by Kylie Chan
‘Rhonda. Clarissa.’ I felt a leap of hope. ‘The boys!’
John gazed down at Simone, concerned. ‘Can you walk?’
‘No, leave me here,’ she said.
‘Ma, bring her,’ John said, and stood up again, collecting his sword. He shook the stump of his left hand. ‘I can’t grow it back right now, Emma. Either I can wait for it to come back by itself, or visit Court Ten and be renewed. Visiting Court Ten for something as trivial as this is considered a waste of Pao’s time, though.’
‘I see,’ I said.
Ma lifted Simone and carried her, and they rose into the air.
The demon soldiers had finished with the smaller demons that had tried to escape; all had been either destroyed or turned. The ten demons that had turned stood quietly to one side waiting for a Celestial to give them the Fire Essence Pill.
‘Put me down, I can fly myself,’ Simone said.
‘When we’re back on the ground,’ Ma said.
John led them along the building to the other end. A small partitioned area held four cages, each a metre to a side and two metres tall. I couldn’t see from above what was in the cages, and John dropped to examine them.
‘Stop the recording before you come down,’ he said to Gold. ‘I don’t care how many orders Emma gives you, she is not to see this. Leave Simone at the other end of the building while we pull them out.’
The recording blanked out.
‘But are the boys there?’ I said.
My mother rushed to sit next to me. ‘They found the boys?’
‘I’m not sure,’ I said. ‘Zara?’
‘Yes,’ Zara said in Gold’s voice. ‘Clarissa and the two boys are here. They’re in extremely bad shape. We’ll clean them up and bring them home.’
Just over an hour later, John rang the doorbell and my family ran to let him in. He stood in the doorway behind Mark and Andrew. Simone was next to him, looking wan and exhausted. The boys had been showered and their clothes changed to Mountain uniforms. They were both gaunt to the point of emaciation, completely bald, with sunken, staring eyes.
Jennifer and Amanda ran to the boys and embraced them, then brought them in and sat them on the couches. Colin and David helped, Colin holding Andrew’s hand and David holding Mark’s. Their brothers didn’t respond.
John came in and knelt in front of Andrew. What’s this one’s name again?
‘Andrew,’ I said. ‘The other one is Mark.’
He touched the side of Andrew’s head. ‘Andrew.’
Andrew jerked slightly, and seemed to notice John for the first time.
‘Andrew, you’re at your grandparents’ house,’ John said, his voice gentle. ‘You’re home, you’re safe, you’re with Colin and your mother. They’re right here.’
‘Mum?’ Andrew said, looking around. He saw Jennifer and threw himself into her arms. ‘Mum! You’re here!’
John went to Mark and did the same thing, touching him lightly on the side of the face. Mark took longer to come around, but he eventually recognised the family as well, and a joyful reunion took place.
John rose and took a few steps back to let us share the moment. Simone collapsed onto a stool at the kitchen bench and leaned her head on her crossed arms.
I went to John and linked my fingers in his right hand; his left was still gone. ‘How’s Clarissa?’
‘In a similar state, but for her it is a hundred times worse. She was convinced that Michael would come and rescue her, and he never did. She feels that he abandoned her.’
‘Oh dear Lord, that’s awful.’
‘She’s in the Tiger’s hospital here in the West, and refusing to see Michael. She will probably never forgive him. It’s quite likely none of them will be able to function completely normally ever again.’
‘Did you see Rhonda?’
‘No. She is dead, Emma.’
I flopped to sit and put my head in my hands.
‘I have something for you,’ John said, and held his hand out to me.
I looked in his palm: there was my stone, small, square and green. I took it and turned it in my fingers. ‘Hello, stone, welcome back.’
It didn’t reply, and I glanced up at John.
‘It won’t talk to me either,’ John said. ‘Gold assures me that this is it. Obviously it’s been traumatised as well.’ He put his arm around me. ‘We all have a great deal of healing to do.’
I tried to put the stone back into its setting, but the claws were too close together to slip it in. ‘I’ll have to ask the Tiger for help. The stone isn’t dead, is it?’
‘It can’t die. I think it’s just broken, and it will take some time for it to come back.’
I stroked the stone with my finger. ‘I’m glad you’re back,’ I said to it. ‘I really missed you.’
It seemed to pulse under my finger and then went still.
‘Will your family still go into hiding?’ John said.
‘That’s the last thing on their minds right now,’ I said. ‘Provided the boys get a good level of care, I think they will.’
‘After this, I don’t blame them.’
‘What about Kitty and the Death Mother?’
‘Zhao and Guan are tracking them. They headed out very fast, north towards Thailand. We will find them.’
I leaned my head on his shoulder and touched the bandage on his left stump. ‘Did you really have to cut the whole thing off like that?’
‘The Turtle’s blood is deep under the surface, and we were in a hurry. It was the only way.’
‘You seem to have endless patience with my interminable questions,’ I said.
‘Do I?’ He appeared surprised. ‘It’s just answers.’ He squeezed my shoulders. ‘The Tiger says we can stay here tonight and say goodbye to your family tomorrow. He has some things he wants to show us; among them, his hospitality.’
‘Do you want to stay here as well, Simone?’ I said.
Simone nodded into her crossed arms.
John went to her and put his hand on her shoulder. She raised her head and smiled wanly at him.
Jennifer and Amanda were clutching their sons without speaking. My parents joined John and Simone.
‘Would you like a drink or something, Simone?’ my father said. ‘You look terrible.’
‘She was severely poisoned, she nearly died,’ John said. ‘She just needs to rest.’
‘A soft drink would be absolutely awesome,’ Simone said. She sat up and took John’s hand. ‘You saved my life, Daddy.’
My father poured a drink and put it on the bench in front of her. She nodded her thanks and drained it quickly.
‘We’re staying here in the Western Palace tonight,’ John said.
‘You should take Emma and Simone to bed then,’ my mother said. ‘Both of them are exhausted.’
‘It’s not even nine o’clock,’ Simone said.
‘You’re having trouble staying upright,’ I said. ‘Mum’s right.’
‘You don’t look too good yourself, John. Do you need that arm seen to?’ my mother said. ‘That wound is still bleeding.’
John raised his arm; she was right. ‘It’s minor.’
‘Typical. Cut the man’s hand off and he says it’s minor,’ my father said. ‘Now you all go and get some rest, and we’ll see you at breakfast. And John?’
‘Hm?’ John said.
My father held out his hand. ‘Thanks for bringing the boys back. You have no idea how much that means to us.’
John hesitated for a moment, then shook my father’s hand. ‘They’ll need counselling, Brendan. I won’t go into detail about what happened to them, but it wasn’t good. They’ll never be the same again, and I think you’ll be cursing me for many years to come.’
‘Probably,’ my father said. ‘But at least they’re alive.’
‘Come on, ladies,’ John said. ‘Let’s leave them to it, and return in the morning.’
I hugged my parents before we left, but Jennifer and Amanda didn’t seem to be aware that
we were going. They were concentrating on their children, and I didn’t blame them.
CHAPTER 28
The Tiger showed us to the suite we’d be sharing; it was the same one with the balcony that we’d stayed in all that time ago. Royal blue cushions still decorated the purple couch, and the wind chime sounded gently outside the window.
Simone hugged us both, then took herself straight to bed.
John leaned on the windowsill, then turned to see me. The desert breeze lifted his hair; it had completely come out of its tie again.
‘They have seen things no human should see,’ he said. ‘And they are children.’
I went to him and wrapped myself around him, and he held me close, burying his face in my hair.
There was a tap on the door and he raised his head. ‘There’s a physician here to tidy up my arm,’ he said. ‘It hasn’t stopped bleeding and he’ll close it off.’ He released me. ‘I suggest you go run a bath or something while we do this; it won’t be pretty.’
‘Do you need my energy healing?’ I said.
He gazed into my eyes with amusement. ‘You have a terminal disease and you’re offering healing? Go rest yourself, Miss Donahoe, because you’re the one who needs it.’
He stroked my arms and I yelped and jumped back; it felt like a twenty-centimetre red-hot needle had been plunged into my right arm. I unrolled the bandage: there was a streak of normal skin in the centre of the demon essence.
John raised his left arm. ‘It was this.’
I carefully edged the black part of my arm towards the stump, and the second it touched I yelped again. Where it had touched, the black had changed to normal human colour.
‘My blood is removing the essence,’ John said with interest.
The physician tapped on the door again.
‘Enter,’ John said.
‘Can we do the rest of it now?’ I said.
‘While it causes you that much torment? I don’t think so,’ John said. ‘We’ll wait until you’re stronger and back on the Mountain, then we’ll block the meridians and do it that way. We may even put you under completely.’
The physician came in with a large black doctor’s bag, and saluted us on one knee. John nodded to him then returned to me. ‘Now go run that bath and wait for me. This shouldn’t take long.’
‘Won’t it hurt you as much as this hurt me?’ I said, raising my arm.
‘If it did, do you think I’d be talking to you like this?’ he said. He pushed me gently away. ‘Go, before I die of blood loss and Judge Pao makes me stay on Level Ten for the next six months. He’s annoyed enough to do it.’
‘No,’ I said. ‘I want to ask the physician something. Doctor?’
‘Bai; I don’t use a pseudonym,’ the doctor said.
‘I had my right ovary removed a few days ago. Is there any way for you to check if the left one is still there?’
‘Pull your jeans down a little and lie on the couch, I’ll have a feel,’ he said.
I lay on the couch as directed, and John watched as the doctor massaged my abdomen.
‘I need to do an internal to be sure. Is that all right?’ the doctor said.
‘Sure.’
He took a pair of latex gloves from his bag and slipped them on, and I stood up and pulled my jeans and panties completely off. I lay back on the couch and he slipped his hand inside me to examine me internally. John moved quickly to stop him.
‘No,’ I said. ‘This is normal. Let him.’
He used one hand inside me and the other on the outside of my abdomen to palpate it, feeling for the ovaries. I squeaked as he pushed against the scar on the right side; it was still tender.
‘Sorry,’ he said, his eyes unfocused. ‘That one’s definitely gone.’ He moved to the left side. ‘This one’s still here. I can feel it.’
I let out a huge gasping breath of relief. ‘Thank you.’
‘I suggest you have an ultrasound to confirm; that isn’t the most accurate method of identification,’ he said, helping me back upright and carefully not watching as I pulled my clothes back on.
‘Why couldn’t you just feel her pulse like a normal doctor?’ John said, obviously distressed.
‘Because her ovaries aren’t on her wrists,’ the doctor said with amusement. He nodded to me. ‘Now let me change my gloves and pull out my instruments, and I’ll sew up the Dark Lord’s arm.’
John came into the bathroom later, looking incongruous with a plastic bag over the end of his arm.
I draped myself over the edge of the bath. ‘God of water, can’t get his arm wet.’
‘I know,’ he said. ‘It’s been so long since my energy has been at full strength that I’ve forgotten what it’s like.’
‘I would like to look at you with my Internal Eye and see how big you really are,’ I said.
‘Go right ahead.’
I opened my Eye on him for the first time since he’d returned. He appeared as a great Turtle, bigger than the building we were in, but so drained that he was only a pale shadow.
‘You’re vast,’ I said with wonder. ‘So strong, and still so weak.’
‘Not even a trip to Court Ten can fix this,’ he said. ‘I need to be on my Mountain, undisturbed, for days.’
I hopped out of the tub to help him undress, but he concentrated and lost the clothes before I reached him. I stepped back and admired him.
He saw me looking at him and turned away, knowing full well what the sight of his muscular back and behind did for me. ‘Could you tie my hair back? I can’t do it one-handed.’
I took a hair tie from the toiletries provided on the bathroom counter and went to him. I smoothed his hair back, then couldn’t resist the urge to bury my face in it, relishing the silken feeling and the smell of the sea. I pressed myself into him, breathing in the scent of his hair, and ran my hands down his sides, tracing the muscles over his ribs and abdomen. I slipped my hand lower to stroke him, enjoying his reaction.
He took my hands in his remaining one and held them over his chest. ‘Forget the hair tie. I give up,’ he said, his voice vibrating through him. He turned around and smiled down at me with his hand and stump low on my back, making the plastic rustle against my skin. ‘I guess the hair will have to stay loose.’
As he realised what he was doing, his expression changed and he moved his left arm behind his back. ‘That doesn’t worry you? If you’d prefer not to be touched with it, I would understand.’
I didn’t reply; I just climbed into the shower and pulled him in with me. He pushed his face into the water and ran his remaining hand through his hair, squeezing the water through it with obvious pleasure. I pushed him to turn him around and shampooed his hair for him. He sat so I could massage his scalp, obviously enjoying it.
‘Not as dry this time,’ I said. ‘It’s strong and healthy.’
‘Wait until I’m at full strength, then it will have a life of its own. It may even stop you from washing it.’
I ran the conditioner through it, revelling in the silken feeling. With him sitting, it touched the shower floor behind him.
‘Why do all you traditional Chinese warriors leave your hair long?’ I said as I squeezed the conditioner out. ‘It must drive you nuts sometimes.’
‘My hair is a gift from my ancestors, and it is disrespectful to them to cut it,’ he said.
‘You’re joking.’
‘That’s why we used to leave it long.’ He stood up, took the soap and turned to run it over me. ‘Of course, I have no ancestors, but when I took human form, a man’s long hair was his …’ He searched for the word. ‘His manhood? No. His pride? I don’t know.’
‘I think I understand. It’s a little like shaving prisoners’ heads to intimidate them. It’s your self-respect.’
‘Exactly,’ he said.
He slid the soap over me, making me wriggle in response.
‘Oh, that’s interesting,’ he said, rubbing his soapy hand over my back then sliding it onto my breast, making me lean i
nto him and writhe. ‘You seem to like this more and more all the time. I just wish I had both hands to do it with.’
‘You drive me crazy, you know that, Xuan Wu?’ I said as his strong, slick hand roamed over me. He leaned to whisper in my ear as his hand slid between my legs. ‘Good. You drive me insane all the time.’
‘Last time we were in this room, I wanted to stay here forever,’ I said, wrapped around him in the blue and gold bed.
‘I remember,’ he said. ‘We had to return; we had duties to perform.’ He turned to see me. ‘I hope that isn’t the way you feel now.’
‘No. I can’t wait to be back on our Mountain.’
He touched the side of my face. ‘You delight me and terrify me at the same time.’
‘Terrify you?’
He stroked my face. ‘Please don’t be my Serpent. I like having you around.’
I put my hand over his. ‘I terrify myself.’
My family were waiting for us on the terrace outside their villa when we returned the next morning. My parents hugged me, and we sat to join them for tea, fruit and pastries.
‘Andrew has something he wants to ask John,’ my father said.
‘Anything, Andrew,’ John said.
‘I want to know …’ Andrew took a deep breath. ‘You can mess around with people’s heads, can’t you?’
‘I’m not supposed to, but I can,’ John said.
‘You want him to erase your memories?’ I said.
‘Both of us do,’ Mark said. ‘You know what was down there.’ He turned to his mother. ‘I think we should talk about this away from you guys. We don’t want David to hear what it was like.’
‘I’m not little!’ David said, protesting. ‘I’m nearly thirteen!’
‘Can you take the other ones for a walk?’ John asked my father.
‘No, I want to hear,’ Colin said. ‘I’m nearly the same age as Simone, and she was there.’
‘David, come with me,’ my mother said in a tone that brooked no protest. David opened his mouth to argue, then went quiet and left with her.
‘There,’ Mark said. ‘Did you do something to him to make him go with her?’
‘No, I didn’t,’ John said. ‘Messing with heads is something we do only in extreme circumstances and in the direst of need, because if we aren’t careful we can cause permanent damage.’