Blue Dragon

Tiger growled. ‘Too busy dragging your tail in the mud to see the human sneaking up behind you. I’d never take True Form that small.’
    ‘We have been through this many times before,’ John said. ‘What’s done is done.’
    ‘Stupid damn Turtle,’ the Tiger said under his breath.
    ‘You think One Two Two has one of these waiting for you?’ Michael said.
    ‘Of course he does,’ John said. ‘So I must conserve my energy until we go in. If my energy is good, I can take a very large True Form that will not fit into the cage.’
    ‘What about your head?’ I said.
    ‘I think he’ll be happy with either,’ John said, smiling sadly. ‘If he can take the captured True Form to his father, the King will be even more pleased.’
    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 goesdown 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 passed 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
    I stumbled 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 hell 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