Red Phoenix

me.
    ‘Vampires,’ I said. Franklin nodded, but John looked impatient.
    ‘Demon hybrids,’ John said. ‘Most of them don’t survive. Some are disastrous malformed atrocities. Others emerge new and powerful. There have been some recent experiments where the results have been appalling.’
    ‘Experiments?’ I said as I picked up my tea cup and studied it suspiciously. Perfectly normal tea. I took a sip. Very good quality Ceylon too.
    ‘Experiments?’ Franklin echoed, his smile disappearing.
    ‘Not just animals can be engineered,’ John said, his voice very grim. ‘The King doesn’t approve. He’s a traditionalist. But there are some activities out there that are causing us a great deal of concern.’
    ‘That is very bad news, my Lord,’ Franklin said faintly. He flopped into a chair across the table from us. ‘Very bad news indeed.’
    ‘Vampires. So Western supernatural creatures are just as real,’ I said.
    ‘Of course,’ John said. ‘Each region has its own.’
    ‘Better give me some tips on the different types then,’ I said. ‘Just in case Simone wants to study overseas.’
    ‘Good idea,’ John said. ‘I don’t know how they’ll react to her.’ He leaned back. ‘The world is becoming a very small place. Five hundred years ago, contact between China and the West was rare and intermittent. Two hundred years ago, it would take months to travel from one place to another. Now, it only takes a matter of hours. We Shen are starting to travel around. More powerful Shen such as myself can even spend extended periods of time in different areas. The bigger demons do too. I think sometimes they materialise in the holds of aircraft and ride them from one place to another.’
    ‘Wouldn’t that take them too far from their centre?’ I said.
    Franklin broke in. ‘Sometimes being far from your centre is better than not existing at all, my Lady, when you have angered the one you serve.’
    ‘Your own little demon was too small to do that, Emma,’ John said. ‘Her only hope was to join one of us.’
    ‘You are taming demons already?’ Franklin said with disbelief. ‘Has she attained the Way already, my Lord? She does not appear to have.’
    ‘No,’ John said. ‘She is just a human being, but a most remarkable one.’
    ‘You owe me a gold coin,’ I said.
    ‘A gold coin?’ Franklin said.
    ‘Every time someone says she is extraordinary, they have to give her a gold coin,’ John said. ‘It started with Kwan Yin. Now everybody has to do it. How many do you have now, Emma?’
    ‘Six,’ I said.
    ‘Dear me, but she is enough to make even the most well-behaved vampire fall off the wagon,’ Franklin said with awe.
    ‘Try me,’ I growled. ‘I could probably take your head off with my bare hands.’
    ‘Delicious,’ Franklin said, looking me in the eye and grinning evilly. He held out a plate. ‘Biscuit?’
    I wrapped my black silken coils around the eggs. I stroked them with my hands. They were so beautiful. My eggs.
    I used my hands to polish them gently. I could see them through the shells. There, the first one: tawny brown hair. Fine pale skin. Exquisite. The second: a blonde mop, golden skin. So beautiful. I sighed with bliss. And there, the most perfect of all, the third one: golden light brown hair and skin like porcelain, clearly visible through the shell.
    I stretched my fingers over them and rolled them gently. The nestlings inside shifted as I moved them, bright eyes unseeing. They were all so perfect.
    I pulled my black coils around them more tightly, so that I could lean on myself. I carefully groomed my scales, making sure that the gaps between them were spotlessly clean. It felt good.
    I looked up. The ceiling was invisible in the darkness of the chamber. I didn’t care; I was safe there, miles below the surface, with my gleaming, transparent eggs. I could see another Mother on the other side of the chamber, around her eggs as well.
    Stay away, bitch. These are mine.
    I curled over my beautiful cool coils and sighed. I dangled my arms. I was bored. I wished the King would bring me a toy to play with. I smiled to myself. I thought about what sort of toy I would like to play with. And exactly what sort of game I would like to play.
    I shot upright with horror. I threw the covers off my legs to make sure.
    Then I ran down the hall to the upstairs bathroom and was violently sick.
    Ms Kwan appeared almost immediately as I held my hand on the pearl and concentrated. She