White Tiger

could know everything there was to know about me; I trusted him completely.
    ‘You hide your intellect very well. That is probably what I have been sensing in you. I measure your IQ at a hundred and forty-five.’
    A hundred and forty-seven last test. But IQ doesn’t mean much anyway.
    ‘Very impressive. I’ve definitely made the right choice.’ He came to my feelings for him.
    ‘Stronger than I expected.’ He sighed. ‘I should have sent you away a long time ago. Before either of us could reach this stage.’ He quietly studied my emotions. ‘Very strong. Very true. I am making you suffer.’
    It’s worth it.
    ‘You should find another, Emma. I will never be anything for you. I will go, and leave you and Simone alone. You should find another love.’
    My fierce reaction surprised all three of us.
    There will never be anybody else in a million years.
    ‘How long will it take you to return?’ Ms Kwan asked Mr Chen.
    ‘I have no idea. I am unique: two separate creatures. This is a unique situation: a powerful Shen almost completely drained. Nobody else has ever done anything like this before.’
    ‘Let me look at you.’ Ms Kwan did something but I couldn’t see what it was. ‘Anything from ten to a hundred years, perhaps more.’
    ‘Ten years?’ I cried, full of hope.
    ‘Ten years?’ Mr Chen said, full of the same fierce hope.
    ‘There is a small chance of you returning after ten,’ she said. ‘The chance becomes slightly better after twenty years.’
    ‘At what stage does the chance become fifty-fifty?’ I said.
    ‘About twenty-five years. That is far too long to make any human wait, Ah Wu. Do not do this to her.’ ‘I can wait,’ I said.
    He squeezed my shoulders and leaned into me. ‘You would wait for me?’
    ‘Forever,’ I whispered. Forever. But I would be an old woman.
    ‘I am already an old man,’ he said with amusement. ‘I am not even completely human. It makes no difference to me.’
    ‘Do not do this to yourselves,’ Ms Kwan whispered.
    I tried to hold back my elation. I didn’t care how long it was, I would wait for him forever. And now I had a small hope that I could cling to: that he would return, and I would be able to see him again, and we could be everything we wanted for each other.
    I began to feel embarrassed by the strength of my feelings.
    ‘Don’t be,’ he said gently.
    He pressed forward into me. I leaned back into him, and felt him against the back of my head. We shared the warmth of our feelings for each other, physically as well as mentally enjoying the touch.
    I wondered if he really felt the same.
    ‘Enough to kill you, dear one,’ he said. He showed me.
    Ms Kwan gasped.
    It was like fast-forwarding through a video, except the video was me.
    The day I’d agreed to go full-time, when I shook his hand. I saw myself; all he’d seen were my blazing, intelligent blue eyes. He’d been entranced.
    Six months later, when Leo and Simone had rushed us home from Central and I’d told him that I’d find the truth. He’d been attracted by my spark and spirit and my complete lack of fear, more than he was willing to admit to himself.
    The trip to the zoo, where both Simone and I had been delighted by the reptiles. He’d suddenly found himself right next to me and felt my hair near his face, felt my warmth, smelt my floral shampoo. He hadn’t been able to resist the urge to touch me, to savour me. All he’d wanted to do was reach aroundme and hold me close, pull me into him and bury his face in my hair.
    Me kneeling on the floor after the pizza delivery demon had tried to take Simone. Me fighting for Leo’s job, unconcerned for myself.
    Our first lesson, when I’d managed those first simple moves and a huge, delighted grin had spread across my face. He’d wanted to sweep me up and take me down the hall and throw me onto his bed. Then I’d become flustered and he had grabbed the chance to correct me, to be closer to me, to press himself into me. It had taken everything he had to control it.
    ‘Oh dear,’ Ms Kwan said. ‘You should have dismissed her a long time ago, Ah Wu. I did not realise it was so strong so soon.’
    The first time he’d seen me in my Mountain training uniform. He wanted to pull me close, push his hands inside my black jacket and run them over my skin. He’d had to concentrate on the Arts so that he wouldn’t hurt me.
    I came out of my room ready for the first charity concert. He hadn’t seen the dress; he hadn’t seen