Blue Dragon (35 page)

Leo came out, fully dressed, and Simone wriggled a request to her father. He let her down and she raced to me, gave me a quick hug and a kiss, and then ran to Leo, who hoisted her into his arms. She wrapped her little arms around his neck with glee. ‘Everybody’s
okay
!’ she shouted into his grinning face.

‘Gold’s sleeping, he’s very tired after having the baby,’ I said. ‘It just looks like a rock anyway.’

‘Uncle Bai, give me a ride!’ Simone shouted, jiggling in Leo’s arms with delight. ‘And then Daddy can do some sword with me! I hope Ah Yat’s made something good for dinner!’

‘If Leo lets you down I’ll give you a ride,’ the Tiger said. ‘But you know you’re really getting too big for this.’

Leo gently lowered Simone and she grabbed the Tiger’s hand and dragged him into the living room. Ah Yat had finished cleaning up the glass and was taping clear plastic over the window frames. The Tiger transformed and Simone crawled onto his back. She was so big now that her feet nearly touched the floor.

I checked my watch. Three twenty. Only just over three hours since the attack. It seemed like forever.

‘Should we get together and discuss what we’ll do while the feed happens?’ Leo said.

I shrugged. ‘I suppose.’

John gestured towards the dining room and he, Leo and I went in and sat together. My diary was on the dining table in front of me, where I had left it that morning. I flipped it open and pulled out the card for Simon Wong’s law firm.

‘Will they be able to recognise the Tiger when he walks into the law offices?’ I said.

‘He should be able to hide his nature and appear as an ordinary human,’ John said. ‘He’ll probably take the form of a woman.’

Leo snorted with amusement.

I nodded, studying the card. Wong had four offices: one in Central, one in Sham Shui Po, one in Tsim Sha Tsui, and one in Kowloon City. I glanced up at John. ‘The Tiger doesn’t need to go. I know where Wong is.’

There was a tap on the door and Michael entered. He saluted John and me, then sat next to Leo.

‘How do you know?’ Leo said. ‘You don’t have that look.’

‘It’s on the card,’ I said, flipping it around. ‘It says he has an office on the top floor of Kowloon City Plaza. The top floor’s the car park. There are no offices there, that’s all shops.’

Michael’s face filled with comprehension. ‘That’s what he did with the girls in Kowloon City.’

‘What?’ I said.

‘Kowloon City?’ John said.

‘Yeah,’ Michael said. ‘He has some sort of office in Kowloon City. That’s where they took the girls. He’s had that place for a long time. Like, nearly forty years or something. The guys used to joke that he’d been around for so long he had to be a demon.’

The Tiger came in and sat next to me. ‘What did I miss?’

‘Is Simone okay?’ I said.

‘Your demon has her. She’s okay.’

‘He’s in Kowloon City,’ I said. ‘The pizza delivery guy.’

‘What?’ Michael said.

‘We were attacked by a demon posing as a pizza delivery boy,’ John said. ‘A couple of years ago, when Emma had just started here. The real delivery boy was found later, cut into small pieces, in a dumpster in Kowloon City.’

‘The copy of me too,’ I said. ‘It all fits together. He’s somewhere in Kowloon City. Top of Kowloon City Plaza.’

‘Too exposed,’ John said. ‘Too much in the open.’

‘Kowloon City, Kowloon City.’ I had it. ‘Kowloon Walled City!’

‘That’s gone now,’ Michael said. ‘They tore it down and put a park there.’

‘It would have been the perfect place for him to have his headquarters though,’ I said. ‘Narrow, twisting alleys between rotting ten-storey tenements. A part of Mainland China, but neither side would take responsibility and police it. Completely lawless. It would have been perfect.’

‘But it’s a park now,’ Michael said, insistent. ‘They tore it all down.’

‘And Kowloon City Plaza is right next to the park. What if he’s underneath? He’s had forty years, John. Could he be underneath?’

‘On my way,’ the Tiger said, and disappeared.

We waited silently for him to return.

The Tiger reappeared. ‘For some reason I can’t see underneath,’ he said. ‘You’ll have to send a stone. Do you have any handy?’

John concentrated. There was a tap on the door and Gold came in.

‘Oh no you don’t,’ I said loudly. ‘This new parent is not going anywhere.’

Gold pulled his baby from his chest and put it on the table.

‘The stone in my ring can go,’ I said to Gold. ‘Don’t you go anywhere.’

‘She’s right, Gold, I hadn’t thought of that,’ John said. ‘Go back and rest.’

I tapped the stone in my ring.

‘Yes, Emma?’ it said.

‘Stone,’ John said, ‘you are ordered to Kowloon City Park. Scout. We suspect that the demon may have tunnels underneath the park.’

‘My Lord,’ the stone said, and disappeared out of my ring.

‘Go back and rest, Gold,’ I said.

‘Can I wait and see my parent safely back?’ Gold said, picking up his child and returning it to his chest.
‘Quite a few weird things have been happening lately. I want to be sure.’

‘There’s nothing there that will hurt it,’ the Tiger said. ‘It’ll be okay.’

I gestured towards the chair next to me. ‘Wait with us if you want.’

We sat silently at the table and waited for the stone to return. It took quite a while and I began to become concerned. I could see from Gold’s face that he was worried as well.

The stone appeared in its human form between me and Gold. It sagged to lean on the table with one hand; its face was pale and it was trembling. I had never seen it so emotional.

‘Are you okay, Dad?’ Gold said, quickly rising to help his parent.

The stone appeared unable to speak, and Gold gently guided it to sit next to me, then sat beside it, holding its hand.

‘There is a large network of tunnels under Kowloon City Park,’ the stone said, its voice hoarse. ‘I am probably the only one able to see inside. Nobody else would be able to do it.’

‘Why?’ the Tiger said. ‘I thought it was just me.’

‘The walls of the tunnels have been coated with the essence of powerful stone creatures,’ the stone said, its face and voice expressionless.

‘No,’ Gold whispered, gripping the stone’s hand. ‘No.’

The stone dropped its head. ‘The demon has painted the walls,’ it said, then took a deep breath, ‘
with the guts of my children
!’

‘Go,’ I said. ‘Both of you. Thanks, stone. Gold, take him out, look after him.’

The stone ran its other hand over its face and smiled at me with misery. ‘I’m not finished, Emma. There are well over fifty extremely large demons in those tunnels.
Most of the demons are between level eighty and ninety; some are bigger than ninety.’

‘Holy shit,’ the Tiger and Michael said in unison.

‘The demons are
turtle
and
snake
hybrids,’ the stone said with anguish.

John shot to his feet. He stalked to the door of the dining room and opened it.

‘You don’t have time to do sword katas right now, John,’ I said with compassion. ‘Come back and sit down, and we’ll work out what to do about it.’

John hesitated, holding the door, without looking at me. Then he shrugged, closed the door, turned and returned to sit at the table. He dropped his forehead into one of his hands and didn’t move.

‘What?’ Leo said.

‘They were turtle and snake hybrids, Leo.’ I gestured towards John. ‘Heaven knows how many of his children were destroyed to create them.’

‘You would know if your children were missing, my Lord, wouldn’t you?’ Leo said, his face filling with the grim realisation of what had happened.

‘I am a reptile, Leo,’ John said into his hand without looking up.

‘Go,’ I said to the stones.

‘Some of the things that demon has done are beyond comprehension,’ the stone said, hoarse with emotion. ‘Humans. Demons. Shen…’ Its voice trailed off and it shook its head.

‘Come on, Dad,’ Gold said, putting his arm around the stone’s shoulders. ‘Let’s go and work out how many of our family we’ve lost.’ He guided the stone gently out.

‘Gold,’ John said loudly as they opened the door.

Gold turned. ‘My Lord?’

‘You are relieved of duty until further notice,’ John said. ‘You may take True Form as often as you want until I order otherwise. Understood?’

‘My Lord,’ Gold said, then turned and went out, holding his parent’s arm.

‘Take your time, stone,’ I called after them.

Neither of them replied.

‘He’s waiting for you, John,’ I whispered. ‘I wonder what else he has ready for you.’ I suddenly remembered, and inhaled sharply. ‘No.’

‘Leo, Michael, leave us,’ John said.

‘No, you don’t,’ Leo said loudly. ‘I’m staying. I’m a sworn Retainer. I’m part of this. I’m coming with you, I’m fighting this bastard, and there’s nothing you can do about it.’ He glared at Michael. ‘Out.’

‘Let them stay,’ I said. ‘It won’t hurt for them to know. You can trust both of them.’

‘How many of your children know about this, Ah Bai?’ John said.

‘Nobody knows. I’m surprised you told Emma,’ the Tiger said. He smiled wryly. ‘Actually, no, I’m not.’ He turned back to Michael. ‘Emma’s guessing that the demon has a little surprise planned for us. With the right sort of…’ he hesitated, ‘cage, we can be imprisoned.’

Both Leo and Michael went completely still, staring at the Tiger. Then they glanced at John.

‘Yes, me too,’ John said.

‘What sort of cage, Dad?’ Michael said.

The Tiger hesitated.

‘Tell them,’ John said. ‘It makes no difference, we can trust them. Both of them would die before divulging this information, you know that.’

‘It needs to be constructed entirely out of Celestial jade,’ the Tiger said. ‘Jade that has been on the Celestial Plane for at least five hundred years. A single unbroken piece of jade should be carved to make the cage. We must be in True Form to be taken. If we are caged by such a thing, we can be held indefinitely.’

‘Has this happened before?’ Leo said softly.

‘The Turtle has been imprisoned in the past,’ John said. He smiled wryly and shrugged. ‘A human sorcerer did it to me, and presented me to the Emperor, hoping to curry favour. He didn’t even know what I was; he thought I was just a mystical turtle. A demon gave him the cage and told him where I was.’

‘Stupid damn Turtle,’ the Tiger growled. ‘Too busy dragging your tail in the mud to see the human sneaking up behind you.
I’d
never take True Form that small.’

‘We have been through this many times before,’ John said. ‘What’s done is done.’

‘Stupid damn Turtle,’ the Tiger said under his breath.

‘You think One Two Two has one of these waiting for you?’ Michael said.

‘Of course he does,’ John said. ‘So I must conserve my energy until we go in. If my energy is good, I can take a very large True Form that will not fit into the cage.’

‘What about your head?’ I said.

‘I think he’ll be happy with either,’ John said, smiling sadly. ‘If he can take the captured True Form to his father, the King will be even more pleased.’

I leaned forward over the table to speak intensely to them. ‘
Are you sure that both of you can take them
?’

John and the Tiger shared a look. They weren’t sure.

‘With Na Zha?’ I said.

Neither of them spoke.

‘Anybody else you can call up?’

‘I’ll see what I can do,’ the Tiger said. ‘Er Lang, maybe. Zhao Gongming, perhaps.’

‘Marshall Zhao won’t go in with you, Bai Hu, don’t be ridiculous,’ John said.

‘I know your history with him, and I agree with John,’ I said. ‘Anybody else?’

‘I’ll think about it, see who I can round up,’ the Tiger said. ‘Maybe the other Winds might want to come along, but I doubt it. They should stay here and guard Emma, Simone and the Disciples.’ He saluted John. ‘By your leave.’

‘Bai Hu,’ John said. The Tiger disappeared.

‘Let me use the phone, John,’ I whispered.

John’s face went rigid. He shot to his feet and stalked out. The door to the training room opened and closed.

‘What’s this phone, Emma?’ Leo said. ‘That’s the second or third time you’ve mentioned that phone, what is it?’

Michael stayed silent. He hadn’t been close enough to hear what we’d said when we met with the King in London; he didn’t know either.

‘You might as well know,’ I said. ‘I made a pact with the King of the Demons. While we were in London.’

‘A pact?’ Michael said.

I nodded. ‘He wants me. If I go to him, and stay with him and don’t try to escape, he guarantees Simone’s safety for the rest of her life.’

Both of them stiffened.

I pulled the phone out of my pocket and held it up to show them. ‘I can call him any time. I’m surprised you didn’t notice it—I take it with me everywhere.’ I shrugged and tried to smile. ‘The King has promised that if I go to him, he will release me when Mr Chen returns. But Mr Chen is convinced that the King would try to win me over, and if he failed he would just throw me to the Mothers.’

‘But the Mothers,’ Michael said, looking at Leo. ‘What they did to Leo…’ His voice trailed off.

‘What they did to me was nothing,’ Leo said, his voice slurring more than usual. ‘You’ll need to come with us when we go in, Emma, so that if Mr Chen goes
down or is caged, you can call the King to make sure that Simone is safe.’

‘I know, Leo, but I think Mr Chen is in denial about it. When the time comes, expect some major fireworks.’ I shrugged. ‘Why don’t you go and spend some time with Simone? Take her up to the playground until dinnertime, both of you. Lord Xuan won’t be in any state to do anything useful for a while, and my leg is killing me.’

‘What about demons?’ Michael said.

‘Both of you should be enough to guard, and Simone can nearly look after herself,’ I said. ‘The demons are waiting for us under Kowloon City. You should be okay.’

They both rose. As Leo passed me to go out, he stopped, rested his hand on my shoulder and kissed the top of my head. I put my hand over his. He released me and they went out.

I
stumbled back to my room, opened the door and stopped dead. The stone, in human form, lay on its back on my double bed, asleep. It had changed into a pair of ridiculous baggy green shorts and a plain white T-shirt. Its snow-white hair was tousled from sleep and its elegant face was peaceful. I had never seen it look so human.

To hell with it. I pulled off my jeans, left them on the floor, and climbed in beside it. I stopped: something was between us. It was Gold, in True Form, with his child next to him. I moved them gently to make room, turned onto my side facing away from them, and closed my eyes.

The stone shot up to sit.

‘Don’t go anywhere,’ I said without moving. ‘It’s okay. I know there probably wasn’t space for all of you in the student room. You’re here every night in the bed with me anyway. This is your room too, really. Go back to sleep.’

‘Another coup,’ Gold said softly.

‘For both of us,’ the stone said, just as softly.

It lay back down then turned so that it was facing me and put its arm around me. I spooned my back into it, and it held me close. Gold and the child moved up the bed to make room, resting against the back of my head.

‘I should take female form,’ the stone said. ‘This is inappropriate.’

‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ I said. ‘That makes no difference at all.’

‘Lord Xuan would have kittens if he knew,’ Gold said.

‘Of course he knows,’ I said through a huge yawn. ‘Is he still doing sword katas?’

‘Yes,’ Gold said, sounding sleepy.

I didn’t remember anything else.

I woke an hour later, alone in my bed. The stone had returned to the ring, and Gold and his child were gone. My leg protested as I turned to rise. It had stiffened badly while I was resting.

‘How many children did you lose?’ I said.

‘We’re not sure, but at this stage it appears that I have lost about fifty or sixty,’ it replied as I went into my bathroom.

‘That piece of demon scum is going to
die
.’ I pulled off my clothes and turned on the shower.

‘You forgot to leave me outside the bathroom,’ the stone said.

‘No, I didn’t.’ I stepped into the shower, closing the screen behind me, and held the stone under the wash of hot water. Then I reached for the soap with my left hand, moving it out from under the stream.

‘Thanks, Emma,’ the stone said softly. ‘The water feels good. I really needed that.’

‘I know,’ I said. ‘That’s why I did it. Have you told the Grandmother?’

‘Not yet. But when she finds out you can expect some major earth tremors in Central Australia.’

‘I’d really like to meet her one day,’ I said.

‘One day I must take you,’ the stone said. ‘I think you and she will get along very well.’

I moved the soap into my right hand and held the stone under the water again.

I went into the dining room; nobody was there. I slipped through the door into the kitchen. Ah Yat was busy with vegetables for dinner. She quickly pulled down a mug for my tea without me asking.

‘Where is everybody?’ I said.

‘The Dark Lord is in the training room,’ Ah Yat said, returning to the vegetables. ‘Princess Simone is still at the playground with Master Michael and Master Leo.’

‘Where’s Gold?’

‘Sleeping, ma’am,’ Ah Yat said.

‘Let him sleep,’ the stone said.

I pottered around, feeling useless, for about half an hour. I asked Ah Yat to check on Simone occasionally. She was fine; she’d been through the shops at the Peak Tower and was playing in the little play area on the roof of the Peak Galleria.

I went into John’s office and began to tidy his mess. I sorted through the documents; some of them were tasks that weren’t finished. I tried to control my emotions as I put all the loose ends to one side to go through with him.

The training room door opened and closed, and I poked my head out into the hallway. John had emerged, exhausted.

‘Are you okay?’ he said when he saw me.

‘I’m a bit stiff but I’ll be fine. You?’

‘I’ll live. Stone?’ John said.

‘My Lord,’ the stone said.

‘Go and have a shower,’ I said. ‘Then we need to sort through the paperwork. We should do it before dinner, have it fixed now. We won’t have time when the Lady returns; you’ll be locked up with her for the rest of the week.’

He nodded sadly, and turned away to go to his room.

‘Emma, sit,’ John said when he returned to the office, his long hair still damp from the shower. ‘We need to talk.’

I didn’t ask, I just sat. He flopped into his big chair across the desk from me.

‘Emma,’ he said, leaning on the desk and looking me right in the eyes, ‘we don’t have much longer. I want you to do something for me after I have gone.’

‘Anything, John.’

‘I want you to promise me something.’

I hesitated. ‘What?’

He looked down at his hands and spoke softly. ‘If you have to go to the King, I want you to promise me something.’

I leaned on the desk as well. ‘I’ll never fall for that bastard, John, you can trust me. Don’t worry. I know he’s charming, but I can see right through it.’

‘I know that,’ he said, not looking up. He smiled gently at his hands. ‘I want you to promise that if you do have to go to him, you will pretend. So that he won’t give you to the Mothers. Make him think he has won you over.’ He raised his head to gaze at me. ‘Pretend. Until I return. Make him think he’s won. And when I return, you can hold him to his word to release you.’

I sat there, completely stunned, staring at him.

‘Promise me, Emma,’ he said. ‘Anything is preferable to you being given to them. Anything. Give me your word.’

I struggled to speak.

‘Please do this thing for me, my Lady. I do not wish to see you harmed. He will not hurt you. You will be safe. Simone will be safe. That is all that is important.’

I didn’t say anything. I couldn’t do it.

Suddenly John’s head snapped up. He shot to his feet, vaulted over the desk, and raced out into the hall. I ran to follow him. He went into the living room, where Leo waited for us.

Leo fell to his knees. His face was full of anguish.

I had a sudden, horrible, sinking sensation.
Simone wasn’t with him
.

‘Where is she?’ I yelled. I crouched in front of Leo, grabbed his arm, and shouted into his face. ‘
Where the hell is she
?’

‘She is with Ming Gui,’ Leo said, his voice hoarse. ‘While we were at the playground, he appeared. He said hello, she ran to him, he took her hand and they both disappeared.’ He dropped his head. ‘I didn’t think fast enough. I should have grabbed her.’ He sagged over his knees. ‘I have failed. Again.’

‘Martin won’t hurt her, John, she’ll be fine,’ I said, pulling myself to my feet with relief.

John wasn’t convinced. ‘What if he’s taken her to Number One? To swap her for my head?’

‘Would Number One do that? He’s renowned for being honourable.’

John moved to sit on one of the couches. ‘I don’t know.’ His eyes turned inward. ‘She says she’s okay; they’ve gone out for something to eat.’ He snapped back to Leo. ‘Michael?’

‘Michael followed them, my Lord.’

‘Michael travelled?’

Leo nodded, still on his knees.

‘He has had no training. He could quite easily kill himself.’ John concentrated. ‘Found him. But he lost track of Simone. Wait.’ He was silent, focusing. ‘He wanted to return directly but I’ve told him to come the long way. It will take him a while, he’s on Kowloon side.’ He concentrated again. ‘Simone says she’s okay.’

‘Ask her where they are, John, and we’ll go and get her back.’

John’s face went rigid. ‘She won’t tell me. She says she’s fine, she’s having fun.’

My blood went cold. She was just being a perfectly normal six-year-old girl who loved her big brother. ‘Can one of the staff track her down?’

‘Not if she doesn’t want them to.’ John’s eyes unfocused again. ‘She’s telling me to leave her alone. If she is harmed in any way by your actions, Leo, I will have your head for this.’

‘I’ll present it to you myself,’ Leo whispered.

‘There’s nothing we can do. We’ll just have to wait,’ John said.

Leo rose and moved to sit next to me, putting his arm around me. I wrapped my arm around his waist and we held each other.

‘I have a really, really bad feeling about this,’ I whispered.

The doorbell rang.

‘Everybody get weapons
now
,’ John said. ‘It’s a huge demon.’

‘One Two Two?’ I said. ‘Why here, now?’

‘It’s not One Two Two,’ John said grimly. ‘It’s Number One.’

‘What’s he doing here?’ I said as I rose to get my weapon. Leo waved me back and went into the training room to collect them.

John went to the front door, grabbed Dark Heavens from its clips, then threw the door open.

Number One stood on the other side of the gate, smiling without humour. ‘I think you need to hear what I have to say.’

‘Come in.’ John opened the gate and Number One entered. He went into the living room and sat on one of the couches.

‘Your son has been duped.’

‘What?’ John said, standing over him.

‘One Two Two is immensely powerful. I don’t know what it’s done to itself, but it can do astonishing things. It took my form, promised your son it would not harm the child, and said that if Ming Gui took her to a place it knows, she would be safe and protected and they could spend some more time together.’

I took a huge deep breath. ‘Martin’s taking Simone to
One Two Two
?’

I heard a clatter behind me. Leo stood in the doorway, the weapons in a pile at his feet. His face was grey.

‘I thought Ming Gui would be useful,’ Number One said, studying his hands. ‘He has been much more trouble than he is worth.’ He glanced up at John. ‘Are you sure that this one is yours, Turtle? Everybody knows that your kind produce nests of mixed parentage, that you just walk away from.’

John stiffened and his eyes blazed. Then he sagged. ‘I can’t contact either of them.’ He fell to sit on the other couch and put his head in his hands. ‘No.’

The demon rose. ‘I’d better go and clean out my nest,’ he said. ‘You should have taken me up on my offer.’

‘Wait!’ I said before he disappeared. ‘Where’s Simone? Where are they?’

The demon shrugged. ‘Don’t ask me. Could be anywhere.’ He smiled. ‘I suggest you give my dad a call, Emma. The only way the child will stay safe now is if you go and screw the hell out of him.’ He nodded to John. ‘Turtle. It’s been nice knowing you. You should have given me your head.’ He disappeared.

John grabbed Dark Heavens from the couch next to him, threw himself up and went into the training
room without saying a word. Leo turned like a puppet and headed down the hallway, also towards the training room. I followed them. John waited for Leo with Dark Heavens in his hand.

‘Kneel,’ John said.

Leo fell to his knees without a word.

‘Leave us,’ John said.

‘No,’ I said. ‘Anything you do to Leo, you’ll have to do in front of me.’

‘Very well then,’ John said, and hefted the sword. He moved to stand over Leo.

Leo smiled slightly and lowered his head.

‘Wait,’ I said. ‘If we trade your head for Simone, I’ll need Leo to assist me guarding. And I may have to use the phone. If I use the phone, then Leo will be all she has left.’ I gestured impatiently. ‘We don’t have time for this. Let’s just go and get her out!’

John hesitated.

‘Do it,’ Leo said without looking up.

‘You would forfeit your life?’ John said.

‘I have failed. Again. I should pay.’

‘And you will,’ John said. His voice was very mild. ‘First, you will pay by living. Then you will pay by helping us to get her back. And then, if we do get her back and you survive it, you will pay by guarding her until the day you die. A natural death. That’s an order.’

Leo collapsed over his knees and moaned, a wordless sound of agony.

‘You have failed me, Leo,’ John said mildly. ‘And your punishment will be: that you live.’

‘No,’ Leo whispered into the floor.

‘Get up, collect your weapons and prepare,’ John said. ‘Both of you.’

‘I still don’t have your promise, Emma,’ John said as Leo drove us to Kowloon City. John sat in the front seat, I was in the back.

‘Where’s Michael?’ I said. ‘Do you have any other Celestials to help out?’

‘I sent Michael home. He and Gold will guard the apartment so you have a safe place to return to. The Tiger, the Phoenix, the Dragon and the Third Prince will meet us at Kowloon City Park. I want your word, Emma.’

I tapped the stone.

‘I was awake. I know what’s happening,’ the stone said.

‘Do you know where the entrance to the tunnels is?’ I said.

‘In the
yamen
building,’ the stone said. ‘I couldn’t find exactly where. Gold will have to help me look. We will both need to move around the room to find it.’

‘Your word, Emma,’ John said. ‘Promise me.’

I was silent.

‘Please, Emma, don’t make me beg you. I will if I have to.
Ngoh kow
—’

‘Don’t you dare beg me—you’re a Celestial Emperor!’ I snapped. I ran my hands through my hair with exasperation. ‘I don’t want to give you my word on this, John, you know I don’t.’

‘I want you safe when I return, love.’

‘What’s he asking, Emma?’ Leo said softly.

‘He wants me to pretend to fall for the Demon King if I have to use the phone. So that I won’t be thrown to the Mothers.’

Leo was silent, watching the road.

‘Promise me, Emma.’

‘Only if I have no other recourse. Only if that’s the only way to avoid the Mothers. Only as a last resort,’ I said.

‘Your word,’ John said.

‘Do it, Emma,’ Leo said without looking away from the road. ‘This is about as close as he can get to a last request. Both of us will be able to die with our minds at ease, knowing that you won’t be hurt.’

‘We will find Simone and get her out of there,’ I said grimly. ‘And then we will all go home and spend a few more weeks together.’

‘I will not come out the other side of this, and you know it,’ John said. ‘Either the demon will capture me and take my head, or I will take True Form and tear it into very small pieces. There is no other way out of this. So I ask you, Emma Donahoe, as a woman of your word. Promise me.’