Dark Serpent (26 page)

‘What about feeding it and such?’ Peta said.

‘No need. It’s a demon. It won’t need to eat anything for a week, and we should have returned before then.’

‘We’re going right now?’ Simone said.

‘Yes. We’re flying back as fast as we can right now. Where’s the stone?’

‘Still asleep upstairs,’ Leo said. ‘He’s exhausted.’

‘
Stone!
’

Sorry, my Lord, on my way.

This. This. And this.

By the Grandmother. I never sensed it.

The stone appeared next to them in human form.

‘We’re going to find her now,’ John said. ‘We’ll start at the ultrasound clinic.’

‘Did the copy have any idea where they might be?’ Simone said.

‘It mentioned many large glass windows from a high vantage point; that’s where it was created. It may be one of the big houses that Emma mentioned.’

‘She’s out there alone and I’m not with her,’ the stone said. Its voice became fierce. ‘I should have stayed in her back!’

‘Do you need me to carry you?’ John asked Simone.

‘I’m okay. Maybe ask me again in an hour or so.’

John teleported to the sky above the house and waited for them. Leo appeared next to him and summoned a cloud. Simone just floated with the Jade Building Block in True Form next to her. John didn’t have the energy to make the whole journey without a cloud. He summoned one, nodded to Leo and Simone, and they took off.

It took them nearly two hours to arrive back at Holyhead. After an hour, Simone had joined John on his cloud and he was feeling the strain from travelling halfway around the world and being so far from his Centre.

When they reached the outskirts of town, it became obvious why the centre was deserted and many of the shops had closed. A supermarket chain had opened a shiny new building away from the centre, a chain hardware store had opened nearby, and a couple of strip malls had sprouted up next to the huge car park. People were streaming in and out of the supermarket.

They landed behind the buildings and went around to the front of the strip mall where the ultrasound clinic stood. John didn’t hesitate at the ‘closed’ sign; he teleported inside. The interior appeared to be a normal clinic but completely bare. There were no papers or files, the drawers in the desk were empty. A computer was the only thing remaining.

Leo opened an inner door to an examination room. ‘Ultrasound was through there,’ he said.

‘Stone, we may need Gold to come and help us with the technology,’ John said.

The stone was floating in midair in True Form. ‘Don’t assume I’m inferior with technology just because I’m older,’ it said. ‘I taught Gold everything he knows.’ It rested on top of the computer box. ‘Give me a second to run through these drives.’

‘I see,’ John said.

He went into the examination room. The whole setup had been minimal, thrown together in a hurry. The examination couch was still there, but the machine was gone. Another door led out to a back alley and he went through it.

‘Stone,’ he called.

‘My Lord?’

‘Call the …’ He rechecked the label on the machine sitting next to the back door. ‘Penrhos Stanley Hospital in Holyhead. Tell them that their stolen ultrasound is here and appears reasonably unharmed.’

‘One of these costs a fortune,’ Leo said, putting the machine back on its wheels correctly. ‘I’m sure they’ll be thrilled to have it back.’

John lifted the lid of the dumpster and pulled out some papers. They were all blank. He picked up a manila folder; it was full of blank pages. He floated above the dumpster to move the papers out of the way.

‘That’s rank,’ Leo said. He dropped his voice when he saw. ‘No way.’

The body parts had been cut into pieces, presumably to lessen the chances of discovery. The heads were under the limbs.

‘Some of those bits are black,’ Leo said.

‘Yes, it’s a copy of you, and one of Simone,’ John said. ‘Obviously they weren’t needed.’

He yinned the contents of the dumpster. Anyone finding these demons would ask the real Leo and Simone too many difficult questions.

He returned to the ground. ‘Let’s see if the stone found anything.’

‘The computer’s completely empty,’ the stone said when they returned. ‘It’s brand new and nothing was put on it.’

John closed his eyes and reached into the energy flowing through the room. He sensed Emma’s presence from the previous day; Leo had been there as well. There was no dark trace of any demon having been there. It appeared that only humans had been present in the room in the past twenty-four hours. He leaned on the desk; he was exhausting himself again but he couldn’t afford to rest yet. They had to find her.

‘Next stop the air force base,’ he said. ‘There were no demons here. Let’s see what the soldiers have to say for themselves.’

They landed in the infirmary room at the base and John checked the area. He felt a moment of dizziness and leaned on the bed, then sucked in some energy from the air around him and straightened.

‘Whoa, it just went real cold,’ Leo said.

‘That was me,’ John said. ‘Is the same nurse outside this room?’

‘Yeah, same guy,’ Simone said.

‘Put your watch under the bed you were in.’

‘I’m not wearing a watch,’ she said. She pulled her mobile phone out of her pocket and put that under the bed instead. ‘Ready.’

They teleported outside the front door and Simone knocked on it, then went in. Darren was sitting behind his desk, and rose as they entered.

‘I wasn’t expecting to see you back here,’ he said. ‘Did you leave something behind?’

‘Yeah, I think I left my mobile here somewhere,’ Simone said. ‘Mind if we check?’

‘Go right ahead, but there isn’t much chance of finding it. The cleaning staff have already been through.’

Simone shrugged. ‘I’ll have a look anyway.’

‘Sure.’

He followed them into the room and leaned against the bed as Simone rummaged underneath it. ‘This your dad, then?’

John held his hand out to Darren. ‘That’s right. I’m Simone’s father, John Chen. Thanks for looking after them.’

‘I’m glad I could help,’ Darren said, shaking his hand.

John tightened his grip, pulled Darren closer and put his left hand over Darren’s face. He quickly shuffled through Darren’s mind before he had time to resist. When he’d seen enough, he released him. Darren took a huge breath and fell backwards slightly.

‘What was that?’ he said.

‘What was what?’ Leo said.

Darren shook his head. ‘Nothing. Never mind.’

‘Found it,’ Simone said, rising and waving the phone in triumph. ‘Thanks, Darren.’

‘No problem at all,’ he said.

‘We’ll be on our way then, many thanks,’ John said.

‘No problem at all,’ Darren repeated, obviously still slightly stunned.

They left the office through the front door and John headed for the beach, Leo and Simone following him. He landed on the sand and they stood next to him.

‘What’s the verdict?’ Leo said.

‘As far as he knows, he called the hospital for an ultrasound and the hospital sent someone to collect Emma,’ John said. ‘He was unaware of the deception.’

‘We’re back where we started,’ Simone said. She ran her hand over her forehead and turned away. ‘We have to find her.’

‘We will. We still have some leads we can follow,’ Leo said.

‘I’ll contact Ruby as well,’ the stone said.

‘Good idea, we’ll speak to her first,’ John said. ‘She should know what’s happening. We can check the houses that Emma and the King’s Number One were talking about; she’s probably in one of them. We just have to find the one with the big windows.’

‘Good idea,’ Leo said.

‘Daddy, you’re cold, I can feel it coming off you,’ Simone said. ‘Do you need to rest?’

‘Yes,’ John said. ‘But not yet. Let’s go.’

I came around in a heavy dark-wood four-poster. Pale green velvet swags fell from the sides and the bed itself was carved with twining vine patterns. The room was like something from a European palace. The ceiling must have been four metres above me, with much decorative plasterwork and a heavy crystal chandelier as the centrepiece. Tall panels on the walls showed Art Nouveau style paintings of blissful country scenes, with men and women in gorgeous flowing robes riding horses and hunting with dogs.

I sat up and looked around with my Inner Eye. I was in a tower that stretched enormously high above a lush island. It appeared to be made of obsidian; its polished sides shone in the sunshine. Many curved glass windows of random sizes punctuated its walls; the window to my room was one of the smaller round ones. A tall, narrow dome of transparent crystal covered the tower, like the glass dome over a mantel clock.

I was still wearing the hospital gown I’d been kidnapped in. The fact that I was still alive was both worrying and reassuring. It meant they wanted something from me. Probably John’s cooperation, and the stupid damn Turtle was so in love with me he’d do anything they asked. I had to get out. I didn’t have the stone either, so I had to get access to the internet somehow, to send them the necessary information.

My Inner Eye didn’t give many details of my surroundings, so I walked to the window, admiring the parquet flooring as I went. At the centre of the room, the wood had been inlaid in an Art Nouveau design of a giant rose, surrounded by vines and leaves. It was disturbingly reminiscent of the story of Sleeping Beauty.

I leaned on the carved wooden window ledge, and the view took my breath away. The dome’s surface was close enough to the window to touch, but it was completely transparent and almost invisible. I was so high up it was like I was flying. Gently sloping hills spread below me, covered in brilliant green grass and copses of trees. A river ran between the hills, its water reflecting the sky and its small white clouds. The sky was the impossibly intense blue of the Celestial Plane. The view resonated within me: this was Western heaven, one of the places from my dreams. I was finally home where I belonged — but as a prisoner.

I pulled myself together, taking deep breaths. I couldn’t let this place get to me. I had to remember who and what I was, and the people who loved me and had lost me.

I took another look around with my Inner Eye, this time at the interior of the tower. My room was at least six hundred metres up the tower. Horror crept over me as I saw that the only occupants of the building apart from me were all demons. Every single one. And there were
thousands
of them.

I tried the door; of course it was locked. My Inner Eye showed no physical locking mechanism. There wasn’t even an old-fashioned keyhole.

I turned back to the window. It was a single sheet of glass and didn’t open. I checked the room for something to break it with, and saw a wooden chair with legs and arms that were carved into vines. The Art Nouveau theme appeared everywhere, and in different circumstances I would have found the whole place enchanting.

I picked up the chair, took it to the window and threw it as hard as I could against the glass. A couple of the legs cracked as it hit the glass, then fell to the floor. Okay.

I was about to try calling the Murasame when a movement caught the corner of my eye. It had come from the mirror above the dressing table. I checked the room: empty. The movement came again and I gingerly shifted so that I could see my reflection in the mirror.

A small, plump European woman — obviously a Shen from her wise expression — was standing where I should be and looking straight at me. She wore a tan and gold gown that fell to the floor, with roses embroidered on the bodice. I looked around — okay, she was just in the mirror. She gestured to me to come closer, then put her palm against the mirror’s glass. I put my hand on hers, and a distant lilting melody came to me, merry pipes and a drum. Her compassionate essence moved through me.

I cannot reach through time in person,
she said,
such a thing is forbidden
.
But you will need assistance if our mistakes are to be made good.
Her expression changed and I felt her sadness.
I will bolster your strength until you can break their control.

How will they control me? What do I need to do to stop them?
I said.

A tall man with long blond hair entered the room behind her. He was wearing a pale blue tunic and trousers with snowbells embroidered down the sleeves and pant legs.

‘Hurry, my love, the dance has already begun,’ he said, then saw me. ‘And what is this?’ He smiled slightly. ‘Find some suitable apparel, little one, and join the dance.’

‘She will not be joining us today,’ the woman said, turning away from me. ‘But she must remember to touch the glass.’

Both of them faded and I removed my hand from the mirror. Okay.

I returned to the door and was considering breaking it down when the handle turned. I jumped back.

The door opened slightly and the Demon King poked his head around. He was in his mid-twenties male human form with blood-coloured hair in a short ponytail.

‘There are clothes in the dresser,’ he said. ‘Put something on, there’s a good girl, and I’ll be back in five minutes.’

‘What are you —’ I began, but he closed the door on me.

I considered for a moment, then went to the dresser to find something that wouldn’t leave my ass hanging out in the open air. The drawers were filled with clean new clothes, fresh with the scent of lavender. I found some underwear, a pair of soft moleskin pants and a white shirt that seemed to be made for me.

‘Are you decent?’ the Demon King said from the other side of the door.

‘Yes,’ I said.

He opened the door and gestured with his head. ‘Come on then. Time to meet our host.’

I took a quick glance at the now-unremarkable mirror before following him through the door. Two large Western demons in True Form were waiting outside.

The hallway was three metres wide, with the same high ceiling and a polished stone floor inlaid with a design of twining ivy. The ivy theme continued in carved wood up the wall columns, joining at the ceiling to create an artificial bower. The hall appeared to stretch the width of the tower, with windows at either end. The window behind me was a floor-to-ceiling circle filled with a single sheet of glass painted in translucent colours, with flowers and more ivy curling around its edge. The window at the other end of the hallway was so far away it was barely visible.

‘Is this Tara?’ I said.

‘I heard you’d been doing some research,’ the Demon King said. ‘No, this is Caer Wydr.’

‘The Glass Fortress.’

‘Or Glass Citadel, something like that.’

‘Why are you here? This isn’t a demon place, it belongs to their gods.’

‘Ah, good question.’ He smiled slightly and gestured towards the other end of the hallway. ‘Wait until we meet up with our host and I’ll explain everything.’

‘Who’s our host?’

‘One of the Four Kings of this part of the world. Lord Semias.’

As we walked, I checked for stairs or an open window to run through. When we reached the middle of the hall, there were stairs down. I summoned the Murasame, cut one of the guards in half before they could react and jumped over the body. I didn’t bother with the King or the other guard, I just ran to the stairs, hopped up onto the guardrail and dropped off to float down the centre of the stairs. I checked each floor as I passed, hoping to find a way out. Nothing.

When I reached the bottom, I bolted into the hallway and found more stairs down. I sliced through some confused-looking demons and ran down the stairs, hoping to find some sort of fire escape.
Instead, I came out in the receiving hall of what was obviously the castle’s dungeon. A couple of burly demon guards jumped to their feet and dropped their playing cards when they saw me.

There was a small round window in the wall to my right. I launched myself at it with the Murasame, and nearly broke my wrist when the sword hit the glass and didn’t go through. I stepped back, confused. Nothing short of a shield of Celestial Jade had ever blocked the dark blade before.

The Demon King appeared behind me and grabbed my sword arm in a grip that I couldn’t free myself from.

‘Damn, you’re fast,’ he said.

He squeezed the pressure point between the bones of my weak and withered forearm, effectively paralysing my hand, and I dropped the sword. It floated slightly above the floor and the demons stepped back from it, intimidated.

‘Help me,’ an elderly man called from the cells. ‘Please, if you can hear me —’

‘Shut up, old man, nobody’s coming to help you,’ the King shouted over my shoulder. He spoke into my ear. ‘Some guests are never satisfied. Try something stupid like that again and you will be punished. There’s no way out of the tower unless I open it for you. Now.’ He twisted my arm painfully behind my back. ‘It’s a very long ride back up again, and we’re going to make it together.’

‘What about the sword, my Lord?’ one of the demons said, studying the Murasame. His expression changed to avarice. ‘Is that a legendary weapon?’

‘It’s yours if you can hold it,’ the Demon King said.

The demon glanced at him. ‘Seriously?’

‘Any demon that can hold this sword can take possession of it,’ the King said. ‘Its name is the Murasame, the Destroyer. It’s a legendary weapon from the East.’

The demon edged towards the sword. He held one hand out, gingerly took the handle and immediately exploded into demon essence, some of which was siphoned into the King as he held me.

‘This will be fun,’ the King said. He nodded to the other demon. ‘Anyone who wants can try to take the sword. Limit of twenty a day, though. I can’t afford to lose too many of my soldiers. Do you want to try?’

The second guard was more cunning. ‘Will it destroy me too?’

‘Oh, absolutely,’ the King said.

The demon shook his head and returned to his station. ‘Then I’d prefer to just leave it.’

‘Smart man,’ the Demon King said, and led me into an elevator that mirrored the Art Nouveau theme.

Back at the top of the tower, we went into a room that was obviously on the corner; it had two walls of glass from floor to ceiling. Once again, the view over the green hills was breathtaking. This room had an oak motif: oak leaves and acorns were twined around pillars and embossed into the wooden floor. A Western demon, who’d taken the shape of an elderly European man, sat on the couch. He was wearing a hooded tan robe that fell to the floor in old-fashioned druid style, the hood thrown back from his long, elegant face.

He rose when we entered. ‘Let her go, George. There’s no need for this.’ His voice sounded exactly like the elderly man I ’d heard calling out in the dungeon.

‘Try her out first,’ the Demon King said. He shook my arm, which he was still holding painfully behind me. ‘Say hello to Lord Semias, Emma.’

‘You’re not Semias, I heard him in the dungeon,’ I said. ‘You’re a big —’

‘Shut up,’ the Western demon said, and I was silenced.

I attempted to speak, but couldn’t get any words out.

The Semias copy changed form to a European man in his early forties wearing a tailored navy suit with a white shirt and maroon tie. ‘You were right,’ he said to the Demon King. ‘It was just a matter of me being from the right region and much bigger than her.’ He studied me. ‘Barely enough demon in there to count. One more generation and I wouldn’t be able to control her. Kneel,’ he ordered me.

I had no choice; I fell to my knees. The Demon King released me as I dropped.

‘You think she’s pretending?’ he said, coming around in front of me to study my face.

‘I doubt it,’ the Western demon said, ‘she’s tiny. Hardly worth bothering about. This is what you put all that effort into?’

‘She’s pretended to be controlled before,’ the Demon King said.

‘Let’s be sure,’ the Western demon said.

He stood in front of me and started to undo his pants. I wanted to move away but couldn’t. I was frozen and helpless. He jammed his crotch in my face and I could smell him. A wave of nausea ripped through me.

‘Oh no you don’t,’ the Demon King said. ‘You made a promise. No sexual assault.’

‘Haven’t you ever wondered how good she is?’

‘Beside the point. No women are forced to do anything sexual while we hold them. I made that clear at the start.’

‘But you’re quite ready to impregnate her with a demon child. How is this so different?’

Another wave of nausea went through me.

‘That’s a medical procedure,’ the Demon King said with emphasis. ‘This is rape. Now put that away.’

‘Your origins betray you, Kitty, and one day they will be your downfall.’

‘Whatever,’ the Demon King said. ‘Find another way to prove she’s obedient.’

The Western demon fixed his pants and waved one hand at the window. The glass of the window and the dome disappeared.

‘Bad idea,’ the Demon King said.

‘Stand up,’ the Western demon said.

I rose and faced the window and my freedom.

‘Could she manipulate her centres and survive that fall?’ the Western demon said.

‘Could you, Emma?’ the Demon King said.

I tried to reply but couldn’t.

‘She needs permission to speak,’ the Western demon said. ‘Answer him.’

‘Easily,’ I said.

‘Well then, there’s your freedom; all you have to do is jump,’ the Western demon said. ‘Now sit on the couch and put out your left arm. We’re taking blood.’

More than anything in the world I wanted to leap through that window to my freedom. A chill breeze swept through the room,
full of the fresh cool air of the Western Heavens. Instead, I sat on the couch and put my arm out. I had no choice.

The Western demon put the glass back with a wave of his hand, then picked up a kidney dish covered with a cloth. He took out a large syringe, put a tourniquet around my upper arm, and slipped the needle into the vein. He took nearly three hundred millilitres, more than enough to fill a large drinking glass. He squirted half the blood into an oversized wine glass, leaving half of it still in the syringe. He took a sip of the blood in the glass and then held it away, his expression rigid. A golden glow exploded around him and he trembled, his eyes closed, then he dropped his head and panted. He took another sip and made soft noises of effort.