Blue Dragon Part 67

I leaned forward over the table to speak intensely to them. 'Are you sure that both of you can take them?'

John and the Tiger shared a look. They weren't sure.

'With Na Zha?' I said.

Neither of them spoke.

'Anybody else you can call up?'

'I'll see what I can do,' the Tiger said. 'Er Lang, maybe. Zhao Gongming, perhaps.'

'Marshall Zhao won't go in with you, Bai Hu, don't be ridiculous,' John said.

'I know your history with him, and I agree with John,' I said. 'Anybody else?'

'I'll think about it, see who I can round up,' the Tiger said. 'Maybe the other Winds might want to come along, but I doubt it. They should stay here and guard Emma, Simone and the Disciples.' He saluted John. 'By your leave.'

'Bai Hu,' John said. The Tiger disappeared.

'Let me use the phone, John,' I whispered.

John's face went rigid. He shot to his feet and stalked out. The door to the training room opened and closed.

'What's this phone, Emma?' Leo said. 'That's the second or third time you've mentioned that phone, what is it?'

Michael stayed silent. He hadn't been close enough to hear what we'd said when we met with the King in London; he didn't know either.

'You might as well know,' I said. 'I made a pact with the King of the Demons. While we were in London.'

'A pact?' Michael said.

I nodded. 'He wants me. If I go to him, and stay with him and don't try to escape, he guarantees Simone's safety for the rest of her life.'

Both of them stiffened.

I pulled the phone out of my pocket and held it up to show them. 'I can call him any time. I'm surprised you didn't notice it-I take it with me everywhere.' I shrugged and tried to smile. 'The King has promised that if I go to him, he will release me when Mr Chen returns. But Mr Chen is convinced that the King would try to win me over, and if he failed he would just throw me to the Mothers.'

'But the Mothers,' Michael said, looking at Leo. 'What they did to Leo...' His voice trailed off.

'What they did to me was nothing,' Leo said, his voice slurring more than usual. 'You'll need to come with us when we go in, Emma, so that if Mr Chen goes down or is caged, you can call the King to make sure that Simone is safe.'

'I know, Leo, but I think Mr Chen is in denial about it. When the time comes, expect some major fireworks.' I shrugged. 'Why don't you go and spend some time with Simone? Take her up to the playground until dinnertime, both of you. Lord Xuan won't be in any state to do anything useful for a while, and my leg is killing me.'

'What about demons?' Michael said.

'Both of you should be enough to guard, and Simone can nearly look after herself,' I said. 'The demons are waiting for us under Kowloon City. You should be okay.'

They both rose. As Leo pa.s.sed me to go out, he stopped, rested his hand on my shoulder and kissed the top of my head. I put my hand over his. He released me and they went out.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX.

Istumbled back to my room, opened the door and stopped dead. The stone, in human form, lay on its back on my double bed, asleep. It had changed into a pair of ridiculous baggy green shorts and a plain white T-shirt. Its snow-white hair was tousled from sleep and its elegant face was peaceful. I had never seen it look so human.

To h.e.l.l with it. I pulled off my jeans, left them on the floor, and climbed in beside it. I stopped: something was between us. It was Gold, in True Form, with his child next to him. I moved them gently to make room, turned onto my side facing away from them, and closed my eyes.

The stone shot up to sit.

'Don't go anywhere,' I said without moving. 'It's okay. I know there probably wasn't s.p.a.ce for all of you in the student room. You're here every night in the bed with me anyway. This is your room too, really. Go back to sleep.'

'Another coup,' Gold said softly.

'For both of us,' the stone said, just as softly.

It lay back down then turned so that it was facing me and put its arm around me. I spooned my back into it, and it held me close. Gold and the child moved up the bed to make room, resting against the back of my head.

'I should take female form,' the stone said. 'This is inappropriate.'

'Don't be ridiculous,' I said. 'That makes no difference at all.'

'Lord Xuan would have kittens if he knew,' Gold said.

'Of course he knows,' I said through a huge yawn. 'Is he still doing sword katas?'

'Yes,' Gold said, sounding sleepy.

I didn't remember anything else.

I woke an hour later, alone in my bed. The stone had returned to the ring, and Gold and his child were gone. My leg protested as I turned to rise. It had stiffened badly while I was resting.

'How many children did you lose?' I said.

'We're not sure, but at this stage it appears that I have lost about fifty or sixty,' it replied as I went into my bathroom.

'That piece of demon sc.u.m is going to die die.' I pulled off my clothes and turned on the shower.

'You forgot to leave me outside the bathroom,' the stone said.

'No, I didn't.' I stepped into the shower, closing the screen behind me, and held the stone under the wash of hot water. Then I reached for the soap with my left hand, moving it out from under the stream.

'Thanks, Emma,' the stone said softly. 'The water feels good. I really needed that.'

'I know,' I said. 'That's why I did it. Have you told the Grandmother?'

'Not yet. But when she finds out you can expect some major earth tremors in Central Australia.'

'I'd really like to meet her one day,' I said.

'One day I must take you,' the stone said. 'I think you and she will get along very well.'

I moved the soap into my right hand and held the stone under the water again.

I went into the dining room; n.o.body was there. I slipped through the door into the kitchen. Ah Yat was busy with vegetables for dinner. She quickly pulled down a mug for my tea without me asking.

'Where is everybody?' I said.

'The Dark Lord is in the training room,' Ah Yat said, returning to the vegetables. 'Princess Simone is still at the playground with Master Michael and Master Leo.'

'Where's Gold?'

'Sleeping, ma'am,' Ah Yat said.

'Let him sleep,' the stone said.

I pottered around, feeling useless, for about half an hour. I asked Ah Yat to check on Simone occasionally. She was fine; she'd been through the shops at the Peak Tower and was playing in the little play area on the roof of the Peak Galleria.

I went into John's office and began to tidy his mess. I sorted through the doc.u.ments; some of them were tasks that weren't finished. I tried to control my emotions as I put all the loose ends to one side to go through with him.

The training room door opened and closed, and I poked my head out into the hallway. John had emerged, exhausted.

'Are you okay?' he said when he saw me.

'I'm a bit stiff but I'll be fine. You?'

'I'll live. Stone?' John said.

'My Lord,' the stone said.

'Go and have a shower,' I said. 'Then we need to sort through the paperwork. We should do it before dinner, have it fixed now. We won't have time when the Lady returns; you'll be locked up with her for the rest of the week.'

He nodded sadly, and turned away to go to his room.

'Emma, sit,' John said when he returned to the office, his long hair still damp from the shower. 'We need to talk.'

I didn't ask, I just sat. He flopped into his big chair across the desk from me.

'Emma,' he said, leaning on the desk and looking me right in the eyes, 'we don't have much longer. I want you to do something for me after I have gone.'

'Anything, John.'

'I want you to promise me something.'

I hesitated. 'What?'

He looked down at his hands and spoke softly. 'If you have to go to the King, I want you to promise me something.'

I leaned on the desk as well. 'I'll never fall for that b.a.s.t.a.r.d, John, you can trust me. Don't worry. I know he's charming, but I can see right through it.'

'I know that,' he said, not looking up. He smiled gently at his hands. 'I want you to promise that if you do have to go to him, you will pretend. So that he won't give you to the Mothers. Make him think he has won you over.' He raised his head to gaze at me. 'Pretend. Until I return. Make him think he's won. And when I return, you can hold him to his word to release you.'

I sat there, completely stunned, staring at him.

'Promise me, Emma,' he said. 'Anything is preferable to you being given to them. Anything. Give me your word.'

I struggled to speak.

'Please do this thing for me, my Lady. I do not wish to see you harmed. He will not hurt you. You will be safe. Simone will be safe. That is all that is important.'

I didn't say anything. I couldn't do it.

Suddenly John's head snapped up. He shot to his feet, vaulted over the desk, and raced out into the hall. I ran to follow him. He went into the living room, where Leo waited for us.

Leo fell to his knees. His face was full of anguish.

I had a sudden, horrible, sinking sensation. Simone wasn't with him Simone wasn't with him.

'Where is she?' I yelled. I crouched in front of Leo, grabbed his arm, and shouted into his face. 'Where the h.e.l.l is she?'

'She is with Ming Gui,' Leo said, his voice hoa.r.s.e. 'While we were at the playground, he appeared. He said h.e.l.lo, she ran to him, he took her hand and they both disappeared.' He dropped his head. 'I didn't think fast enough. I should have grabbed her.' He sagged over his knees. 'I have failed. Again.'

'Martin won't hurt her, John, she'll be fine,' I said, pulling myself to my feet with relief.

John wasn't convinced. 'What if he's taken her to Number One? To swap her for my head?'

'Would Number One do that? He's renowned for being honourable.'

John moved to sit on one of the couches. 'I don't know.' His eyes turned inward. 'She says she's okay; they've gone out for something to eat.' He snapped back to Leo. 'Michael?'

'Michael followed them, my Lord.'

'Michael travelled?'

Leo nodded, still on his knees.

'He has had no training. He could quite easily kill himself.' John concentrated. 'Found him. But he lost track of Simone. Wait.' He was silent, focusing. 'He wanted to return directly but I've told him to come the long way. It will take him a while, he's on Kowloon side.' He concentrated again. 'Simone says she's okay.'

'Ask her where they are, John, and we'll go and get her back.'

John's face went rigid. 'She won't tell me. She says she's fine, she's having fun.'

My blood went cold. She was just being a perfectly normal six-year-old girl who loved her big brother. 'Can one of the staff track her down?'

'Not if she doesn't want them to.' John's eyes unfocused again. 'She's telling me to leave her alone. If she is harmed in any way by your actions, Leo, I will have your head for this.'