Small Shen

by Kylie Chan

  Contents

  Cover

  Prologue

  Hong Kong

  Beginnings

  Hong Kong

  The Tiger’s Harem

  Hong Kong

  Freedom and Theft

  Hong Kong

  Number Eighty-Eight

  Hong Kong

  Fortune Knocks

  Hong Kong

  The Sentencing

  The Celestial Plane

  Qing Long Works People Hard

  Hong Kong

  To Love a Human

  Hong Kong

  Farewell to Heaven

  Hong Kong

  Other Books by Kylie Chan

  Copyright

  Gentle Reader,

  Small Shen is a standalone story, and you don’t need to have read any of my other books to enjoy it. If you’d like to see more, the end of Small Shen leads straight into the beginning of the first book of the Dark Heavens trilogy, White Tiger.

  PROLOGUE

  1903

  HONG KONG

  1995

  THE BUILDING at One Black Road was thoroughly sealed. Jade and Gold couldn’t even materialise in the eleventh floor lift lobby — they had to enter through the gates like humans. The security guards on the ground floor called the apartment on the intercom and they rode the lift up, rigid with apprehension.

  The eleventh floor lift lobby had only one door; the Dark Lord Xuan Wu had the entire top floor to himself. Gold pressed the doorbell and they waited.

  A human Filipina domestic helper opened the inner door and studied them suspiciously through the large metal gate. ‘Yes?’

  ‘Let them in, Monica, I’m expecting them,’ Xuan Wu said from inside.

  The Filipina opened the gate for them and Jade and Gold entered. They stopped at the door and removed their shoes, then entered the large comfortable living room on the left and fell to their knees in front of the Dark Lord where he sat on the cream couch.

  ‘Please go into the kitchen for a moment, Monica,’ the Dark Lord said.

  The Filipina closed the front door and gate then quickly disappeared into the kitchen across the hall.

  ‘Wen sui, wen sui, wen wen sui.’

  ‘Rise. Do not address me like that again in this household. Most of the staff here are human. Celestial protocols are inappropriate. A standing or kneeling salute is sufficient.’ He leaned his elbows on his knees and studied them both, his noble face intent. He appeared to be in his mid-forties, wearing a pair of black cotton trousers with a small hole in one knee and a plain black T-shirt. His long hair had come out of its tie and fallen around his shoulders.

  They remained standing, waiting.

  ‘I requested that the Celestial assign you to help me in my current…predicament.’

  A young European woman in her late twenties wandered into the living room from the hallway. ‘Predicament, Lo Wu?’ she said with the soft burr of a slightly French accent. She moved behind the couch and put her hands on Xuan Wu’s shoulders, then bent and kissed the top of his head. He took one of her hands and pressed it to his lips. ‘I think I am the one in the predicament.’

  ‘I think we both are, love,’ he said. ‘This is my wife, Michelle. Michelle, this is Jade and Gold. They are small Shen in big trouble. The Jade Emperor has sent them to help us out.’

  Michelle straightened to study Jade and Gold. She was quite tall, about five ten, with a fine-boned, intelligent, and strikingly beautiful face framed by light honey brown hair that curled under by itself and rested on her shoulders. She wore a dark blue tailored silk suit with a white silk shirt beneath. She smiled at Jade and Gold, and her warm brown eyes sparkled. ‘More Shen. Just what I need.’

  Jade and Gold both bowed. ‘My Lady.’

  Her smile widened and she waved them down. ‘Please, Michelle, just Michelle.’ She leaned over the back of the couch to speak to Xuan Wu, her hair falling forward over his shoulder. ‘I have rehearsal in half an hour.’

  ‘We’d better go then,’ Xuan Wu said.

  ‘Leo can take me,’ she said. ‘We’ll be fine.’

  He rose without releasing her hand. ‘I will take you. I want to be absolutely positive that you are safe.’

  She sighed theatrically. ‘If you must.’

  ‘Besides,’ he said, gazing down at her with adoration, ‘I will not pass up a single opportunity to hear you sing.’

  ‘If you must take me, please change those awful pants, Lo Wu, find something halfway tidy.’

  ‘For you I will.’ Xuan Wu turned to Jade and Gold. ‘You’re stuck in human form, so you’ll need somewhere to live. You can’t stay here, I don’t have room.’ He held his hand out and a folder and some keys appeared in it.

  ‘Lo Wu!’ Michelle said, scolding. ‘One day you’ll do that in the middle of Connaught Road.’

  ‘I did that yesterday.’ He turned back to Jade and Gold. ‘Here are the door codes, addresses, and keys for two apartments that I own in Happy Valley. You can each have one. Settle yourselves in, then return here this afternoon, and we will go through your duties. Do not do anything Celestial in front of my human staff — the housekeeper Monica and the guard Leo.’

  Jade and Gold moved forward to accept the documents and keys.

  ‘Where is Leo?’ Michelle said, turning back to the hallway. ‘He’s supposed to drive me.’

  Xuan Wu concentrated.

  An enormous black man in his mid-thirties charged down the hallway into the living room. He was more than six feet tall, a wall of muscle, and smartly dressed in a designer polo shirt and a pair of dark slacks. ‘Sorry, Mr Chen, my phone rang,’ he said with a strong American accent.

  Michelle patted him on the arm. ‘Your phone has not stopped ringing since we arrived here in Hong Kong, Leo. I think you must be the most popular man in the Territory.’

  ‘Ma’am,’ Leo said, smiling down at her as well. ‘May I drive you to the studio?’

  ‘Leo may drive me,’ Michelle said, linking her arms in Leo’s and Xuan Wu’s. ‘And then Lo Wu may hear me sing.’

  ‘Go,’ Xuan Wu said to Jade and Gold. ‘I will see you two later.’

  The two Shen saluted him, and headed to the Valley.

  Jade and Gold had lunch together in one of the Western restaurants in Happy Valley, close to their new apartment building.

  ‘She calls him “Lo Wu”,’ Jade said. ‘Old Wu!’

  ‘She’s delightful,’ Gold said. ‘The human retainer, the black one, he’s very cute too.’

  ‘A two-bedroom apartment each. Who would have believed it?’ she said.

  ‘He seems different.’

  ‘I noticed,’ Jade said. ‘More…’ She searched for the word.

  ‘Much more human,’ Gold said. ‘Kinder. Gentler.’

  ‘You think she’s done that to him?’

  ‘If she has,’ Gold said, ‘then she is truly remarkable. I think I’m going to like working for them.’

  What are you doing, Gold?

  Jade saw Gold jump at the mental contact. ‘What is it?’

  Gold raised his hand. Jade and I are sharing lunch at Happy Valley, my Lord. What time would you like us there?

  Whenever you finish. Before two.

  Gold dropped his hand. ‘I have a stone inside me that allows him to contact me anywhere. He wants to see us as soon as we’re finished, before two.’

  Jade checked her watch. ‘We’d better move.’

  Gold smiled as they called for the bill. It felt very strange to be living as a modern human.

  The domestic helper answered the door. ‘He’s waiting for you in his office.’ She guided them down the hallway to the third door on the right and tapped on it.

  ‘Bring them in, Monica.’

  Monica ushered them in. She glared at the
desk, then turned and went out, banging the door behind her.

  Gold stopped and stared. The Dark Lord had a large rosewood desk piled high with papers. A stack on one end of the desk seemed about to topple onto the floor and join the mess there. A set of ancient scrolls sat against the wall, under a filing cabinet that had one drawer hanging open.

  The Dark Lord gestured for them to sit on the two chairs across the desk from him.

  Jade and Gold shared a surreptitious look as they sat.

  Xuan Wu closed the spreadsheet on his computer and turned to study them, leaning his elbows on the mass of paper in front of him. ‘The situation is not as simple as it appears.’

  Gold sagged slightly. It never was.

  ‘Michelle is terrified of my True Form. Every time she sees it she runs from me. Eventually she said that she cannot live with the thought of me changing into something so horrifying, and she threatened to leave me unless I vowed never to take it again. So I’m stuck on the Earthly in human form, much as you are.’

  ‘Never to take it again?’ Gold said, horrified. ‘Never?’

  ‘As long as she lives, Gold, I will never take True Form. I have made the vow, and though it was on the spur of the moment, I am a Shen of my word.’

  ‘Isn’t that difficult, my Lord?’ Jade said. ‘For a…’ She hesitated, searching for the right word.

  ‘Creature as large as me? Yes,’ Xuan Wu said evenly. ‘It is a tremendous drain. My energy levels are always low. Always. When my chi reaches a dangerously low level I make a quick trip to Celestial Wudangshan, and build the energy again.’

  ‘If you allow your energy to fall too far, my Lord, you could lose your humanity and be stuck in True Form for quite some time,’ Gold said.

  Xuan Wu leaned back and studied Gold. ‘I am well aware of that. The situation is very difficult.’

  ‘I’m sure you are able to manage this, my Lord,’ Jade said. ‘You are a master of energy. You can control the level.’

  ‘It’s difficult because she hates going to the Celestial with me. She needs to sing. There is no audience there for her, so I go for as little time as possible.’

  ‘Why don’t you leave her here with guards?’ Gold said.

  ‘Because the demons have found out about her. Very large demons are constantly trying to kidnap her. We have had four attempts in the last two months.’

  ‘The demons want her,’ Gold said grimly. ‘If they hold her they have you.’

  ‘That is correct. So. You can help guard her. What level demon can you take in human form, Gold?’

  ‘About level fifty, my Lord. If I was to face a low-level Snake Mother it would be a close thing.’

  ‘Jade?’

  Jade hesitated. ‘I use teeth and claws, my Lord. I’ve never faced a demon in human form. I always change.’

  ‘Well then, time for a test. Do either of you prefer a particular weapon?’

  ‘I can’t use a weapon in human form,’ Gold said. ‘There’s too much of a time lag between the stone making the order and the human form carrying it out. Up to a tenth of a second. So I just use energy, chi, directly from the stone.’

  ‘Jade?’

  Jade hesitated again. ‘My claws, my Lord. Always.’

  ‘Looks like you will need some training, Jade.’

  Jade lit up. ‘You will teach me?’

  ‘Of course. Let’s go to the training room and see. I am already teaching Leo, two more won’t make much of a difference.’

  He led them down the hallway to the door at the end. It opened into a training room with soft white mats on the floor. The long wall across from the door was covered with mirrors. A fearsome array of martial arts weapons hung from hooks on the short wall. Xuan Wu led Jade and Gold into the centre of the room and turned. He lowered his head and concentrated.

  The black bodyguard, Leo, appeared in the doorway, frowning. ‘Sir?’

  Xuan Wu gestured. ‘Come in and close the door, Leo. You can help me.’

  Leo glanced suspiciously at Jade and Gold, then entered the room and closed the door behind him.

  ‘Jade,’ Xuan Wu said.

  ‘My Lord.’

  ‘Which arts have you studied?’

  Jade hesitated.

  ‘Have you had any training in the arts at all?’

  Jade dropped her head and mumbled, ‘No, my Lord, none at all.’

  ‘Very well, you are dismissed. Return to your apartment at Happy Valley. I will not need you until two in the afternoon tomorrow, from now until then the time is your own.’

  Jade stood still and stared, obviously speechless.

  Gold helped. ‘You are giving her a whole day free from work, my Lord?’

  Xuan Wu’s stern expression didn’t shift. ‘Your working hours will be nine to six, six days a week. Sundays are your own.’

  Jade and Gold shared a look, then turned back to Xuan Wu.

  ‘We work less than sixty hours a week?’ Gold said with disbelief.

  ‘Your time outside these hours is your own. You may do as you please.’ Xuan Wu smiled slightly. ‘Just don’t forget that you’re on the Earthly plane, and you still do not have permission to take True Form. Oh.’ He raised his hand. ‘Obviously you’ve been in human form for a great deal of time, both of you look worn. You need to rebuild the energy of your human forms. You have my permission to take True Form for the next twenty-four hours, Jade, just make sure that nobody sees you.’

  Jade’s eyes went wide. ‘May I fly and swim, my Lord?’ she said, breathless.

  ‘Of course.’

  Jade grinned broadly, bowed, and saluted Xuan Wu. ‘My Lord.’ She glanced up at him, still grinning. ‘Thank you.’

  Xuan Wu waved her away. ‘Go.’

  She hurried out the door.

  Xuan Wu turned to Gold. ‘Now, let’s see how good you are.’

  ‘May I do that too when I am dismissed?’ Gold said.

  ‘Yes. Take True Form until you return here tomorrow.’

  Gold couldn’t control the huge grin. It had been a long time.

  ‘Are these Shen, Mr Chen?’ Leo said, watching Gold suspiciously.

  ‘Yes. That one was a dragon, this one is a stone.’

  Leo stiffened with surprise, then studied Gold carefully again. ‘How about that.’

  ‘I’m really perfectly harmless, I assure you,’ Gold said, smiling his most charming smile and hoping his dimples were obvious. He raised his hands out to the side. ‘Perfectly harmless.’ He spoke to Xuan Wu silently. Do we really have permission to do what we please outside these working hours?

  Yes, Xuan Wu said.

  Even to the pursuit of…liaisons?

  Yes.

  Gold’s smile broadened. Permission to take female human form, my Lord? And return later to visit.

  Xuan Wu’s voice was full of amusement in Gold’s stone lattice. Go right ahead, Gold, I expected that from you. I have no problem with you forming a relationship with anyone. If you wish to visit Leo, and he is interested, then I have no objection.

  Gold changed to female form; slightly shorter, with long gold hair. He was still slim and elegant, and the female form had the same charming dimples. He smiled at Leo. ‘Could you show me around Hong Kong? I haven’t been here in over a hundred years. Let me buy you dinner to thank you.’

  ‘Sure,’ Leo said, his voice low and gruff. ‘Would the other one like to come as well? I can show both of you around.’

  ‘No, just me,’ Gold said, smiling into Leo’s eyes.

  ‘There will be time for this later,’ Xuan Wu said, breaking in. ‘Right now, Leo, attack her. Don’t be concerned about the fact that it has taken female form, these creatures are completely flexible as to gender. Treat it as if it were still male.’

  ‘I object to being called an “it”,’ Gold said cheerfully, but he didn’t have a chance to say more. Leo’s fist shot towards his head and he sidestepped and blocked it, twisting it down and away. He used Leo’s arm as a lever, stepped around him, and tipp
ed him over so he landed heavily on his side on the mats. He bent and bound Leo’s energy, effectively paralysing him, then rose and raised his hands. ‘What level can this guard take? He’s not very good.’

  Leo struggled against the binding.

  ‘He has only been learning from me since Michelle and I set up house together,’ Xuan Wu said. ‘About three months. He has a great deal of potential, but you are obviously better. Unbind him.’

  Gold reached down and tapped the back of Leo’s neck, releasing him. He held out his hand to help Leo up. ‘No hard feelings, my friend? If you like, I’ll show you that move later.’

  Leo hesitated, then took Gold’s hand and rose. ‘That would be great, thanks. You’re really good, I’m glad you’re here to help guard.’

  Gold didn’t release Leo’s hand. ‘So am I.’

  Leo looked down at Gold who was holding his hand, then grinned broadly. ‘I look forward to seeing you later.’

  ‘Me too.’

  ‘Leo, go and fetch the Demon Jar from the storeroom,’ Xuan Wu said.

  Leo dropped Gold’s hand. ‘Sir.’ He quickly went out.

  ‘I have heard of this, my Lord,’ Gold said, full of curiosity. ‘It’s true?’

  ‘What have you heard?’ Xuan Wu said.

  ‘That you are able to turn demons into inactive fragments, and retrieve them at will.’

  Leo returned carrying a massive jar at least a metre high and half that around, with a complicated metal seal on the lid. ‘That’s a pretty good way of describing it,’ he said. ‘You can’t do it?’

  ‘As far as I know the Dark Lord is the only one who can do it,’ Gold said with awe. ‘A gift of a jar full of demons from the Dark Lord is a high honour indeed.’

  Leo grinned. ‘How about that.’ He placed the jar in the corner of the room. It was full of large black beads, shining like dark olives. ‘I thought all of you could do it.’

  ‘No, only him.’

  ‘Leo, I will be pulling large demons out. You are no longer needed, but you may stay and watch if you like.’