Blue Dragon

Simone.
    As I readied myself I wondered if Xuan Wu could find me and Raise me in the next life if I was killed. If there was a next life. All the Taoist teachings said there was, but a great deal of the stuff that had come out over the years was wrong in many important details. And none of the Immortals would talk about it; not even Kwan Yin, who was an icon of both Buddhist and Taoist faiths; and Buddhism was firmly based on the concept of reincarnation.
    I silently pondered if I would ever meet any of the Bodhisattvas. Once again none of the Immortals would talk about it. But Immortals were pretty much the same thing as Bodhisattvas anyway. One day I would have to make a trip to India and check it out. And visit the Kun Lun mountains in the West.
    But first. I hefted my sword. I had to survive this.
    I felt them coming.
    I silently asked the stone if Simone was okay.
    She is fine. They haven’t gone after her. They are coming for you. Liu, Leo and Michael are returning as quickly as they can, but they cannot come directly, Simone is too large to carry.
    I wondered where Gold was.
    Gold is here. He is hiding. He will help you with a surprise attack if necessary. He has taken True Form and is very, very small. You can’t see him.
    I’m here, Gold said. Here they come.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
    I felt them on the other side of the door. I saw them with my Internal Eye. Yep. It was Wong. He had a Mother with him. Just the two of them.
    They can only come in one at a time, the stone said.
    He’d send the Mother first. He was too much of a damn coward to come and face me one on one. The doorbell rang down the hallway. Oh my God, Ah Yat. She would answer the door and he’d kill her.
    Don’t worry, she’s not here , Gold said.
    I sighed with relief and then stiffened as the door was knocked off its hinges. I heard its footsteps coming down the hallway. It appeared in the doorway.
    I hesitated in confusion. My Inner Eye saw it as a Mother, but my physical eyes saw April. I panicked: what if it was April? I desperately asked the stone, but it had been silenced.
    April stood in the doorway, bewilderment all over her soft, round face.
    ‘April?’ I said.
    Her face was blank.
    I stepped forward, holding the sword ready. I studied her. My Inner Eye still saw her as a Mother.
    ‘April?’
    ‘Do I know you?’ she said.
    ‘It’s me, Emma. Do you remember me?’
    Suddenly she smiled with recognition. ‘Hi, Emma, long time no see. I had a girl, you know that? A beautiful baby girl. She’s at home in Discovery Bay with the amah .’
    I didn’t lower my sword. Something really didn’t feel right. It was extremely confusing. Mothers didn’t shapeshift. They only had two forms: human female form and True Form. If this was a Mother, then it couldn’t take April’s form unless…unless it was April.
    April continued speaking as if nothing was amiss, not even appearing to notice the sword in my hand. ‘I’m going back to work soon, you know? It’s funny.’ Her smile widened. ‘All the scans said it was a boy, but I had a girl. A beautiful fat girl. Andy thinks she’s wonderful.’ An expression of bewilderment swept swiftly across her face. ‘Andy?’
    I was stumped. I didn’t know what to do. As far as I could see, it was April. But it appeared to be a Mother as well.
    There was a sound in the hallway and Simon Wong walked up behind April, grinning.
    ‘Hello, little Emma,’ he said. ‘It’s been a while. According to my research, you only turn into a snake when Simone’s threatened. You don’t care about yourself at all. I wonder how true that is?’ He turned his head to smile down at April, who still grinned with her eyes blank. ‘You like what I’ve done to your friend?’
    I didn’t move. I waited for him to come to me.
    Wong grabbed the side of April’s head and wrenched her around. She moved like an automaton. He kissed her, holding the back of her head with one hand. She didn’t return it; she was completely still. He moved his mouth over hers and she screamed and struggled. He grabbed her with his other arm and held her, muffling her screams with his mouth.
    He released her and turned back to me. His mouth was bloodied. So was hers. He’d bitten her.
    I didn’t move. I still wasn’t sure.
    ‘You wanna kiss?’ he said, grinning.
    April’s face went strange. Her eyes widened and her whole body went rigid. She transformed. She took the True Form I had seen with my Inner Eye: she was a