to the floor and kicked him in the head. Leo grunted and lay still.

Simone screamed.

‘Stay still, Simone,’ I said, moving back to guard her.

‘He hurt my Leo!’ Simone shrieked. She generated a huge ball of chi and hurled it at Wong.

The demon raised his hand and absorbed the energy.

‘I don’t want to hurt you, ladies,’ Wong said. ‘I want you both intact. Are you okay, Simone?’

Simone’s face was ashen. I looked inside her. She had very nearly drained herself.

I grabbed her hand and fed her some of my chi. She absorbed it. I felt her terror.

‘We’ll get out of this, one way or another, sweetheart,’ I whispered.

‘Oh, well done, Emma,’ Wong said. ‘I didn’t know you could do that.’

‘Wake up, Daddy,’ Simone said loudly.

John didn’t move.

‘I don’t think he has much longer, dear one,’ Wong said. ‘I do hope he remembers to leave the human form behind. I need the head. The rest of it isn’t too bad, either.’

‘You’ll have to go through me to get to him,’ I said. ‘Try me.’

‘Oh, with a great deal of pleasure,’ Wong said. ‘Try you? Something I’ve wanted to do for a very long time. Kitty?’

Kitty Kwok appeared behind him, moving cautiously.

‘What the hell are you doing here?’ I said.

‘Emma,’ Kitty said loudly.

I remained still and silent, waiting, wondering.

‘Emma!’ Kitty ordered sharply. ‘Obey me!’

I lowered my sword.

‘Well, what do you know,’ Wong said. ‘It worked.’

‘Drop the weapon,’ Kitty said.

I dropped the sword and it hit the carpet with a thump.

‘What are you doing, Emma?’ Simone said. ‘Why are you doing what she says?’

‘Tell her to come and give me a big wet kiss,’ Wong said with delight. ‘No, wait.’ He pulled Leo up, buried his face into the side of his neck, then dropped him again. ‘Now,’ he said with a mouth full of blood.

‘God, Simon, you are so disgusting sometimes,’ Kitty said.

‘If she can do this without hesitation then we have her,’ Wong said. ‘Whoops. Lost it.’ He swallowed. ‘Wait.’ He bent over Leo and sucked some more blood out of his neck. ‘He tastes funny. Different. Wonder if it’s because he’s black, or because he’s a girl?’ He looked up at Kitty and grinned. ‘You should try it.’

‘Come here and kiss Prince One Two Two,’ Kitty said wearily. ‘I don’t know why I put up with you, sometimes, Simon.’

Wong pulled himself to his feet and waved me closer.

I didn’t hesitate. I went to him, put my arms over his shoulders and raised my face.

‘No, Emma,’ Simone whispered. ‘Daddy, Daddy.’

Wong grinned down at me, his mouth covered in blood. He put his hand behind my neck and held me as he lowered his face to mine.

I kissed him with everything I had. I pressed myself into him and felt his body respond. I put my hands behind his head and pulled him hard into me. He squirted the blood into my mouth and I swallowed it, trying to control the gag reflex. But then I realised: there wasn’t one.

The blood tasted good.

I pulled away and smiled into his eyes. ‘More.’

‘Well done, Kitty,’ Wong said. ‘Lots of new toys. Now let’s take the Dark Lord’s head.’

‘I want more blood,’ I said huskily. ‘I want you.’ I rubbed myself against him. ‘You. Now. Blood.’

Wong grinned down at me. ‘What a good job, Kitty. You want to share?’

‘That bitch?’ Kitty said with disdain. ‘Kill her.’

‘Blood,’ I whispered. I reached down, pushed my hand into him and felt him respond. He arched his body into my hand. ‘You. Now.’ I gestured with my head towards the main cabin. I put my other hand behind his neck and pulled him down and spoke into the side of his throat. ‘Blood. You.’ I nipped at the flesh of his throat just enough to make him moan without breaking the skin. I shoved my body into him. ‘Now.’

‘No, Emma,’ Simone whispered. ‘What’s wrong with you?’ Her feet thumped on the carpet. ‘Wake up, Daddy!’

Wong covered my mouth with his again. He tried to swallow me whole. I tasted the blood. It tasted good. He pulled away slightly to speak. He dug his fingernails into the back of my neck, into the pressure points, making me gasp with pain and arch my back.

‘Plenty of blood, plenty of pain, plenty of me for you, my sweet. Just let me take the Dark Lord’s head and then we’ll have some real fun. You want to feed? You can feed off him, and Leo. Lots of fun. Lots of sweet blood.’

‘No. You. Now,’ I whispered.

‘We have to take care of your boyfriend first, honey,’ he said with a malicious grin. ‘Then we’ll have some fun with both the little girls. Simone and Leo.’

Okay, this wasn’t going to work. I released him and stepped back. I gathered myself, then made a huge leaping attempt to pass him so that I could reach the phone in the main cabin.

He grabbed me in mid-air with one hand and threw me to the floor of the plane onto my back, knocking the wind out of me.

‘What an actress,’ he said with amusement. ‘Had me fooled for a moment.’ He dropped to straddle me, sitting on my stomach. ‘Well, well. Look what we have here.’

‘Please don’t hurt my Emma,’ Simone whispered. ‘Please, Daddy, Daddy, wake up, wake up.’

‘Oh, don’t worry, sweetheart,’ Wong said loudly without looking away from me. ‘She’s much more valuable in one piece.’ He lowered his face to mine and dropped his voice, speaking right into my face. ‘And much tastier too.’ He slowly licked my cheek, taking his time about it. I tried not to let my expression betray my disgust.

He pulled back and put his hands on either side of my throat, with the thumbs on my windpipe. He squeezed. I couldn’t breathe. He was strangling me. I struggled but he had me down tight. I grabbed his arms but his grip was like steel. I faded; then he released me and I gasped for breath.

‘You didn’t go blue,’ he said with disappointment. ‘Let’s try again.’

He wrapped his hands around my throat again and squeezed. I tried to relax into a trance so that I wouldn’t need to breathe as much. He saw me do it. He released me to slap me across the face but I ignored it.

He put his hands on my arms and shifted so that he was stretched out on top of me. ‘You really don’t give a damn about yourself, do you,’ he growled into my ear. ‘All you care about is the little girl.’ He shoved himself into me. ‘She has to be intact, you know. But I can still have some fun with her, and I’d love to watch your face while I make her play. Right now is as good a time as any—it’ll be a long flight before we get there. I can have some fun with her before I give her to my dad. But I’m keeping you. He won’t even know I have you.’

I looked him in the eyes and felt nothing but hate. He had nearly killed Leo. He wanted to hurt my little Simone.

I tasted the blood.

I tasted the rage.

I tasted the pain.

Ice.

Cold.

Fury.

Something between my eyes went snap. And suddenly I was huge, and dark, and powerful, and mad as hell.

Wong’s face changed from menace to fear.

Both Kitty and Simone screamed.

I easily threw him off, raised myself on my black coils and opened my mouth to strike. My fangs flew out, spraying venom.

Wong and Kitty disappeared. Gone. I tried to follow their movement but they had taken off and gone fast and far.

I looked around. Simone had collapsed into the corner, sobbing. I glanced down at Leo. His neck was broken and he was bleeding profusely from the wound on the side of his throat, but he was alive.

I closed my mouth, refolding my fangs. What was happening?

They’d hurt Leo. They’d frightened Simone. Not good enough. There was a demon nearby. I stalked it.

I slithered silently through the galley into the main cabin. Demon. Kill.

The other side of the door. Demon. Kill it.

I went through the door without stopping. The demon wasn’t paying attention. I reared up and bit its head off. It exploded into a cloud of the black stuff. I vacuumed it all into me. Not as good as blood, but it would do.

There was a corpse in the other seat. I nudged it with my nose. Dead. Too bad. I couldn’t heal him. Oh, well.

I turned. The door was still closed, but again it didn’t stop me. I just went straight through it, as if it wasn’t there. I returned to Simone and Leo. I hesitated.

Simone: drained, but okay. Leo: near death. John: also near death.

I touched my nose to Leo and healed him. He didn’t wake.

‘Call the Dragon. Call the Lady,’ I said.

Simone remained frozen, sobbing.

‘Call them, child,’ I said.

‘I won’t hurt you.’

I felt them coming. I changed. I fell.