White Tiger

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Several weeks passed without any incident, taking us to mid-October.

I’d put Simone to bed and waited until she finally nodded off. I went into my room, changed into a pair of black track pants and a white T-shirt, and wandered over to the training room.

The door was closed so I tapped on it.

‘Come,’ Leo said from inside.

I opened the door and poked my head in. Leo was working with the sword that usually resided on the wall next to the front door.

‘When are you finishing?’ I said.

Leo saw that I was dressed for practice, rather than in the black Mountain uniform I wore for lessons with Mr Chen. ‘Come in, we can share.’

‘You don’t mind?’

‘No, of course not,’ he said. ‘Come on in.’

I entered and closed the door. ‘I wanted to do some tai chi. Simone’s worn me out.’

‘What style?’ Leo put the sword back into its scabbard. ‘How many styles have you learned?’

‘I’ve learned Chen and Yang, and I’ve just started Wu.’

Leo put the sword onto the weapons rack. ‘I’ll do it with you. Nice change of pace.’

‘Yang?’ I said.

He nodded and moved into position. ‘Sure.’

About a quarter of the way through the set Leo roused me out of my concentration by speaking. ‘Don’t get too attached to him, Emma.’

I didn’t stop my performance of the set. ‘Friends. Employer-employee. That’s all. We enjoy each other’s company. We both love Simone.’

‘You should be able to touch your hands by now when you do the heel kicks,’ he said. ‘Friends is good. Be his friend, but don’t try to be anything more. It can’t happen.’

‘I know that, Leo, we talked about it. I accept his decision. I’m happy the way it is.’

‘Don’t try to make it more, because if you do then you won’t have anything.’

I silently continued the set.

‘Just enjoy his company for as long as you have him,’ Leo said. ‘He likes your spirit. He loves teaching you. But it can never be more than that.’

We moved together through the final part of the set.

‘Friends,’ I said. ‘That’s all.’

‘Good.’ Leo turned and went out of the room without another word.

I moved into position to start a Chen set. We were friends, and that was all, and I was happy to have his company as long as he was there to give it to me. I didn’t need anything more. I was profoundly privileged to have what I did.

I just wished that damned ache inside me would go away.

The next day, in the afternoon, I dropped Simone into the music room for her Chinese lesson and headed up the hallway.

They were in the training room, and I heard them shouting from two doors away.

‘Just ask her!’ Leo shouted. ‘She wouldn’t mind at all!’

‘No,’ Mr Chen said. ‘And that is final.’

‘She wouldn’t care, my Lord, she’d probably enjoy it.’ Leo snorted with exasperation. ‘I don’t know why I bother, sometimes. Just ask her!’ He threw the door open and banged it into the wall, nearly knocking it off its hinges.

He saw me. ‘Here she is. Ask her.’

‘Ask me what?’

Leo pointed. ‘Go in there, and don’t let him get away with not asking you. It’s not like it’s a suicide mission.’

‘A suicide mission?’

He took my arm and pushed me into the training room. ‘Just ask him!’

I went further into the training room. Mr Chen stood to one side, scowling, one hand on his hip and the other holding the sword from the entry, point down.

‘What’s all this about?’ I said.

He didn’t say anything, just looked irritated.

‘Okay,’ I said, and turned to leave the room.

‘For God’s sake, ask her!’ Leo roared from down the hallway.

I couldn’t help it; I had to laugh.

Mr Chen chuckled as well, and rubbed his hand over his face. ‘All right, come with me and I’ll show you.’

Leo grumbled loudly down the hallway, then the door to his room banged.

Mr Chen put his sword back into its scabbard and replaced it on the rack. ‘Come with me.’

I followed him into his office. It was even worse than usual. The pile of papers on his desk was in serious danger of toppling onto the floor, adding to the stacks of documents already there.

He sat behind his desk and tied his hair back. Then he shuffled through the papers on his desk.

‘You should do some filing in here. Or get someone to do it for you,’ I said. ‘How do you find anything?’

He looked at me sharply, then returned to shuffling through the papers. ‘You want to sort this lot out for me?’

‘You bet. I could probably have it all fixed up in a day.’ I peered over his desk. ‘Even that pile of rubbish on the floor over there.’

‘“That pile of rubbish”,’ he huffed, ‘is a set of priceless ancient scrolls handwritten by Wu Cheng’en himself.’

I nearly fell off my chair. ‘Not Journey to the West?’ He glanced sharply at me. ‘And it’s on the floor?’

He ignored me and continued to shuffle through the papers. Some of them fell off the desk and he caught them, then added them to the top of the pile.

‘Tomorrow morning,’ I said, ‘you are going to tell me how you want this disaster area organised, and then you are going to take your daughter out for the day.’

He stopped and glared at me. ‘Who are you giving orders to here?’

I leaned over the papers and glared back. ‘You.’

‘Oh, all right.’ He sat back. ‘I suppose I shouldn’t have them on the floor like that.’ He grunted as he found what he was looking for and pulled out a large embossed card. ‘Look.’

I turned it over. It was an invitation to a classical concert, a charity fundraiser organised by Kitty Kwok. Mr Chen went to these things all the time; sometimes he appeared in the social pages of the newspaper with gorgeous young socialites draped all over him. ‘Mr John Chen Wu donated a large amount of dollars and was thanked by the hostess.’

I looked up at him. ‘So?’

‘It’s more than two years now since I lost Michelle.’ He grimaced. ‘The vultures are starting to circle. These…women are chasing me.’

‘Lucky you.’

‘You’re joking, right? You know what these people are like?’

‘I know very well what they’re like, I used to teach their children. Some of them are lovely, generous souls.’

‘Not the ones that are after me,’ he said acidly. ‘You saw Claudia at the Jockey Club.’

‘Claudia is completely beautiful and would look fantastic on your arm,’ I said. ‘Even though you are a Chinese boy.’

He snorted with amusement. ‘You don’t know what it’s like.’

I tried to control my face. ‘It can’t be that bad.’

‘You have no idea. I get rid of one, another one’s right after her, chasing me. They won’t take no for an answer. They’re all over me.’

‘Sounds like guy heaven to me,’ I said unsympathetically.

He banged his hand fiercely on the desk. ‘You are no help at all, you know that?’

That pushed me over the edge. I completely lost it. I crossed my arms on the desk, buried my face in them and laughed until the tears came.

He sighed loudly and looked away.

When I’d regained control I sat up and wiped my eyes. ‘But what does this have to do with me? What do you want to ask me? I don’t know how to shake women off.’

‘Could you come with me and be my shield?’

‘What?’

‘Come with me to the concert. It’s for a good cause and I’d like to help out. If you come along, they won’t chase me nearly as much.’

‘See, that didn’t hurt, did it?’ Leo said from the office door.

‘Go and perform twenty-five stage one sword katas immediately,’ Mr Chen snapped.

‘Whoa, excuse me.’ Leo spun to return to the training room.

I turned my attention back to Mr Chen. ‘You want me to go along with you and pretend to be your girlfriend?’

‘No. It was a bad idea. Forget it. Dismissed.’

‘Don’t you dare. You want me to pretend to be your girlfriend?’

He sighed loudly. ‘This was a very bad idea.’

I rose and closed the door to his office. I sat again and searched for what to say. ‘Do you want me to be your girlfriend?’

He just watched me silently.

‘Well? Obviously Leo thinks this is a good idea.’

‘Leo’s opinions have absolutely no bearing on this situation.’

‘Well? Mr Chen? John?’

He winced.

‘Do you want me to be your girlfriend? No, wait.’ I raised my hands and took a deep breath. ‘John…’ I dropped my hands onto the desk and studied them, then looked up into his dark eyes. His face was rigid with control as he watched me. ‘There is nothing I would like more than to take our relationship a step further. Nothing I want more. Nothing.’

He didn’t say anything. He just watched me.

‘Both you and Leo have said that it can’t happen. Is it because you want to protect me?’

He studied me carefully. ‘Yes. I am protecting you.’

‘If the demons know that we care for each other, I’m a target as well.’

He watched me.

‘If the demons don’t know, then I’m not a target.’ He sighed gently.

‘But you still want me to come and pretend to be your girlfriend. You want me to pretend to love you in public, and be nothing in private.’ I leaned forward over the desk and rested my hand on his. ‘How about we try it the other way around? Be nothing in public and love each other in private?’

He jerked his hand away as if he’d been stung. His face didn’t shift.

‘Okay,’ I said.

He put his elbows on the desk and buried his face in his hands. ‘I am sorry, Emma. I should never have asked you this. We can never be anything more than friends. I have my reasons.’ He dropped his hands and looked into my eyes. ‘Please accept this. Be my friend. I love your company, but it can never be anything more. If you continue to push it, then I think it would be better if you left.’

I took a deep breath. ‘Okay. I’ll come with you and pretend to be your girlfriend, and I’ll be happy. I’d love to have my photo in the social pages.’

He gazed into my eyes. ‘Are you sure?’

I snapped myself out of it and tried to sound as cheerful as possible. ‘Sure. I’d better go and buy something glittery enough to wear.’ I grinned at him. ‘And you’re paying for me to have my hair done on the day.’

‘Whatever it takes,’ he said, relieved.

‘See? That didn’t hurt, did it? All you had to do was ask.’

‘You want to go and do sword katas too?’

‘Don’t mind if I do. Simone can come with me; we’ll do them with Leo.’

He breathed a sigh of relief. ‘Thanks, Emma. I really appreciate this.’

‘Oh, don’t worry, you’re going to pay,’ I said, and went out.

After Leo and Simone had finished performing the twenty-five katas, I stayed behind and did them for a while longer. A long while longer.

Nobody said anything.

Later I went to Leo’s room and rapped on his door. ‘Come.’

He was curled up on his sofa, watching a dreadful American action movie. He turned down the volume and I sat next to him.

‘Tripe,’ I said.

‘Yep.’ He pulled himself upright. ‘What is it?’

‘I need to buy a dress. For the charity thing.’ He glowered.

‘Help me buy one, please, Leo.’

He crossed his arms over his chest. ‘Slap me with a stereotype, why don’t you?’

‘Come on, Leo, I need you.’

‘Damn straight you do.’ He uncrossed his arms and pulled himself sideways on the sofa to speak to me. ‘It’s a wonder you haven’t been listed in “Hong Kong’s worst dressed”. You’re as bad as Mr Chen for wearing clothes that are way past their use-by date.’

‘He’s always impeccably dressed when he goes out; he’s only scruffy at home.’

Leo grinned.

‘You don’t!’

His grin widened.

I collapsed over my knees, laughing.

‘Actually it was Michelle who did the buying to start off with,’ he said. ‘The job sorta fell onto me afterwards. I don’t think he even looks at what’s in his closet; he just grabs whatever’s hanging up, as long as it’s black.’

His smile softened as he remembered. ‘I don’t even know if he was human to start off with, but it took him a lot of adjusting.’ He put his hands behind his head. ‘You should have seen some of the expressions on his face. Michelle thought it was charming.’

I laughed. I thought it was charming too. ‘I wish I’d seen some of them.’

Leo shrugged.

‘So?’ I said.

‘Okay. Looks like I’ll have two wardrobes to manage now.’

‘You did throw those black shirts away.’

‘Nope.’ He gestured towards his own room, darkly masculine in its decoration. ‘They’re in my closet, and he’ll get them back when he’s worn the white ones for a while.’

‘The minute you give them back, he’ll wear them again, you know that.’ Leo sighed. ‘Yep.’

I rose to go out. ‘When are you free to take me shopping?’

‘I’ll clear it with Mr Chen.’

I opened the door. ‘Thanks, Leo.’

He raised his hands. ‘I have to warn you, we won’t be buying anything black.’

We arranged to go shopping the next morning, and Mr Chen took Simone out so we could do it. I went to Leo’s room and poked my head around his doorway. ‘Ready to go?’

He crossed his arms over his chest and glared at me, then pointed at my jeans and shirt. ‘You going like that?’

He ducked into his bedroom and came out with a shopping bag.

I waved my hands. ‘No. No way.’

He pushed the bag at me. ‘If you want to be taken seriously where we’re going, you wear this. Otherwise you’ll be ignored so bad you’ll think Jade is a perfect sweetheart.’

I snatched the bag out of his hand and checked the contents. I nearly dropped it. ‘Shit, Leo, you even bought freaking underwear for me!’

‘Of course I did. I have a pretty good idea what’s under there, and if the shopgirls see it they’ll be laughing so hard you won’t be able to buy anything.’ He hustled me to the door. ‘Go and change. Make sure you carry that nice designer handbag you picked up in Paris.’

‘You mean the handbag you forced me to buy.’

‘Yeah, that one.’

We met at the front door after I’d changed. ‘Go on, admit it,’ he said.

‘It looks okay.’ Actually, it looked terrific, but I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. The tailored designer slacks and polo shirt fitted like no others I’d ever worn, and their muted shades of cream and tan suited me perfectly. ‘But you ever buy me underwear again and you are in serious trouble.’

‘You’ll be begging me to one day, sweetheart. I’ll bet you love that black lace.’

I shoved him when we reached the shoe cupboard.

He passed me a pair of designer loafers. ‘These too.’

‘I hate you,’ I whispered as I pulled them on. ‘Did you go through my wardrobe or something? How come you knew the right size for everything?’

‘I would never risk my sanity by entering the disaster area that you so casually refer to as a room,’ he said.

‘Whoa, big words,’ I said. ‘So how did you know my size?’

His voice softened and he looked away. ‘You’re about the same size as Michelle.’

‘Do your best to be rude to me when we’re down there,’ he said in the car. ‘Treat me like staff.’

‘Not a problem, you ugly bastard.’

He grinned at the road. ‘Not that rude.’

‘Damn.’

‘Emma.’ He became more serious. ‘I bought you the lingerie for a reason. Go out. Meet people. Don’t mooch about at home all the time. Get your friend to set you up. Find somebody to show it to.’

I didn’t say anything.

‘Find somebody, Emma. Don’t for a minute think that you have any sort of chance.’

‘I don’t. Friends. That’s all.’

‘Good.’

We went to Central, where all of the most famous designers had their shopfronts. We had a ball. Leo crossed his arms and glowered, playing the ugly bodyguard, and the girls in the shops fawned all over me.

Leo gave me surreptitious signals: thumbs up; thumbs down; the very slightest nod or shake of his head. When he finally agreed to a dress that he thought was suitable we had a ferociously whispered argument; the dress cost nearly a month’s salary. Eventually Leo called Mr Chen and asked him to pay for it.

Mr Chen agreed, but Leo had to promise to give the black shirts back.

We threw the stuff into the boot of the Mercedes. As Leo opened the door for me, I stretched up to kiss him on the cheek. ‘Thanks.’

He could have been blushing, but it was impossible to tell.

On the night of the concert I spent a lot of time in my room preparing after I returned from the hair salon. I wanted to be sure that I looked good enough.

I studied myself in the mirror. I hardly recognised the Emma I saw. I was slim and toned from the martial arts training. The gold lamé dress fell to the floor in a slinky shimmer. I vowed to give Leo a hard time about stereotypes later; I would never have chosen such an extravagant dress for myself, but it was perfect. Surprisingly it didn’t look too bad on me, but the shoelace straps were going to drive me completely nuts all evening; they were slightly too long and were sure to fall off my shoulders constantly.

I pulled on the high-heeled gold sandals. I would never have chosen these either—they would be painfully uncomfortable—but they complemented the dress perfectly. Fortunately the training had improved my balance so I wasn’t at risk of breaking an ankle by falling off the heels.

I shook out my shoulders and turned. Definitely good enough to be seen on the arm of a god.

I grabbed the matching small gold purse, which was far too tiny to put anything useful in. As I went out the door of my room, I wondered how I would ever remove the thick caking of hairspray from my hair, which was all piled on top of my head.

Mr Chen, Leo and Simone were waiting for me in the living room. Mr Chen wore a black tuxedo, his hands in his trouser pockets, his broad shoulders accentuated by the cut of the suit.

When I entered the room they all fell completely silent.

I raised my arms. ‘What?’

Simone came to me, her little eyes shining. ‘You look really beautiful, Emma.’

I knelt and put my arm around her waist. ‘Thanks, sweetheart.’ I moved closer to whisper in her ear, ‘I can’t kiss you, I’ll get lipstick all over you.’ She giggled.

I rose and grinned at Leo and Mr Chen, who were both still watching me. ‘Snap out of it, guys, we’d better move. This thing starts soon.’

I took Leo’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. ‘Thanks for giving me the help.’

‘I think I did too good a job,’ he whispered back.

Mr Chen stood like a statue next to the front door. I went to him and waved my hand in front of his face. ‘Earth to god.’

Simone giggled behind me.

He smiled down at me and his eyes wrinkled up. ‘Let’s go.’

Mr Chen drove us to Wan Chai. I sat in the front and grumbled all the way down the hill.

‘This dress is far too tight,’ I said. ‘I can’t even do a low kick. How am I supposed to defend myself?’

‘You think we’ll be attacked?’ Mr Chen said without looking away from the road.

‘I just don’t like feeling so helpless.’

‘You’re with me. You’re safe.’

I sighed. ‘You’re right.’

He smiled slightly at the road. I pushed my feet further into the strappy high-heeled sandals. My feet would kill me later, I should never have let Leo talk me into anything so completely frivolous.

‘I look ridiculous.’

‘I think you look just fine.’

That compliment silenced me.

He parked the Mercedes under the Convention Centre, and we walked out to the edge of Hong Kong Harbour. The Convention Centre hovered above us like a creature about to take flight. Music floated from inside. The dark water hissed against the concrete breakwater.

A pair of elderly Chinese men in dirty grey shorts and singlets sat at the edge of the water. They talked loudly in Cantonese and smoked as they held their fishing lines.

‘I’d rather be with them,’ Mr Chen said.

‘Just your age.’

He smiled down at me, his eyes very dark. ‘You’re quite correct.’ He turned back to watch the water.

Hong Kong Harbour was always busy with traffic. Ferries lumbered past, and tugboats towed barges carrying stacked containers from the ships to the shore. The lights of Tsim Sha Tsui on the Kowloon side rippled on the water.

The clouds had come down low enough to brush the tops of the tallest buildings and glowed in the lights. I remembered that I hadn’t seen a star for a very long time. The breeze across the harbour was fresh, but it was not so cold that I needed a jacket over my stupid glittery dress.

Mr Chen held his elbow out. I took it. We went inside.

Everybody stood around drinking champagne and eating finger food, chatting and laughing artificially. A few Chinese paparazzi clustered around a pop star wearing a ridiculous designer outfit, shouting questions. A gorgeous young movie starlet floated in and they dropped him to race to her.

I wondered how Mr Chen tolerated it.

A camera appeared in front of us and I was dazzled by the flash.

‘Mr John Chen Wu, yes?’ the journalist with the photographer said. He appeared to be in his late teens, and was pimply and poorly dressed in a tired T-shirt and a pair of worn-out jeans.

‘That’s right,’ Mr Chen said smoothly.

The journalist moved closer to me. ‘And you are?’

‘This is my friend, Miss Emma Donahoe,’ Mr Chen said.

‘How to spell?’

Mr Chen spelt my name for him and he noted it down.

‘Nancina Wong just came in,’ Mr Chen said, and they disappeared.

Mr Chen squeezed my arm. ‘Thanks.’

‘What for?’

‘That was Next magazine.’

‘Oh.’ The news of his companion would be all over Hong Kong in no time flat. Some of the gossip magazines were so thick that the contents couldn’t be fitted into a single binding, and they were presented as two or even three thick magazines with a rubber band around them.

I swore under my breath as Kitty Kwok raced towards us, arms and grin wide. She was like a shark about to strike. Her smile was razor-sharp.

‘Dear Emma,’ she said, giving me a huge tight hug. She pulled back to beam at me. ‘What a wonderful dress. You look fabulous. Such a change, who would have thought our little mousy Emma would be here? Please come back to the kindergarten, dear, we really need you. We couldn’t find anybody qualified to do your job for a long time, and eventually we had to hire a Filipina.’

Mr Chen stiffened. I squeezed his arm. It was only an insult if you believed that Filipinas were good for maids and nothing else.

‘That’s wonderful,’ I said. ‘I’m sure there are plenty of competent women from the Philippines who could do a fabulous job.’

‘Oh, I wouldn’t know about that, dear,’ Kitty said. ‘The only Filipinas I know are maids.’

She turned to Mr Chen, making sure that she had her back to me. ‘Dear John. Come with me and meet the gentlemen from the Mainland. Some of them are members of the Central Committee. They’d love to meet you. I was lucky to have them here; they’re very busy. Came all the way from Beijing.’ She held her arm out to him.

Mr Chen glanced at me. I nodded and took my arm from his. It would be a dreadful loss of face all around if he didn’t meet the politicians.

He smiled apologetically and took Kitty Kwok’s arm.

She grinned triumphantly over her shoulder. ‘Try to stay out of trouble, dear Emma. There are a lot of wealthy, important men here, and you look so gorgeous.’ Her smile gained an even more vicious edge. ‘Our John must have paid a lot for that marvellous dress. I do hope he gets his money’s worth.’

Mr Chen’s face darkened. I gave him another gentle shove on his arm and nodded.

Kitty didn’t notice. She dragged him away to a group of Mainland officials loudly discussing politics in the centre of the room. They were delighted to see him, grinning and shaking his hand. He was gracious to all of them; chatting and sharing jokes, making them laugh. They offered him a large balloon glass of expensive cognac but he refused, taking a glass of mineral water from a passing tray instead.

I sighed. Kitty’s reaction to seeing me was amusing; she was clearly threatened by me. I shook my head. She was the one who’d given Mr Chen my phone number in the first place. Didn’t she regret it now! I smiled with satisfaction.

I felt a presence next to me and turned. It was a well-dressed, good-looking Chinese man of about thirty. He leaned on the wall and watched the people in the room. ‘Tedious, isn’t it?’

‘It’s not too bad.’

He turned and held his hand out. ‘Simon Wong.’ I shook his hand. ‘Emma Donahoe.’

‘You’re with John Chen?’

‘Uh…yes.’

‘Good. We were all wondering who he’d hook up with after Michelle died. Half of Hong Kong’s eligible women are sharpening their knives and eyeing your back.’ He bent forward. ‘And it’s a very pretty back too. That dress shows it off well.’ He studied my back. ‘Lovely and white.’

I took a step back to lean against the wall. ‘I’m not really hooked up with him, I’m just a friend.’

‘I heard you were staff.’

I sighed. So it was out. Kitty Kwok was chatting with the patriarch of one of the Indian dynasties nearby. She saw me watching her, raised her glass and smiled spitefully.

‘I’m Simone’s nanny.’

‘Simone? His daughter?’

‘Yes. She’s four years old and an absolute treasure.’

‘A treasure, I’m sure she is.’ He spoke more softly. ‘Has he been teaching you?’

‘What?’ I turned to study him.

He smiled at me. ‘If he has been teaching you, then you are very lucky. You look like you’ve been learning.’ He turned back to watch the crowd. ‘Do you know who he really is?’

Something started to feel wrong. ‘I’m sorry, I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

‘Oh, okay.’ He shifted slightly closer to me. ‘You are very beautiful, you know. That dress is spectacular.’

I didn’t say anything.

‘I know a lot about him. I could tell you exactly what you want to know—about the Mountain, about the Celestial, about everything. How about we go for a walk down by the Harbour and you can ask me anything you like? The lights are spectacular.’ He turned, put his hand on my arm and smiled into my eyes. ‘Come with me. I can show you some things that you wouldn’t believe.’

I brushed his hand off and moved slightly away. ‘I think I’ll just stay here for now, thank you. Don’t you have other people you need to talk to?’

‘No, I’ll just stay here too. So, tell me about yourself, Emma. You’re from Australia? Which part? I’ve never been there.’ Then he stiffened.

Mr Chen had seen us. He placed his mineral water on a passing tray and ambled towards us. He stopped in front of Wong with his hands clasped behind his back. ‘Is he bothering you, Emma?’

Wong held his hand out. ‘Hello, John. My name’s Simon Wong.’

Mr Chen eyed the hand as if it were toxic, then smiled grimly and reached to take it.

Wong snatched his hand back. ‘We can take you. You are weak.’

I moved slightly closer to Mr Chen. Thought so.

‘You didn’t even know I was here,’ Wong said.

‘Try me,’ Mr Chen said. ‘You will face the armies of the Four Winds and the Elite Guard of the Jade Emperor.’

‘Because you are too weak to fight us yourself,’ the demon hissed. ‘You cannot even protect your own woman and child.’

‘Be glad you are in a public place,’ Mr Chen said, his voice a menacing rumble. ‘Otherwise you would be in two pieces by now.’

‘There is a private place by the waterfront,’ the demon said. ‘The woman can be the prize.’

I opened my mouth to say something loudly, then closed it again and moved closer to Mr Chen, slightly behind him. I’d let the expert handle this.

‘You really think you can take me?’ Mr Chen said. ‘You are extremely stupid.’

‘I am the One Hundred and Twenty-Second son of the King.’

‘Still alive? How many of your brothers have tried to kill you?’

‘Fifty-seven,’ Wong said with pride. ‘I have destroyed them all.’

Mr Chen smiled slightly. ‘I could just sit back and let you destroy each other.’

‘That’s what you are doing,’ the demon said. ‘You are so weak. I will take your head to my father and be promoted to Number One.’

‘I have much better things to do with my time than deal with you,’ Mr Chen said. He linked his arm in mine and turned away. ‘Say hello to your father for me.’

‘I will say hello and present your head as a gift,’ the demon hissed behind us.

‘Are you okay, Emma?’ Mr Chen said as we walked away.

‘Is he following us?’

‘No. He’s gone.’

I breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed. ‘I knew something was wrong there. He asked me to go outside with him.’

‘Then he has excellent taste.’ Mr Chen studied me carefully. ‘He didn’t do anything to you, did he?’

‘He shook my hand. I think I need to wash it.’

‘He’s in human form; touching him won’t hurt you.’

‘That’s not why I want to wash it. Oh,’ I said as I remembered, ‘I told him Simone’s name.’

‘They all know who Simone is; they are just too scared to come after her. That one, though…’ He glanced back. ‘An ambitious prince. The worst sort. It is talented, to have killed so many of its nest mates.’

‘Should we go home?’

He hesitated, then shook his head. ‘No, I don’t think Leo would have a problem with that one. Its mouth is much larger than its sword. It’s not big enough to break through the seals. It won’t be able to get in.’

We stopped next to a railing. Nobody was nearby. ‘Why does he want your head?’

‘The Demon King made a very foolish promise. Any demon that brings him my head will be promoted to Number One.’

‘What’s so good about being Number One?’

‘Number One is second in precedence only to the King himself. Every demon in Hell would have to obey him. It is an extremely powerful position.’

‘Oh my God, every demon in Hell is after your head?’

‘Or Simone, to swap for it.’

‘Or anyone you care for.’ He gazed into my eyes. ‘Yes.’

‘He can’t hurt you, can he?’

‘He could remove my head, but it would not be permanent.’ He shrugged. ‘There is very little chance he is that good.’

‘He cuts your head off, takes it to his father and it’s not permanent? Sounds pretty damn permanent to me.’

‘I would revert to my True Form.’ He saddened. ‘But then I would be gone for a very long time. You would probably not see me again.’

‘Well then, let’s make sure he doesn’t get your head.’

‘I’ve grown rather attached to it myself.’ He looked at me intently. ‘Are you sure you’re all right?’

‘Of course I’m all right.’ I linked my arm in his and pushed myself into him, ribbing him. ‘I’m with you.’

During the intermission we stood next to the large windows at the back of the Convention Centre and watched the Harbour.

We were silent, our arms still linked. ‘Would you like a drink or something?’ he said quietly.

‘No,’ I said, just as softly. ‘I’m happy here.’

‘Thanks for helping out,’ he said. He looked down at me, his eyes very dark and shining.

‘I don’t mind at all,’ I said. I moved closer to him. He didn’t move away. He didn’t move at all.

The strap of my dress fell off my shoulder again, and before I could move to fix it he swept his arm over my back and slipped it into place. His hand remained on my shoulder, then dropped to wrap around my waist. I leaned into him and he held me. I rested my head on his chest and closed my eyes, relishing the feeling of him holding me. I wanted to stay there forever.

The bell rang for the end of intermission.

‘Let’s just stay here like this,’ I whispered without moving.

‘I would love to,’ he said, his voice rumbling through his chest. ‘There is nothing I would like more. But I’m afraid they will expect me inside.’ He gently moved his arm away. ‘Come on, Emma. Things to do.’

He pulled his hair out of its tie; it had come loose again.

‘Let me.’

Before he could protest I took the tie out of his hand and moved behind him. I smoothed his hair back neatly, resisting the urge to linger as I ran my hands through the long dark strands. It wasn’t coarse as I’d expected; it was smooth and silken. It smelled fresh, like the sea. It came at least to his waist. I carefully retied it for him.

‘Why do you have it so long?’ I said over his shoulder. ‘Isn’t it a nuisance in battle? It keeps coming out all the time.’

‘It is a part of what I am,’ he said. ‘I have no control over it.’

‘If you braided it, it would stay put longer.’

‘I tried that for a while. But it comes out so quickly it’s a waste of time. I only do that when I want it to stay neat for slightly longer.’ He smiled down at me. ‘Thank you.’

I silently chided myself. I would be thinking about how that had felt for a very long time.

He held his arm out. We linked arms, turned together and went back into the hall.