Red Phoenix

Don’t expect too much, though; he’s an irresponsible bastard.’
    ‘Lady Emma!’ Leo said, shocked. ‘I owe him my life!’
    ‘Look me in the eye and tell me he’s not an irresponsible bastard.’
    Leo hesitated, then turned to speak to Michael. ‘He tried to run off with Lady Emma the first time he met her. He is something of a womaniser, to say the least.’
    ‘I believe it. My mother won’t talk about him at all. Miss Donahoe.’ Michael was clearly curious. ‘How do you fit into all of this? You’re obviously trained, but what’s your role here? I know you told me that Mr Chen has a daughter, and that Leo’s her guard, but where do you fit in? You didn’t mention yourself. Are you his wife?’
    ‘No,’ I said. ‘It’s complicated. I’ll tell you more later, but there’s a few things we need to do first. After I talkto your mother, that is. It would be wrong for us to take you into training without her permission; you’re too young. The first will be to swear you in. The second is to move you in. The third is to put you back in school.’
    Leo nodded agreement.
    ‘I don’t want to go back to school, Miss Donahoe,’ Michael said. ‘I don’t think it has anything to offer me.’
    ‘It will be part of your job,’ I said. ‘We’ll send you to the same school as Simone, and you can keep an eye on her. You can call us if a demon turns up, and help us to handle it.’
    ‘Brilliant, Emma,’ Leo said softly.
    ‘Caught you not using the honorific,’ I shot back as quickly as I could.
    ‘Brilliant, my Lady ,’ Leo said pointedly, and bowed very deeply.
    ‘Not good enough.’ I saw my chance to rub it in. ‘You will perform twenty-five level one sword katas immediately as punishment. Return the demon jar and put the weapons away. Come with me, Michael, we’ll talk about the job.’
    I slapped Leo lightly on the arm as I passed him to go out.
    He tried very hard not to laugh, and bowed even deeper. ‘With a great deal of pleasure, my honoured Lady.’
    Michael followed me out, and glanced back at Leo with bewilderment. He had no idea what he was getting into. The demons were the least of it.

CHAPTER EIGHT
    A fter I’d seen Michael out I went into John’s office and sat across the desk from him. He turned away from the computer and leaned on his mess. Some of the papers slid off the desk onto the floor and he ignored them.
    ‘Friday afternoon,’ I said. ‘But I think I need more than half a day for this lot. You’ve done exceptionally well this time.’
    ‘Am I free?’
    ‘Yep.’
    He shrugged. ‘Okay. I’ll take her ice skating.’ ‘In the air conditioning.’ ‘I am not weak.’
    ‘If you wore another colour you wouldn’t be so hot.’ I leaned back and sighed. ‘Is there a problem?’
    I straightened. ‘His father is totally rampant. Are you sure you want a son of the Tiger in such close proximity to your daughter? It won’t be long, you know. They grow up so fast.’
    ‘I know,’ he said, almost a moan of pain. ‘And I won’t be around to see it. Maybe that’s not such a bad thing. I’ve never raised a child and I’d probably mess itup badly. You’ll be better to guide her through her growing years, you’re so much wiser in the ways of humans.’
    ‘Don’t be ridiculous, you’re her father. She needs you more than anything.’ Then I heard what he’d said. ‘She can’t be the first child you’ve ever had, you’ve been around for centuries. You can’t expect me to believe that Simone’s your first child. Really! You think I’m stupid?’
    ‘I know you’re not.’ He smiled slightly. ‘She really is. She is the first human child I have fathered. The White Tiger was delighted; he’s been harassing me to have a human child for ages.’
    ‘ Human child? What other children have you had?’ I said, then raised my hands to stop him. ‘Don’t answer that, I don’t want to know. Just tell me if I’ve ever met any of them.’
    ‘No.’
    ‘Okay, then. Anyway, back to the point. I’m not sure this is a good idea. Something will probably grow between them as she gets older. It’s inevitable. Michael will understand what she’s going through; they’ll have had similar experiences.’
    ‘That’s why the Tiger has been harassing me,’ he said with grim humour. ‘He’s wanted me to have a human child for a long time so that we could formally seal the union between our Houses. The minute Simone was born he tried to talk me into arranging