by Kylie Chan
‘She can see through you as well,’ John said with amusement.
‘Exactly how good for him?’ I said.
‘It would bring him back to close to full strength. The benefit would flow on to the Serpent and heal it as well. It is part of his true nature and would be very, very good for him.’
I took his hand. ‘Would you drain me?’
‘In turtle form, absolutely not. Exactly the opposite: it would probably have health benefits for you as well.’
‘Taoist turtle sex magic.’
He squeezed my hand. ‘That’s it.’
‘And you’re too damn faithful to find a female turtle Shen to help you out.’
‘I know how you’d feel about that. You’d say you understand and it’s for the best, and be totally betrayed.’ He shrugged. ‘And you’re right. For me, only you.’
I dropped his hand and climbed off the bed. ‘Let me think about it.’
I went to the bathroom without saying another word, and he slipped under the covers.
I came back out naked. His hair was a wild tangle on the pillow and his dark eyes watched me as I approached. He pulled back the silk quilt for me. I climbed over the top of him and he brushed his hands over me as I did. I settled next to him and cuddled into him. His hands roamed over my back, and I ran my own hands over his chest, tracing his abs, then slipped them around his behind to pull him hard against me.
‘One question,’ I said into the side of his neck.
‘Only one?’ he said, and his voice rumbled through his chest. He held me tighter. ‘Good. Make it fast, because I have better things to do. It has been a while since I have adequately demonstrated to my Lady exactly how much I love her.’
I breathed in the scent of him, cool and fresh. ‘It wouldn’t be animal, would it? It would be you? You could talk me through it? Because it would be wrong if it was all animal.’
He pulled back to see me, his dark eyes intense. ‘It would be me. The inside would be all me. The outside would be … one of my many outsides. I can talk you through it. It will be me.’
‘I’m still not sure.’
‘I’m absolutely certain that it’s a bad idea.’
I put my hand on the side of his face and looked into his eyes. ‘I love you whatever form you take.’
‘Leave it for now,’ he said. ‘We’ve had a hell of a day. A hell of a week. Rest.’
He kissed me and we wrapped around each other, losing ourselves in the sensation of sharing our bodies and minds so closely.
He pulled back to speak. ‘The decision is: no. If you change your mind, I will still be here, and either way it makes no difference.’ He buried his face in the side of my throat. ‘I love you,’ he breathed into my ear.
He stopped moving and remained completely motionless for more than a minute.
‘Holy shit I do not believe this, and whoever this is will get a piece of my mind,’ I said.
‘A bomb just went off in Tiger Village,’ he said. ‘Multiple casualties, most of them civilians. Children.’
He threw the covers off, jumped out of bed and conjured his armour. He looked down at me and opened his mouth.
‘Go,’ I said. ‘I’ll stay here and cry for them, because they were our orphans and their carers.’
He disappeared and I turned over to bury my face in the pillow.
‘Don’t do it,’ the stone said.
‘The whole Celestial needs him strong. This is a tiny sacrifice for me to make.’
‘If you do it when you don’t want to, then the demons have won,’ the stone said. ‘The essence of the Celestial is respect and care for all life. If the two of you do this, then you will betray everything that the Celestial stands for.’
‘If I’m not completely into it, he won’t do it anyway.’
‘And you should not even be considering it if you aren’t.’
‘But it would be very good for him, you said that yourself.’
‘That would be nullified by your suffering.’
‘What if I like it?’
The stone was silent a moment. ‘Turtle Shen have something of a … reputation. But you’re human, and what he’s suggesting is a very long way past normal experience for a human. It’s possible that the strangeness of the experience would outweigh any pleasure he gives you.’
I sighed again. ‘I’ll never be able to sleep now. I’ll worry about him while he’s out there, and our children are dying.’
‘No.’
‘Come on, help me out here.’
‘You need to stop using me as a sleeping aid; you’ll become dependent.’
‘Would you rather I took a sleeping pill?’
‘Could you at least try cycling your energy?’ the stone said.
‘It’s nearly two in the morning. I can’t be lying here all night hoping I’ll fall asleep; I need to be alert tomorrow. Just this once, okay?’
The stone’s voice filled with resignation. ‘You said that last time. Put me to your forehead.’
I did as it said and didn’t remember anything else.
‘Emma,’ the stone said, waking me.
‘Huh?’
‘Emma, another bomb went off. We have more casualties and he’s injured.’
I threw the covers off and turned on the light, blinding myself. When I could see, I rushed to find some clothes. I pulled on underwear and searched for my Mountain uniform, then gave up in frustration when I couldn’t find it in the reorganised closet.
‘How bad is it?’ I said.
‘Just a minute, reports are coming in. Serious injuries. Many of them are too serious to be taken to the Celestial; they’ve been taken to hospital on the Earthly. The Dark Lord is among them …’
The stone fell silent. I fidgeted, checking my phone, but there were no messages. He’d probably ordered them to leave me alone and let me sleep.
‘Was it Tiger Village again?’
‘Yes. The first bomb was to draw some Celestials there, and the second was to finish them off.’
I hissed under my breath. ‘We should have seen that coming.’
‘Shit-eating turtle eggs who fuck their own mothers’ filthy stinking cunts —’
‘Stone!’
‘Two children and one staff dead. Sixteen children and three staff injured. The Dark Lord tried to shield them from the second blast … Oh.’
‘Stone?’
‘Critical. Intensive care. This is very serious.’ The stone dropped its voice. ‘He’s dying, Emma, and they can’t take him up to the Celestial without killing him.’
‘Find someone to take me down there!’
‘Nobody will. You’re safer where you are.’
I fell to sit on the bed. ‘No.’
‘He’s just had six hours’ rest. He may be able to hold it together and land in Court Ten. I’ll let you know.’
I put my head in my hands.
Emma, I will try to hold it together, John said, and my head shot up. I will do my best. Unh … It was a soft sound of pain. Stay safe and I will be back. If I do rejoin, I ask you, my Lady, do not attempt to find me …
‘Tell him I won’t.’
Thank you. Now I’m saying goodbye to Simone and letting go. Remember: I will be back as soon as I can.
‘Tell him I love him.’
I love you too.
Simone slammed the door open and raced into the room in her pyjamas. She grabbed me and pushed her tear-filled face into my shoulder, then collapsed to sit next to me. I wrapped my arms around her and held her as the tears ran down my back.
‘I asked Kwan Yin to help and she didn’t even reply,’ she said.
‘No Bodhisattva will ever assist any people who are at war. We’ll be on our own until this is resolved,’ I said.
‘I hate this. Stone? What’s happening?’
‘He’s gone. We have to wait and see whether he’s rejoined, or he made it to Court Ten.’
The next five minutes of silence stretched for an eternity. We sat unmoving
, holding each other. Simone occasionally shook with silent sobs.
‘He’s in Court Ten,’ the stone said, and Simone let go into my shoulder.
After crying for a couple of minutes she released me and looked around, then went into the bathroom to find some tissues.
‘If he hadn’t spent that time in the cage he would be gone,’ the stone said.
‘Good. That means they really can’t see what we’re doing,’ I said.
‘Precisely,’ the stone said. ‘Now go back to sleep and there’s an excellent chance that he’ll be having breakfast with you tomorrow.’
Simone came to me with the box of tissues in her hand, sat next to me on the bed and hugged me again.
‘Do you want to stay here?’ I said.
‘No. He might come back before we wake up, and we’ll find him sleeping on the floor again.’ She kissed me on the cheek and smiled into my eyes, her own red and swollen. ‘Sometimes I’m very glad I have you, Emma.’
‘I’m glad I’m here for you.’
I kissed her back, we shared another embrace, and she went out. I crawled under the quilt, still in my underwear, wrapped it around me and closed my eyes.
14
I was woken by someone tapping on the bedroom door. I looked beside me: John was gone. I had a moment of disorientation and remembered what had happened.
‘Ma’am?’ Smally said outside the room.
‘Come in, Smally,’ I said.
I checked the bedside clock and sighed: 10 am. I sat up with the quilt wrapped around me to spare Smally’s modesty.
She sidled into the room and stood wringing her hands. ‘Miss Simone’s still asleep as well, ma’am. Should I wake her?’
‘No, let her sleep. We had a very bad night. One of the orphanages was attacked, and we nearly lost the Dark Lord.’ I wiped my hand over my face and through my tousled hair. My mouth tasted awful and I needed a shower. ‘What’s on for today? Do I have anything urgent right away? I need to check on the injured orphans and their carers from Tiger Village.’
‘I just received a phone call from Lord Bai Hu. It’s his Number One son’s wedding today, ma’am,’ Smally said, obviously anxious, ‘and both you and Miss Simone are supposed to be there in less than an hour. He said people are handling Tiger Village and not to worry about it, but to —’ She winced. ‘He said things I can’t say, ma’am.’
‘No, we had the investiture Wednesday, and then the wedding’s on Thursday … isn’t that tomorrow?’ I said, then, ‘Holy shit, today’s Thursday!’
I jumped out of bed. ‘Simone! Simone!’ I ran around the balcony in my underwear and rapped loudly on her door.
‘Go away,’ Simone said from inside.
‘Michael and Clarissa’s wedding is in less than an hour and we should be there already!’
‘Oh shit!’ Simone yelled. ‘Oh god oh god oh god … Go!’
I ran back into my room and skidded to a halt in front of Smally. ‘I need my dark blue skirt suit, the modern Western one. Oh geez.’ I undid the rough ponytail in my hair. ‘Just pull the suit and some undies out, put them on the bed, and go help Simone. She’s the bridesmaid!’
I charged into the bathroom and shut the door in Smally’s face, then opened it again. ‘Tell Simone that if she’s ready first to go without me.’
‘Yes, ma’am,’ Smally said, completely bewildered.
I was ready before Simone, and went in to find her in her dress and make-up with Smally doing her hair.
‘How much time do we have?’ she said.
‘I called Michael. They’re waiting for us, but the church will throw them out if they don’t start within twenty minutes of their time slot.’
‘So that gives me …?’
I sighed. ‘Yeah. Now. Clarissa’s waiting for you in the bride’s prep room, so they can start as soon as you’re there.’
‘Close enough, Smally,’ she said, and stood. She put her hand out to me and her eyes unfocused. ‘Okay.’ She nodded. ‘Just finding you a spot to faint.’
‘Oh, thank you very much.’
She took my hand and the world spun around me.
I fell onto my back and my head hit the wooden floor with a crack. I looked around. I was in a small wood-panelled room with a low ceiling and a demon had just dropped me. Two huge demons in human form were backing away from me towards the wall.
I lifted my head, still stunned from the impact, and saw Michael and Simone advancing on them, their expressions full of menace. They generated identical balls of shen energy and threw them at the demons to destroy them at the same time; obviously they were coordinating telepathically.
Simone knelt next to my head. ‘Are you okay?’
‘I’m fine. Has it started?’
‘They’re halfway through.’ She glanced up at Michael. ‘Go back. I’ll be along when I’ve checked her.’
‘You can’t just leave the wedding halfway through!’ I said. ‘What did people say when you ran off like that?’
‘All the humans are frozen, and we’re the only Shen apart from Uncle Bai and Leo.’ She put her hand on my forehead and concentrated. ‘You’re fine, but you’ll have a lump the size of a grapefruit later.’ Her healing energy moved through the back of my head, as cool and fresh as her father’s. She looked over her shoulder. ‘I need to go. Uncle Bai can’t hold them much longer without them realising that something happened.’ She turned back to me. ‘Come out when you’re feeling better, okay?’
‘I’m okay now.’ I raised my hand and she helped me to stand. I had a moment of dizziness and then nodded. ‘I’m good. Let’s go.’
We walked out of what had obviously been the bridal preparation room. Everybody in the church was frozen. Simone went to the altar, took her bouquet from Leo and stood in position next to Clarissa. Clarissa had shed the wheelchair and was standing with the aid of crutches next to Michael. We’d had concerns that she wouldn’t make it up the aisle on the crutches, but she’d been adamant. I felt a thrill of joy for her because she’d clearly succeeded.
‘Everything good now?’ she said.
‘Sorry, Clarissa, all fixed. They tried to kidnap Emma,’ Simone said.
Clarissa looked back at me and I raised one hand to indicate that I was okay.
Simone nodded to the Tiger, who was sitting in the front row next to Clarissa’s parents. ‘Let them go.’
Everybody let their breath out at once. The minister continued his speech as if nothing had happened. I crept up the side of the church and slipped into the back pew to sit. A couple of people nearby glanced at me without interest then turned back to the service.
Thank you, I said to the stone.
I love how they keep forgetting that I’m here, the stone said. But in this case it wasn’t me. Both Simone and Michael sensed the demons and dropped everything to help you. It’s a good thing the Tiger was here, otherwise this wedding would be the talk of the newspapers.
I sat back to watch, the lump on the back of my head beginning to pound. I used a small amount of energy to block the pain.
It was a beautiful ceremony. The church was decked with white and pink flowers, matching Simone’s bridesmaid’s dress. Clarissa’s dress was long and full, detailed with antique lace that highlighted her perfect fair skin and shining black hair. Michael wore a standard black Western-style tuxedo, but he’d left his hair blond and in a short ponytail. His expression was full of adoration as he spoke his vows, and his voice echoed through the church.
Leo stood next to Michael in a matching black tux, glowing with pride. Simone’s smile was wide and her eyes glittered with unshed tears.
John appeared next to me in the pew wearing his black Western suit, shirt and tie. Nobody noticed his arrival. He took my hand in his and I leaned into him, and we silently watched the ceremony together until he dozed off on my shoulder. I had to wake him when the ceremony was finished and we all stood to watch the married couple leave.
We followed them outside, and Leo opened the limo door
for Clarissa and Michael. When the couple were inside, Simone spoke to them through the door and they smiled and nodded in reply. Clarissa took Simone’s hand and squeezed it, then Simone closed the car door.
The Tiger gestured for John and me to join him and Simone in the other car, and pulled himself in behind the wheel.
‘Where’s the reception?’ John said, taking the front passenger seat.
‘The hotel in Western. At least it’ll have seals and reasonable protection,’ the Tiger said. He growled with frustration. ‘Clarissa’s stupid family had to have the goddamn Christian fucking wedding with all the trimmings, and this church wouldn’t let me come in and do a fung shui thing to set seals on it. Her parents even objected to me,’ he hesitated, then said with emphasis, ‘me taking the second parking spot so we can follow the bridal car back to the reception and make sure they’re all okay.’
‘What, they treated you like an ordinary human instead of a Celestial Emperor?’ John said with amusement.
‘Totally unacceptable,’ the Tiger said. He glanced into the back seat. ‘You okay, Emma?’
‘Yeah, they didn’t have a chance to do anything.’ I patted Simone on the hand. ‘Thanks.’
‘I’ll only be able to stay long enough to pay my respects,’ John said. ‘Then I have to pull Leo out to plan the evacuation of the orphanages. I need to find somewhere safe on the Earthly to put them.’
‘I heard about that. Didn’t you have guards posted at Tiger Village?’ the Tiger said.
‘Guards are completely useless against a rocket-propelled grenade,’ John said. ‘They had a human stand outside the compound, shoot the grenade through one of the second-storey windows, then go to ground. We were lucky: most of the children had moved from that particular building after the village was evacuated, but we still lost two in the blast. After the grenade went off, we searched and didn’t find any demons so we thought they’d gone. I summoned some rain to put the fire out, and I’ll be damned if they didn’t do exactly the same thing again and take most of us out.’
‘Holy shit,’ Simone said softly.
‘You should have seen that coming, Ah Wu,’ the Tiger said as he drove down the steep Garden Road towards the main five-lane highway that edged the harbour.