by Kylie Chan
‘No idea,’ I said. ‘Probably Leo being extra cautious.’
‘I can take them. You go back to bed,’ Simone said, and disappeared, the pile of stuff vanishing with her.
I went to the lift and pressed the button, then spun as I heard something. Simone had reappeared behind me. ‘On second thoughts, I think I’ll escort you upstairs.’
I nodded and turned back to the lift. ‘We need to buy a new car.’
‘Get the latest model, that one was getting so old it was embarrassing,’ Simone said.
‘You are such a Hong Kong kid.’
‘Emma,’ she whined, ‘I need twelve thousand to buy a new handbag. Can I have an advance on my allowance?’
‘Sure,’ I said. ‘Twelve dollars the minute we’re up there.’
She pumped the air. ‘Yes! Double what I got last week!’
CHAPTER 22
I went down to the Academy after lunch. The building was quiet without its normal bustle of activity. Even the lunch room was subdued. The students worked their moves in the training rooms silently and with precision as I passed.
I went up to the top floor to my office, and stopped when I saw Chang sitting behind Yi Hao’s desk.
He jumped up and saluted me. ‘I have been assigned to you, ma’am. I hope I can fulfil your requirements.’
I nodded to him. ‘Good. Come into my office.’
He came in and sat across the desk from me, upright in his stiff new Wudang uniform. He obviously wanted to make a good impression.
I flipped through the paperwork on the desk as I spoke to him. ‘Your main task is gatekeeper. All the paperwork, phone calls, emails and meetings go through you. I don’t have time to look at everything that comes across my desk, so it’s your job to go through it and ensure that I never see anything that’s going to waste my time.’
He looked concerned. ‘How will I know which is which?’
I dropped the papers. ‘By learning. You’re a smart man, Chang, and that means you’re gifted when it comes to learning. I’ll tell you which is which from the start and you can take it from there.’
He didn’t seem reassured. ‘I’ll try my best, ma’am.’
‘How good are you with email and word processing? Computers? Internet?’
‘Basic email, that’s all. I’ve hardly used a computer. It might be better to get someone else, someone experienced with technology.’
‘You had a gold-plated Blackberry.’
He grimaced. ‘That was easy.’
‘Just a second.’ I picked up the phone and speed-dialled.
Lok answered. ‘What? I’m busy.’
‘Lok, arrange for one of the demons from IT to teach Chang how to use the computer; he says he doesn’t have much experience. He should pick it up in no time though.’
‘Already arranged, ma’am, the demon will be up in an hour or so. They’re just tidying up the last of the big backups.’
‘Thanks for giving Chang to me.’
‘Bah, he smells. Couldn’t get rid of him quick enough.’
‘When was the last time you had a bath?’ I said.
He hung up.
Two hours later, while Chang was learning the email system, the White Tiger rang. ‘You lost your fucking stones again?’ he said.
‘It was really sneaky,’ I said. ‘They replaced our car with a bunch of metal elementals. They split apart once we got home and attacked us.’
He was silent for a moment, then said, ‘Damn, that is sneaky.’ His voice brightened. ‘Lion back yet?’
‘No. I’m expecting him in the next couple of days though.’
‘Cool.’ His voice filled with triumph. ‘I have a solution!’
‘What?’
‘Demon horses.’
‘What?’
‘We’ve created a harness-type thingy big enough to hold you, and it can go on a really big horse’s back. The demon should be fine to carry you, and the snow won’t bother it too much if we rug it up right and put snowshoes on it. Problem solved.’
‘Not solved,’ I said. ‘Demons can’t survive in a vacuum, you said that yourself. And there’ll be bugger all air up there.’
‘Fuck.’ He hung up.
I leaned back in my chair. Leo and the stones wouldn’t be back for another day; the paperwork could wait while Chang learnt the ropes; the students were in class; all was well. I picked up the phone.
‘Mr Hawkes’s office.’
‘This is Emma Donahoe. I’d like to speak to Mr Hawkes, please.’
The woman’s voice became brisk. ‘Would you like to speak to Mr Hawkes’s liaison officer? Mr Hawkes doesn’t take personal calls. How did you get this number?’
I leaned forward. ‘No, this is Emma Donahoe. Put me through.’
‘I’ll put you through to his liaison. Just a moment.’
‘No …’ The phone clicked. ‘Damn.’
‘Roger Davison, can I help you?’
‘This is Emma Donahoe and I want to speak to Mr Hawkes. Tell that new secretary who I am.’
‘Oh! Sorry, ma’am. Yes, ma’am, give me a moment.’
The phone clicked again, putting me through to the Taipan.
‘This is Hawkes. So sorry, Emma, what can I do for you? Demons attacking again?’
‘Nothing as major as that, David. My car was destroyed and I need a new one pretty quickly. Do you have a black E-class saloon in any of your dealerships that would be ready to go right now?’
‘Let me check the database.’ I heard him tapping the keys. ‘So really no demons right now? You sure? Because having your car destroyed sounds like fun. I quite enjoy the mayhem you people bring into my life.’
‘We destroyed the demons that did it, and we’ll be chasing down their masters soon, and no, you can’t come along. I would have thought you had enough to deal with running an operation like yours.’
‘Bah, global financial crisis is small potatoes compared to some of the stuff you people have swirling around you. Ah, here we are. Sorry that took so long, the car dealerships are such a small part of the business that I don’t have much to do with them. E-class, black, not fully optioned, just up the street from you in our Wan Chai dealership. Would you like it? If you’re willing to wait a few days we can get one with all the bits and pieces for you.’
‘No, we don’t need all of that. What you have would be perfect.’
‘It’ll be delivered to your secret headquarters this afternoon. Free for afternoon tea? I can deliver it myself, and you can tell me how the demons destroyed your old one.’
I choked with laughter. ‘Secret headquarters? We’re hidden right out in the open. No, I have a new secretary, I need to show him around. But I’ll get him to arrange something as soon as he’s up to speed.’
‘Don’t be a stranger, crazy lady. Any word from John?’
‘Did you ever see his animal form, David?’
‘I didn’t even know what he was until that business two years ago, Emma. I always thought he was just a local businessman.’
‘He appeared to me and Simone a couple of days ago in his animal form; he’s slowly coming back.’
‘That’s good to hear. I look forward to seeing him again. Anything else I can do, please let me know. That business two years ago was the most fun I’ve ever had in my life and being in the normal world just isn’t enough excitement for me any more.’
‘I’ll keep that in mind.’
I went out of my office to find Chang sitting at Yi Hao’s … his desk, his face screwed up with concentration as he worked through the hundreds of emails in my inbox supervised by the IT demon.
He glanced up when he saw me. ‘Would you mind if I reorganised the way the messages are filed? This seems chaotic to me.’
‘She was a demon, she was an expert at chaos,’ I said. ‘Do whatever you think you need to do to get the job done.’ I nodded to the IT demon. ‘I don’t know your name. Do you have one?’
‘I’m still deciding, ma’am.’
> ‘Take your time about it, a name is important; but if you choose an English one check the dictionary first. How’s everything coming along? I’d like to borrow Chang for half an hour, if possible. I need a break, and I want to evaluate his skills.’
‘A break would be good for him, ma’am.’
‘Good.’ I leaned on Chang’s desk. ‘Ring Lok, ask him which training room is free right now.’
Chang started frantically rummaging through the documents on his desk looking for the phone book.
I touched his arm. ‘Don’t rush. Take your time. Do what you need to do.’
He took a deep breath, found the phone book, opened it and called. ‘Master Lok. Lady Donahoe would like the use of a training room … immediately. Yes. Thank you, sir.’ He hung up. ‘He says training room fifteen.’
I pushed myself off the desk. ‘Good. Come with me.’
The training room was two storeys up and we took the stairs. We passed a junior class on the way and I stopped for a moment and poked my head in.
‘Master present!’ the instructor shouted, and everybody stopped what they were doing, fell to one knee to salute me, and then returned to their work. I leaned on the doorway and watched them, Chang standing uncomfortably next to me.
‘How long do you think these guys have been learning, Chang?’ I said softly.
‘They must have been learning for more than ten years, ma’am. Do you take them into your school when they are children, as Shaolin does?’
‘Nobody here is taken unless they are older than eighteen; and sixteen for the Twelve Villages. These are second years.’
He inhaled sharply.
‘Having Shen teaching is a huge advantage,’ I said, still talking softly. ‘We can accelerate the learning process — use special techniques to build strength and flexibility in our students that can’t be learnt anywhere else.’
He crossed his arms over his chest. ‘That’s cheating.’
‘No, it isn’t, because they need the head start if they’re going to face demons, which are ten times harder than any human.’ I gestured with my head. ‘Room fifteen is this way.’
We went into the training room and I summoned the Murasame. I used it to point towards the weapons rack at the end of the room. ‘Pick something you won’t hurt yourself with.’
He stared at me. ‘Where did that sword come from?’
I dismissed the sword and resummoned it. This time it came back slightly heavier. ‘Have you ever heard of a legendary weapon called the Murasame?’
He shook his head, still wide-eyed at the sword’s appearance. ‘No.’
‘Good. Picked something yet?’
‘That sword is legendary?’
‘A bit, yes,’ I said. ‘Come on, Chang, we have to get you back in about twenty minutes. Let’s not waste time.’
He turned to the weapons rack, appeared confused for a moment, then quickly grabbed a sword, removed the scabbard and tossed it to one side.
I lowered the Murasame and shook my head. ‘I said don’t waste time. I didn’t say rush. Goodness, but you have a lot to learn. Now put that sword back and choose something with care. Don’t rush it.’
‘Even if I were to choose again, I would choose this weapon,’ he said. ‘I think it’s the most suitable.’
‘Very well.’ I stepped back and prepared myself. ‘Take it very, very slowly. These weapons aren’t blunt, they’re sharp. I don’t want to see you hurt.’
‘I treat all weapons as if they were sharp, ma’am,’ he said with pride and stepped forward to engage me.
I put my sword up and guarded as he made some tidy strikes at me, moving slowly and with elegant precision. He ramped up the speed slightly and I continued to guard, following his moves and backing up to give him room.
When I was close to the back wall I said, ‘Stop.’
He halted immediately in mid-strike.
‘Good. Now guard.’
He nodded and lowered the sword and I moved through the attacks. He blocked with impressive style, and I ramped it up a bit faster, with him continuing to block effortlessly. His face went rigid with concentration and he changed from guard to attack, performing a fast horizontal waist-high swing at me. I blocked it easily, pushing his blade down, but his own momentum worked against him. His sword sliced over the top of his knee and he fell. He watched with horror as a small fountain of blood spewed out of him and spiralled into the Murasame. The sword continued to siphon the blood even after I’d tossed it to one side.
The sweet fragrance of his fresh, warm blood filled the room and my eyes clouded over as the need hit me. It would be so good to change and share the sword’s feasting …
I put my hand over the wound to stop the sword from draining him. When the Murasame had eased its pull, I took my hand away and tore the fabric of his pants where they’d been cut to have a closer look at the wound. It was deep but hadn’t hit any major blood vessels. It looked like his blade had gone underneath his kneecap and torn all the ligaments holding it in place — a small, neat wound that could easily make him limp on that leg for the rest of his life. His face was white with shock and he panted as I put pressure on the wound.
‘Stay still,’ I said. ‘Don’t move.’ I raised my voice to be heard in the next room. ‘Sit, I need you in here, please.’
Sit came in, followed by five or six of his students.
‘Students out, wait in the next room,’ I called. ‘Just Master Sit.’
Sit came and crouched next to us. ‘What happened?’
‘Bad guard, hit his kneecap with the sword,’ I said. ‘Murasame nearly finished him off for me.’
Sit glanced at the dark blade. ‘Not surprised.’
I leaned in to speak into Chang’s face. ‘Chang, can you hear me?’
He nodded, his face rigid with pain.
‘It’ll save a great deal of time if I heal this up now rather than passing you on to Edwin,’ I said. ‘There’s a lot of tendon damage here; it will take multiple operations to fix it.’
‘Does he know?’ Sit said.
‘No,’ I said.
‘I’ll hold him if you like.’
I nodded, and Sit went behind Chang and held his arms.
‘What are you doing?’ Chang said. ‘Why are you holding me?’
I spoke into Chang’s face again. ‘We’re holding you to keep you still because this isn’t going to be fun. Chang, I can heal this wound as if it never happened, but to do that I’m going to have to change form.’
He stared at me.
I put my hand on his shoulder and gazed into his eyes. ‘Don’t panic. I won’t hurt you.’
I rose, took two steps back, concentrated and took my snake form. Chang went berserk, making guttural snarls of terror and trying to free himself from Sit’s grasp. I concentrated on his knee, touched my nose to it and healed it while Sit easily held Chang’s writhing body.
I changed back and crouched in front of Chang again. ‘All fixed. The snake is gone.’
‘I should sedate him,’ Sit said.
‘He’ll be working closely with me,’ I said, putting my hand on Chang’s arm to steady him. He went rigid and stared at me with horror. ‘If he can’t deal with the fact that I’m a snake then we might have to find someone else.’
I tapped his cheek. ‘Chang. Chang, it’s me. You don’t need to be afraid. If you want to work with me, you have to accept that I’m a snake. If you can’t deal with it, we’ll put you back with Lok.’
‘She will never hurt you,’ Sit said into Chang’s ear. ‘Trust her. The snake won’t hurt you.’ He dropped his head and shook it, loosening his hold on Chang. ‘Phobia. This is bad.’
I rose and turned away from his expression. So close.
‘Deep breaths, deep breaths,’ Sit said softly. ‘Breathe.’
Chang grunted and I turned back to see that Sit had released him. Chang was pulling himself to his feet without his usual grace, clumsy with shock. He stood staring at me, panting.
&
nbsp; I spread my arms. ‘I’m sorry, Chang. I did it to heal you.’
He took more deep breaths, but didn’t move. ‘Change again.’
‘That wouldn’t be a good idea. I can see how I affect you.’
He took a quick step forward, then his face froze as he realised that he was closer to me. He gestured towards me. ‘Change again. I can handle it.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘You healed me. You didn’t hurt me. You’re right: I need to get used to it,’ he said.
I changed to snake again and he bellowed with terror and jumped back.
‘Hold, Chang,’ Sit said from behind him. ‘It’s her.’
I stayed very still.
‘Say something,’ Sit said.
‘It’s me,’ I said gently. ‘I know it’s strange, but it’s really me. The Dark Lord himself, Xuan Tian, is a snake too, Chang. You’ll have to get used to us.’
‘That’s right, he’s a turtle snake thing,’ Chang said with wonder. ‘I remember him from the temple. He’s so strange.’ He gestured towards me. ‘But not as strange as you, ma’am.’
‘You are quite correct,’ Sit said with quiet amusement.
Chang took a couple of deep breaths and sidled towards me. ‘Will you hurt me if I touch you?’
‘No,’ I said. I dropped my head slightly so he could reach. ‘Feel free.’
‘What is that on your head?’
‘It’s her crown,’ Sit said with pride. ‘She is Empress of the Northern Heavens.’
‘It’s not and I’m not, but I’ll let that slide for now,’ I said. ‘You okay? Do you want to continue working with me?’
Chang took one large stride towards me, shoved out his hand and swiped me on the snout. I dropped my head and hissed with pain, and he leapt back again with another yell.
‘It’s okay, it’s okay,’ I said. ‘You just smacked me on the snout and it hurt.’
He moved forward again and touched my nose more lightly. ‘I’m sorry, ma’am. I didn’t mean to.’
‘I know that,’ I said. ‘What do I feel like? Move your hand over the top of my head and down my neck.’
He did as I said, feeling the scales. ‘You’re not slimy at all!’
‘Of course not,’ I said. ‘Only Snake Mothers have slime.’
