Kylie Chan - Red Phoenix

‘No, my Lady,’ Gold whispered.

‘You’d damn well better,’ my father growled.

‘Tell Jade she doesn’t need to wait,’ I said.

Gold concentrated. ‘Done.’

‘Tell Lord Xuan to be ready.’

‘Lord Xuan?’ my mother said weakly.

‘Done,’ Gold said.

‘Tell him what happened, Gold.’

‘He already knows, my Lady.’

I had a horrible thought. ‘Gold, call Leo on his mobile. Check that he’s okay.’

Gold pulled out his mobile phone and dialled. ‘Leo, it’s Gold. I’m just checking—is everything all right with you? No problems? Nothing…’ He hesitated. ‘Nothing out of the ordinary?’

Gold stopped and listened as Leo spoke. Leo spoke for a long time. A very long time.

‘I think you should come in, my friend,’ Gold said gently. ‘Something’s up.’

My mother moaned again.

‘You’re safe with us, Mum, don’t worry,’ I said.

She made a soft sound behind me. I checked in the mirror. She was sobbing silently.

‘There are tissues on the back shelf behind you,’ I said quietly.

My dad nodded and handed them to my mother. ‘Gold, where’s Michael?’ I said.

Gold concentrated again. ‘Festival Walk with a friend.’

‘Just one friend? How many times have I told him about this? Tell him to call me, I want to talk to him.’

Gold hesitated. ‘No need, my Lady, he’s with Na Zha.’

I went ice-cold. ‘He is grounded for a month.’ I glanced away from the road to glare at Gold. ‘You knew he was with Na Zha?’

‘He is perfectly safe with the Third Prince, you know that, my Lady,’ Gold said mildly. ‘They are becoming very close friends. They have much in common. They often go…’ he hesitated ‘…hunting together.’

‘You have no idea how much trouble you are in, Gold,’ I said. ‘The Third Prince is a bad influence and you know it.’

‘The Dark Lord said it’s okay,’ Gold said.

I snorted. ‘All three of you will get it very badly when we’re home.’

‘Dark Lord?’ my father said softly.

Gold didn’t reply.

‘Did you really get an MBA, Emma?’ my father said after a long moment of uncomfortable silence.

‘I did get the MBA, and the graduation is tomorrow night,’ I said. ‘They probably thought you’d check. They didn’t know…’ I hesitated. ‘They didn’t know that I haven’t told you what’s going on.’ I banged the steering wheel with my palm. ‘Damn!’ I glanced at my father in the mirror. ‘When did you get the tickets?’

‘About two weeks ago,’ he said. ‘We had to rush to apply for our passports so that we could come. But every time we called you, there was no answer. Your mother was surprised we managed to get your mobile at the airport.’

‘What a stroke of luck,’ Gold said. ‘I wonder why the man who met them didn’t try to stop her.’

‘He did try to stop her,’ my father said. ‘She went to the ladies room. She called you on the way back. He went berserk, trying to say she didn’t need to call, the phones were down, you were busy, but your mother was already talking to you.’

‘Oh God,’ I moaned. ‘That was so close.’

My mother made another quiet sound behind me.

‘Are they gangsters?’ my father said.

‘I wish,’ I said with feeling. ‘I’ll tell you all when we’re home. Mr Chen will talk to you too.’ I spoke to Gold without turning away from the road. ‘Check Leo.’

Gold dialled again. ‘He’s at Central Station.’

‘Tell him I’ll pick him up in Theatre Lane. I’ll make a stop there on the way up.’

Gold didn’t speak into the phone. He spoke directly to Leo. Leo’s voice shouted on the phone. ‘He says no, make sure your parents are safe first. He says he’ll be fine.’

‘Tell him that’s an order.’

‘Done. He’s waiting for you.’ Gold hung up.

At Theatre Lane, Gold jumped out of the car and Leo pulled himself in. I nodded to Gold and he nodded back as I drove away.

‘What happened, Emma? Who is this?’ Leo said.

‘These are my parents—my dad, Brendan Donahoe, and Barbara, my mum. Mum, Dad, this is Leo. He’s Simone’s other bodyguard.’

‘Pleased to meet you,’ Leo lisped politely. My parents stared at him as if he was from another planet. He turned to speak to me. ‘Gold said that they were brought to Hong Kong without you knowing.’

‘That’s right,’ I said. ‘It was a tremendous stroke of luck that my mum called me before the demon could stop her.’

There was complete silence.

‘ Demon ?’ my father yelled.

‘Oh God !’ my mother wailed.

Leo and I both stiffened. Neither of us said anything. Then, ‘Let’s get you safe,’ I said quietly.

My parents sat in silence in the dining room and glared at John with loathing.

‘Do you have any questions?’ John said gently.

‘Yeah. What’s the real story?’ my father growled.

‘You need proof?’ Gold said.

‘How did you come up here so quickly?’ my father asked Gold.

‘There’s some of your proof,’ I said. ‘Gold, find me a phone.’

The business day was just starting in London. I called Leonard.

‘Hi, Leonard, this is Emma. Could you do me a favour? My parents are here. Could you tell my father exactly who John Chen Wu is? The whole story?’

Leonard wasn’t very happy, but agreed anyway. I passed the phone to my father. He listened for a while.

‘How long?’ he said.

‘A what ?’ he yelled.

‘I don’t believe it,’ he said.

He hung up. He glared at John. ‘I don’t believe it. Tell me the truth, Emma. Are the police after him?’ I gestured towards Jade without looking at her. ‘Do

it.’

‘You are sure, my Lady?’

I wasn’t in the mood to mess around. ‘Just do it, Jade.’

Jade transformed into her dragon form, her back end still on the chair and her golden claws resting on the table.

My father made a quiet strangled sound and my mother shot to her feet with a gasp.

Jade transformed back. My mother pressed further back into her chair.

My father’s face turned ashen and he glanced at John. ‘You’re a fucking god ?’

‘Brendan!’ my mother said. Then she heard. ‘ A god ?’

John smiled slightly and nodded without speaking.

My mother glared sternly at me. ‘You are coming back to Australia with us right now.’

‘No,’ I said. ‘I have a responsibility to his daughter. And I love him.’

‘You always were the stupidest member of the family,’ my father said, glaring at me as well. ‘Look what you got yourself into.’

‘I know,’ I said. I ran my hands through my hair. ‘I am completely nuts.’

‘Why didn’t you tell us?’ my father said.

‘Would you have believed me?’ I said.

My mother and father shared a look.

‘No, probably not,’ my father said with a small smile. He leaned back. ‘Okay. So my daughter is engaged to a bloody god who can’t touch her and is going to disappear in a couple of years anyway. And you have these monsters or demons or whatever after you. And you have,’ he said, pointing to Jade, ‘a dragon for an accountant. Marvellous.’

‘My solicitor is a rock,’ I added with grim humour. I gestured towards Gold. ‘He’s a stone in human form. That is only the beginning of the general weirdness that surrounds this family. Wait till you meet our best friend.’

‘Christ, Emma,’ my father said quietly.

‘Well, now you’re here, let us show you around, take you to some tourist spots, and we can all attend Emma’s graduation,’ John said with satisfaction. ‘I’ve wanted to have you over to visit for a while anyway. I nearly invited you to the graduation, but thought the better of it because it may put you in too much danger.’