Blue Dragon

the matching wakizashi ,’ he said.
    ‘I’ll do it for you if you let me speak to Simone,’ I said.
    The King leaned back. ‘Ah, it seems that today is a day that neither of us gets what we want.’
    ‘Good.’ I lowered my coffee mug and spoke more softly. ‘Can I be changed back?’
    The King smiled. ‘To what?’
    I considered it. I had changed immensely in the previous two and a half years. When I had joined John to work for him full-time I was a perfectly ordinary human female. When I had graduated from my MBA at the end of the previous year I was a Master of the Arts who turned into a big black snake when my family was threatened. And now I was a Master of the Arts, a snake, and a half demon Snake Mother who could destroy just about any demon I faced. I dropped my head into my hands. ‘I don’t know. I don’t know what I am.’
    He reached across the table and squeezed my arm. ‘Yes, you can be changed back. It is possible. Of course, the Serpent would still be there, because that is your nature, but the demon essence could be removed without killing you.’
    That stopped me dead. ‘The Serpent isn’t part of the demon nature?’
    ‘No, of course not,’ he said. ‘The Serpent is all you.’
    ‘No, that can’t be right,’ I said, desperate. ‘The Serpent came out because of what Kitty Kwok did to me.’
    ‘Nope. One hundred per cent you, dear. If you were to have the demon essence removed, this exquisite Serpent would still be part of you.’
    I had been so positive that the Serpent was a result of Kitty’s manipulation of me. I shook myself. It didn’tmatter. As long as the demon essence was removed, I could return to John. I glanced up, full of hope. ‘Can you do it?’
    His blood-coloured eyes sparkled with amusement. ‘Do you want me to?’
    I grabbed his hand. ‘Yes. If you can.’
    He held my hand and studied me closely. ‘What would you give me in return?’
    I pulled my hand away. ‘What do you want?’
    ‘Please. Call me George.’ He smiled, relaxed. ‘Be mine. Until he returns.’ He ran his fingertips over my arm and I shivered. ‘I will not force you to break your oath to him. I know that what you have with him is true. I would be content to have you only until then.’ He dropped his voice. ‘More than just staying with me; being with me, as Queen and Consort. And all that it involves. Promise me that, and I will change you back when he returns and you can go to him whole.’
    I studied my hands and remembered my promise. ‘Let me think about it,’ I whispered.
    ‘Take your time, dearest,’ he said softly, and I was back in the study of my gold-plated prison cell.

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
    A bout ten days later I was practising with the Murasame in the training room when there was a tap on the door.
    ‘Come in,’ I said.
    Yi Hao opened the door carefully and poked her head around. ‘The Master wishes to see you, my Lady.’
    I put the sword away and put it onto its black rack, wondering. I followed Yi Hao into the living room. Wong waited there for me, alone, standing in the middle of the room with his arms crossed over his chest, glowering.
    I stopped and waited for him.
    He didn’t say anything, he just glowered.
    I waited patiently. I could play this game all day if he wanted, but normally he was very impatient with me. This was entirely unlike him.
    Suddenly he grinned, uncrossed his arms and put his hands on his hips. ‘Want to go out for a spin? I’ve got something I want to show you.’
    I felt a jolt of horror. ‘What have you done?’
    He held out one arm in a gesture of welcome. ‘Come and see.’
    I didn’t move. ‘Have you hurt Simone?’
    He grinned more broadly. ‘Nope. Come and look what I did.’ He sounded like a schoolboy who’d just caught a frog.
    ‘If you’ve hurt any member of my family, I’ll take your head,’ I said, trying to stay calm.
    He shrugged, still grinning. ‘I haven’t hurt any of them. Come and look. You’ll like this. It’s really good.’
    ‘ What have you done ?’ I shouted.
    He moved closer to me. I didn’t shift away. His grin turned vicious. ‘I’m taking over.’ He held his hand out and the blood oath scroll appeared in it.
    I ran back to the training room to get the blade, but I was too slow. He bound me before I was out of the living room. I struggled, but he was immensely powerful. He had me.
    He walked up to me, very relaxed. He stopped in front of me and touched my cheek gently. He still held