Blue Dragon

extended clans.’
    ‘Inter them on the Mountain, John,’ I said. ‘It’s the least we can do for them. Send ancestral tablets to their clans in China. Can you cremate them on the Mountain?’
    ‘Yes,’ John said. ‘You will arrange it, Chow Sifu. I will have Jade send a couple of dragons to assist you. If you have trouble, contact me any time.’
    ‘I’ll need the right people to do the tablets,’ Mike said.
    ‘General Pak will be in touch. There are plenty of clergy in the Northern Heavens—refugees from temples destroyed during the Mountain Attack. They will come to the Mountain and perform the rituals.’
    ‘My Lord,’ Mike said, lowered his head and disappeared.
    I sighed. I glanced back at the list of seniors and noticed there were a couple more pages stapled to it. I flipped the paper and froze with horror.
    The next two pages were lists of numbers, English and Greek numbers. And a couple of names. One of the names was ‘Sonia’. I dropped the paper on the desk and put my head in my hands.
    ‘How many demon staff did we lose?’ I said into my hands.
    ‘The four security guards—the two on the ground floor and the two at the entrance to the car park—are all that remain. The only reason the security guards weren’t destroyed is because the demons ignored them when they came into the building and went right past them,’ John said, his voice very calm. ‘All of them, Emma. The attacking demons seemed to have a grudgeagainst ours, and singled them out for special attention. The defenders concentrated on protecting the humans, and the demons helped them. Many of them fought valiantly.’
    ‘But Sonia was human,’ I whispered.
    ‘I think they knew, love.’
    I had to look away. I wiped my eyes.
    ‘My Lord,’ Liu said, and hesitated. He looked down at his hands. His expression under his bushy white brows was miserable.
    ‘We can’t spare you, old friend,’ John said gently.
    ‘She’s all alone down there,’ Liu whispered.
    ‘Meredith?’ I said.
    Liu nodded.
    ‘Let him go, John. Please.’
    ‘We can’t spare him, Emma. We only have three left.’
    ‘How long will she be down there?’ I said.
    ‘Where?’ Leo said. ‘I wish you people would stop talking in riddles.’
    I smiled at Leo. ‘Do you have any idea what happens to Immortals when their physical forms are killed?’
    ‘They go to Hell, stay there for a while, then turn up again, good as new,’ Leo said. ‘That’s it, isn’t it?’
    ‘That’s right,’ I said. ‘Straight to Level Ten, the bottom level, stay there for a while doing who knows what, then pop back up here.’
    ‘What happens to them down there?’ he said.
    ‘None of the Immortals will talk about it,’ I said loudly without looking at the three Immortals who sat, unmoving, at the table with us.
    ‘All of the Celestial Masters are in Hell?’ Leo said. ‘Is that just for China?’
    ‘I have no idea, and it’s a waste of time asking,’ I said.
    ‘What about ordinary people?’ Leo said. His face cleared. ‘Oh, that’s why you said “next time”.’
    Once again nobody said anything.
    ‘Once it is all handled, you may go, my friend,’ John said to Liu. ‘Until then, you are needed here. She will understand.’
    ‘How long will it take?’ I said.
    Liu and John shared a look. ‘About three months,’ John said.
    ‘Intercede,’ the stone in my ring said. ‘You need them.’
    John made a soft sound but didn’t say anything.
    ‘You can do that?’ I said.
    Neither John nor Liu spoke. Their faces were rigid.
    ‘You’re not supposed to talk about it, are you,’ I said.
    ‘There have always been people who wanted me thrown from Heaven, Emma,’ John said softly.
    ‘I see,’ I said.
    ‘How come you know all this, Emma?’ Leo said.
    ‘Research.’
    ‘Far too much for your own good,’ John said. ‘Only about twenty-five per cent of what’s out there is correct anyway.’
    ‘I can tell what’s right,’ I said. ‘It’s obvious.’
    ‘I think you should start doing a PhD to keep yourself busy, before you do get me thrown from Heaven,’ John said with grim humour.
    ‘I have well and truly enough to do right now as it is,’ I said.
    John straightened and changed the subject. ‘We only have three Celestial Masters left. We also have three of the original human Masters, all of whom are really too frail to take up much of the workload. There’s only one thing we can do.’
    I dropped my head. ‘Close up