Red Phoenix

wide, staring at the young men.
    These weren’t demons.
    I put the swords back into the car boot, closed it, locked it and pocketed the keys.
    Charlie took Simone to the shelter of the back of the car alongside the wall of the car park. I nodded to let her know I approved; if she tried to take Simone out of the car park it would draw attention to them. They were safer over there.
    The young men came to within about three metres off us and stopped. One of them stepped forward to talk to Michael. He was much better dressed than the others and slightly older, in his thirties. Quite good-looking in a rodent-like way. He seemed relaxed and confident.
    I stood next to Michael, facing the leader. ‘I cannot tell you how disappointed I am with you, Michael,’ I said ferociously without looking away from the gang.
    ‘They recruited me when I was twelve. I thought it was pretty cool at the time, but it didn’t take me long to realise I’d made a huge mistake.’ Michael sounded tired. ‘I left them a long time ago, but they keep trying to get me back.’
    The leader of the gang leered at me. ‘You his new boss?’
    ‘Yes.’ I tried to project an impression of being very calm and unafraid. I wasn’t afraid, but I certainly wasn’t calm. I was furious with Michael. I crossed my arms in front of my chest. ‘Leave him alone.’
    The leader put his hand on his hip and posed. ‘You stop me?’ He eyed me up and down, leering. ‘How much? I give you hundred dollar.’
    The lift doors opened behind us. I didn’t need to see him to know it was Leo. All the guys except for the leader inhaled and took a step back.
    Leo stood on the other side of Michael. ‘I thought you were out of this,’ he said.
    ‘I am, sir. They keep coming after me.’
    ‘Well, here they are,’ I said. ‘This should be an interesting experience. They’re armed. It’ll be hard to take them down without killing them. Any suggestions on how to avoid this?’
    ‘I’ll go with them,’ Michael said. ‘They want me, not you.’
    Leo shot Michael a quick, impressed glance.
    ‘You will stay here with us, Michael, and that is an order,’ I said.
    Michael hesitated. Then he said, ‘Yes, ma’am.’
    Leo made a soft sound of approval. The kid had sworn to obey and he was as good as his word.
    ‘If the weakest of us can take the strongest of them, I think it’ll be over.’ I stepped forward, pointed to the leader, then at myself. ‘You, me, one-on-one. You win, you get him and me. I win, you go away and leave him alone.’
    The gang leader looked me up and down again, this time more calculating. He was average height for a Chinese, about five eight, but he was a wall of solid muscle and from his build it was obvious he was a Master of the Arts.
    ‘What Arts has this guy done, Michael?’ I said.
    ‘Just about all of them, Lady Emma. For God’s sake, be sure about this.’
    ‘Is his word good if he agrees?’
    ‘Yes. These guys have a twisted code of honour.’
    The leader said something loudly in Cantonese that I didn’t understand. The rest of the guys laughed.
    ‘That was too crude to translate, my Lady,’ Michael said.
    ‘I guessed that.’
    The leader nodded. He told the other guys the deal; I could understand that much. The others moved back. Some of them grinned with anticipation, but others seemed concerned. I was obviously confident.
    ‘No need to translate, Michael, I get it.’ I stepped forward to face the leader.
    ‘Get him,’ Leo said softly without moving.
    I didn’t turn. ‘That’s not like you at all, Leo.’
    ‘I think Leo’s met this one before,’ Michael said.
    The leader grinned broadly at Leo then kissed the air loudly. A chorus of kissing sounds echoed from the other guys.
    Leo didn’t move a muscle.
    ‘Are you okay back there, Charlie?’ I called without moving.
    ‘Charlie fainted, Emma,’ Simone said, sounding unconcerned.
    ‘That’s all we need,’ Leo said. ‘Get him out of the way quickly, Emma.’
    I nodded. We couldn’t help Charlie until this was sorted.
    ‘I am so sorry about this, my Lady,’ Michael said, full of remorse.
    ‘I will deal with you later,’ I said in a voice so ice-cold it rivalled John.
    The gang leader waved a come-on, still leering.
    I watched him as I worked out what to do. This wasn’t a spar; this was full-on. I would have to hit him hard to defend myself and anything physical I used could easily kill him. It would take a great deal of skill to disable him