‘Sorry, my Lord,’ Gold said.
‘For a creature with no mouth, Gold, you have an extremely big one,’ John said, then he sighed and his shoulders sagged. ‘While you were out with your parents yesterday, I had a visit from the Lady. She confirmed what I already knew.’
‘What?’
‘Two more.’
‘The Dark Lord is rather like a rechargeable battery,’ Gold said.
‘Winding down,’ I said. ‘Won’t hold the charge.’
Neither of them said anything. ‘I’ll get the school calendar and we’ll work something out,’ I said.
‘Not now,’ John said. ‘We need to discuss the new Disciples, and you need to spend time with your parents. We’ll organise something later.’
‘Okay,’ I said. ‘But I need to be involved in every single meeting from now on.’
‘Especially the ones with the Generals,’ John said.
‘Oh, damn.’
‘Can’t avoid them any longer, my Lady,’ Gold said with grim humour. ‘You don’t have any excuses left. Your thesis is finished, you attained your degree. Time to start taking part in the running of the Northern Heavens.’
I ran my hands through my hair. ‘Damn!’
‘Go and have something to eat,’ John said. ‘Then come back and we’ll talk about the Disciples. We won’t get very far without you anyway.’
I threw myself out of my chair and left the office without saying a word. Halfway down the hallway I stopped still. Then I turned and went back into the office without knocking.
John and Gold watched silently as I sat down.
They waited for me. I didn’t say anything.
Eventually Gold said, ‘You too?’
I nodded.
‘Do you remember how many times they took samples from you?’ John said.
‘I worked at her kindergarten for about a year. I must have used two boxes of Band-Aids,’ I said. ‘At the time I never remembered using a single one of them. I wasn’t even worried about not remembering using them.’
‘Sore arms?’ John said.
I nodded. ‘I went to the doctor for iron tablets because I was slightly anaemic. I wondered why he looked at my arms so strangely, but he didn’t say anything. Probably thought I was an addict.’ I ran my hands through my hair again. ‘I had needle tracks! I saw them! But I just didn’t worry about it. That bitch messed with my head!’
‘You noticed very few of the unusual things here for the first few months you worked full-time,’ John said. ‘While you were here part-time you didn’t seem to notice anything. You had an astonishing lack of curiosity.’
‘I never even saw your sword on the wall. It took me months to notice Dark Heavens in its clips, and even then only when Simone pointed it out to me,’ I said. ‘Oh God. How much did I miss when I was working at the kindergarten?’
‘The samples are in the hands of the police now,’ Gold said.
‘It’s too late to be concerned,’ John said. ‘Go and talk to your parents.’
‘What if they used me the other way around?’ I said. ‘Put the demon stuff into me, instead of just taking the samples out?’
‘Then they failed, because they have given me a powerful ally,’ John said. ‘Go and talk to your parents.’
‘If the demons know about this then the odds on me being a hybrid have just become much shorter,’ I said.
‘Probably not worth putting money on,’ Gold said.
‘Go,’ John said.
‘And talk to my parents. Yes, I know.’ I rose and went.
The scrabbling of one of the eggs woke me and I pulled myself up on my black coils. Yep; one of the eggs had cracked. It was the oldest nestling, the first one I’d laid.
I put my skinless hands on the shell and felt the vibration, a tingle of anticipation moving through me.
I had a sudden horrible thought. I wouldn’t eat it when it hatched, would I?
No. Of course not.
The egg cracked open and I pulled the pieces of shell away, but the nestling would have to climb out itself. Its little hands appeared at the edge of the opening, then it pulled itself up and tumbled out onto the floor of the nest. It lay panting, its little pale sides heaving.
I lifted it carefully and put it into the centre of my coils. It was exhausted, poor little thing. Its tawny hair was plastered to its head with the liquid from the egg, but it would dry quickly. I held it as it rested, a little human child of about four years old.
A while later it stirred and touched my face. ‘Hello, Mummy.’
‘Hello, my beautiful,’ I whispered. ‘You feel okay?’
‘I’m fine.’ The nestling pulled itself upright in the centre of my black coils and stroked my scales. I shivered with pleasure.
The nestling looked around, its little blue eyes focusing for the first time. It saw the other two eggs. ‘What are they?’
‘They are your little friends. Their names are Simone and Michael. They will be hatching soon too, and then the three of you can play.’
But only good games. Not grown-up games.
‘Oh, okay.’ The nestling curled up in the centre of my coils and nuzzled into me. ‘I love you, Mummy.’
I held it close. ‘I love you too, Emma.’
I shot upright, gasping. The air conditioner whispered high on the wall. The lights of the city glowed through my curtains.
Just a dream. Just a dream. I banged my head on the pillow and rolled over. Just a dream!
After a few days of tourist activities, my parents were tired but more relaxed about the whole thing. They seemed to be unwinding and enjoying themselves. Both John and Simone worked hard to win them over. My mother, particularly, was becoming very fond of Simone.
December weather was usually fine and clear, despite the cold, so we took them along the Lugard Road walk. The road was more like a pedestrian path, and wound all the way around the top of the Peak, giving a spectacular view of both sides of Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the Outlying Islands.
My mother was hesitant about the height, but was okay when I held her hand. Simone and John came with us and the five of us enjoyed each other’s company. Simone held my mother’s other hand.
My father and John seemed to have hit it off; John liked my father’s gruff honesty and my father enjoyed John’s relaxed easy-going nature.
‘And this trail goes all the way around the top of the island?’ my mother said.
‘Yep,’ I said. ‘About an hour’s walk all the way.’
‘If your artificial hip worries you, let me know. I can arrange for you to be transported back,’ John said.
My mother stared at him, her face expressionless.
‘He can see inside you,’ I said. ‘That’s very rude, Daddy, you shouldn’t have done that,’ Simone scolded.
‘She’s quite right,’ I said. ‘Do it again and you are in big