The Red Heart of Jade

by Marjorie M. Liu

  Not Owen, she thought. And not Dean. Not him. Not to you, ever.

  If only that were true. Or maybe it was. Maybe. She hoped. Once upon a time, most certainly. And now …

  She felt him, strong and warm beside her, a twenty-year miracle come to life, and for a moment she was young again, sixteen, full of a wild rush that came with knowing she could do anything, be anyone, and that at her side, always with her, would be her best friend, her right arm, the eyes in the back of her head. And feeling that—the old love, the old loyalty—she thought, Yes.

  Ku-Ku made a noise low in her throat. Kevin appeared around the bend in the corridor, accompanied by two younger men Miri did not know. He looked like a different person than she remembered, which was some feat, considering she had seen him only days before. Short, yes. Overweight, yes. Shrewd and intelligent and petty, most certainly.

  But his eyes, like Ku-Ku’s, were now cold and hard and utterly unforgiving. Dead eyes. Eyes like the old Chinese gangsters who had lived on Miri’s street back in Philly, men who watched over their flock like embittered kings.

  He looked at Miri and in English said, “You should already have been taken.” Simple, easy, quiet, and she thought, This night cannot possibly get any weirder. But that was a lie and she knew it—could only look into the faces of these people, two of whom were distant colleagues, and know that yes, weird had come, and come screaming. Danger, too. All kinds of wicked bad, all of which she could never have anticipated existing—at least not in the life she had now.

  Dean grabbed Miri’s hand; she felt his strength coil between them, warmth settling hard between her breasts. It was an odd sensation, like the simple act of holding Dean’s hand was allowing him to sink a limb deep into her soul. Something edged her mind, like memory: déjà vu, maybe. Standing here, linked with Dean, two against the world.

  “And who are you?” Kevin said to Dean.

  “Her sex slave,” Dean replied. “At least, that’s my goal in life.”

  Kevin blinked. Dean pushed Miri toward the door, keeping her behind him. They did not get far. Ku-Ku pulled a pistol out of her purse and aimed it at Miri. Yes, déjà vu. Miri stared at the young woman, wondering why she was doing this, but Ku-Ku’s gaze gave her nothing in return.

  “The man is armed,” said the girl in English. “Two guns at the small of his back. Two more around his ankles.”

  “What?” Dean asked. “You got X-ray vision or something?”

  Kevin held out his hands. “Your weapons, please.”

  “Um, no. Really.”

  “Even at risk of death?”

  Miri watched Dean hesitate, and edged sideways—barely a step, more of a sway. She knew he noticed. Dean’s fingers twitched. But even as she got ready to run, an odd thing happened. Her vision narrowed and she felt a tremendous pressure all around her, a darkness that blocked out the lab and seeped into her vision until all she could see was Dean—and suddenly he was gone as well, and she found herself staring at brown skin, darker than her own, a body both familiar and strange. She smelled rain, the richness of a wet forest, old and layered and hanging dark with wildness, and felt between her breasts a haunting warmth that was an open flame, throbbing to the beat of her heart.

  Remember, whispered a voice. Remember who you are.

  But all she remembered was guns and Dean and the lab, and she pushed hard against the images inside her mind, writhed against them with all her strength, and suddenly she could blink again, move, and the pressure eased up like an iron vise unscrewed from her head.

  But only for a moment. Something else touched her, cold and hard, pressing against the back of her skull. Dean swore. Miri drew in a very slow breath. In her most controlled voice, she said, “You call that a threat? I know you want me alive.”

  “Alive, yes,” Ku-Ku said, behind her. How did she get behind her? “But brain function is optional. Your friend should keep that in mind.”

  Miri slowly turned. The barrel of the gun moved with her, dragging across her scalp until it rested between her eyes. Ku-Ku did not look like she felt particularly guilty. Her gaze was flat, empty. Miri smelled bubblegum.

  “Get that gun off her,” Dean said. “You get that gun off her face right fucking now.”

  “No,” Miri bluffed, still trying to stare down her former assistant. “Shoot me. I dare you.”

  Dean took a step toward her. Ku-Ku’s finger tightened on the trigger and Kevin said a sharp word. She didn’t immediately respond, although her gaze slid sideways to look at the older man. Her finger did not relax.

  “Your guns,” Kevin said, and even Miri thought he seemed uneasy.

  “Just leave her the fuck alone,” Dean said, pulling out both his guns. He held the stocks between two fingers, and Kevin quickly took them while another man stepped forward to retrieve the weapons from Dean’s ankle rigs. Only when he was completely disarmed did Ku-Ku remove the gun from Miri’s head. Dean grabbed her hand and tugged her close; she felt a fine tremor race through his body, smelled the acrid scent of his fear. He tapped a message onto her arm, a simple You’re crazy.

  Yes, she thought. Very much so.

  Kevin pushed his glasses up his nose; sweat covered his brow, the edge of his slick receding hairline. He stared at Miri and she matched his gaze, defiant, until he broke the silence with a simple, “Where is the artifact?”

  “I don’t know,” Miri lied.

  “But you came here looking for it.” His voice was brittle, his eyes cold.

  “I came here looking for Owen,” she said.

  “He’s long gone. Tucked away some place safe. It was for his own good, Dr. Lee.”

  “Really? And how does that explain the blood in his office?”

  “An accident.” He smiled grimly. “Those happen, you know.”

  “You bet,” she said sarcastically. “Accidents during a kidnapping are par for the course.”

  Kevin shrugged, his fingers lingering on his round waist. “Yours was supposed to go very smoothly. How terrible that it did not.”

  “So I guess you’ve planned this for some time,” Miri said, feeling sick. “Though I don’t know how you could have known the jade would be found when it was.”

  “We didn’t know,” Kevin said, voice eerie, flat, not at all slick and fake with the charm she remembered. “But we are always vigilant. We planned for this day longer than you think, longer than all of our lives put together. Dr. Wills unfortunately stumbled upon something that should have remained buried.”

  “Jealous?” she asked him. Dean pinched her wrist.

  A grim smile touched Kevin’s mouth. “I am not a perfect man, Dr. Lee. So yes, I have been jealous of your mentor. But not about this. His … discovery has been, and will continue to be, the cause of much pain. Much death.”

  “Fifteen dead already,” Dean said in a hard voice, and Miri was shocked to see Kevin’s eyes narrow.

  “The fires,” he said quietly. “You know about them.”

  “You could say I had a personal encounter.”

  “And do you know who set them?”

  Dean smiled. Kevin glanced at Ku-Ku, whose mask seemed just slightly cracked. Miri imagined fear in her eyes—that, or a deep wariness. Some sharp anticipation of danger.

  It bothered Miri that Dean knew something that connected him to Kevin and Ku-Ku. It bothered her more that she had no idea what he was talking about.

  “You said fifteen,” Ku-Ku murmured. “Only fourteen have died.”

  “You haven’t missed him yet. It only happened a couple of hours ago. I found him at the very end.”

  “Where?”

  “He was number fourteen’s neighbor.”

  “And was it a bad death?”

  Dean hestitated. “I would say he suffered.”

  Ku-Ku rolled her left hand into a fist and cracked her knuckles along her thigh. Kevin, watching her, said, “He’ll be coming here next.”

  “He’s killing you off because of this jade,” Dean said. “Tell me t
hat’s not true.”

  “It’s not your concern.”

  “If you want Miri, then it most certainly is my concern.”

  “And I should listen to you?” Kevin’s mouth curved into a sneer. “You are nothing to me.”

  “Then who does matter?” Miri shot back, throwing herself into the conversation, uncaring if she didn’t understand, if she was in the middle of another mystery. “Who set you up to this? And why the jade? Why Owen and me? Is it money?”

  “Money.” Kevin managed to look even more disgusted. “Money means nothing when compared to faith, Dr. Lee. Money is an insult compared to our duty.”

  “And is that duty to an idea or a person?”

  Kevin smiled. “Do you believe in something larger than yourself, Dr. Lee?”

  Miri refused to answer. Kevin’s smile widened, though it was not happy. Bitterness clouded his eyes, a deep discontent that did not enter his voice as he said, “I believe, Dr. Lee. I believe in so much. But more than anything, I believe that there are creatures on this earth that are not gods, but who are still worthy of worship, who work to change this world, to make it better. I believe, too, that we are nearing, as a race, a profound end to our current existence, and that no one will survive unscathed. Not even those who ally themselves with the unearthly. Something bad is coming. The jade is just one part of that. A sign.”

  “An apocalyptic omen? Are you telling me that’s what this is all about?”

  “And if it is,” Dean added, “then how does it involve Miri and Owen? Because really, I can think of better harbingers of evil.”

  Kevin did not immediately reply, which surprised Miri, given his demonstrated willingness to wax poetic about his so-called mission. She glanced at Ku-Ku—who maintained a perfect polished empty mask—and then the young men, who did not, who fidgeted and sweated and stared at their hands and her face.

  And Miri suddenly knew the answer to her question.

  “You don’t know why, do you?” she said. “You don’t even know that much about the jade, just that you’ve been given some spiel that you can recite every time you begin to doubt your actions. But that doesn’t have anything to do with me. You were given orders, that’s all. You don’t know shit.”

  “I know enough,” Kevin said. “Anything more would get in the way.”

  “You sound like a member of a cult.”

  “I prefer religion.” He smiled. “And really, the irony of this situation is a better reward than the truth. I have been wanting to rid this department of you and Dr. Wills from the very first day, and now I have the perfect excuse.”

  “Wow,” Dean said. “Great evildoer speech. You gave me chills, man. Totally sexy.”

  “But next time rub your hands and tack on a cackle,” Miri added. “That’s pure poetry.”

  A flush stained Kevin’s neck. Ku-Ku leaned close to whisper in his ear; her Hello Kitty hairpieces sounded like bones as they clicked around her pigtails. She kept her gaze on Miri, who felt like she was being studied through the lashes of a pink and purple snake.

  Miri smiled at her. Dean squeezed her hand.

  “Don’t,” he breathed. “We already used up our smartass allowance, bao bei. Keep your mouth shut.”

  “She deserves some pain,” Miri said through gritted teeth, still smiling. “I’m sure I’m the perfect person to give it to her.”

  “I’m also sure this is not the best time.”

  “Don’t tell me what to do.”

  “Like I ever could,” he muttered.

  “We need to go,” Kevin said. “Dr. Lee will come with us. You, sir, will stay behind.”

  “Like hell,” Dean said. “You’ll have to kill me first.”

  Kevin shook his head. “You cannot protect her. She is beyond your help.”

  “I don’t think you know what I can and will do in the name of protecting this woman.” Dean said, in a voice so hard, so mean, it made Miri flinch. “I don’t think you can imagine it.”

  “And I think you are only one man, easily subdued.”

  Ku-Ku and the other two men lunged, throwing themselves on Dean. He let go of Miri immediately, going down under the weight of those bodies like a rock. But that only lasted a moment; his fists and legs began connecting with flesh. Miri tried to jump into the fray, but a strong hand grabbed the base of her neck and refused to let go. She immediately went limp, tucking her legs up and letting gravity do all the work. She hit the floor hard, the contents of her purse spilling on the floor.

  She glimpsed red, one slender corner of the jade. Kevin saw it, too. He stared and stared, eyes wide, sucking in his breath with a shudder that made her skin crawl. A mewling sound escaped his throat—so unexpected, so incongruous, Miri wondered if she imagined it. But there, again, he made that noise and it was a mix of childlike awe and gut-wrenching fear.

  Miri reached for the jade, but Kevin beat her to it and she grabbed his hands, digging her nails into his flesh, grappling for possession. She did not care at all about its spiritual importance to Kevin or his benefactor; only, she thought she might need it to get Owen back, and that was a good enough reason to fight tooth and nail for it.

  And she would have won if Ku-Ku had not cried out, startling her. Kevin pried her fingers off the jade, clutching it to his chest as he rolled from her. Miri chased him, but only for a moment. She looked at Dean.

  The two young men were holding him from behind, arms looped over his shoulders. Ku-Ku knelt in front, staring at his upper body, much of which was exposed. His shirt and jacket had ridden up during the fight, and the scars above his chest were now plain to see.

  And the cut, that curving welt, was glowing.

  You’re imagining it, she told herself, but Kevin made a choking sound, and Ku-Ku sat transfixed. Miri could not look away, either. It was like staring out a window directly into a world of fire. Beautiful and eerie. Miri crawled close. Dean’s eyes were dark, unhappy.

  “You have been marked,” Kevin whispered, but that was all he said because she suddenly smelled smoke, ash. All the color drained from Kevin’s face. He staggered, staring at the lab door, and said one sharp word to the men holding down Dean. They released him and Dean scrambled to his feet, going instantly to Miri. His face was terrible; he knew what that scent meant. She could see it in his eyes.

  “We’re too late,” Kevin breathed, and the young men behind him pulled guns from the bags slung over their hips. Ku-Ku moved like a dancer, eyes narrow and bright and hard. Her gaze flickered to the long corridor beside them; another exit, the way out to the vehicle unloading area.

  And then Miri heard a rasping sound beyond the doors of the lab, an odd hard ripping. Something was on the stairs and it was large, ponderous, an unending rolling rumble that got louder and louder, like a truck engine wrapped in snakeskin and chains.

  Dean grabbed Miri and backed her up against the wall, pushing her down the corridor toward the exit. His jaw was hard, his eyes as cold as anything she had ever seen.

  “Miri?” he said softly. “Run. Run now, and don’t look back.”

  “Dean—”

  But she did not finish. The door slammed open, black smoke pouring like water into the room. Heat washed over Miri’s face; the air sucked out of her lungs and she staggered, horrified. She heard a shout and someone opened fire on the smoke in front of the door.

  It was Ku-Ku. Miri glanced over her shoulder and saw the slender girl with a pistol in her hand and pigtails flying, like some Manga warrior princess going hard-core on the kick-ass overdrive, and by God she was pumping those bullets like a prize. The young men flanking her lurched forward, but they were clearly less experienced in the ways of the gun. Given everything Miri thought she had known about the girl, it was like watching Strawberry Shortcake on a killing spree.

  And in the middle of it all, clouded by the smoke, she saw an odd misshapen form begin to emerge; white, as white as snow, and larger than the door. She imagined a neck, or an outstretched arm, hair so long it touched the f
loor. And then Dean moved in front of her, pushing, yelling, and she turned and ran.

  She did not look back. Dean propelled her down the hall to the exit with terrifying speed. Heat washed over her back. A man screamed.

  No, she thought. No, this is not happening. Too much crazy, too many impossible things. Something in the air, the water, the entire freaking island.

  Something about that red jade.

  The back exit’s double doors were open; they raced into a small parking lot and loading bay. Miri heard footsteps pound the pavement behind them and glanced over her shoulder. It was Kevin. He moved surprisingly fast for a man of his size and age—or maybe it was just the fiery inferno blowing up his ass from down the hall they had just left. He did not quite slam into her, but almost; Dean wrapped his arm around Kevin’s neck and hauled the older man off, throwing him to the ground. Kevin tried to take Miri with him. She went down on one knee …

  … and saw exactly what they had done to the mummies. In fact, she was crouching in them. Or in what was left, which was little more than dust. Kevin and his men had stomped on the bodies until they were nothing but broken fragments, bits and pieces of three lives, turned into something less than fertilizer. It was more horrible than she had even realized.

  “How could you?” she asked, as Dean stepped close and rummaged through Kevin’s bag. He found one of the guns that had been taken from him and pointed it at the older man. Kevin did not appear to notice. He simply stared and stared at Dean and Miri, eyes wide, mouth moving in some silent chant.

  “Give me the jade,” Dean said, and much to Miri’s shock, the older man obeyed without hesitation, pulling the artifact from his front pocket. Another scream erupted from the building. Fire alarms soared; she heard the babble of nearby voices. Late-night students, drawn by the sounds. Kevin kept his arms extended toward Dean after he gave up the jade. Supplication, prayer, mercy; it disturbed Miri.

  “Stop,” Dean said. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

  “Because you don’t know what you are holding,” Kevin said. “Because you don’t know what you are.”