Blue Dragon

can have her here and check up on her. We can talk to her.’
    ‘What if that’s the intention?’ I said. ‘What if Kitty lined her up to be brought over here to try something?’
    ‘She’s a normal human, yes?’ John said.
    I nodded a reply.
    ‘Then she can’t do anything. Let’s ask Simone to invite her here, and see what happens.’
    I showed Helen to the door where her Indonesian domestic helper waited for her. ‘Bye, sweetheart,’ I said. ‘I hope you had fun.’
    ‘Bye, Emma,’ Helen said. ‘Bye, Simone. See you at school.’
    ‘Only one week left!’ Simone said with a jiggle of excitement. ‘I’m going to Kota Kinabalu for the holidays!’
    ‘I’m going to Phuket,’ Helen said. ‘Bye.’
    The domestic helper took her out. I dropped Simone with Leo, then went into John’s office. I sat across the desk from him and we studied each other. I shrugged.
    ‘Why then?’ John said.
    There was a tap on the office door.
    ‘Enter, Michael,’ John said.
    Michael came in, his face rigid with restraint, holding something in a towel. He put it on the desk, on top of the pile of papers. ‘I suggest you don’t touch it, my Lord.’
    Both John and I leaned forward and studied it carefully. It was a little stone turtle, a very commonhousehold decoration in Hong Kong. It appeared to be made of rose quartz.
    John put his hand over the turtle without touching it, then closed his eyes and concentrated.
    ‘The little girl left it here,’ Michael said. ‘I could sense it from my room.’
    ‘It’s not a bug, is it?’ I said. ‘We don’t have to be careful talking near it?’
    ‘Nope,’ Michael said. ‘No idea what it is. Not a bug, though.’
    John pulled his hand away and opened his eyes, then concentrated again.
    Gold appeared between Michael and myself. He leaned forward and studied the turtle carefully. He picked it up. ‘What do you say, Dad?’
    The stone was silent.
    ‘Give it a tap, my Lady,’ Gold said.
    I tapped the stone.
    ‘Yes, my…’ Its voice trailed off, then went fierce. ‘What the hell is that?’
    Gold turned it over in his hands. ‘No idea.’
    ‘Let me have a look,’ the stone said.
    ‘Take the ring off first, my Lady,’ Gold said. ‘I don’t think you should touch it either.’
    I removed the ring and handed it to Gold. He touched the ring to the turtle.
    ‘Get it off!’ the stone squawked.
    Gold jerked the ring away. ‘Sorry, Dad.’
    ‘Give me back to the Lady,’ the stone said.
    Gold returned the ring to me and I put it back on my finger.
    ‘I’ve opened it. You can see what it is now,’ the stone said.
    ‘I see,’ John said. ‘Have either of you encountered anything like this before?’
    Gold shook his head. The stone was silent.
    ‘Would it be safe for me to look inside it?’ I said. ‘What’s so different about it anyway?’
    ‘Look inside,’ John said. ‘But slowly, carefully.’
    I opened my Inner Eye and studied the little pink turtle. Gold placed it on the pile of papers so that I could have a better look. It was like a miniature black hole. It was sucking reality into it. I suddenly knew that if I were to touch it, I would be pulled straight into it.
    ‘So that was the point of the exercise,’ I said softly. ‘To get one of us to touch that.’
    ‘That bitch is using human children to do her dirty work,’ John said.
    ‘Would it just kill me, or would it transport me somewhere?’ I said.
    ‘Probably a transport device,’ Gold said. ‘Shades of Star Trek .’
    ‘Never seen anything like it before,’ the stone said. ‘Ingenious. Wait until the Grandmother hears about this. She’ll be after this demon personally .’
    I nodded to Michael. ‘Thanks.’
    ‘Sometimes I am extremely glad we have you around, Michael,’ John said. ‘You are the only one in the household who sensed this thing. Try to keep your abilities to yourself. As long as they aren’t aware of them, we’re at an advantage.’
    ‘My Lord,’ Michael said, then flashed me a quick smile.
    ‘I saw that,’ John said quickly. ‘Tell me now. That’s an order.’
    ‘Damn,’ Michael said softly. He sighed, then shrugged. ‘Okay, coercion. And PK.’
    ‘You have PK too?’ I said.
    ‘What’s PK?’ John said. ‘You’ve mentioned that before, Emma.’
    ‘Psychokinesis,’ I said. ‘The ability to move things with the mind.’
    ‘Oh, carrying,’ John said, understanding. ‘You have ordering and carrying, Michael? When did you learn