White Tiger

me. It was a wave of pure joy at being alive, as if nothing bad could ever happen to me. It was uplifting and euphoric. The energy drifted away from me and I reached to keep contact.
    ‘Let it go,’ she said softly.
    I dropped my hand, disappointed.
    The energy drifted towards the doorway where Mr Chen stood leaning with one shoulder against thedoorframe. I hadn’t seen him come in. He raised one hand and the energy drifted towards him, then entered his hand and disappeared into him. He nodded to her, his dark eyes full of amusement, and she nodded back.
    ‘You are very brave, Emma,’ Ms Kwan said.
    ‘Yes, you are,’ Mr Chen said. ‘So now you know. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t tell anybody.’
    I opened my mouth to say that it could all be an illusion, then closed it again. Yes, it could all be an illusion. But the guys that attacked us had exploded into black stuff. Simone had touched the one Leo had captured and his arm had gone black.
    I had an important decision to make. Either they were insane and delusional, all of them, or Mr Chen was a god. Either way I could stay or go.
    I couldn’t leave. I was much too fond of Simone to leave her. And I could bring a degree of normality into the poor child’s life. I made the snap decision to play along with them for the sake of Simone, regardless of whether he was a god or not. I’d watch and wait and see what happened, and I’d look after Simone. The rest was detail.
    ‘She is not fully convinced, but she will stay for Simone’s sake,’ Ms Kwan said.
    I stared at her, speechless.
    ‘We don’t expect you to believe it at this early stage, Emma,’ Mr Chen said. ‘As long as you stay and care for Simone, that’s all that matters.’
    ‘Let us tell you more about it and you can make up your own mind,’ Leo said. He turned and nodded to Mr Chen. ‘I can handle the rest.’
    ‘Good. I’ll tell Simone.’ Mr Chen went out and closed the door softly behind him.
    I pulled my chair out and sat at the table. Leo poured me some coffee. I nodded my thanks and took a sip without really tasting it. It was possible that I was working for a god. I truly wanted to believe it; I stilltrembled from the euphoric experience of touching the ball of energy.
    ‘What you have just experienced is a rare gift among mortals, Emma,’ Ms Kwan said. ‘It is not normally an energy we Celestials share.’
    ‘You’ve been touched by the gods,’ Leo said.
    ‘Okay, Leo, so tell me the whole story, and this time don’t leave anything out. I want to know everything.’
    ‘Tell her, Leo,’ Ms Kwan said. ‘She is still unsure and looking for reasons to believe us.’
    ‘Okay, here’s the whole story,’ Leo said. ‘Xuan Wu is Emperor of the Northern Heavens, ruler of a quarter of the sky; he also owns a complete Mountain in Heaven, on the Celestial Plane. He has palaces, servants, the whole King thing. He gave it all away because his wife asked him to stay on Earth with her.’
    ‘And that was Simone’s mother,’ I said. ‘Good Lord, Simone’s half god ?’
    ‘Half Shen,’ Ms Kwan said. ‘Ah Wu is a Shen. We are residents of the Celestial, Immortals. If a human being lives a life of purity and compassion they are Raised to the Celestial and become Immortal. That is what happened to me. He is older and stranger, though.’ She smiled at the door.
    ‘But his wife died,’ I said.
    ‘The demons got her,’ Leo said. He dropped his head in misery. ‘I failed. I worked for Michelle before she met him, when she was an opera singer touring the US. I was her bodyguard. This demon stuff was all still new when they attacked her. They got her.’ His voice became very soft. ‘I failed.’
    ‘So now she’s gone, he can go back to Heaven or wherever, can’t he?’ I was looking for gaps in the story. ‘Why doesn’t he?’
    ‘He promised Michelle that he would not take True Form, and he kept his word,’ Ms Kwan said. ‘But it is atremendous drain on his energy to stay in human form for so long, and he took it too far. He cannot return to his True Form now without staying in that form for a very long time. Maybe more than a lifetime. So he must stay here in human form and care for Simone, even though it makes him weaker than he has ever been in his history. The demons are after Simone and he must stay close to protect her, despite his weakness.’
    ‘Those men earlier—they’re demons?’ I said, incredulous. ‘And they’re after Simone? Why?’
    ‘If