Kylie Chan - Red Phoenix

His mouth snapped shut and he nodded. He could see that he’d pushed it too far.

‘Mr Chen’s True Form is even stranger than that. He’s a combination of two animals, a snake and a turtle. He claims that right now he’s lost the Serpent part of him and doesn’t know where it is.’

‘He’s lost part of himself? How could that happen?’

‘Even he doesn’t know how it happened. He really is extremely weird. Compared to him, your father is almost normal.’

‘What about my father?’ Michael said. ‘He has different forms too?’

‘Yep. Simone likes to have rides on his True Form, his tiger form. It’s enormous.’

‘He’s really a tiger?’

‘He really is. Anyway, back to Mr Chen. He’s constantly draining his energy by staying in human form. He’s really weak while he’s like this. He goes to Paris and meets Kwan Yin. She helps him by feeding him energy for a few days—tops him up, so to speak—so that he can retain the form and stay with us.’

Michael nodded silently, listening carefully.

‘You have to understand something.’ I ran my hands through my hair. This was very tough. ‘As soon as Simone is able to defend herself, Mr Chen will revert to True Form and leave us. He’ll be very drained. It will take him a long time to come back. Maybe more than a lifetime. Ms Kwan, Kwan Yin, says something between ten and a hundred years. I’ll look after Simone, and all the other stuff, when he’s gone.’

Michael’s face didn’t shift. ‘How long before he goes?’

I swallowed it. ‘He thinks probably when Simone’s about eight years old.’

‘She’s nearly six now, Miss Donahoe.’

‘I know. I know every minute of the day. We have to keep him here until she’s able to defend herself.’

‘I understand. Is that why you two never married? Because he has such a short time left?’

‘No, it’s not, Michael.’ Something inside me really began to hurt. ‘The fact that he’ll only be around for a short time makes no difference to either of us at all.’ He opened his mouth but I cut him off. ‘You notice that we never touch each other?’

‘Yeah.’ He grinned. ‘You two are really old-fashioned.’

‘No, we’re not.’ I smiled through the misery. ‘Exactly the opposite, in fact. Which is funny, considering how old he is. The reason we never touch is because if he touches me, he could kill me.’

He went completely still.

‘If we were to physically share our feelings, even with just a touch, we would share our energy as well. And he is very drained. He would suck the energy out of me, suck the life out of me, and kill me. We have to be extremely careful.’

Michael gestured with one hand across the table. ‘Then how come you wear his ring?’

I glanced at the ring, a small square piece of very green jade on a plain gold band, with three studs on either side. It was supposed to be sentient, but I had been wearing it non-stop for months now and it still hadn’t woken to me. I wondered if it ever would.

‘If he ever comes back in my lifetime we will be able to touch. Then we can be what we want to be for each other. He’s promised to come back for me. I’ve promised to wait for him.’ I looked up at Michael and smiled. ‘And that’s the whole story.’

‘I hope it happens for you, Miss Donahoe,’ he said quietly.

‘Thanks, Michael, you don’t know how much I appreciate it.’ I shrugged it off and spoke more briskly. ‘So that’s why we’re going to Paris. It’s a long way from the demons’ power centre, so it’s a good place to do it. Mr Chen will be locked up with Kwan Yin, and the three of us will take Simone sightseeing. I think you’ll enjoy it.’

‘Sounds like fun. I’m looking forward to meeting the real Kwan Yin.’

‘She’s a wonderful person. She’s very special. You’ll love her when you meet her.’

‘Why are we going from Macau, and not Chek Lap Kok?’

‘Oh, you’ll like this. We’re going on Mr Chen’s private jet.’

‘A private jet! That is so sweet! Wait until I tell my friends about it!’

‘Remember, you have to be careful what you tell your friends, Michael. Don’t give anything away, please.’

‘Yes, ma’am. Don’t worry on that account. I have to be careful what I tell people, ‘cause no way would they believe the truth.’ He hesitated; he’d obviously thought of something. ‘Will Simone be okay when she starts school? It’s sort of really normal for her; she may say something she shouldn’t.’

‘I sincerely hope she’ll be all right. If she gets into trouble I hope you can help her out.’

He nodded. ‘Yes, ma’am.’

‘Anything else?’ He shook his head. ‘Okay, dismissed.’

Michael went out. I sat and drank the tea. Are you okay? ‘I’m fine.’

He brushed over my hair. It was like a hand touching me with nobody there. He dropped it onto my shoulder.

‘Don’t do that. It’s a waste of your energy and you’re close to empty. Don’t risk it.’

The touch disappeared. I sipped the tea.

‘Are you still there?’

Yes.

I sighed.

It breaks my heart to do this to you.

‘I have never been so happy in my entire life.’

You are a fool, Emma Donahoe.

‘So are you, Xuan Wu.’

It will happen for us.

‘I know. I’m okay, you can stop watching me. Guard your energy, stupid turtle.’ Yes, ma’am.

I sat in the dining room alone for a while after his presence left me.

‘ And a Snake Mother came in and said it wanted Leo’s skin,’ Simone said from the back of the car. ‘And he told it to come and get it, and then…’ I couldn’t see her from the driver’s seat, but her voice became breathless. ‘And then Leo pulled its tongue out and killed it.’

‘That must have been very scary,’ Charlie said. ‘Leo looks after me. Emma looks after me too. They protect me. I’ll be okay.’

‘Of course you will, dear,’ Charlie said. Michael glanced at me from the front passenger seat. ‘I’ll tell you later,’ I said softly. ‘But believe me, you don’t want to know.’

‘Michael would probably run if he saw a Mother,’ Simone said.

‘That was a very nasty thing to say, Simone, I’m surprised at you,’ I said. ‘Michael’s sworn allegiance, he’s a Retainer, he’d never run. Tell him sorry.’

‘Sorry,’ Simone said, sullen.

Michael snorted with derision and looked out the window.

‘It’s so pretty,’ Charlie said, watching the scenery of Hong Kong Island as we travelled down Stubbs Road. Everywhere there was even the tiniest square of flat land, there was a highrise. Kowloon, on the other side of the harbour, was a mass of tall buildings of different sizes and shapes, mostly residential blocks. Hardly anyone lived in a house in Hong Kong; there wasn’t the space.

‘But the pollution is bad, isn’t it?’ she went on. ‘You can hardly see the other side of the harbour.’

‘When it’s very hot like this, there’s an inversion layer,’ I said. ‘The pollution’s trapped.’

‘I see.’

We came to the bottom of Stubbs Road and topped out over Wong Nai Chung Gap. As we passed the ridge, the scenery of the south side opened up. There were fewer highrises here, less densely packed, with more greenery. Some of the residential blocks were only three or four storeys tall.

We drove through Shouson Hill, a prestigious enclave of low-rise apartment blocks built around the gently undulating hill, then rounded the curves of the south coast of the island to Deep Water Bay.

The usual Saturday crowd packed the beach and people filled the water within the shark net. Rubbish floated at the end of the beach; it broke my heart. John could never swim in this water, in his own element. I had an inspiration: I would take him back to Australia when it was warmer there. I could visit my family, and he could swim in the sea. It would do him so much good. And then I realised: my family would see everything. Maybe not such a good idea.