Red Phoenix

without seriously injuring or killing him and I really didn’t have the time to mess around. I wanted him out of the way in a hurry.
    Energy was absolutely out of the question.
    I had a sudden brilliant idea. If I did this with enough hubris then the whole thing would be quickly sorted without anybody being hurt at all.
    I moved close and smiled up at him. He leered back, confident, but didn’t make a move to attack me. I strolled around him, and he turned to follow my movement. I stopped when we were side-on to the rest of the group and they could clearly see what was happening. I raised my right hand with my index and middle fingers out and the rest in; it must have looked like I was pretending to hold a gun. He still stood there grinning, waiting and confident.
    Stupid bastard. They probably wouldn’t even hang around long enough to take him along with them.
    I very quickly and lightly tapped the five points. Forehead, throat, shoulder, above the heart, solar plexus. Five little taps.
    He went perfectly still. He was paralysed. His face smiled but his eyes were terrified.
    The other guys gasped. I turned to face them. I raised my index finger towards the leader without looking at him and casually gave him a little push right between the eyes.
    He fell like a dead tree with the smile still on his face.
    I was right. The rest of them just took off.
    I raced to the back of the car. Charlie lay on the concrete next to the rear wheel, her face ashen. Simone crouched over her, holding her hand.
    ‘Leo,’ I said, but he was already there. He felt for a pulse with one hand and put his other hand on her forehead.
    ‘Her pulse is weak and thready, but she’s still breathing. She has a fever. Looks like—’
    ‘Heatstroke,’ a benign voice with a very crisp English accent said at the same time as Leo. ‘Take her to a hospital immediately. Ask the Princess to call Jade or Gold; one of them can take Charlie to the hospital, front door of the nearest emergency ward. Then Leo can drive the rest of you there and meet up.’
    ‘Do what he said, Simone.’
    ‘What?’
    ‘Call Jade or Gold, like he said.’ ‘Nobody said anything,’ Simone said. ‘Call them anyway,’ I said. Jade appeared.
    ‘Charlie has heatstroke, Jade. Take her to the nearest hospital, front door of the emergency ward. We’ll meet you there.’
    Jade crouched next to Charlie, took her hand, and both of them disappeared.
    I rubbed my hands over my face.
    ‘Come on, Emma, don’t stand around, move yourself! She’s in the hospital already and you need to be there,’ the voice said.
    ‘He’s right,’ I said. ‘Let’s go.’
    ‘Where?’ Leo said, confused.
    ‘Tang Shiu Kin. Waterloo Road,’ the voice said.
    ‘Did you hear that?’
    ‘I didn’t hear anything, Emma,’ Leo said. He bent to study my face. ‘Are you okay?’
    ‘I’m hearing voices. But the voice is helping. Tang Shiu Kin Hospital, Leo.’
    ‘What the hell’s going on?’ Leo said.
    ‘Voices?’ Simone said. ‘Is Daddy talking to you?’
    ‘Just go, we’ll discuss it later,’ the voice said.
    They all stared at me with bewilderment.
    ‘We don’t have time to stand around here looking stupid, guys, let’s go. We can discuss whatever new weirdness we have to deal with when we’re in the car.’
    ‘Excuse me, madam, but I am not weird.’
    ‘Did anybody hear that?’ I said.
    They all just stared at me as if I was completely crazy.
    ‘Maybe I am crazy.’
    ‘You have no idea,’ the voice said.
    ‘Stop doing that!’ I jumped into the car. ‘Leo, is the parking ticket still good?’
    ‘We have five minutes.’
    ‘Then let’s move.’

CHAPTER ELEVEN
    ‘ C an you hear it now, Emma?’ Leo said as he manoeuvred the car through traffic. I listened. ‘No.’ ‘What does it sound like?’ ‘An English man.’
    Leo shook his head with incomprehension. ‘I thought that move was a myth, ma’am,’ Michael said. ‘The Five-Point Push. Incredible.’ ‘The move is a myth. No such thing.’ ‘But I just saw you do it!’
    ‘All of that was for show. Only the push on the solar plexus, the central dan tian, is really necessary. You just have to use exactly the right amount of chi to disable them without killing them. It’s about a level ten energy move. I don’t normally teach it; it doesn’t work on demons, only humans. Mr Chen taught it to me just in case.’
    ‘How long will he be paralysed, Emma?’ Leo said.
    ‘About six hours.’ I smiled