by Kylie Chan
Simone hesitated for a moment, staring at him, then threw herself at him to hug him, one hand with the sword behind his back.
Martin buried his face in her hair. ‘I love you, Mei Mei. Be strong.’ He stepped back and smiled slightly, then dropped to one knee and bent his head. ‘Free me.’
Simone didn’t say another word, she just raised the sword and, with an effortless, elegant swipe, took his head. She looked away as his head hit the floor and rolled away slightly, then his body crumpled, blood pumping from the arteries in his neck. The body disappeared, leaving a bloodstain on the mats.
Simone bent and walked, devastated, out of the room, the sword dragging behind her.
‘You don’t have to come to the meeting,’ I said to her back.
‘I’ll come,’ she said. ‘Wait for me. I need a tissue.’
‘I’ll meet you downstairs,’ I said.
‘I think Martin must have been passed over when it came to the brainy genes in the family,’ Simone said, looking out the window of the Mercedes as Michael drove us down the hill. ‘He keeps doing really dumb things, with the best intentions in the world.’
‘He kept you safe, Simone,’ Michael said.
‘He let the Demon King boss him around, and he let himself be thrown to the Mothers!’ Simone cried, anguished. ‘What an idiot!’
‘We need to contact the Celestial to arrange for him to be released from Hell as quickly as possible, so we can find Leo and Gold’s baby,’ I said.
Michael took the overpass from Garden Road to Harcourt Road next to the harbour, then went straight up onto another overpass that took us towards the Convention and Exhibition Centre on the water’s edge. It was 8 pm—we’d been running since lunchtime—and the traffic was still very busy through Central and Wan Chai. The laser light show on the top of the buildings around us had started, sending brilliant green laser beams across the harbour and making the buildings shine with a variety of different colours and patterns in a splendid display.
The Hyatt was part of the Convention Centre complex, one of two hotels that flanked the Convention Centre building. John had always booked a room there for meetings with senior Celestials and I’d followed the tradition. We left the car with valet parking—they recognised us after so many meetings held there—and went through the lobby to the meeting rooms on the same floor, next to the exhibition centre at the back of the hotel. There weren’t any other functions taking place; only our people were waiting in the meeting room lobby with its plush tan carpet and elegant deco lights—Celestial Masters Chen, Liu and Wong, and Generals Gao and Ma, all in normal human form wearing business suits.
We shook hands Western-style all around and went into the meeting room. It had beige walls, no windows, and the U-shaped table and chairs around it were covered in cloths that went to the floor.
Michael took up position as guard outside the room, but I waved him inside. ‘You’re part of this. Come sit.’
He hesitated, then shrugged and came in.
Master Chen, the Wudang Weapons Master, was in the form of a mid-sixties woman in a tailored navy business suit. Master Nigel Wong, the Demon Master, was an Immortal who looked like a twenty-something yuppie with slicked-back hair. Shaolin Master Liu also wore a business suit, but it didn’t really suit his bushy eyebrows, long white beard and completely bald head. Meredith wasn’t there yet.
Marshal Gao had done his best not to glow, but seemed distracted—probably from the effort of retaining the form. Marshal Zhou hadn’t changed his appearance very much; he had his usual long, scruffy black beard and dark skin, but he had made the effort of wearing a Chinese black silk robe with cotton trousers underneath instead of his usual armour.
The White Tiger came in, glowered at Marshal Zhou, saluted me, saluted around the Generals, then went to the end of the table and sat. He summoned a jug of wine for himself and poured it without talking to anybody.
One of the hotel staff, a tall man in his early twenties, stuck his head around the doorway. He glanced around, trying to work out who had booked the room, and Master Chen went to him to discuss the meeting arrangements.
Marshal Ma came in, looking middle-aged and serene as usual. He touched the hotel staff member’s jacket as he passed and the young man nodded. Ma smiled around the room, nodded to the salutes of the more junior generals, saluted me, and sat.
The young hotel staffer appeared confused by all the formality and saluting, but Master Chen quickly took his attention with a complicated order for drinks and snacks. He went out, closing the door behind him. Master Chen opened it again and left it open for the Demon King, then came and stood beside me.
‘Meredith’s held up with the dragon, she may not make it,’ she said softly. ‘Guan Yu’s on his way. The Demon King we haven’t heard from yet, but he’s not attacking anybody at the moment so he should be here.’ She turned to face me so she could speak softly into my ear. ‘But this is interesting, Emma, apparently Er Lang is on his way as well.’
I tried not to communicate my frustration through my body language. ‘Wonderful.’
She turned back to the group. ‘Don’t panic.’
Marshal Ma approached us. He stood between me and the rest of the group, blocking their view of me, and spoke casually. ‘I don’t know what’s going on with Er Lang, but we can handle it, Emma. Stay aloof. He’s beneath your attention.’
‘Can I slap him upside the head with my little sword?’ I said, just as quietly.
Ma grinned at me. ‘One day you’re going to give him the beating that he deserves.’
Everybody who had been sitting quickly rose, and everybody present fell to one knee: Guan Yu had arrived. He saluted me, nodded to those saluting him, and approached us.
To hell with protocol. I held my hand out to Guan Yu and we shook. He grinned at me. Guan Yu didn’t often have time to come down from the Celestial because of his role as Guardian of the Gates, but whenever he did he was warmly welcomed by all. He’d taken his usual human form of an exceptionally tall, extremely muscular man with a thin black beard, his black hair in a buzz cut that made it stand straight up. Surprisingly it suited him, even though he appeared in his mid-forties. He turned to the group and waved one hand. ‘Is that everyone?’
‘I believe you’re waiting for me,’ the Demon King said from the doorway.
He wore a black T-shirt and a pair of maroon jeans, his black hair held in a short ponytail. He came into the conference room flanked by a pair of Snake Mothers in the form of tall, slender, gorgeous women, one black and one a redhead. He sat at the table, saluting everybody around it, and the women sat on each side of him, grinning with menace. The Celestials saluted back and I joined them at the table, a few of them rising to sit after I did in formal Chinese protocol.
‘You’ve failed me, Emma,’ the Demon King said with humour. ‘You were supposed to destroy Six, and all you did was run him to ground. Nobody will ever be able to find him now.’
‘We have help now…’ Simone said, then her voice trailed off as she realised she’d said too much.
The Demon King shot a short, appraising glance at her, then smiled broadly again. ‘I’m sure you do have help. You have me as well.’
‘Is Six in the demonic side of Hell?’ I said, and some of the Generals stiffened and leaned back from the table, shocked at this appalling breach of protocol.
‘Always straight to the point, so refreshing, Emma,’ the Demon King said. ‘Yes, he’s in my side. Do you want my permission to go in after him?’
‘Yes,’ I said.
The King shrugged. ‘Sure thing. Is that all you needed?’
‘Provide Simone with directions to Six’s nest,’ I said.
The Demon King’s face froze, emotionless, for a second, and the Snake Mothers hissed quietly. Then he grinned broadly. ‘Oh, this is very good news for you!’ he said with delight. ‘Was it you that killed your brother, Simone?’
All of the Generals glanced sharply at Simone and she blushed at the a
ttention. ‘I may have,’ she said.
The King spread his hands over the table. ‘Well, it’s about time. I never really had a use for him, except to entertain the girls, but when he offered himself in exchange for your safety it was too good an opportunity to refuse. It’s really about time he got the courage to ask someone to kill him and free him from the oath. He always was a shocking coward.’
Simone raised her chin, defiant. ‘I think what he did was very brave.’
‘Of course you do. I’m so glad for you, dear, you have a member of your family back. And soon you’ll have Leo as well! This is marvellous news.’
‘We need to know where Leo is so we can bring him out,’ I said.
The King shrugged. ‘Sorry, Emma. That one has been very quiet under the radar for the last eight years. You have my permission to enter the demonic side of Hell, but I’m afraid it is not within my ability right now to tell you where he is. Martin may be able to help you though.’
‘We just had fourteen demon copies turn up at the Academy,’ I said. ‘They were destroyed when we removed the stones that were eroding our seals, and put the seals back up. Is it the same demon making the copies?’
‘Excellent, you’ve found the problem with your seals,’ the King said. ‘I’d love to have a look at these stones that are causing the problem, must be extremely advanced breeding techniques to produce something like that. As to your question, I don’t think it’s the same demon making the stones and the copies. There may have been more than one of them in league with One Two Two, but I thought I’d destroyed them all.’ He shrugged. ‘Pain in the ass. We’ll have to do something about it, eh?’ He grinned around the table. ‘Sorry I couldn’t be more help, but you have Martin to help you now, and he certainly knows his way around Hell. Is that all?’
I glanced around at the Generals to see if they had anything to add. They all either sat impassively or shook their heads.
‘That’s all,’ I said. ‘If you gain any info on where Six is, we’d appreciate the help.’
‘Anytime, Emma, anything for you, you know that.’ The King rose, came to me, took my hand as if he was going to shake it, then kissed it. I snatched it back with revulsion when I felt his tongue on my skin. He moved closer to speak softly to me. ‘I’d give you anything at all if you came to me for one night in Mother form. Anything in Hell would be yours.’
He nodded around the table and spoke more loudly. ‘See ya, fellas.’
He and the Snake Mothers were about to leave when Er Lang appeared in the doorway, blocking their exit. Er Lang took a step forward into the King’s personal space and the King backed up, glaring up at him.
Er Lang stared down at the Demon King. ‘You are constantly attacking the Celestial. You should be punished.’
‘I live in Hell, and cannot see the light of day without permission,’ the Demon King said. ‘Is that not punishment enough?’
‘Stay in your own part of Hell, demon,’ Er Lang said. ‘Do not meddle in Celestial affairs.’
The Demon King backed up. ‘Whatever.’ He grinned at me. ‘Later, darling Emma.’ He turned back to see Simone. ‘Congratulations on finding your brother, little one. It is good to see you with family.’ He shoved past Er Lang and went out, the Snake Mothers following.
‘What was all that about?’ Marshal Ma said.
I sat at the table. ‘Ming Gui, the Xuan Wu’s son, gave an oath to the King of the Demons and was bound in servitude to him. In return, I think the King agreed not to harm either Simone or Xuan Wu.’
‘That was a monumentally stupid thing to do,’ Guan Yu said, ‘but I can understand him wanting to make this sacrifice to keep his baby sister safe.’
‘She killed Ming Gui before we came to this meeting. He is free from his oath. He says he can help us, but we need to bring him out of the tenth level as soon as possible.’
The Generals turned to study Simone appraisingly.
‘She killed him?’ Marshal Ma said.
‘My brother is free; we just need to bring him out of Hell as quickly as we can,’ Simone said.
We need to get rid of Er Lang and we can discuss a sortie into the demon side of Hell, Marshal Ma said into my head. Close the meeting.
He’s right, Emma, Master Liu said. The Generals can help with this, but not while Er Lang is here.
I rose. ‘Let’s head to Hell immediately. I believe that I still have sanction. We’ll prepare for a full-on nest raid, and meet at the docks in Shum Wan.’
The Masters and Generals saluted me, and rose to go out.
‘One moment, madam,’ Er Lang said as the Generals and Masters walked out.
I nodded to him. ‘My Lord. Will you join us?’
‘I am needed on the Celestial,’ Er Lang said. ‘I believe it would be unwise for the Princess to accompany you. She is too valuable to wander around Hell; it is too dangerous.’
Simone strode to Er Lang, put her hands on her hips and glared up at him. ‘I’m a better demon killer than just about every other Celestial put together. I’m Princess of the Dark Northern Heavens, and Leo Alexander is my Retainer. Gold’s also my Retainer, and his child has been taken. It’s my responsibility as their Lady to make sure that they’re okay. Just because I’m young and female doesn’t mean that I can’t kick some demon ass.’
Er Lang smiled slightly down at her. ‘You’re right, Princess. You are young and female, and it really shouldn’t be necessary for you to endanger yourself by going to some of the most disturbing parts of the Underworld.’ He gestured with one hand to encompass the departing Generals and Masters. ‘Some of these Celestial Worthies have fought demons for hundreds of years. Let them handle this for you. Go home, where you are safe.’
‘Tell you what, Er Lang,’ Simone said. ‘How about you contact Yanluo Wang for us and arrange for my brother to be released from the tenth level quickly?’
‘I really don’t think that’s necessary.’
She cocked her head at him. ‘How about I order you to do it? Do I have precedence over you?’
His face went fierce with anger for a moment, then he made a visible effort to relax. ‘That will not be necessary, Princess. Although you do not have precedence, we will see what we can do about releasing Ming Gui from the Underworld.’
She nodded to him. ‘I thank you, sir. Now, if you will excuse me, I need to prepare for a sortie into Hell to release my Retainer’s child.’
He nodded back to her. ‘Madam.’ He disappeared.
Simone sagged. ‘I thought I would never get rid of him!’ She turned back to me. ‘They’re coming back. I’d like to know what they want to say that he wasn’t supposed to hear.’
The rest of the group reappeared around the conference table.
Marshal Ma gestured to me. ‘Sit, Emma. Let’s work this out.’
‘Why did you need to get rid of Er Lang?’ I said.
The Generals shared a look, then Marshal Ma said, ‘That’s not really important. What is important is finding this stone child and destroying Six. This has gone on for long enough.’
Martin appeared in the doorway. ‘I can help.’
I waved him in. ‘Come and tell us everything.’
CHAPTER 28
The hotel staffer appeared with a trolley of drinks and snacks. We waited impatiently while he carefully placed the platters of sandwiches and sushi on the table, presented everybody with small plates and napkins, then proceeded to set glasses for soft drinks as well as cups and saucers on the conference room sideboard.
‘Leave that, we’ll do it ourselves,’ I said.
He nodded and went out, obviously relieved to escape the tension.
Martin saluted around the table. ‘It is good to be free.’ He nodded to Simone. ‘Thank you, sister. Now I can take you to Six’s nest. But you must know—there is more than just Six.’
‘Four demons altogether, right?’ I said. ‘I remember them having meetings when I was held by One Two Two.’
Martin nodded. ‘There are a
ctually five—but nobody seems to know who the fifth is. Six and Three—male and female together, mother and son, who are the experts with stones. Then there is Fourteen—the Death Mother—she is the one that has made the demon copies. She escaped from the nests shortly after being promoted to Snake Mother and has created her own nest of vipers somewhere in the south. She is extremely cruel and dangerous. Thirty-Three, the technological expert, has been making the fake elementals for them. He is lazy and has no real ambition for himself except to survive and have an army of demon servants. There is one more—the expert with the energy. Nobody seems to know who it is.’
‘I saw that energy destroy Xuan Wu in True Form,’ I said.
‘No energy should be able to destroy Xuan Wu’s True Form,’ Marshal Guan said.
‘It’s black and very scary,’ Simone said. ‘I saw it when I was little—Simon Wong used it on me, but I was full of yin and just absorbed it. It starts out a really pretty shade of blue, then turns black, and then just destroys everything. It’s different from yin but it’s still nasty stuff.’
‘And you have no idea where the demon that produces this is?’ I asked Martin.
‘Nobody does,’ Martin said. ‘Maybe Kitty Kwok does, but she’s keeping very much to herself.’ He saw my face. ‘Yes, Kitty is still alive, and working as a gobetween for these four demons.’
‘What’s in it for her?’ I said. ‘She’s lost all her assets on the Earthly Plane, and as a human she can’t go anywhere on the Celestial.’
‘Immortality,’ Martin says. ‘She is helping these demons because she thinks they can give it to her.’
‘Immortality cannot be purchased,’ Guan Yu said with disdain. ‘It can only be earned with cultivation and merit.’
‘She saw what Six and Three were doing with the stone Shen and adapted their methods to herself,’ Martin said.
‘Exactly what are they doing?’ I said.
‘They are in exile outside Hell, and any untamed demon that stays too long outside Hell will eventually weaken and die,’ Martin said. ‘To keep themselves alive, they kidnap stones and carve pieces off them to make children. But the children they create are artificial, because of the imprisonment of the parents. They are able to keep themselves alive using these artificial children, but to return to full strength they need the energy from a real stone child. It is possible that this is what they planned from the start when they sliced a piece off Gold eight years ago. Stone children are only born from the Grandmother once every thousand years or so, and born from the damage to a parent stone even less frequently.’
