Kylie Chan - Earth to Hell

‘Tiger,’ Simone said mildly, ‘I’ve had about enough of this. You’ve been swearing far too much the last few days, and it shows a lack of respect for both me and Emma. And lately you’ve been very insulting to Leo, who isn’t here to defend himself. If you say the f-word one more time, or insult Leo one more time, you will be banned from this household. Is that understood?’

The Tiger’s mouth flopped open and he stared at her.

Her voice became sharp. ‘ Is that understood, Bai Hu ?’

He rose, leaned on the table and glared at her. ‘Until you reach majority, Miss So-Fucking-Clever, I have precedence over you, and don’t you forget it.’

‘Emma?’ Simone said.

‘Bai Hu, take yourself out of this household and don’t come back until called. That’s an order,’ I said.

The Tiger opened and closed his mouth a few times, then slammed his fist into his hand in the salute and disappeared.

At twenty-four, Michael’s muscular frame had filled out and his intelligent face was stunningly good-looking under his short blond hair. He towered over me, as tall as his father, slightly under two metres. He fell to one knee in front of me. ‘Lady Emma, permission to assist you on your sortie to Hell.’

‘We can’t risk it, Michael. You may never be able to come out again.’

He looked up at me, full of hope. ‘You’re not Immortal, you’re an ordinary human. If you can come out, I can come out.’

I sighed. ‘Michael, you know that I’m not an ordinary human, far from it. Only Immortals and demons can come out again. Simone’s so powerful it doesn’t really apply to her, and you know she’s done it before. I’m a demon. You? I don’t know.’

‘Is there a way of finding out?’ he said, still on one knee.

Simone and I shared a look.

‘I’ll ask around,’ I said.

‘Promise me, Emma, you will ask.’

‘I promise, Michael. I know you love Leo as much as we do. I’ll see if you can come.’

‘Thanks, Emma.’ He smiled shyly and stood. ‘It’s good to see you looking so well.’

I rose and quickly embraced him, then pulled back to smile up at him. ‘Thanks, Michael. Is your mother really going back to your father?’

‘Not if I have anything to say about it,’ he said grimly.

‘It’s possible she could be happy as Empress of the West,’ Simone said. ‘And she’d become Immortal, Michael.’

‘He’d treat her like …’ He shrugged. ‘You know how he treats his women.’ He gestured towards where the Tiger had been sitting. ‘You heard how he talked about Leo. How could he be like that? Leo’s one of the noblest people I’ve ever met. I’d be proud to call him father, not that beast .’

‘How long did it take you to come from Harvard, Michael? It’s a long way,’ I said. ‘I hope you didn’t miss any classes.’

‘It’s about eight hours; I stop over in Honolulu and rest on the way. I’ve just about finished for the term, Emma, my papers are in and the exams are finished. Can I stay in one of the student rooms until we hear whether I can come to Hell? Do you have room for me?’

‘Of course we do — you can have your old room back. You’re part of the family. How long are you planning to stay?’

‘I wasn’t planning to come for another couple of weeks, until after I had my results,’ he said. ‘But I heard about you two going to Hell and I wanted to be in on it. Let me stay until we know whether I can come, then I’ll go back to the States and collect my gear.’ He paused. ‘Can I spend the summer brushing up with the Masters at the Academy?’

‘I thought you were supposed to go to the Palace,’ Isaid.

‘I’m staying here,’ he said firmly. He winced. ‘I’m sorry, my Lady, I didn’t ask you before. Is that okay with you?’

‘Sure, spend the summer here. We’d be delighted to have you.’ I had a sudden idea. ‘How about you take one of the small apartments at the New Folly? I think we have two or three free. You’d have more privacy.’

He smiled shyly. ‘Really?’

‘Sure. Teleport down there, report to Lok, the building manager. He’s the big German shepherd on the first floor, Flat B. Tell him you’re taking one of the empty apartments.’

‘The building manager’s a dog?’

‘Yep. I think he’s really a dragon, but somebody cursed him. He won’t talk about it, just turned up on our doorstep looking for work. He minds the armoury during the day, so if he’s not at the Folly he’ll be there. He’s terrific, you’ll really like him. I think your clothes and stuff are still in your room.’

He fell to one knee and saluted me again. ‘Thank you, Lady Emma.’

‘Oh cut it out, Michael, there’s no need for that. Get up off the floor and disappear.’

He rose, smiled, and disappeared.

‘My goodness,’ Meredith said, her hands on Michael’s shoulders where he sat on a chair in front of her, her eyes unseeing. ‘Don’t let your father look inside you, Michael, he’ll order you to stay in the Palace.’

‘I’m that big?’ Michael said.

‘Short answer: yes. And well on the way.’ She released his shoulders and smiled down at him. ‘The fact that you can stay in the US for such a long time is a dead giveaway, my friend. You are very big indeed. If I didn’t know Rhonda personally, I would say that your mother was definitely something very special.’

‘She is,’ Michael and I said in unison, and shared a smile.

‘Leave now, please, Michael, I need to speak to Lady Emma alone,’ Meredith said. ‘Wait outside.’

‘That means I’m big enough to go to Hell and come back out, and you want to tell Emma that it’s a bad idea to take me,’ Michael said. ‘If that’s the case, then I’m coming anyway.’

Meredith watched him, expressionless.

‘Good,’ Michael added.

‘You are about as intelligent as Lady Emma,’ Meredith said.

‘Oh, I sincerely hope that he’s smarter than me. Look at the number of stupid mistakes I’ve made,’ I said.

‘That’s true, Meredith,’ Michael said. ‘If she has me along she may not make as many stupid mistakes.’

‘You are very cheeky,’ I said. ‘And probably right.’ I sighed. ‘The Tiger will go ballistic when he hears.’

‘No need to tell him, it’s nothing to do with him,’ Michael said. ‘Keep him out of it.’

‘What about your mother, dear?’ Meredith said.

Michael’s face went expressionless.

‘You could be going there to get yourself killed,’ she went on. ‘I think your mother has the right to know.’

The intercom on my desk beeped and I pressed the button.

‘Celestial Messenger for you and Master Michael both, ma’am,’ Yi Hao said. ‘Do I tell him to wait?’

‘Don’t make him wait,’ I said. ‘Send him in.’

The door opened and a tiger stood in the doorway. He wasn’t white, like Bai Hu, but the standard deep orange with black stripes. He changed into a man in his mid-thirties wearing the white and gold livery of the Horsemen.

‘Great, a message from Dad,’ Michael said.

The messenger looked from me to Michael to Meredith. ‘I have a message for Lady Emma, and also a message for son number Three One Five.’

‘My name,’ Michael said pointedly, ‘is Michael MacLaren, Ronald, and you know it.’

The Horseman smiled slightly, and handed Michael a white scroll tied with a gold ribbon. Michael unrolled it without moving from his chair. The Horseman waited, watching.

Michael glanced up at the Horseman, his face rigid. ‘Do you know what this says?’

‘Yes, lad,’ the Horseman said. ‘Even more, though, do you know what it means ?’

Michael tossed the scroll onto the desk. He rose gracefully and leaned on the desk with one hand. ‘Tell my father.’ He hesitated, then spoke with force. ‘Notice that I am not going to use a single word of bad language here. Tell my father that I am going to Hell. And that as far as I am concerned, so can he.’ He gestured dismissively towards the scroll. ‘This is either a tremendous honour or a huge insult. Either way, I don’t accept.’