Red Phoenix

into a tiger?’
    ‘It is a rare gift. Only about one in a hundred of his children inherits the ability. To answer your question: yes,’ John said. ‘Once you have reached adulthood and your powers are set. It will be interesting to see. You may also be able to manipulate metal.’
    ‘Way cool,’ Michael said under his breath. ‘I could be a were-tiger.’
    ‘Are you sure you’re all right to be spending your Sundays with him, Michael?’ I said.
    Michael grinned. ‘Child custody arrangements.’
    I laughed softly at that. ‘You’re the product of a broken home.’
    His grin broadened. ‘Little pieces.’ He sobered. He looked from me to John. ‘I just want to say thanks. You are the best. Lord Xuan, thank you. I really appreciate this. I want to stay with you guys. Both of you.’
    ‘Just don’t get yourself killed, lad,’ John said, amused. ‘If you do I’ll never hear the end of it. From either of them.’ He pulled himself up. ‘I’m summoning Jade. She’ll have to help reorganise the demon staff. This will take a while.’
    ‘Take your time,’ I said to his back. I turned to Michael. ‘Up for a spar?’
    His whole face lit up. ‘Yes, please, ma’am.’

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
    T he weather the day of Charlie’s funeral was perfect: warm and mild without a single cloud in the seamless blue sky.
    We followed the hearse in a van, and took Charlie’s mother with us. Mrs Bradford was delightful; as wonderful as her daughter. She insisted on me calling her Elizabeth. She was over eighty years old, but still active and bright.
    Simone and Michael were perfectly behaved throughout the entire proceedings, quiet and respectful. It wasn’t obvious how much of it Simone understood, though.
    The Chen family plot was in a cemetery on the outskirts of London. It was in the centre of a wide expanse of lawn with towering ancient oak trees not far away. There was a small iron fence around the area. Some of the graves were obviously very old, but the plot was immaculately cared for with small hedges and a few rose bushes.
    The sun shone brightly on us as Charlie received an old-fashioned farewell. I was introduced to a large number of nieces and nephews by her sister and brother, who were all as lovely as she and her mother were.
    Afterwards, John took Charlie’s mother over to a park bench and sat beside her. He held her hand and spoke to her for a long time. She wept, but she smiled and nodded through the tears at some of the things he said.
    ‘Stop,’ John told the driver as we drove towards the exit of the cemetery. We stopped at a small, ancient, ivycovered stone cottage next to the cemetery gate. It looked like a medieval garden shed. It had a microscopic, fastidiously neat garden around it and a picket fence.
    ‘Emma, there’s someone here you have to meet. Leo, Michael, Simone, you stay here in the car and wait. This won’t take long.’
    As soon as we approached the cottage door a tiny middle-aged European man with a shock of black hair and very pale skin dashed out with a huge grin on his face. He bobbed obsequiously a few times to John, smiling with delight. Then he pointed the grin at me and I felt it.
    I couldn’t pick him. He wasn’t a demon, although he did have something demonic about him. He also wasn’t a normal human being. He was definitely some sort of supernatural creature, but I hadn’t seen his like before. I inwardly compared him to Jade; nope, not a dragon. Not a stone, either.
    He noticed my regard and his grin widened. John waited patiently for me to work it out, amused.
    I opened my Inner Eye to examine the creature internally and he froze. His face became a mask of horror.
    ‘That is extremely bad manners, Emma,’ John said quietly. ‘You can destroy lesser creatures by doing that to them. Unless the creature attacks you, turning your Inner Eye on them really shouldn’t be necessary.’
    ‘Sorry,’ I said to the creature. ‘I didn’t know.’
    John gestured towards the little man. ‘Apologies, Franklin. That was only the second time my Lady has done that, and I didn’t know she could do it with such ease. I don’t think she’ll do it again.’
    The little man bowed crisply and smiled again. ‘Have you worked me out yet, my Lady?’ he said. ‘The Dark Lord says that you have not been in Europe for any length of time, and so would not have encountered anything like me before.’ He studied me carefully, his eyes sparkling. ‘So this is her, eh?’ His