Red Phoenix

watching the crowd go past.
    A couple of leathery old men sat with glasses of red wine on the table in front of them and cigars in their hands. They watched me appreciatively as I walked towards them.
    ‘Face of an angel,’ one of them said quietly.
    ‘Grace of a tiger,’ the other one said.
    I couldn’t help it; I smiled. One of them raised his glass to me and I nodded back, still smiling. I had a spring in my step as I walked around the corner and back to the leafy lane that held Ms Kwan’s imaginary house. She might even have finished with John, and I could do a tai chi set with him before dinner. Life looked very pleasant.
    I pushed open the door, stopped dead, and dropped my little bag.
    Simon Wong stood in the middle of the large entry, at the bottom of the sweeping stairs. Stood over John’s headless body. Holding Simone with one hand. And that damned Wudang sword in the other.
    Simone tried to pull away from Wong, but he held her. He ignored her and smiled at me.
    I sized up the situation. First: John was dead. Fine. Deal with that later.
    I cast around for help. Leo? Michael? Leo’s body lay in a pool of blood under the stairs. No. I grabbed myself and shook. Breathe. Deal. Remember: Simone was there, alive.
    Michael? There, behind Leo. I could see the blood staining his lovely blond hair. No. Incongruously: the Tiger and Rhonda would both kill me.
    Concentrate. Simone.
    I examined Wong’s chi level, already knowing what to expect. Yep: any energy work I used on him would kill me.
    ‘Help me, Emma,’ Simone said, still trying to pull away, still being ignored.
    ‘Stay strong, darling,’ I said. ‘I’ll get you free.’
    Wong stayed perfectly still and ignored Simone’s struggles. His smile widened. His voice was like a razor. ‘You. Are. Mine.’
    He reached with his mind and unlocked something inside me.
    Something huge and dark and monstrous emerged from deep within me. It recognised Wong. It bowed to him. ‘Master.’
    ‘NO!’ I didn’t care any more. I would destroy that monster if it was the last thing I did, regardless of what happened to me.
    I struggled to generate the energy. The thing inside me blocked it. I couldn’t do it.
    It grew and took hold of me. It took control. I fought it, but I was losing. It covered me and drowned me in the darkness. I struggled, but it forced me down and took control.
    Then…No. You do not have control over me. There is nothing like that inside me. I am Emma, one hundred per cent, all the way through, and I will protect that little girl with my last breath.
    The dark thing disappeared.
    I knew it: a trick. You bastard.
    But my energy abilities were still blocked. He had taken down everybody else, so I was no match for him physically. No problem. He held Simone with one hand and his sword with the other. I could use that against him. Simone would be okay with Kwan Yin.
    I ran straight at him and his face went slack with shock.
    I threw myself onto his sword.
    The blade went straight through me with hardly anyforce; it must have been razor-sharp. It scraped past my spine on the way through.
    I grabbed his wrist with my left hand. There, demon, try getting around that. One hand was locked with the sword through me; the other hand was holding Simone. He didn’t have a free hand to do anything.
    I thrust my other fist through his face. I just needed to survive long enough to kill him…
    He exploded all over me. Thank God that monster was finally gone; I didn’t need to worry about him any more. But it would have been nice to be clean and dead instead of covered in black stuff like this.
    The ground hit me like a wall, smashing into me from the side. The sword twisted inside me as I landed, adding to my agony.
    I struggled to speak. ‘Are you all right, Simone?’
    I thought I heard her say, ‘I’m okay,’ but she faded. Everything faded. It all disappeared.

CHAPTER TWENTY
    ‘ I didn’t know you were capable of something so cruel,’ John’s voice said in the darkness. Of course I was capable of something that cruel. I felt a stab of pain. Goodbye, love. Heaven and Earth didn’t move for us.
    ‘It needed to be done,’ Ms Kwan said. ‘She needed to face her fear, and realise that it is simply not possible.’
    I may have been able to speak to them. It was worth a try.
    ‘Is Simone okay?’ I surprised myself; my voice was just a dry croak, but it was there.
    A cool, callused hand held mine.
    ‘Open your eyes, Emma,’ John said.
    I