Red Phoenix
for Jason
The Serpent stirred.
Then it slept again.
It whimpered in its slumber.
There was a call.
A deep, echoing call that made
the thick black water
vibrate and shimmer.
The Serpent cried.
There was no answer.
I
woke with a shock and stared at the ceiling, gasping for breath. Simone! A demon had us…No. I was safe in our apartment at the Peak. We’d escaped from the demon Simon Wong with help from the King of the Demons himself. Leo had been injured, John had lost nearly all of his diminishing energy and left us, but we’d made it with help from the God of the West, the White Tiger, Bai Hu.
I shook my head and sat up. I still felt a slight throb where some force, whatever it was, had leapt up in me and forced the Demon King out of my head during his probing mental examination of me, but apart from that I was okay.
I quickly jumped out of bed and dressed. I needed to find the others and check on them.
Five-year-old Simone, John’s daughter and a little girl I loved as my own.
Leo, her bodyguard and one of my truest friends.
And John, Xuan Wu, Dark Lord of the North, God of Martial Arts, a Turtle that had lost its Serpent…and my fiancé. It would take some time to become used to the idea of being engaged to a god, even if we wouldn’t be able to marry until after he’d lost his
remaining energy and left us for any time between ten and a hundred years. We couldn’t even touch each other until then, because he would drain out my energy and kill me. I had to trust that I would still be alive when he returned and we could have everything we wanted for each other.
I shook my head again and opened the door that joined my room with Simone’s. Way to go, Emma, make your life as complicated as possible. Become engaged to a god that you can’t even touch and let him give you Regency over his Empire when he’s gone.
I was sure that all hell had broken loose in Heaven when the Jade Emperor had heard about this. I winced. Well, we’d soon know exactly how much trouble we were in when Kwan Yin, Goddess of Mercy, returned from Heaven with the bad tidings.
Leo and John were already in the dining room sharing breakfast when Simone and I went in. Leo was reading the English language newspaper, and John sat with his eyes unfocused, obviously talking silently to someone. When he saw Simone he snapped back, dropped his spoon into his congee and held his arm out to her.
Simone crawled into his lap and kissed him on the cheek, then pulled back to study him carefully. ‘Morning, Daddy, are you okay? You and Leo nearly died.’
Leo grunted and shook the newspaper. ‘Ugliest damn scar I’ve ever seen.’
‘Better than a giant freaking hole in the back of your head,’ I retorted as I sat down next to him. He smiled sideways at me from behind the newspaper then ignored me again.
John gazed intensely at me over the top of Simone’s head. ‘How are you feeling, Emma?’
I rested my chin in my hand and became lost in his wonderful dark eyes. ‘Better and better every day.’
Leo folded the newspaper and pushed it to one side, next to the remains of his breakfast. ‘Is anything up, sir? You’ve been “on the phone” there for a while now.’
‘Wait.’ John raised his hands and his eyes unfocused again. Then he snapped back. ‘I’ve told them to leave me alone for a few minutes, but yes, there are quite a few people talking to me right now.’
I winced. ‘About me and the Regency thing?’
‘Amongst other things, yes.’ John smiled down at Simone where she sat in his lap. ‘Ms Kwan will be here soon, Simone, and after you’ve eaten she wants to talk to you for a while.’
Simone nodded, serious. ‘About the dead people and stuff. I understand, Daddy, that was awful.’
Yes, she will receive counselling from Kwan Yin,
John said into my head.
She’s very clever sometimes, she knows exactly what is going on.
‘I’ll ask Monica for my cereal,’ Simone said, and her eyes unfocused.
‘Don’t talk to Monica silently,’ John said quickly. ‘She doesn’t like it, okay?’
‘Well, I’m not shouting at her like you do,’ Simone shot back, and clambered out of his lap to go to the door of the kitchen. ‘You’re rude sometimes, Daddy. What would you like, Emma?’
‘Tea and toast, thank you, Simone,’ I said.
She nodded. ‘I’ll tell Monica.’
‘Kwan Yin is on her way with a message from the Celestial,’ John said. ‘Hopefully not all the news is bad. Would you like to talk to her as well, Emma?’
‘If you mean counselling, no, I’m fine,’ I said. ‘But one thing is bugging me about the day before yesterday. Simon Wong just held us, he didn’t try to do anything to us. Why not? He’s always said he has plans for us.’
‘He kept you without food or water, yes?’ John said.
I nodded. ‘There was a bathroom there, but I doubt the water was drinkable, not if it was China. I wouldn’t have risked it unless we were in serious trouble.’
‘Coward,’ he said. ‘Wanted to weaken you first. I’m sure there was no water there anyway. A couple of days without water, you’d be so weak he could do anything he liked with you. And you’d probably do anything he wanted if you saw Simone suffering.’
‘Bastard,’ Leo muttered under his breath.
‘You got that right,’ I said.
Simone returned with Monica, the Filipina domestic helper, who was carrying a tray of breakfast food for us. Monica nodded to Mr Chen. ‘Sir.’ To me. ‘Ma’am.’
I sighed with exasperation. ‘Ever since we came back from Guangzhou you’ve called me ma’am, Monica, and there’s no need!’
Monica pointed to the green jade engagement ring on my finger and grinned broadly. ‘Congratulations,
ma’am
,’ she said, and returned to the kitchen.
I glanced down at the ring. ‘But it’s not a diamond.’
‘She’s picked it for what it is,’ John said.
‘What, a Building Block of the World that’s been asleep for five hundred years?’
‘No, an engagement ring, silly,’ Simone said. “Cause you and Daddy are going to get married, and about time.’
‘Anyway,’ John straightened and became more brisk, ‘you escaped, you are safe, you are going to be Regent, and we have an awful lot to do now that we are back. Gold will be here later today to talk about the rebuilding of the Mountain.’
‘Can you mind Simone while we’re doing that?’ I asked Leo.
Leo bobbed his head. ‘Yes, my Lady.’
I glared at him. ‘You too? Cut it out!’
Simone giggled and I rounded on her. Her tawny eyes widened with delight over her half-eaten cereal. ‘Why
does Leo do that all the time now, Daddy? It really annoys Emma.’
‘He’s her Retainer now as well as mine and yours, Simone,’ John said. ‘Now that I’ve asked Emma to marry me, she’s my Lady and Leo is her Retainer.’
Simone’s eyes became even wider. ‘Oh.’ She glanced at me. ‘That means they all have to call you that.’
‘I know.’
Simone squealed.
‘Uncle Bai too?’
John nodded, serious. ‘Yep.’
Simone jiggled in her seat. ‘That is
so cool,
Emma.’
‘But mostly,’ John said casually, ‘Leo does it because it really, really annoys her.’
Simone’s little face lit up. ‘Aunty Kwan’s here!’
John concentrated. ‘I told her to come straight in.’
Kwan Yin entered in her normal human form: a graceful middle-aged Chinese lady wearing a white silk pantsuit.
Leo quickly rose and fell to one knee, saluting her.
She touched the top of his bald head. ‘No need, Leo, we are all family here.’
‘My Lady.’ He rose and towered over her; she was about five six, the same as me, and he was a good head taller than her.
Ms Kwan glanced around the table. ‘Have you finished, Simone?’
‘Yep.’ Simone put her spoon down.
‘Leo, please take Simone out. I must talk to Simone’s father and Emma alone before I speak to Simone.’
Leo nodded. ‘My Lady.’ He held out his huge dark hand, Simone put her little one in his, and he led her out.
Ms Kwan sat at the table. Monica brought in another tea cup for her and she nodded her thanks. I poured the tea.
‘What, Mercy?’ John said.
‘I have returned with news from the Celestial, Ah Wu. I have spoken with the Celestial One.’ ‘The Jade Emperor?’ I said. She nodded. ‘I have news.’
John and I shared a look. Then we turned back to her.
‘Did you tell them that I will resign my post if they reject Emma?’ John said.
‘No need, Ah Wu.’ She sipped her tea. ‘The Celestial is most impressed with you, Emma, and you are on probation. Your performance as Ah Wu’s prospective Regent of the North will be monitored.’
I stared at her, speechless. She’d said that as if it was a
good
thing. ‘Great.’ I ran my hands through my hair. ‘Wonderful. They’re watching me. I’ll make sure I screw up really badly.’
‘I have complete faith in you, Emma.’ John turned back to Kwan Yin. ‘They are impressed?’
‘She willingly followed your daughter into the nest of the most vicious demon in Hell, then negotiated with the Demon King himself to get her out,’ Kwan Yin said. ‘Of course they are.’
‘I couldn’t let her go alone, I thought everybody was dead,’ I said. ‘I couldn’t leave her. Everybody thinks this is such a big thing.’
‘You knew exactly what the demon would do to you, Emma,’ Kwan Yin said. ‘And you went anyway.’
‘Of course I did.’
‘None but my Emma would do such a thing,’ John said with pride.
‘It is such a shame that you two cannot marry now,’ Kwan Yin said. ‘The Celestial has placed some of his greatest experts in the field of energy manipulation onto this case. They are hoping to find some way around this so that you will not drain yourself completely, Ah Wu, and be gone. Or at least a way that you and Emma can
touch each other, so you may marry now and share the few years you have left.’
‘They are doing this for me?’ John said with wonder. ‘I must thank the Celestial when I see him next.’
‘Of course they are doing this. Your story is becoming a legend. The Shen and the human who cannot touch but love one another anyway. Your promise to her: to return and marry. Her promise to you: to wait for you.’
John sighed and rested his chin in his hand. ‘Another legend about me.’
‘Hey, it’s a good one. I might write it all out after you’re gone and send it to a publisher,’ I said.
‘You do, and you are in serious trouble.’ His face softened. ‘It would be wonderful if we could marry now. If I could touch you now.’
I smiled into his eyes. ‘I’m happy with what I have. I don’t need more. I don’t need to touch you. I don’t need to marry you. Your company is as much as I’ll ever need.’
‘You are such a pair of fools,’ Ms Kwan said. ‘You forgot happy,’ I said. ‘That too,’ John said. ‘Happy,’ I whispered.
Ms Kwan rose. ‘I will spend some time with Simone now, but I don’t think I will need much. She is remarkably resilient.’
‘That’s because she has Emma,’ John said.