Blue Dragon

coming?’ the Tiger said.
    ‘August twenty-first,’ John said. ‘Two weeks from today. It will be Saturday, so the streets will be busy; that should hold them back slightly.’
    ‘Who’s going where?’ I said.
    ‘Me and the Lady, top floor, Hennessy Road; Na Zha on the roof. Students at the Folly, guarded by the Tiger and the Phoenix and half the Academy dragons.’
    The Tiger moved to protest but John cut him off. ‘Emma, Simone, Leo, on the Peak. Gold with you, Emma. The Dragon on the roof, guarding, with the other half of the Academy dragons. We’ll make them split their attack three ways.’
    ‘You don’t have enough to defend yourself,’ the Tiger said. ‘Add some dragons at Hennessy Road.’
    John dropped his voice. ‘It would not necessarily be a bad thing if One Two Two were to take the advantage and come for my head. I could end it there.’
    There was complete silence.
    ‘No, Daddy,’ Simone whispered.
    ‘If he doesn’t come for me then, I’ll go and take him anyway, sweetheart.’
    ‘No.’ Simone cast around, then decided and climbed into Leo’s lap, facing him. She began to shake and he pulled a packet of tissues out of his pocket and kissed the top of her head. He held her close and she buried her face into his huge chest.
    ‘Simone is going with Martin,’ I said.
    Simone turned in Leo’s lap and took a tissue from him. ‘I want to go with Martin, Daddy.’
    ‘We can’t trust him,’ Leo said, wrapping his arms protectively around Simone.
    ‘Yes, we can,’ John said. ‘In this case, we can. We know that Simone will be safe.’ He sighed with feeling. ‘It’s probably for the best. You should go too, Emma.’
    ‘I would like to be with you,’ I whispered. ‘I want to be on the top of Hennessy Road. With you.’
    ‘No, Emma, you’d be in danger,’ Simone said. ‘You should come with me and Martin. ’Cause I’ll need you after Daddy and Leo have gone. You have to stay safe.’
    I sighed. She was right.
    ‘They will launch an all-out attack the minute the Lady and I link. If we survive the attack then we will probably be able to finish the process,’ John said. ‘It will take about a week. We will come home if we survive the initial attack and finish at the Peak. Martin can bring Simone home, and Michael can return, when the matter is decided, one way or another.’
    Michael arrived, his blond hair dark from the shower. He threw himself to sit at the table next to his father. ‘Did I miss anything important?’
    ‘Xuan Wu, Na Zha, the Lady in Hennessy Road,’ I said. ‘Tiger, Phoenix, students, Folly. Me, Leo, Peak, Gold and the Dragon guarding. Simone is going with Martin. You are going to the West. We’re splitting the dragons between the Folly and the Peak.’
    ‘Why so few at Hennessy Road?’ Michael said. ‘You need more than that.’
    The Tiger grunted but didn’t say anything.
    ‘Lord Xuan wants to lure the demon in so that he can transform and take it out,’ I said.
    ‘Oh, geez,’ Michael said, his voice full of misery.
    ‘If we survive this then we’ll make plans to go in and take it out anyway,’ Leo said over the top of Simone’s head, and she clutched his arms. ‘Michael, any idea where his headquarters are?’
    ‘No idea,’ Michael said.
    ‘We’ll send somebody in, taking a harmless human form, and check out the law offices during the week while the feed is happening,’ I said. ‘There are four altogether. One of them is probably a front.’
    ‘We will find that little…’ The Tiger swallowed what he was about to say.
    ‘Simone,’ John said gently. She didn’t move in Leo’s massive arms. ‘Simone, you have me for two more weeks. Please, think about what you would like to do. For the next two weeks, it’ll be you and me, anything you want. And I want you to always remember that I have promised to return for you. I will be back. I promise.’
    ‘Emma and Leo too. And Michael. All together,’ Simone said, clutching Leo’s arms.
    ‘All the family together,’ John said gently.
    Simone dropped her little head, her tawny hair falling around her face. ‘Okay,’ she whispered.
    The waiter arrived with the food but nobody was in much of a mood for eating.
    Three days later Martin turned up at Hennessy Road. The guard demons called me to see if they should let him in. I told them to send him up.
    He came into my office wearing a plain tan pair of trousers and his usual dark green polo shirt. He smiled gently and sat on