Blue Dragon

Na Zha, come and look at this.’
    The other three came, and John moved so that they could touch April. All of them concentrated intensely.
    ‘I see her as human,’ Michael said.
    ‘So do I,’ the Tiger said.
    ‘Nothing demonic about her,’ Na Zha said, sounding bewildered. ‘And she changed into a Mother ?’
    ‘Show us,’ John said.
    Wong appeared, kissed her; April went rigid, then changed.
    ‘Holy shit,’ I said softly. ‘The taste of the blood makes her change.’ I suddenly found it extremely difficult to breathe and I grabbed John’s arm. ‘Oh my God.’
    John wrapped his arm around me and gave me a squeeze.
    ‘But you said it’s not April, stone,’ I said.
    ‘I have seen your friend before and this is not her,’ the stone said. ‘This is not the same person that you stopped on the street in Causeway Bay.’
    ‘The stone is quite correct, Emma,’ John said. ‘Two entirely different creatures.’ He gave me another squeeze.
    ‘Let’s see the one on the street then,’ I said. ‘Wait, let me look at this one first.’
    ‘We should all look at this interesting creature,’ John said, and moved forward to touch the April Mother. Everybody crowded around and studied it. Then they shared a look and backed away.
    ‘I thought they could only come in one at a time,’ I said.
    ‘That is correct,’ John said.
    ‘Well?’
    ‘It appears human. As far as the seals were concerned, only one demon came in. This is extremely disturbing.’ John nodded without turning.
    The scene shifted. We were with April on the street. There was such a crowd of people on the pavement that we had trouble finding places to stand.
    The Immortals and Michael moved to touch April. I did too. We crowded around her.
    ‘This is a normal human being,’ Na Zha said. ‘This is all mixed up. Copies, and demons, and humans, it’s all a big mess. Shit.’
    ‘Take us out,’ John said.
    We sat around the table and studied each other in silence.
    ‘So. He has access to a half fox child, Helen, and he’s made a demon copy of her that is almost undetectable,’ I said, recapping to get the facts straight in my head. ‘He hasn’t done anything to Kitty Kwok. My friend April: he has her baby. And he’s made a copy of her that turns into a Mother when it tastes blood.’ I took a deep breath. ‘The same way I turn into a snake when I taste blood.’
    ‘You’re gonna be ordered in, Xuan Tian,’ Na Zha said with grim certainty. ‘If the Demon King’s not doing anything about it, the Celestial’s gonna want somebody to make a move, and you’ve got the army to take the bastard down. It’s obvious where this is headed, and we can’t let it go for much longer. Look at these things. Demons and humans mixed together. It’s just not right.’
    ‘No,’ John said with finality. ‘I will not leave Simone.’
    ‘He won’t send his Elite Guard in after what happened on the Mountain,’ Na Zha said. ‘That was the Demon King’s army we faced on the Mountain, andthe Guard were cut to pieces. It’ll be you and the Thirty-Six.’
    ‘What’ll you do if he orders you in, Ah Wu?’ the Tiger said softly.
    John didn’t say anything. He studied his hands. His eyes blazed.
    ‘Disobeying an order like that will get you thrown,’ the Tiger said.
    ‘If the Celestial can provide someone who can guard Simone and Emma I will consider it,’ John said. ‘I will not leave them undefended.’
    ‘You know exactly what he’ll say, Ah Wu,’ the Tiger said.
    ‘ The soft and weak overcomes the hard and strong ,’ John said. ‘That’s all very well to say, but this is my daughter and my Lady that we’re talking about here.’
    ‘Whoa,’ Na Zha said.
    ‘Holy shit,’ the Tiger said. ‘Have you been spending altogether too much goddamn time human. I cannot believe you just said that.’
    ‘I will not leave them undefended,’ John said. ‘Dismissed. Ah Bai, report. Ah Na Zha, I’d appreciate your cooperation in not travelling too far.’
    I shot to my feet. ‘No! Wait.’
    Everybody hesitated. I pushed my chair back and moved away from the table. ‘Na Zha, Tiger, please come here.’
    Neither of them moved.
    ‘Please come and look at me.’
    They remained unmoving.
    ‘Tell them, John.’
    ‘Do it,’ John said wearily. ‘She won’t rest until she’s sure that she’s not the same thing.’
    ‘I’ve seen inside you before, Emma, and you are not the same thing,’ the Tiger said gently. ‘You are something