Red Phoenix

shrugged. ‘I would dearly like to know what they are doing.’
    ‘The King has promised to stay away from us,’ John said mildly. ‘One Two Two was too cowardly to face me in London.’
    ‘But they’re building special demons just for us,’ I said. ‘They may be planning something big with their new toys.’
    Both John and the Phoenix glanced at me, then nodded and turned back to the children.
    ‘The only thing we can do is stay aware, stay ready, and have Emma and Simone up to speed as quickly as possible,’ John said.
    ‘I’d like to know where they’re making those things,’ I said. ‘Is it possible that they were made in Europe?’
    ‘Quite possible,’ John said.
    Zhu Que shook her head. ‘If they were, then that raises a very large number of unpleasant implications.’ She moved to rise. ‘I need to take these chicks outside before they embarrass themselves.’ She studied themcarefully. ‘No, I think I’ll take them home. They’re tired. Look at Middle.’
    She was right. Middle had reverted to True Form and the edges of her feathers smouldered.
    Zhu Que turned and saluted us. ‘By your leave.’
    ‘Bring them back soon to play,’ I said. ‘Simone loves them.’
    ‘Let me know if you hear anything,’ John said.
    Zhu Que nodded and went to the chicks to gather them up. They all disappeared in a flurry of red. Simone and Leo packed up the Lego.
    ‘She forgot her table,’ I said.
    ‘The minute we stand it will be gone,’ John said without moving.
    I poured some more tea. Leo took Simone out to put her toys away. We sat for a while, pondering.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
    I had a pleasant lunch with Rhonda. We discussed Michael’s school work; we were both delighted at his progress. He enjoyed school, and I told her about some of the friends he’d made. We arranged for her to come for dinner at the weekend.
    I walked back along Des Voeux Road, through Central, towards John’s office, where I needed to collect some documents. It was a nondescript building in Wellington Street. The pollution was particularly bad, the car exhaust fumes were trapped by the highrises. There wasn’t a scrap of greenery anywhere along the street, just the cracked concrete pavement. But at least the weather was clear and mild, not humid at all. Hong Kong would have about two weeks of delightful weather now, in late October, and then the humidity would hit again, changing from hot and damp to cold and damp.
    I took the lift to the first floor and walked to the end of the corridor where the office was located. The staff didn’t know who John was; they thought he was a wealthy businessman from China, and that I was his European nanny who occasionally did some errands for him.
    After I’d collected the documents, I called the lift. There were a few people in it already and they glared impatiently at me. Should have taken the stairs since you’re only on the first floor, they were thinking at me, and not wasted our time stopping here.
    One of them was a high-level demon. She ignored me completely. My heart sank.
    As soon as I was out of the lift in the lobby I pulled out my mobile phone. It wasn’t working.
    I strolled casually to the guard station near the front door and asked the guard in Cantonese for a phone. He pushed one over to me. I picked up the receiver. Not working.
    I stood at the guard station and pondered. I was in serious trouble. This was a really big demon, far too big for me to handle alone. To anyone who saw her, she was a perfectly normal young Chinese woman waiting for someone. She even checked her watch occasionally. She wore a lavender suit and her hair was short and trim. She ignored me completely.
    Holy shit, what was I going to do?
    I pulled out my mobile phone again, pretended to dial a number, and pretended to listen. I held it up to my face with my left hand. It was completely dead.
    ‘I would really appreciate some help right now,’ I hissed into the phone quietly. ‘For God’s sake, wake the hell up!’
    Nothing. The stone was more and more useless every day.
    I tapped it with my other finger. ‘Wake up!’ Still nothing.
    I spun around and banged the blasted thing on the wall, hard.
    Still nothing. Oh my God, it wasn’t asleep. She’d somehow managed to turn it off too.
    I briefly pondered going back up to the office and asking one of the girls to call John, then dismissed theidea. The minute they were involved in this, the demon would take them out.
    Fine. To hell with