Red Phoenix

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Leo brought Michael into the dining room and they both saluted John and me, then sat. ‘Okay,’ I said. ‘Before we discuss the revised trip, there’s something I’d like to talk about first.’ I sighed. ‘John, while I was talking to Monica, I assured her that Bai Hu wouldn’t hurt her. That’s true, but I also told her that she was safe. After what happened to Charlie, we know that’s no longer true.’

John’s face went expressionless. ‘You’re right, they’re not safe any more. None of them. This is the first time in my history I have experienced this. I have encountered a demon that is so without honour that it will attack defenceless Retainers.’ He rubbed his hands over his face. ‘Time to do it. I hoped this day would never come. I will dismiss everybody.’ He looked down at his hands, then up at me. ‘I’ll sell the house in London, it’s too far away. With no staff to manage it, it won’t last until I return. We’ll trim back to bare essentials. I can’t afford to put anybody else at risk. I’ll dismiss all the household staff and you can go to the Western Palace. We’ll leave it as just me and Simone.’

‘I’m not going anywhere,’ I said. ‘Don’t be ridiculous.’

‘I want you safe, Emma.’

‘We’ve had this discussion before, John. I’m staying with you and Simone, and there’s nothing you can do about it.’

‘Me too,’ Leo said. ‘You can’t fire me.’

‘What, because you quit?’ I said.

‘No, because I just won’t go,’ Leo said. ‘I’ll camp out on the doorstep if I have to.’ He gestured towards Michael. ‘Michael is safer here with us. The minute he walks out the door he’s a target. Doubly so. If he doesn’t stay here he should go to the palace.’

‘They’re all targets,’ I said to John. ‘He knows you can’t protect your staff now. I think if you dismiss them he’ll just go around and pick them off one by one.’

‘Shit,’ John said, very calm. ‘I must move them all somewhere safe. Everybody should go to the palace.’

‘Give me the choice, my Lord,’ Leo said.

‘Stay or go, Leo?’

‘Stay.’

‘Very well. Done.’ Leo sighed with relief.

‘Michael,’ John said. ‘I would understand if you chose to leave. You would be completely safe in the Western Desert.’

‘Stay,’ Michael said.

‘Are you a hundred per cent sure, Michael?’ I said. ‘This could be rough. Please take some time to think about it.’

‘I’ve sworn allegiance. That was more than just words.’

‘Whoa,’ Leo said under his breath.

‘I will teach Michael to call immediately we return from Paris,’ John said. ‘We will have another energy session as soon as he is ready. We must have you up to speed as quickly as possible, Michael, so that you are able to call for assistance if you need to.’

‘I don’t want to mess around when it comes to Monica and James though,’ I said. ‘We need to move them somewhere safe right now. Will the Tiger take them?’

John’s eyes unfocused, then he snapped back. ‘Yes.’

‘Who’ll mind the house for us?’ Leo said.

‘Ah Yat,’ I said before John could say something stupid. ‘She can teleport, she can sense them coming. She’ll be safe. All the demon staff will be safe, wherever they are.’

‘I’ll tell James, you tell Monica,’ John said. ‘Good. Next item: Charlie,’ I said. ‘Do you still have her?’

‘Yes. She’s in the morgue on the twenty-fourth floor of Hennessy Road,’ John said.

‘You have a morgue in the Academy?’ Michael said.

‘Accidents happen,’ John said. ‘All students and Masters are aware of the risk. Learning about the facilities will be part of your induction when we return.’

‘Has her body been prepared, John?’ I said.

‘All taken care of.’

‘Do the police know?’

‘No. Fortunately no complications there. But I need to…’ His voice changed slightly. ‘…contact her family in England and tell them, and move her over there. There is a Chen plot at a cemetery in London, where all Retainers are interred. But we’ll need to inform her family.’

‘We can do that while we’re there,’ I said. ‘How will we move her over there without customs knowing?’

‘Jade can probably carry her.’

‘And if she’s too big, Jade can just put her on the plane.’

John nodded. ‘Either way, we take her with us.’

‘If we take her on the plane, we’ll need to make sure that the hold is cold enough to keep her in good condition.’

‘I can tell the pilot. Hopefully we’ll have Brian again; he’s usually very careful about that sort of thing.’

‘Good. Will the family want a viewing? Is she in good enough condition for that?’ I smiled slightly. ‘If Wong’s blade was very sharp, it will be a neat cut, easy to fix. But I wouldn’t put it past that bastard to use a blunt blade that made a huge mess of her.’

‘If you don’t mind, my Lord, my Lady,’ Leo said, his voice forced, ‘I’d prefer Michael and myself not be involved in these arrangements.’

I suddenly heard what I’d been saying and dropped my head. ‘Am I being extremely cold-blooded, Leo?’

‘Yes, you are.’ Leo studied me, his face strange. ‘I don’t know how you do it sometimes.’

‘She has to be, Leo,’ John said. ‘It will probably be worse before it is better. Dismissed.’

Leo and Michael rose and left the room together. Leo shot another very concerned look at me as he went out.

I crossed my arms on the table and dropped my head onto them. ‘I didn’t even realise, but Leo is quite right. I don’t believe myself sometimes. I’m just sitting here discussing what to do with poor Charlie’s body as if it was the most natural thing in the world. The thing I’m most worried about is how easily we can sew her back together!’

‘And that is what will make you the perfect Regent when I am gone,’ John said.

‘John…’ I hesitated, then rushed into it. ‘The stone saw something about me. I can do stuff I shouldn’t be able to. This dark thing inside me came out for the Demon King, but not for you. I have these dreams about snakes. There’s something wrong here, I know it. I amaze myself sometimes, I’m so cold-blooded. Look at when we were at the palace: you told me Charlie was dead and I didn’t even grieve for her. I just continued as if nothing had happened—’

‘That was the right thing to do,’ he cut in evenly. ‘You grieve for those you love when you have the time. Grief is a luxury that often we cannot afford.’

‘—And now I’m just sitting here joking about how neatly Wong took off her head!’ I cried, distraught. ‘What the hell is wrong with me?’ I put my head on my arms again, my heart full of misery. There was something terribly wrong with me. Was I even human? ‘It’s like I’m some sort of dark heartless monster.’

‘I am exactly the same way and you do not question me.’ I looked up desperately. He gazed into my eyes. ‘I have been as cold-blooded about this as you have. And yet you all still love me.’

‘You have more than one good excuse,’ I whispered.

‘Wake up, stone.’ John tapped the stone on my finger without touching me.

‘Yes, Turtle?’

‘Is Lady Emma a dark heartless monster?’

‘Yes she is,’ the stone said without hesitation and with absolutely no emotion whatsoever.

John jerked back. That was obviously not the answer he was expecting. He glanced sharply at me.

‘I knew it.’ I closed my eyes with anguish. We remained like that for a while. I had a few options, none of them very pleasant, but at least I knew the truth.

‘I have looked inside her and she is an ordinary human being. You said yourself she is an ordinary human being,’ John said.

‘She is,’ the stone said.

‘Will she ever hurt any member of her family?’ John said with a slight edge of despair.

‘I think you have asked me that before, Turtle, and the answer is still no. Of course not. She loves you more than her life. Look at her; right now she is pondering whether you would be safe if she were to leave forever. She thinks that’s not good enough, and wants to kill herself to be absolutely sure that none of you are in any danger. You really should talk to somebody about this death wish, Emma. The Dark Lord is quite correct.’

‘But I’m a dark heartless monster, stone,’ I said.

‘My Lady, of course you are. But so is he,’ the stone said. ‘You are a perfect match. Dark and heartless together.’

Both of us sat back with relief. He was a dark heartless monster. And the Tiger was a white heartless monster.

‘We’re all monsters together,’ John said with amusement.

‘I think what the stone is trying to say,’ I said, ‘is that I’ve been around you far too much, Xuan Wu, and some of your monstrosity is rubbing off on me.’

‘No, Emma, it is quite the other way around,’ the stone said. ‘You are at least twice as monstrous as he is.’

That sobered me. I had an awful thought. ‘Am I a demon in human form?’ The stone hesitated again. ‘Answer me!’ I cried, mortified.

‘You cannot be, Emma,’ John said. ‘I would know immediately.’

‘I could be very well hidden, and you’re very drained.’

‘What you are is beside the point,’ the stone said. ‘You are what you are. You are devoted to your Lord and your family and would give your life for them. That is what is important.’

‘The stone is right, Emma.’

‘What am I, stone?’ I said, miserable. I was thoroughly tired of its games.

‘You are a perfectly ordinary human being, Emma.’

‘But I’m a dark heartless monster.’

‘That is quite correct. Your true nature will probably emerge over time. The Dark Lord, as I said, will be astonished. You are well on the way to Immortality. Live. Love. Continue your duties. And please leave me alone. I was in the middle of a lovely dream, I dreamed I was a mountain.’

‘Go back to sleep, stone,’ John said with quiet tolerance. ‘You are quite useless.’

‘That is why I was never used.’

‘You are not a demon, Emma. I would know immediately,’ John said. ‘Don’t be concerned. You are not a danger to anybody. It will be fascinating to see how you grow. Trust the stone, it is very ancient and wise. It is even older than me. We all love you, and you love us. That’s what’s important.’

‘I wish I could believe you, John. I hate to think that I’m a danger to anybody.’

‘You will be Regent, Lady Emma, and you will do a wonderful job. And you will be here when I return, and I will Raise you and marry you. We will be happy together on my Mountain. I promise you.’ He ducked his head to see into my eyes and smiled.

‘I only hope I’m worthy,’ I whispered.

‘Would it make you feel better if Kwan Yin looked at you when we’re in Paris? She could examine you and clarify for us. Would you like that?’

‘Yes.’

‘Come on, Emma, snap out of it. We have a lot to do. You need to talk to Monica, and I have to phone James. Get a move on.’

We smiled and sighed together. Things to do, worry later. We rose almost in unison and he hung back to let me through the door first. I went into the kitchen to find Monica. He went into his study to phone James.

Poor Monica. She’d only just become accustomed to the idea of the White Tiger and now she had to live with him for a while. I made a mental note to warn him to keep his paws off her.

I stopped in the hallway. I was being completely cold-blooded again. The thought made me feel slightly ill. But John and the stone were right. I had too much to do to worry about it. Provided everyone was safe, it didn’t matter what I was. And besides, I had parents. I had a family. I’d grown up normally. I was a normal human being.

Wasn’t I?