Blue Dragon Part 27

Leo stretched his dark legs out in front of him. 'He can't. He's too small.' He watched the water. 'Apparently only the most powerful ones can do it.'

I slapped the sand with my palm. 'd.a.m.n!'

Leo smiled. 'You just like having me around so that you can take out all your frustrations on me.'

'G.o.d, you are such a b.a.s.t.a.r.d b.a.s.t.a.r.d!' I shouted, and pushed him over.

He shot to his feet, scooped me up, ran into the water and dropped me in. I was laughing so much that I choked on the water and he had to thump me on the back when I reappeared.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN.

The next day we spent the morning beside the pool, and the afternoon in the suite, resting. I wrote some emails to my family using the dial-up on my laptop. Gold had set up a network in the Western Palace as well and linked my family to the internet. My family weren't finding the palace boring; in fact, the Tiger had arranged some trips down to the Earthly Plane for them. They'd stayed in his posh hotel in Paris for a week, being escorted by a group of his burly sons through all the best tourist spots and dining in the finest restaurants-until they'd complained that they didn't like the food. Much too fancy for everybody except Jennifer and Leonard, who were having a ball. They were giving me a hard time about visiting them, as well. They wanted to show me what they were doing in the palace.

At about three o'clock Simone had a nap and I pulled out a paperback and made myself comfortable on the balcony. There was a knock on the door and Leo shot out of his room. He hesitated at the door, then nodded: John had told him to answer it.

It was the Tiger, Rhonda and Michael. Together.

'Hi!' I said, delighted to see them. 'Come on in. What are you doing here?'

'Holiday,' the Tiger said. 'Family time. And Ah Wu has asked to see Michael.'

'What for?' I said, glancing at Michael.

'No idea,' the Tiger said with a shrug.

'Hi, Rhonda,' I said.

Rhonda was obviously embarra.s.sed. She was blushing. 'Hi,' she said.

'Sit,' I said, gesturing towards the couches in the living room. Leo nodded and returned to his room without a word.

'What's up with him?' the Tiger said.

'Just tired,' I said, and didn't elaborate.

John and Ms Kwan appeared from the master bedroom. The Tiger and Michael both saluted them, falling to one knee for good measure. I watched them, bemused, wondering what was up.

John and Ms Kwan sat on one of the couches. Both the Tiger and Michael gestured for me to sit on the other one, next to Rhonda. It was a compet.i.tion. And both of them were fully aware of it and playing the game anyway.

The Tiger gestured and a cane chair materialised behind him. He seated himself. 'Xuan Tian.' He saluted Ms Kwan. 'My Lady.' He nodded to me. 'Lady Emma.'

'Ah Bai,' John said. 'Just Michael would have been sufficient.'

Michael didn't have anywhere to sit, so he fell to the floor next to his father and sat cross-legged, completely unfazed. He shook his hands in front of his face. 'Lord Xuan. Lady Kwan Yin. Lady Emma.'

All three of us nodded back. Everybody could see it now.

'The Dragon has been bulls.h.i.tting about this place for a long time now, and I wanted to see if it's just hot air,' the Tiger said. 'I regret coming though; the blue b.a.s.t.a.r.d keeps trying to sell me a condo.'

'You are enjoying every minute of it and you know it,' Rhonda said, glaring at him. 'And the only reason you won't buy property here is because it's in the East and you wouldn't be caught dead owning anything this far east of Centre.'

John and I shared a look. The Tiger was silenced.

'Why'd you want Michael, Ah Wu?' the Tiger said.

'I have a few more days here and I want to do some training,' John said. 'Put Emma and Simone through their paces. Carrying, ordering, flying, things like that. Michael can do it too.'

Michael glanced at John sharply. John ignored him.

'Don't know how much the boy is capable of, Ah Wu,' the Tiger said. 'He has some talent, but I've yet to see him do anything very interesting.'

John still didn't look at Michael. Michael was hard pressed to control his face. Rhonda didn't miss it, but her own expression didn't shift.

'Are you staying here?' I said.

The Tiger and Rhonda both nodded. 'Got a two-bedroom suite on the other end of the resort,' the Tiger said. He leaned forward over his knees to speak intensely to John. 'The Dragon claims to have put in blood seals, Ah Wu.'

'Michael, leave us,' John said. 'I wish to speak to your father privately about this.'

'I will retire,' Ms Kwan said, and returned to her room without another word.

Michael rose as well. 'You want me to go back to our room? Mom? Dad?'

'Anywhere in the resort is okay, except the bar,' the Tiger said without turning away from John.

'There's a games room and business centre downstairs with broadband,' I said. 'The pool is very good as well.'

Michael shook his hands in front of his face. 'By your leave.'

I had a sudden inspiration. 'Leo!' I yelled.

Leo's door opened. 'My Lady?'

'Show Michael around? Maybe take him downstairs and do some hand-to-hand? He could probably use the practice. You up to it?'

'Just wait, I'll put a shirt on,' Leo said.

'Good idea, Emma,' John said.

After Leo and Michael had gone out, John and the Tiger went grim. 'Emma and Rhonda, could you leave us?' John said.

Neither Rhonda nor I moved.

'Waste of time, Ah Wu,' the Tiger said.

'I want to know,' I said.

'Me too,' Rhonda said.

'I always knew he was a complete b.a.s.t.a.r.d, but this is way past the boundary of acceptable,' the Tiger said. 'It's one thing to encourage Celestials to stay here, but blood seals... blood seals...'

'Have you asked him about the source of the blood?' I said.

'He claims he bought it,' John said. 'He claims not to have harmed a single human.'

'Oh, and sticking big needles in them isn't harming them?' the Tiger growled. 'He's taking advantage of you, Ah Wu. Don't let him get away with it.'

'He will keep,' John said.

'But he's given us an awful lot of help this trip, John, you have to admit,' I said.

'Is there some rule about harming humans?' Rhonda said.

'More a matter of honour than a rule,' John said. 'Humans are weak. It is simply not honourable to harm them, particularly when they are defenceless. And besides, the Earthly is their plane. We are Celestials. This is their world, not ours.'

'You talk as if neither of us is human,' I said softly. 'I'm not sure how I feel about that.'

'Both of you are already more than human,' the Tiger said. 'Both of you are much, much more. I know for sure that Rhonda is well and truly Worthy.'

Rhonda blushed furiously.

'How's Louise?' I said, and instantly regretted it.

The Tiger and Rhonda both stiffened. The Tiger scowled. 'She had a girl, number two hundred and forty. Both mother and child are doing well. She says to say h.e.l.lo, and to come and see her soon.'

'Maybe when my life has returned to something slightly less interesting,' I said, and smiled at Rhonda.

She smiled back. 'Never going to happen,' she said. 'You will be cursed with an interesting life, I think.'

'So what will you do, Ah Wu?' the Tiger said, changing the subject.

'Take this under advis.e.m.e.nt,' John said. 'In the past it was unthinkable; blood seals were only achievable through injury. Now, with modern technology, it is possible to harvest blood without harming the donors.'

'You're not actually saying this is okay okay?' I said.

'Blood seals are impregnable,' John said matter-of-factly. 'Not even the Lady can pa.s.s through them una.s.sisted. Not a single demon can enter this complex without a suitable escort. The Dragon does have a point.'

'Trust a yin creature to say something like that,' the Tiger said. 'The use of blood is unthinkable. Not even that red-headed b.a.s.t.a.r.d would do something like this.'

Rhonda stared at John, wide-eyed.

'I don't believe him myself sometimes,' I said.

'You are altogether too d.a.m.n yin right now,' the Tiger said. 'Hurry up and get that G.o.dd.a.m.n Serpent back.'

I put my head in my hands.

'Sorry,' the Tiger said softly.

'If you have nothing else you wish to discuss,' John said, rising, 'I have things I need to do. You are dismissed.' He bowed to Rhonda. 'Lady. Please join us for dinner this evening.'

He went into his room without saying another word. Ms Kwan emerged from her own room, nodded to us, and followed him, closing the door behind her.

'How long are you staying?' I said.

'Just a couple of days,' the Tiger said, then smiled affectionately at Rhonda.

'Go out to the islands, they're fabulous,' I said. 'Oh, Simone's started to breathe water.'

'She is more impressive all the time,' the Tiger said. 'Where is she?'

'Asleep,' I said with amus.e.m.e.nt. 'Worn out. You'll see her at dinner. You'll come?'

'Sure,' the Tiger said, and rose. 'Let's go and have a look around and see if we can find that son of ours. I'd like to see him sparring with the Lion, that should be good.'

'You're not having him back, you know,' I said as I saw them to the door.

The Tiger grinned. 'Not even if I promoted him?'

I stopped dead. 'How...Promoted? You wouldn't.'

'What if he were my Number One?' the Tiger said. 'Would you still hold on to him?'

'You can't promote him to Number One, he's not Immortal,' I said as I opened the door for them. 'So don't try that stuff with me.'

The Tiger shook his hands in front of his face. 'My Lady.'

Rhonda took my hand and kissed me on the cheek. 'Look after yourself, Emma.'

I kissed her back. 'You too, Rhonda.' I squeezed her hand, then released it. 'See you at dinner.'

At the end of the eleventh day, John and I sat on the balcony overlooking the water and shared a pot of tea. Simone was asleep, exhausted as usual. Michael was busy in the business centre, chatting with his friends over the net. Leo had disappeared, probably taking a solitary stroll along the waterfront.

Frogs sounded in the garden pond below us, and crickets chirped all around. The night was a blaze of stars; the clear air seeming to magnify their brilliance. We couldn't see the ocean or the islands, but the small waves hissed as they washed against the beach below us. Smoke rose lazily from the mosquito coil inside the decorative ceramic frog next to the balcony rail.

'You still have two more days,' I said. 'Relax. Enjoy the time.'

'I intend to,' John said, pouring more tea. 'But there is something else I want to do as well.'

'No work,' I said.

'Work for you. The Dragon has an executive development centre here. Team building, focus groups, things like that.'