‘I thought she couldn’t be trusted.’
‘That’s why we’re going down to the Earthly this afternoon. I’ll find out one way or the other if she’s trustworthy, and if she is she can resume her post.’
‘Let him do it, ma’am,’ Yi Hao said. ‘I’ll do something else.’
That stopped Chang and he stared at her.
‘She’s a tame demon, she doesn’t have free will,’ I said. ‘If a human or Shen orders her, she must obey. She’s seen that you want the job, so she’s ceding to you, even though it’ll make her miserable.’
‘And the fact that you’re making such a fuss about it proves that you’re not worthy to do it,’ Leo said. ‘You need to release your attachments and accept circumstances with serenity and grace.’ His face went strange. ‘Where did that come from?’
‘You were just connected to the universe while we were doing chi gong,’ I said. ‘Well, that’s what it feels like anyway. Some of it rubbed off.’
‘I think I’ll spend more time connected to it then,’ Leo said, musing. He glared at Chang. ‘Cede the position. You deserve to be moved back in with Lok.’
‘I don’t want to serve the dog again!’ Chang said, desperate. ‘I’m better than that …’ He stared at us for a long moment, then fell to one knee and lowered his head. ‘I will report to Master Lok immediately.’ He rose, saluted us, and went out without looking back.
I exhaled a huge breath. ‘Finally!’
‘What if Lok doesn’t want him?’ Leo said.
‘Then I’ll put him to work in the gardens,’ I said.
‘Oh, good idea.’ Leo concentrated, attempted to lift himself out of the wheelchair, and failed. ‘Okay, I give up. Meet up with me again after I’ve been vegetarian for a few days.’ He spun his chair to leave.
‘Martin will understand,’ I said.
‘Martin’s been trying to make me abstain,’ he said without looking back. ‘He said the same thing you did.’
‘Don’t forget you’re driving me to Kwun Tong in an hour to meet with the Demon King,’ I called after him.
‘Don’t go, ma’am,’ Yi Hao said. ‘Don’t see the King. He’s …’ She searched for the words. ‘He will hurt you again.’
‘Don’t you want to be sure that I can trust you? That you won’t turn?’ I said.
‘Not if it puts you in danger.’
‘I won’t be in danger. Half a dozen Celestials are coming along. We’ll be fine.’
She shuddered and dropped her voice. ‘Protect me, ma’am.’
I pulled her into a quick hug. ‘Don’t worry, I will.’
Leo drove me through Hong Kong’s industrial area in Kwun Tong to the meeting place. We had to meet on the Earthly; I refused to invite the Demon King onto the Celestial Plane, and I wouldn’t travel to Hell if I could avoid it. The streets were two lanes either way, passing between multi-storey factory buildings with the floor numbers painted in large letters on the sides, for easy lifting of objects up to the correct floor by crane.
Leo checked the building numbers carefully, and pulled into the right one. The entrance was large enough to allow two trucks to pass side by side. Just inside the ground floor on the left were three enormous lifts, large enough to hold the ubiquitous Hong Kong blue lorries. The ground floor was deserted, and the small grimy windows let in rays of sunshine that lit up the floating dust. Leo drove to the edge of the vast space of the ground floor area and parked the car next to the wall. Bricks were heaped against the back wall, strewn haphazardly on the concrete. Paint marked the floor, taking the shapes of the objects that had been sprayed with it.
The Tiger and several of the Wudang Mountain staff came into the building through the truck entrance, knelt to salute me, and waited quietly behind us.
‘This is a bad place to meet,’ Leo said softly. He was in his wheelchair behind me to my right. ‘Difficult to defend.’
‘He’ll stick to the protocol,’ I said. ‘Not even the Tiger could teleport in. We’re safe.’
‘I wish I had your confidence.’
The noise of the traffic outside stopped and the only sound was the breeze whistling through the factory’s broken windows. All ten floors of the building were empty.
Someone shouted and a red and gold palanquin appeared in the entrance. About twenty young men surrounded it: demons in human form. All of them appeared to be in their early twenties, of all races, tall and muscular and wearing only skin-tight black bike shorts. They were all impossibly handsome. Some carried the sedan chair and others flanked it.
‘Is he insulting me?’ Leo said.
‘He’s probably insulting both of us,’ I said.
The Demon King stepped out of the sedan chair in Celestial Form. His perfectly white, strikingly beautiful face was surrounded by a huge mane of red hair that stood up on his head then fell down his back past his waist. His scaled armour and boots were red and gold.
The Tiger summoned an outdoor table and chairs, and I stepped forward to talk to the Demon King. He saluted me and I saluted back, then I gestured for him to sit. He bowed slightly and gestured for me to sit first.
I had an uncomfortable feeling of déjà vu and wished that John was doing this. Now that I was clear of the demon essence, I felt the King’s dark nature even more intensely. He was sinister and charismatic, and I just wanted this done and to get out of there.
I sat at the table, and my staff repositioned themselves to the optimal configuration. The King’s men moved to stand behind him, mirroring my own Retainers. The Demon King sat and smiled across the table at me, his face alight with warmth.
‘You failed,’ I said.
He raised one hand slightly. ‘I forgot for a moment it was you, and straight to the point as usual. You’re alive, Emma, and clear of the demon essence. I didn’t fail.’
‘If the Xuan Wu Serpent hadn’t intervened I would have died.’
He dropped his head slightly and an expression of remorse swept across his face. ‘I acknowledge that I caused you a great deal of suffering and that you nearly died.’ He raised his head and saluted me again. ‘I apologise most sincerely for my misjudgement, madam.’
‘You owe me one, George.’
He waved one hand to indicate the demons behind him. ‘These are a gift to make up for it. Enjoy them until they expire, then dispose of them.’
I glanced at the handsome young men. ‘I think you underestimate me, Wong Mo.’
He shrugged. ‘Okay. Worth a shot. Come and live with me and you can have as many of these as you like.’ He leaned over the table and grinned. ‘Three, four, at once, they’re remarkable. You should try. How about I send you one or two just for a sample?’
‘Give it up,’ I said.
He sighed theatrically, his shoulders moving with the sound. ‘Guess I’ll just have to give them to the Mothers then. That’s what they were originally bred for. I have to keep making them, they don’t last long.’
I inhaled sharply. ‘I’ll take them then.’
He waved me down. ‘No, no, if you’re not going to use them as sex toys then don’t bother. That’s all they’re good for, they can’t even speak.’
‘I’ll still take them.’
He shrugged. ‘Suit yourself.’ He waved the young men forward. ‘Serve the Dark Lady.’
The