Blue Dragon

name. Sounds like Xuan. Xuan Wu.’
    ‘Oh, that makes sense.’
    ‘That’s not the only thing I call him,’ I said into the udon, and Louise giggled.
    ‘They say that you can jump off high places and float down without getting hurt—’
    ‘Yep,’ I said. ‘Just learned that one not long ago.’
    ‘Geez, Emma,’ Louise said. ‘I really should have brought a video camera. If I could get a video of this I’d be in the Tiger’s bed every night for six weeks.’
    ‘ What ?’
    ‘You don’t think we bet for money, do you?’ Louise said with a grin. ‘We bet nights with Tigger.’
    I couldn’t hold back the laughter. ‘ Tigger ?’
    ‘He’s very bouncy,’ Louise said, her eyes sparkling. She glanced down at her notebook. ‘Damn. I really should have brought a video camera. They won’t believe me without proof on those last ones.’
    I pulled out my mobile phone and called home.
    ‘ Wei ?’
    ‘Ah Yat,’ I said, ‘could you grab the video camera and bring it to the Tokyo private room in the Japanese restaurant in the hotel in Sha Tin?’
    ‘Ma’am,’ Ah Yat said. ‘Give me about five minutes, I need to find it.’
    ‘Okay, no rush,’ I said, and hung up.
    ‘Thanks, Emma,’ Louise said. ‘You’re great, you know.’
    I shrugged.
    ‘Did you really tame a level seventy demon?’ Louise said.
    I nodded, sipping some miso soup.
    ‘Tell your helper to hurry with the video camera,’ she said.
    I studied her. All of my exceptional abilities didn’t seem to have fazed her at all.
    ‘Louise,’ I said.
    ‘Hm?’
    ‘None of this stuff I can do seems to worry you at all. You don’t seem to be jealous, or bothered by it, or anything.’
    ‘Jealous?’ she said with a grin. ‘I’m privileged . Do you have any idea how impressed people are when I say that you’re my friend, and that we shared a flat for a couple of years? You’re a legend in your own lifetime.’
    ‘Oh, great,’ I said, lifting the last piece of yam tempura with my chopsticks. ‘That’s all I need.’
    ‘Can I come to the wedding?’
    ‘Do Chinese weddings have matrons of honour? ’Cause that’s what I want you to be.’
    ‘Who cares whether they do or they don’t,’ Louise said. ‘’Cause I’m coming, and I’m wearing something frilly and awful in pink with a dreadful cocktail hat.’
    ‘You’d better be careful what you wish for, mate,’ I said. ‘’Cause it could very well come true.’
    ‘Coronation too,’ she said. ‘My roommate, Empress of the North. Do you get a crown?’
    I thumped my chopsticks on the table with mock fury.
    She grinned and her eyes sparkled. ‘Have you heard from April?’ She saw my face and the grin disappeared. ‘Is she okay?’
    I sighed and dropped my head. Then I pulled myself together. April was Louise’s friend too. She had a right to know.
    ‘Okay,’ I said. ‘You know this demon bastard who’s after us? After my family?’
    ‘Yeah,’ Louise said softly. ‘It once broke into the stables in Ireland and did some really bad stuff to the wives who were managing there. One of them’ll never walk again, and the other was horribly disfigured.’ She bent over the table to confide in me. ‘And the Tiger still sees them both, you know. He loves us all.’
    ‘Okay,’ I said. ‘Well, that particular demon is the head of all the underworld activity in Hong Kong…’
    Louise inhaled sharply, eyes wide.
    ‘…and Kitty Kwok was helping the demon to launder its dirty money through the kindergartens—’
    ‘Holy shit , Emma. Kitty Kwok? The woman you worked for?’
    I continued. ‘And Kitty Kwok’s been building demon hybrids for him, and taking samples from the children in the kindergartens—blood and tissue samples—’
    ‘No,’ Louise said. ‘No.’
    ‘Kitty Kwok has labs in Dongguan where they’re building the demon hybrids—’
    ‘Hybrids?’
    ‘And Andy, April’s husband, was involved in triad activity—’
    ‘I knew there was something wrong with that guy,’ Louise interrupted again. ‘He was a total creep to her. He was in league with the demons?’
    ‘I think he is a demon. He just married April to get her pregnant. So that they could…’ I stopped.
    ‘What, Emma?’ Louise whispered.
    I dropped my head. ‘Kitty sent April to Dongguan to have a caesarean delivery,’ I whispered.
    ‘She got the baby!’ Louise shouted, furious. ‘She killed April! No!’
    ‘I saw April last week,’ I said, and Louise relaxed. ‘She doesn’t