Blue Dragon

to John in this way it meant that both of them were in a good mood.
    ‘Are you finished talking about the boring stuff?’ Simone demanded over her cereal.
    ‘Yes we are, sweetheart,’ John said.
    ‘Good. I want to go out to the islands with you today, Ming Gui.’ She turned to John. ‘Can we go?’
    John’s eyes sparkled at her. ‘Of course you can. I think that’s a very good idea.’
    Martin smiled at Leo. I turned and saw Leo’s face. John saw it too.
    ‘You all go,’ John said. ‘I’ll stay here with Mercy.’
    Leo and I sat on the beach waiting for them. The two of them had been under the water together for more than an hour.
    ‘I wonder if he can do the same thing for you,’ I said.
    Leo stretched his dark legs out in front of him. ‘He can’t. He’s too small.’ He watched the water. ‘Apparently only the most powerful ones can do it.’
    I slapped the sand with my palm. ‘Damn!’
    Leo smiled. ‘You just like having me around so that you can take out all your frustrations on me.’
    ‘God, you are such a bastard !’ I shouted, and pushed him over.
    He shot to his feet, scooped me up, ran into the water and dropped me in. I was laughing so much that I choked on the water and he had to thump me on the back when I reappeared.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN
    T he next day we spent the morning beside the pool, and the afternoon in the suite, resting. I wrote some emails to my family using the dial-up on my laptop. Gold had set up a network in the Western Palace as well and linked my family to the internet. My family weren’t finding the palace boring; in fact, the Tiger had arranged some trips down to the Earthly Plane for them. They’d stayed in his posh hotel in Paris for a week, being escorted by a group of his burly sons through all the best tourist spots and dining in the finest restaurants—until they’d complained that they didn’t like the food. Much too fancy for everybody except Jennifer and Leonard, who were having a ball. They were giving me a hard time about visiting them, as well. They wanted to show me what they were doing in the palace.
    At about three o’clock Simone had a nap and I pulled out a paperback and made myself comfortable on the balcony. There was a knock on the door and Leo shot out of his room. He hesitated at the door, then nodded: John had told him to answer it.
    It was the Tiger, Rhonda and Michael. Together.
    ‘Hi!’ I said, delighted to see them. ‘Come on in. What are you doing here?’
    ‘Holiday,’ the Tiger said. ‘Family time. And Ah Wu has asked to see Michael.’
    ‘What for?’ I said, glancing at Michael.
    ‘No idea,’ the Tiger said with a shrug.
    ‘Hi, Rhonda,’ I said.
    Rhonda was obviously embarrassed. She was blushing. ‘Hi,’ she said.
    ‘Sit,’ I said, gesturing towards the couches in the living room. Leo nodded and returned to his room without a word.
    ‘What’s up with him?’ the Tiger said.
    ‘Just tired,’ I said, and didn’t elaborate.
    John and Ms Kwan appeared from the master bedroom. The Tiger and Michael both saluted them, falling to one knee for good measure. I watched them, bemused, wondering what was up.
    John and Ms Kwan sat on one of the couches. Both the Tiger and Michael gestured for me to sit on the other one, next to Rhonda. It was a competition. And both of them were fully aware of it and playing the game anyway.
    The Tiger gestured and a cane chair materialised behind him. He seated himself. ‘Xuan Tian.’ He saluted Ms Kwan. ‘My Lady.’ He nodded to me. ‘Lady Emma.’
    ‘Ah Bai,’ John said. ‘Just Michael would have been sufficient.’
    Michael didn’t have anywhere to sit, so he fell to the floor next to his father and sat cross-legged, completely unfazed. He shook his hands in front of his face. ‘Lord Xuan. Lady Kwan Yin. Lady Emma.’
    All three of us nodded back. Everybody could see it now.
    ‘The Dragon has been bullshitting about this place for a long time now, and I wanted to see if it’s just hot air,’ the Tiger said. ‘I regret coming though; the blue bastard keeps trying to sell me a condo.’
    ‘You are enjoying every minute of it and you know it,’ Rhonda said, glaring at him. ‘And the only reason you won’t buy property here is because it’s in the East and you wouldn’t be caught dead owning anything this far east of Centre.’
    John and I shared a look. The Tiger was silenced.
    ‘Why’d you want Michael, Ah Wu?’ the Tiger said.
    ‘I have a few more days here