Blue Dragon

inside them.
    At the end of the corridor there was no door; it just opened into a larger area. It was about three metres across and disappeared to the right. I crept to the end and poked my nose around the corner. The larger area opened out to the right for about five metres. It was devoid of any furniture, with beige walls and a tiled linoleum floor, like a hospital. I wondered why it seemed so different to a hospital when it had so many similarities; and then realised. No windows. Underground. There was a glass wall with a large glass door at the end on the right. The wall directly across from me had three doors at regular intervals. I asked the stone.
    Let me look. The middle one. There is an anteroom with a level forty demon in it. Then something similar to a hospital ward, with Simone in it.
    I shot across and threw open the door. The demon wasn’t expecting me. I went for its head but it blocked me, twisted my arm down and grabbed my throat.
    I tried to head-butt it but it had me. I lifted myself on my pinned arm and neck and lashed out with my feet. Both my feet thumped into its abdomen and the force of the blow broke its grip. I somersaulted backwardsand landed on my feet, but I was hit with the black stuff anyway as it exploded.
    I looked down at myself. Another quiet sucking sound. The demon stuff disappeared, absorbed into me. Damn. I checked my dan tian . Holy shit. Nearly half full.
    I tried to imagine Simon Wong giving me an order and felt only disdain. Good. I hoped this control business wasn’t as bad as they thought it was. I didn’t want to try it though.
    I opened the door on the other side of the room. Simone was sleeping peacefully on the hospital bed, her face full of angelic innocence. She still wore her little blue dress from that morning, when she had gone into safety with Martin. I grabbed her and pulled her up and crushed her into me. My eyes stung with tears that I really couldn’t afford.
    Then I shrieked with agony and dropped her. She fell like a rag doll. I sobbed with the pain. My arms went black; then they rippled and returned to normal.
    I bent over the bed and leaned on it, gasping for breath between the sobs. ‘No. No. No.’
    I took deep breaths and tried to control it. Okay. I gingerly reached out and touched Simone on her hand. I jerked away again; the touch was like acid.
    I tried her dress. That didn’t hurt.
    I carefully put my hands around her middle under her arms, where the dress was, ready to lift her and get her out of there.
    It was subconscious at first, but after a few seconds the burning was so intense I had to drop her.
    ‘Shit. Shit. Shit!’ I whispered. ‘What the hell am I going to do?’
    She was limp. I spoke gently into her ear, trying to wake her. Nothing.
    She is heavily sedated. I don’t think anything you can do will bring her round.
    I suddenly felt very calm. ‘You realise what this means.’
    The stone was silent.
    I felt absolutely serene. ‘If I can’t touch her, then I can’t touch him. I’ll never be able to touch either of them.’
    The stone didn’t speak.
    ‘I’ve lost my only reason for living,’ I said.
    No, Emma. Simone needs you.
    ‘What Simone needs right now is to be safe. I must get her out of here. You know what they’ll do to her. I can’t let them have her.’
    The stone was silent.
    ‘What are my chances of getting her out of here when I can’t even touch her?’
    The stone didn’t say a word.
    I pulled the ring off my finger and very carefully put it into the pocket of Simone’s dress. The contact of the fabric was enough to start my skin burning. ‘Will you explain for me?’
    The stone didn’t answer, and then I understood. I put my finger carefully into her pocket so that I could touch it and hear what it had to say.
    I’d prefer to stay with you, Lady Emma.
    ‘Well, how about that. After all this time of driving me nuts, now you want to stay with me.’ I pulled the King’s phone out of my pocket, keeping my other hand on the ring. ‘As far as I can see, I’m out of options. If you can see any other way of ensuring Simone’s safety, I’d love to hear it.’
    The stone was silent for a long time, then it said, My Lady.
    ‘Thanks for everything.’
    It’s been fun, Emma. I hope to see you again when the Dark Lord returns.
    ‘I sincerely doubt that I will want to be around when he comes back, stone,’ I said. ‘When he sees what they’ve done to me it’ll kill him. I think I’d prefer to be