Blue Dragon

taken his usual human form. He perused the menu. ‘Cheesecake’s good.’
    ‘Coffee,’ I said. ‘Black.’
    ‘That’s the way Leo likes it,’ the King said, smiling at me over the menu.
    I didn’t rise to it. It could wait. There were more important things right now.
    ‘One Two Two is planning to make a try for you in the next one or two weeks,’ I said.
    ‘So soon?’ the King said, unsurprised. ‘I didn’t know he was ready yet. Thanks.’
    An elegant deco coffee plunger and mug appeared in front of me and I poured for myself. The King had a glass of red wine.
    ‘Is that really wine?’ I said.
    The King glanced at the glass. ‘This time, it is. Australian, in honour of the present company. I buy up the best vintages.’
    ‘You’ve forced the price of good wine through the roof.’
    ‘Cornered the market,’ the King said. ‘Very lucrative.’
    ‘What are you going to do?’
    ‘Right now? Nothing,’ the King said with a small smile. ‘I can handle it.’
    ‘He says he’ll be the most powerful thing in Hell,’ I said.
    The King lowered his wine glass and leaned intensely over the table. ‘You can call me George, if you like.’
    ‘He says he’ll be the most powerful thing in Hell.’
    The King leaned back. ‘I can handle him.’
    ‘You may not be able to. Look what he did to me. He’s made me immensely powerful. If he’d been able to get control of me, I hate to think what I could have done.’
    ‘Don’t worry, Emma, I have it all under control,’ the King said.
    ‘A level seventy Mother came after me a couple of days ago.’
    He smiled slightly. ‘Not a threat for you.’
    ‘Did you send her?’
    The smile didn’t shift. ‘Of course not. Mothers have something approaching free will, and they often wager with each other. Looks like that one lost a bet. Call me if one turns up that’s too big to handle, but frankly I think you’d be able to take any of them.’
    ‘I’d better return soon. He’ll know I’m missing,’ I said.
    ‘No, he won’t,’ the King said. ‘There’s a shapeshifter in there while you’re here with me. And don’t you want to hear about them?’
    I sighed and dropped my head. ‘Of course I do. But first: if he takes you, can he destroy the scroll?’
    ‘Of course,’ the King said. ‘But it will not come to that.’ I heard a rustle and looked up. He’d pulled out a piece of paper. ‘Status report: Xuan Wu. Disappeared entirely. Out there somewhere, but we don’t know where.’
    ‘Good,’ I said. ‘Simone?’
    ‘Simone is undergoing therapy, and won’t start school for another week or so,’ the King said, readingthe paper. ‘It will be a while before she is able to return to a normal life. But she’s resilient, she’ll be fine. Rhonda is at the Peak helping out.’
    ‘She’ll never forgive me,’ I whispered. ‘I don’t know how many times I told her I’d never leave her.’
    ‘She doesn’t believe the stone, Emma. She is in a very deep state of denial. She is quite sure that I am holding you against your will.’
    ‘Damn,’ I said softly. I straightened and controlled my voice. ‘Leo?’
    ‘That will take a while,’ the King said, folding the paper and leaning sideways to put it back into the pocket of his maroon jeans. He sipped the wine. ‘The Judges are not amused; they have never seen anything like this before. A Worthy who refuses. First in history. Frankly, I don’t think they quite know what to do with him.’
    ‘Let him go,’ I said.
    ‘You do know that the Courts are not under my jurisdiction?’ the King said. ‘I only handle the retribution side. The judgement side of things is handled by the Celestial.’
    I dropped my head. ‘Yeah. I know.’ I looked back at him. ‘Can’t you do something?’
    The King smiled gently. ‘Sorry, Emma. But you now know: they are all alive, to a degree. They are all waiting for you. And the Dark Lord has promised that he will return for you.’
    ‘I don’t want him to see me like this,’ I whispered.
    The King leaned over the table and spoke softly and intensely. ‘Nothing at all wrong with the way you are right now, dear. You are the most attractive thing I have laid eyes on in centuries. Have you taken any other forms besides the Serpent? I’d love to see you in a Mother form. It’s a possibility, you know, considering what he’s done to you. Ever thought about it?’
    I tried to control my face but he saw through me.
    ‘Do it for me and I’ll give you