White Tiger

CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

The taxi driver tried to rip us off when we reached the gates to the house. Ah Yat had a protracted argument with him, but eventually I couldn’t wait any longer and gave him a hundred yuan extra to shut him up and send him away.

The gates hung open. It was a long walk up the hill to the house. The sun was setting behind us, casting an eerie red glow over everything. The blood on the grass was black and shining. It was like a scene from an old war movie. There were bodies everywhere.

‘Daddy!’ Simone shrieked and raced to John. He lay face down on the grass. Bai Hu lay next to him in True Form, his white fur stained with blood.

Black Jade lay near them. She had been disembowelled and her white and blue entrails glistened on the grass. Her mane was matted with blood, her eyes wide and unseeing. One of the grooms lay dead next to her, his arm thrown over her neck.

I fell onto my knees next to Simone and John. The grass was slick with blood.

The Tiger moved slightly and I grabbed his shaggy head and raised it. ‘Bai Hu! Bai Hu!’

‘What the fuck happened?’ he growled.

‘Quickly. Some of them may still be alive.’

He pulled himself to his feet, groggy, and shook his head. When he saw John next to him he quickly changed to human form. ‘Ah Wu! Ah Wu!’ He shook John’s shoulder. ‘Wake up!’ He dropped his voice. ‘Stupid goddamn Turtle.’

‘I should call you out for that,’ John said into the grass.

Both Simone and I sighed with relief. ‘Can I help anyone else?’ I said.

Bai Hu turned John onto his back and knelt next to him. ‘Let me see. Nope. Leo.’ He shook his head, his white hair stained with blood. ‘Leo’s alive. Nobody else but Ah Wu made it. That was a strong one.’ His eyes unfocused and he took both of John’s hands in his. ‘Shen or chi?’

‘Anything but ching. I have enough of that as it is,’ John said without moving. ‘Simone?’

‘I’m okay, Daddy.’

‘Emma?’

‘I’m here, John. Will he be okay, Tiger?’

‘He’ll be fine.’ Bai Hu raised his hands, still holding John’s, and a silver glow appeared around both of them.

‘What about Leo?’ I asked. ‘He took a demon fireball to the back of the head.’

‘How long has he had that demon stuff on him?’

I checked my watch. ‘Oh dear Lord, nearly three hours.’

Bai Hu lowered his head, still holding John’s hands. ‘I’ve put him in the upstairs bathroom. Strip him down, wash him off and then we’ll deal with the burns.’

‘Show-off,’ John growled. ‘Two at once.’

‘Always,’ the Tiger said, his eyes unseeing. ‘Go, Emma. Take Simone with you.’

‘I’m staying here with my daddy!’ Simone said.

‘Go inside, sweetheart,’ John said without moving. ‘Take Ah Yat too, please.’

‘Okay, Daddy.’ Simone rose and took Ah Yat’s hand. ‘Come on, Emma, you need to give Leo a bath. He’s going to be really embarrassed.’

‘You okay to do that, Emma?’ John said, concerned.

‘I don’t think he’ll care too much,’ I said.

We went inside, leaving John and Bai Hu with their grim companions on the grass.

Simone stopped at the bottom of the stairs and put her hand over her mouth. ‘I need to use the toilet,’ she gasped. ‘In a hurry!’ She ran into the downstairs bathroom, Ah Yat racing to follow her.

I went upstairs and left them to it. Leo was in the upstairs bathroom; the Tiger had landed him in the bath. His eyes were open but he didn’t seem to be focusing on anything. I fell to my knees next to him and took his hand. It was ice-cold.

Simone started to wail downstairs. It had caught up with her. I was still completely calm; in fact so calm I was surprised at myself.

Leo cast around, unseeing. ‘Emma? Simone?’

‘It’s me, Leo. Everything’s okay.’

I pulled at his polo shirt; the demon stuff had soaked through onto his skin. ‘Lean forward, you’re covered in demon stuff. I need to wash you off.’

He tried to do as I asked, but he could hardly move. ‘Hurry, Emma, it’s burning.’

‘You’ll need to help me, you’re too big. Raise your arms.’ I carefully removed the shirt, trying not to touch the burn on the back of his head.

He grimaced. ‘What happened to my head?’

I turned on the water and checked the temperature; he didn’t need to be scalded on top of everything else. ‘Don’t worry about that, let’s just get this demon stuff off you.’

I washed his chest down; fortunately the demon stuff came free under the water and rinsed away. ‘Lean back, let’s get these pants off.’

After all the demon stuff was gone, I pushed him forward to check his head. He seemed to be focusing better and able to see me, but his face was rigid with pain. The demon had hit him slightly to one side. It looked bad. The wound was scorched around the edges, and there appeared to be bone shining through in the middle. I hissed under my breath.

I dried him off with a towel. He made an effort to help me, but could still barely move.

‘Are you ready in there?’ the Tiger called from outside.

‘All done,’ I said.

‘Hey, put a towel around me first,’ Leo said.

I threw a towel to cover him just as he disappeared. I rushed out of the bathroom and nearly ran into Bai Hu. He caught me before I fell.

‘How’s John?’ I asked.

‘I’ve put him in his room. I managed to restore some of his energy, so he’ll be okay until you see the Lady next. He should see her within the next three to four months though. That was the best I could do. I’ll be out of action for a while—my women will be very upset.’

‘A little restraint never hurt anyone,’ I shot back.

We went into Leo’s room together. Leo was lying on the bed, staring grimly at the ceiling. I quickly pulled the covers over him and removed the damp towel.

‘Thanks, Emma.’

The Tiger levered Leo onto his side to examine the burn. ‘He should go to Hong Kong for treatment.’

‘John’s too weak to provide blood to heal him, isn’t he?’ I said.

The Tiger glanced at me. ‘He’s done that before?’ I nodded.

‘And it worked?’ I nodded again.

The Tiger studied Leo appraisingly. ‘Interesting. Not a good idea, though, unless he’s near death. If you gave him the Turtle’s blood when the injuries are not mortal, the blood itself could kill him. Do you still have that feather the Phoenix gave you?’

‘Yes,’ I said. ‘It’s in my room.’

‘Run and get it,’ Bai Hu said.

He didn’t move to take the feather when I returned. ‘I’m not capable, I’m too drained. You will have to do it.’

‘What do I do?’

‘Fill the feather with chi and run it over the wound.’ He raised Leo to sit upright and held him around the shoulders. ‘All right, my friend?’

Leo grunted but his face was taut with agony. He grimaced. ‘Is Simone okay? She’s crying her lungs out downstairs.’

‘Nervous exhaustion,’ the Tiger said. ‘She needs to have a really good cry, then she’ll feel better. It’s a shame she had to see the bodies. That must have been a shock for her.’

Leo turned his head slightly. ‘Bodies?’

‘Don’t worry, my friend.’

‘Is Mr Chen okay, Emma?’

‘Mr Chen is fine.’

I held the feather about halfway along and loaded it with chi. It seemed to hold the energy the same way my sword did, and glowed with a rainbow radiance just at the edge of vision. I touched the end of the feather to the edge of the burn. I expected Leo to flinch, but he relaxed and smiled instead. ‘That feels really good.’

I moved with more confidence and watched in amazement as the feather healed the burn. Fresh new skin of a slightly lighter colour grew where the burn had been. I ran the feather completely over the wound, and it was as if the burn had never been there. Leo closed his eyes and relaxed into the Tiger’s arms, smiling.

I withdrew the energy from the feather. Less chi came out of it than went in, and the colours had faded. This was obviously a destructive process for the feather.

‘Are you drained, my Lady?’ Bai Hu said. ‘You seem fine.’

‘It’s used about a third of my chi, but I’ll live.’

Bai Hu ran his hands down Leo’s arms and took his hands. He closed his eyes and concentrated, then snapped back. ‘You should have told us how bad it was, my friend.’

Leo didn’t say anything.

‘Move forward, I need to sit behind you,’ the Tiger said. ‘The poison is in your blood. We’ll need to force it out.’

He crawled onto the bed to sit cross-legged behind Leo. ‘Look, you have me where you wanted me.’

Leo didn’t smile at the quip. He leaned heavily against me as I held him upright. He was obviously having trouble staying conscious.

The Tiger dropped his head and concentrated. Ah Yat came in with a large bowl, passed it to me, then quickly went out.

‘Hold it in front. To catch it when he spits,’ the Tiger said. He put his hands on Leo’s bare back. His face went rigid. Then he pulled his hands slightly away and performed a lightning-fast set of chi gong moves. I recognised them: internal energy manipulation. The final move was to hit Leo hard on the back with both hands.

Leo’s head snapped back and then forward, and he spat a cupful of blackened blood into the bowl. The Tiger lowered his head. ‘More.’

He hit Leo again, and again Leo spat blood. This time it was redder.

The Tiger levered himself off the bed and gently lowered Leo. ‘That should do it.’

I put the bowl to one side and pulled the covers back over Leo. He’d already fallen asleep, his face childlike and innocent. I touched his forehead and kissed him on the cheek.

I turned to Bai Hu and clasped his hands. ‘Thank you so much, Tiger. For everything. Let’s go and check on Xuan Wu.’

‘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.