Kylie Chan - White Tiger

‘You go,’ the Tiger said. ‘Ah Wu will be fine. I need to fix up my horsemen downstairs. Tell everybody to stay inside until I’ve finished. It’s a big mess out there.’

‘I know,’ I said. ‘I’m sorry about your men.’

‘You are quite remarkable, you know that?’ he said. ‘You’ve remained perfectly calm through all of this.’

I shook my head. ‘I know. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I should be freaking out. I walked right past all those bodies and didn’t even flinch.’

‘How did you get away from the demon?’

‘A bigger demon helped us escape,’ I said. ‘Looks like we were pawns in demon politics.’

Bai Hu left me at the door of John’s room.

‘Emma, he can’t drain you while he’s asleep. You’ll be able to touch him. Take care if he wakes, though.’

My heart twisted.

His face was peaceful as he slept. I quietly pulled a chair over to sit next to him.

His hand was resting on the covers. I touched it. He didn’t move, so I took it, and held it in mine. His skin was smooth and cool. I ran my finger along the prominent veins and rubbed my calluses against his. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Maybe one day we really would be a matched set.

I held my breath and touched his face. He grimaced, but didn’t wake. I ran my fingers down the side of his face and he smiled slightly.

I raised his hand and put it on my cheek.

I wondered where the Serpent was, and why it had disappeared. Was it jealous of Michelle? How could it be? They were the same creature. A snake and a turtle combined. He was so weird. The other three were nearly normal compared to him.

And what had happened when the demon pushed into my head? Something huge and dark had thrust it out. John hadn’t seen it when he’d looked inside me. What was it? It had been a frightening feeling; as if I could have destroyed everything around me, and worse, enjoyed it.

I would talk to him about it later. He would know what to do.

His hand squeezed mine and drew away. I looked down into his dark eyes. ‘Go, Emma. You are very precious to me and I hate the thought of hurting you. Let me rest, then we’ll go home.’

I went out without saying a word. Words weren’t necessary.

Simone and Ah Yat were sitting on the couch in the upstairs hallway. Ah Yat had showered Simone and changed her bloodied clothes. Simone was in Ah Yat’s lap, her head on the demon’s chest, her eyes wide and glittering. When she saw me, she climbed down carefully and came to me.

I sat on the couch and pulled her into my lap. Ah Yat nodded and went downstairs.

‘Is Daddy okay?’

‘Daddy’s fine, he just needs to rest.’

‘Is Leo okay? He was hurt.’

‘Leo’s fine too. The Tiger fixed him up.’

‘What about his head?’

‘The Phoenix gave me a feather from her tail when I went out with your dad the other night. It fixed it right up.’

‘That demon is really horrible,’ she whispered. ‘I hate it. It killed all the men downstairs, nearly killed my daddy and my Uncle Bai, and hurt my Leo.’

‘We will get that demon one day soon, darling, and then you won’t have to worry about it any more.’

‘It was going to do bad things to me.’

I held her silently.

She clutched my shirt and turned her head to see me. ‘You went with me.’

I pulled her tight. ‘Anywhere you go, I’ll go too. I love you more than anything in the world.’

Her little hand brushed my cheek. ‘I love you too, Emma.’

‘Your dad will wake up soon, and then we can go home,’ I whispered into her hair.

John was able to join us for dinner, but Leo slept on. ‘Wong took us to some sort of prison,’ I said. ‘An apartment with no doors, no windows. He didn’t hurt us. He tried, but Simone was too strong.’

‘Then the other demon came and took us out,’ Simone said.

‘Tell me about the other demon,’ John said. Ah Yat poked her head in the room. ‘The King is here with the donkey, sir.’

‘Oh my God,’ I said. ‘Calls himself George. Eyes the colour of dried blood, clothes the same colour. Looked about twenty-five. That’s the King?’

‘That’s him,’ John said. He hesitated, thinking. ‘No, I won’t leave either of you here, you’re safer with me. Come with me and we’ll talk to him. What donkey?’

‘He bought me a baby donkey in the animal market,’ Simone said. ‘I thought he was nice. Then he killed everybody in our house in the city.’

‘He should not have been able to get into that apartment,’ John said. ‘It’s sealed. Not even the King himself should be able to enter.’

‘I told Ah Yat to open the door and let us in,’ Simone said. ‘I forgot, Daddy.’ Her little shoulders shook with sobs. ‘It was my fault!’

I wrapped my arm around her shoulder and held her as she cried. We all walked together down to the gates.

‘So the King came into Wong’s nest and took you out,’ John said. ‘Only he would be able to do that, and only if you agreed to go with him.’

‘We did agree to go with him,’ I said.

‘That’s interesting,’ John said as we neared the gates. ‘He was within his rights to keep you in his own nest, once you’d agreed to go with him. That’s the way it works.’

‘I made him promise to let us go,’ I said.

John stopped and stared at me. Then he grinned and shook his head. ‘Well done!’

The King was waiting on the other side of the huge metal gates. The tiny donkey stood beside him with a piece of string around its neck, its little tail swishing furiously. John raised his hand and the gates swung open.

Simone moved towards the donkey, then stopped. She shifted to stand behind her father.

The King saluted John. ‘Xuan Tian.’

John saluted back. ‘Mo Wang.’

The King waved and smiled. ‘Hi, Emma.’

I didn’t respond.

‘Why did you release my wife and daughter?’ John said. ‘If you’d let One Two Two keep them, you could have had my head by now.’

The King grinned broadly. ‘If you went off and married her on the sly, you are in even bigger trouble than everybody says you are. I didn’t think even you would disobey the Jade Emperor that much.’

John waved it away. ‘To me, Emma is my wife, and she will be for as long as she lives.’

The King bent over with mirth, his hands on his knees. ‘Oh my God, that is just so goddamn cute !’

‘That’s the way I feel too,’ I said. ‘The fact that we can’t formally marry right now is beside the point.’

The King pulled himself upright and shook his head. ‘What a pair of idiots.’

‘Why did you release Emma and Simone?’ John said.

The King shrugged. ‘Maybe I just wanted to piss off that little bastard. Somebody else will bring me your head. It’s just a matter of time.’

Simone squeaked and grabbed her father’s leg.

‘Sorry, pet,’ the King said with genuine remorse. ‘I didn’t mean to say it like that.’

‘Why did you kill my demons?’ Simone snapped from behind John. ‘They didn’t do anything to you!’

The King bent to speak kindly to her. ‘If a demon defects, they know the penalty. If I find one of mine that has been tamed by a Celestial, I destroy it. That’s the way it works, Simone. They knew they were dead the minute they saw me.’

‘And I let you in !’ Simone wailed.

The King gestured towards Simone. ‘You’re a fool, Xuan Tian. She’s a delightful child. And every single one of my demons wants her.’ He shook his head. ‘You should never have done this. Creatures such as yourself should never attempt to have human children.’