White Tiger

receive the sharp end of my tongue.’
    I shook my head. ‘Leo’s right. You know you don’t have one.’
    ‘In this case I do. Emma, listen carefully. This is most important. Your life is at stake here. You must understand.’
    I glanced up at her.
    She smiled sadly. ‘His feelings for you are as strong as yours are for him. Stronger, if that is possible.’ She sipped her tea. ‘It is strange. After such a very long time without finding someone worthy, he has encountered two, one after the other. It is far too unlikely to be a coincidence. But we must deal with what Fate hands us.’
    ‘I’m worthy? Wait, he feels the same way too ?’
    ‘Of course. But he cannot act on his feelings. It would kill you.’
    This stopped me dead. It would kill me?
    ‘If you had gone to him as the demon suggested, you would be dead.’ She poured more tea for us. ‘Emma, if you were to go to him, he would not be able to control himself. He would take you in a second. He would notthink twice. He would completely lose control. It is his nature, because of what he is.’
    ‘A Shen?’
    ‘No, a Turtle.’
    I gasped.
    ‘You know it is an insult?’ I nodded.
    ‘You are learning quickly.’ She sipped her tea, then placed her teacup on the table, took my hand and looked into my eyes. ‘Emma, the sharing of love is a sharing of energy. You are young, he is old. You are strong, he is drained. If he were to take you, he would take your energy. He would suck the life out of you and kill you. He would not be able to stop the drain. He would not be able to think at all. Sometimes even the sharing of your feelings through a touch can start the drain. He must be very careful.’
    I stared at her.
    ‘Do you understand, Emma? If you two were to act on your feelings for each other, it would kill you.’ She sighed. ‘He is a fool. He should have dismissed you the moment he knew how he felt for you. But he has kept you here, because he cares so deeply for you, and because Simone loves you. But you must know, Emma. The more he loves you, the less he will be able to touch you. If he loved you completely he would be unable to touch you at all.’
    ‘He loves me,’ I cried softly. ‘He loves me. I love him. And it can’t happen.’
    ‘It can never be. Do you understand what the demon was trying to achieve when he suggested you go to him?’
    ‘He was trying to get me killed.’ I thumped the table. ‘Damn it! They should have told me! He should at least have asked Leo to tell me! Why didn’t they tell me? You know I nearly went to him? It was a close thing, Ms Kwan, I had my hand on his door.’
    She watched me with compassion.
    ‘If I’d gone in there, I would have been dead by now.’
    I picked up my tea and put it down again. ‘Those two are such idiots sometimes! I am going to strangle them!’
    ‘No,’ Ms Kwan said. ‘I will strangle them first.’ We shared a smile.
    ‘I should have known,’ she said. ‘I had to tell Michelle as well. They were too embarrassed to tell her.’
    ‘Wait,’ I said. ‘He had a child with Michelle. He could touch her. Why could he touch her and not me?’
    ‘He returned to the Mountain regularly while he was married to Michelle,’ she said. ‘He was able to rebuild his energy on the Mountain. Even so, he still had to be very careful.’
    ‘They are so useless !’
    She smiled slightly. ‘Then Simone was born, and he carried both of them to the Mountain. A child may travel to the Celestial Plane under the protection of its mother. Movement to the plane is very stressful for mortals, but the mother protects the child, lends her energy, ensures the child’s safety. Now that Michelle is gone, he cannot return to his Mountain. He cannot leave Simone here without his protection.’
    ‘If that demon had never killed Michelle, none of this would have happened. Simone would still have her mother, and her father would be able to stay with her forever.’
    ‘That is true.’
    ‘I am going to get that demon one day.’
    ‘You are quite remarkable sometimes, Emma.’
    ‘He touches me when we’re training together, Ms Kwan.’ I sighed. ‘I should tell him to stop, shouldn’t I?’
    ‘He knows how far he can take it. While he is teaching you he must concentrate on his beloved Arts and will not hurt you. He has very good control. Youcan trust him. He knew you would respect his wishes and would not push it.’ She poured more tea. ‘He has spoken of nothing but you since you arrived,