Red Phoenix

‘And Charlie?’
    Both of them went very still.
    ‘There’s one demon who has no honour whatsoever,’ Leo said.
    ‘Damn,’ John said, perfectly calm. His voice gained a very slight fierce edge. ‘This will not happen again. Your family are not a target, Leo, don’t be concerned. You are still a Retainer. But Emma is now my Lady, and she is quite correct.’ He sighed. ‘You’re the smart one, Emma, what are we going to do?’
    I nearly laughed at the ‘smart one’ comment, but this was too serious. I had the sudden urge to call all my family and make sure they were okay.
    ‘I might be the smart one, John, but you’re the expert on demon behaviour,’ I said. ‘He hasn’t rounded up my family yet and used them as hostages. Why not?’
    ‘I think he wants to be sure to have a good hold on me, and not waste his time trying to control me through a third party. I think your family are safe. Besides,’ he said, leaning back, ‘both your sister here in the UK and your family in Australia are a very long way from his power centre. He would much prefer to attack on his home turf.’
    ‘You’d better be right,’ I said.
    ‘This can be a test both ways then,’ he said. ‘We’ll see if he makes a move for your sister after he finds out where she is.’
    ‘Does he know where my family in Australia are?’
    ‘Probably.’
    I ran my hands through my hair. ‘I don’t want my family to know about this. It would freak them out. I don’t think my mum would be able to handle it. We must keep them safe and in the dark.’
    ‘We may only be able to achieve one out of two, love,’ John said.
    We sat silently. Leo looked particularly morose. He was worried about his family. They didn’t know about his mouth yet. He wouldn’t want to tell them. But he’d have to call them soon, and it would all come out about his injury. Damn.
    ‘How will we know if he makes a move against Jennifer?’ I said. ‘After we’re gone?’
    ‘I’ll put Gold in their house somewhere and he can stand watch for a few days,’ John said. ‘He’ll enjoy the opportunity of taking True Form for a while.’
    ‘And you say I’m the smart one,’ I said. ‘Can you find any more sentient rocks and post them around the place to guard our families?’
    ‘You are the smart one,’ he said with wonder. ‘I never thought of doing that before.’ He put his hands on the table and his voice became businesslike. ‘I’ll see what I can round up. Gold can help me.’
    ‘If it pleases you, my Lord,’ the stone in my ring said, ‘I request permission to assist you. Some of my children may be able to aid you. It would be the least I can do.’
    ‘Permission granted,’ John said. ‘You have some making up to do.’
    ‘I only spoke the truth, my Lord,’ the stone said, ‘but I apologise for my arrogance.’
    ‘Provide us with the services of four or five of your children to assist us, and I may consider recommending that the Lady Emma not throw you down the toilet after all.’
    The stone’s voice was full of remorse. ‘My Lord.’
    Leo made a soft sound of amusement.
    ‘Where’s your sister, Emma?’ John said.
    ‘South-east. Just out of London; she said it’s about a forty-five-minute drive. She married a solicitor, and apparently they have a huge house just out of town there. I’ve never seen it.’
    ‘Leo.’ John didn’t look away from me. ‘While Emma calls her sister, go and find Simone and Michael. We’ll give them some final coaching before we go down.’
    Leo didn’t say anything; he just nodded, rose and went out.
    ‘That was an unusual show of disrespect, coming from Leo,’ John said, glancing at the door. ‘Normally he would address me before he went out. He didn’t say a word. Most odd. He didn’t seem upset about anything, why would he do that?’
    ‘Get used to it, John,’ I said. He really didn’t understand people very well sometimes. ‘He’ll only talk when he absolutely has to, from now on. And if he learns sign language and others can understand him, I think he’ll prefer to use that. He hates sounding like an idiot.’
    ‘Even to the point of disrespect?’ John was astonished. ‘Even to me?’ ‘Even to you.’
    I called Jennifer to warn her. ‘Hi, Jennifer, it’s Emma.’
    ‘Emma!’ Her voice was bright on the other end of the line. ‘So good to hear from you! Where are you? Are you still in Hong Kong?’
    ‘I’m in London right now, Jen, and I was wondering if I could come