Blue Dragon

hitting the phone soon and hitting it hard .’
    ‘So sorry about this, Roland,’ John said calmly in English. ‘New students from the Mainland, came to the wrong address. Should have come to me.’
    ‘Like I said, I gave the bus driver the wrong address, Roland,’ Leo said, taking the blame. ‘I should have given the bus driver the address of Mr Chen’s place in Wan Chai, but I gave him the wrong card.’
    ‘Hair, John,’ I whispered under my breath.
    ‘Just let me round them up and get them fixed,’ John said amiably. ‘I’ll check their IDs and then send them over to my building.’
    Roland studied John carefully.
    I shot a glance at John. He was losing it.
    John concentrated on Leo.
    ‘Come with me, Roland,’ Leo said, taking Roland’s shoulder and turning him away. ‘Let’s go and have some coffee or tea or something while Mr Chen makes these students disappear.’
    Roland shrugged Leo off and faced John. He studied him intensely.
    I’m very drained, Emma, John said into my ear. The last couple of days have taken a lot out of me. I don’t think I can hold it.
    ‘Come on, Roland,’ Leo said, trying to turn him around.
    ‘Get your hands off me before I hit you,’ Roland hissed. ‘What the hell is going on here?’
    He stared at John, who had reverted. He didn’t look ninety any more, he looked about fifty, and his hair was almost completely black.
    Roland’s face became a mask of horror. ‘ Demon !’ he shouted and moved into a guard stance. ‘ What are you? ’
    John completely lost it. He roared with laughter, then straightened and changed back to his normal middle-aged self. He grinned at Roland with delight. ‘You think I’m a demon? You have seventy-five of them in here already and you think I’m a demon ?’
    Roland didn’t shift.
    ‘Sorry about this, Leo,’ John said. ‘Couldn’t be helped.’
    ‘Not your fault, my Lord,’ Leo said. ‘It’ll be fun to tell him anyway. Can’t wait to see the look on his face.’
    ‘I want to be there too.’ Michael came down the hallway and stopped behind Leo. ‘I want to see his face when he finds out. I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time.’
    ‘You three go and tell him everything,’ I said. ‘I’m taking Mum and Dad shopping.’
    ‘I want to come too,’ Simone said. ‘I brought my wallet.’
    ‘Go,’ John said. ‘If any demons approach you, send them up here.’
    Roland stiffened when John said ‘demons’ but didn’t move otherwise.
    ‘Hi, Roland,’ I said.
    Roland didn’t move or shift his gaze from John.
    ‘Look behind you, at the end of the hallway.’
    Roland still didn’t move.
    ‘See the altar at the end of the hallway there?’
    ‘I know it’s there,’ Roland said.
    ‘Who put it there?’
    ‘Leo.’
    ‘Yeah,’ I said with a broad grin. ‘Which god is it for?’
    ‘Pak Tai.’
    ‘Yeah, Pak Tai. Chen Wu,’ I said. ‘Leo put it there ’cause Leo works for Chen Wu. ’ I gestured towards John. ‘This guy.’
    Roland dropped his arms and his face went slack. ‘No.’
    ‘Come on, guys,’ I said to my parents. ‘Let the boys have their fun.’
    ‘I think you spoiled their fun already, Emma,’ Simone said with delight. ‘That was great.’
    ‘Call me when you have them all tamed,’ I said as we left.
    My parents’ faces were white as we took the lift down to street level. I didn’t know what to say.
    ‘Can we go to Toys R Us, Emma?’ Simone said. ‘I have some money to spend.’
    ‘How about we show my mum and dad some grown-up stuff?’ I said. ‘You can go to Toys R Us any day.’
    ‘Oh, okay,’ she said. ‘Of course.’ She looked up at my mother. ‘What sort of things would you like to buy?’
    My mother stared at Simone as if she were a creature from another planet.
    ‘She’s just a little girl, Mum,’ I said.
    ‘Yeah,’ Simone said with a grin. ‘Emma’s the one that’s the snake .’
    Both my parents stiffened.
    ‘Damn,’ I said softly. I raised my voice and tried to sound cheerful. ‘Let’s go to the China Products store. There’s a lot of great stuff there from the Mainland—Chinese handicrafts. You said you wanted to see that, right, Mum?’
    My mother watched me, silent.
    ‘Are you okay?’ Simone said.
    Neither of my parents spoke.
    What’s the matter with them, Emma? Simone said into my ear.
    ‘Come on, guys,’ I said. ‘Let’s go and be tourists. Perfectly ordinary, normal tourists.’

CHAPTER THREE
    F inished, Emma, come on