Red Phoenix

somewhere safe. Everybody should go to the palace.’
    ‘Give me the choice, my Lord,’ Leo said.
    ‘Stay or go, Leo?’
    ‘Stay.’
    ‘Very well. Done.’ Leo sighed with relief.
    ‘Michael,’ John said. ‘I would understand if you chose to leave. You would be completely safe in the Western Desert.’
    ‘Stay,’ Michael said.
    ‘Are you a hundred per cent sure, Michael?’ I said. ‘This could be rough. Please take some time to think about it.’
    ‘I’ve sworn allegiance. That was more than just words.’
    ‘Whoa,’ Leo said under his breath.
    ‘I will teach Michael to call immediately we return from Paris,’ John said. ‘We will have another energy session as soon as he is ready. We must have you up to speed as quickly as possible, Michael, so that you are able to call for assistance if you need to.’
    ‘I don’t want to mess around when it comes to Monica and James though,’ I said. ‘We need to move them somewhere safe right now. Will the Tiger take them?’
    John’s eyes unfocused, then he snapped back. ‘Yes.’
    ‘Who’ll mind the house for us?’ Leo said.
    ‘Ah Yat,’ I said before John could say something stupid. ‘She can teleport, she can sense them coming. She’ll be safe. All the demon staff will be safe, wherever they are.’
    ‘I’ll tell James, you tell Monica,’ John said. ‘Good. Next item: Charlie,’ I said. ‘Do you still have her?’
    ‘Yes. She’s in the morgue on the twenty-fourth floor of Hennessy Road,’ John said.
    ‘You have a morgue in the Academy?’ Michael said.
    ‘Accidents happen,’ John said. ‘All students and Masters are aware of the risk. Learning about the facilities will be part of your induction when we return.’
    ‘Has her body been prepared, John?’ I said.
    ‘All taken care of.’
    ‘Do the police know?’
    ‘No. Fortunately no complications there. But I need to…’ His voice changed slightly. ‘…contact her family in England and tell them, and move her over there. There is a Chen plot at a cemetery in London, where all Retainers are interred. But we’ll need to inform her family.’
    ‘We can do that while we’re there,’ I said. ‘How will we move her over there without customs knowing?’
    ‘Jade can probably carry her.’
    ‘And if she’s too big, Jade can just put her on the plane.’
    John nodded. ‘Either way, we take her with us.’
    ‘If we take her on the plane, we’ll need to make sure that the hold is cold enough to keep her in good condition.’
    ‘I can tell the pilot. Hopefully we’ll have Brian again; he’s usually very careful about that sort of thing.’
    ‘Good. Will the family want a viewing? Is she in good enough condition for that?’ I smiled slightly. ‘If Wong’s blade was very sharp, it will be a neat cut, easy to fix. But I wouldn’t put it past that bastard to use a blunt blade that made a huge mess of her.’
    ‘If you don’t mind, my Lord, my Lady,’ Leo said, his voice forced, ‘I’d prefer Michael and myself not be involved in these arrangements.’
    I suddenly heard what I’d been saying and dropped my head. ‘Am I being extremely cold-blooded, Leo?’
    ‘Yes, you are.’ Leo studied me, his face strange. ‘I don’t know how you do it sometimes.’
    ‘She has to be, Leo,’ John said. ‘It will probably be worse before it is better. Dismissed.’
    Leo and Michael rose and left the room together. Leo shot another very concerned look at me as he went out.
    I crossed my arms on the table and dropped my head onto them. ‘I didn’t even realise, but Leo is quite right. I don’t believe myself sometimes. I’m just sitting here discussing what to do with poor Charlie’s body as if it was the most natural thing in the world. The thing I’m most worried about is how easily we can sew her back together!’
    ‘And that is what will make you the perfect Regent when I am gone,’ John said.
    ‘John…’ I hesitated, then rushed into it. ‘The stone saw something about me. I can do stuff I shouldn’t be able to. This dark thing inside me came out for the Demon King, but not for you. I have these dreams about snakes. There’s something wrong here, I know it. I amaze myself sometimes, I’m so cold-blooded. Look at when we were at the palace: you told me Charlie was dead and I didn’t even grieve for her. I just continued as if nothing had happened—’
    ‘That was the right thing to do,’ he cut in evenly. ‘You grieve for those you love when you have