Red Phoenix

voice gained a hungry edge. ‘Powerful. Sweet. Delicious.’ He turned and gestured. ‘Come inside, I have tea.’
    ‘You vowed to stay off the hard stuff, Franklin,’ John said as we went through the tiny picket gate to the little cottage.
    ‘I have not had a drop of anything stronger than bull in over twenty-five years, my Lord,’ the little man said. ‘I swear.’
    ‘I can smell white bull on you,’ John said meaningfully. ‘Are you sure?’
    ‘All bought and paid for, I assure you, my Lord,’ the little man said with glee. ‘I have been exceptionally good.’ He turned and held out his hands. ‘Look at me! In the sunshine.’
    ‘I suppose that speaks for itself,’ John said. ‘Come on in, Emma, and meet Franklin. He has been looking after the Chen family plot for…’ He hesitated. ‘How long, Franklin?’
    ‘About two hundred and thirty years now, my Lord,’ Franklin said with satisfaction. ‘I can remember when this was far out on the edge of the city.’
    We entered the cottage. Franklin obviously lived in it. It had a tiny bed, a little table and a stove. A door led out the back of the cottage. It was Spartan but spotlessly clean. A checked tablecloth covered the table, with a small vase of daisies in the middle.
    ‘Please, my Lord, my Lady, sit,’ Franklin said, gesturing to a couple of chairs at the table. ‘So sorry to hear about the Retainer, my Lord. Circumstances are very difficult right now, aren’t they.’
    John didn’t say anything, he just motioned for me to sit. Franklin turned and filled the kettle, then put it on his tiny stove.
    ‘All right, I give up,’ I said. ‘What are you?’
    Franklin busied himself pulling tea cups and a teapot out of the cupboard. He turned and put the cups and saucers on the table. He stopped and smiled at me over the checked tablecloth. ‘Old-fashioned Eastern European vampire, my Lady. Not surprised I’m the first one you’ve ever met,’ he said cheerfully. ‘Been given a second chance by the Dark Lord here, and doing my best.’
    John leaned back slightly and put his hand on the table. ‘Tell the truth, Franklin. You are neither old-fashioned, Eastern European, nor a vampire.’
    Franklin’s smile didn’t shift. ‘Uzbek is close enough, my Lord. My dietary habits…well, you know. And I’m very old now.’
    ‘When Marco Polo returned to Europe, there was some interest shown in his tales. The demons here in Europe knew that the ones in China existed, but hadn’t had much contact. Franklin here,’ John gestured across the table, ‘is one of the first products of experimentation.’
    ‘Last one of my type in existence, too,’ Franklin said without rancour. ‘Those were the days, eh, my Lord?’
    ‘That particular part of history was very unpleasant here in Europe and you know it,’ John said grimly.
    ‘Not for us.’ Franklin’s grin didn’t shift. ‘More of a golden era for us, my Lord.’
    ‘Experiments?’ I said.
    John’s face was still grim. ‘Demon Lords are constantly looking for ways to improve the stockproduced by the Mothers. Some of their recent activities are rather disturbing. Franklin is one of the first products of interbreeding. Bad idea. The results were high maintenance, fragile, unable to hold their shape for very long, unable to tolerate bright light, and easy to destroy. Their metabolisms were so fast and their digestive systems so delicate that they could only ingest plasma.’
    ‘You actually have a digestive system?’ I asked Franklin. ‘What level are you?’
    ‘Oh, very good, madam,’ Franklin said. ‘You have been studying us. I am level seventy equivalent.’
    ‘Whoa! You don’t look that big. You’re huge !’
    ‘Big but weak,’ John said. ‘Interesting abilities, but easy to destroy. I don’t think they tried Eastern-Western hybrids again.’
    ‘Eastern-Western?’ I said.
    John nodded. ‘They don’t normally have much to do with each other. Professional rivalry. Western demons don’t have anything to do with me; I’m an Eastern Shen.’ He smiled slightly. ‘Your home has Southern Shen, very old, very powerful. Much older than me. Never met a single one. We are strongest nearest to our centres; the demons are as well.’ He gestured towards Franklin again. ‘Interbreeding between the types is always a bad idea; the results are usually extremely weak.’
    ‘I am lucky to still be here,’ Franklin said as he passed a tea cup across the table to