White Tiger

closer, my darling. Let’s go and have some real fun. And then when your boyfriend turns up, you can help me take his head off.’
    I put my sword back into its scabbard and placed it carefully on the floor. I walked slowly to him with my hands raised.
    He grinned with menace. ‘Let’s go.’
    The room changed around us. We were in some sort of large apartment—a single room with no windows. It had been expensively furnished with low sleek European furniture. A pair of cream couches flanked one wall; a dining table with four chairs sat on the other side of the room. A double bed was set against another wall, about five metres away.
    Wong still held Simone, crouched behind her. He moved his hands over her little body and buried his face in her neck.
    I went to rush towards them and he grinned up at me. I couldn’t move. He’d bound me.
    Simone squealed and tried to wriggle out of his grasp, but he gripped her tighter.
    He slipped his hand under her little dress and she shrieked.
    I tried to yell but I couldn’t make a sound. My body was made of lead; it was like a bad dream. I couldn’t move. I struggled against the heaviness.
    Simone stopped shrieking and sobbed as he ran his hand under her dress. He nuzzled her hair.
    I tried to release my fury and relax. I gathered my chi into my dan tian. I could move my chi; so I concentrated. I didn’t need my hands to throw chi.
    Simone lowered her head and screwed up her face.
    Wong flew backwards with his arms outstretched as if he’d been struck. He pulled himself to his feet, wide-eyed with fear.
    He grimaced. ‘It doesn’t matter. I have you. You can’t get out.’
    He disappeared.
    Simone fell to her knees on the floor and curled up in a little ball.
    I could move. I ran to her, knelt and bundled her into my arms. I held her close and stroked her hair. ‘He can’t hurt you, sweetheart, you’re too strong. He can’t hurt you.’
    ‘He can hurt you, Emma.’ She gasped, a huge breath. ‘He’s a bad one.’
    ‘Call Daddy,’ I whispered.
    She concentrated. ‘Daddy’s not answering.’ She pushed her face into my shoulder. ‘What if he’s dead?’
    ‘He can’t die, he’s a Shen,’ I said. ‘How about Uncle Bai?’
    She shook her head into my shoulder.
    ‘Jade? Gold? Aunty Kwan?’
    She hesitated, then shook her head again.
    ‘Okay.’ I gently pulled her head around to me so that I could see into her tear-stained face. ‘We just have to find a way out of here.’
    She dropped her head onto my shoulder. I looked around. No windows; no doors; no nothing. No way out.
    ‘Do you have any idea where we are, sweetheart?’
    She shook her head again.
    I sat on the floor, still holding her in my arms. We were trapped.

CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
    I checked my watch: 6 p.m. Two hours had passed. Simone lay asleep on the bed, exhausted. I sat on the other side of the bed and put my head in my hands.
    The demon hadn’t returned. I’d checked the room thoroughly; there was no way out. There was a small bathroom in one corner of the room with running water, so at least we wouldn’t die of thirst. But if we were in China the water wasn’t drinkable anyway.
    I glanced at Simone’s peaceful face. Simon Wong was probably holding us to swap for John’s head. It was quite likely that the negotiations were happening right now. If John wasn’t dead.
    I shivered. Simone was strong enough to hold him off if he tried anything. I wasn’t.
    I woke and shot upright to sitting. Simon Wong stood over me, grinning.
    Up close, he looked like a perfectly ordinary Chinese. About thirty, good-looking; only his eyes betrayed his true nature.
    He sat on the bed next to me and stroked my arm, smiling into my eyes. ‘Hello.’
    I wrenched my arm away and he bound me again. I couldn’t hold myself upright; I fell back. I lay helpless as he leaned over me.
    He ran his hand down the side of my face and over my throat. I wanted to scream but I couldn’t make a sound.
    His hand traced lower, between my breasts. I desperately struggled to free myself.
    The hand circled my stomach. He lowered his face and kissed me on the side of the throat, then ran his tongue over the edge of my jaw. He licked up the side of my face.
    I relaxed, tried to phase out. I released all of the tension and gathered my chi.
    He slipped his hand under the hem of my shirt, above my riding pants, and I blasted the chi straight out of my dan tian into his hand. He snatched his hand away, tearing my shirt, and