LITMIR.BIZ

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      Ben, Tom and Vincent turned on the spot, admiring the view. True Way was one of the highest parts of Wudangshan, with only the Golden Temple higher on its own peak behind it. Some small meditation pagodas sat at the same level on other peaks, but they were impossible to reach without flight.

      The mountains around us stretched forever, covered in pines. Clouds moved through the gorges below us, the sunlight from above making them shine. The sky was that impossible Celestial blue and the breeze was fresh with alpine scents from the gardens.

      Ben took a deep breath and smiled. ‘I feel more at ease than I have ever felt anywhere.’

      Vincent was smiling too, his face streaked with tears. ‘I feel like I’ve come home. I always felt there was a place for me somewhere that would be bright and wonderful and where I would be welcome.’ He fell to one knee and saluted me. ‘Thanks to you, I have found that place. If I were to die right now, I would die a happy man.’

      I nodded to him as he rose, and wondered if the place that was my home would be possible to find, and if I would have to lose this place to gain it.

      ‘That’s astonishing. How do they do that?’ Tom said. He was watching the Disciples working on the forecourt.

      They were performing a level five staff set, the most advanced staff kata on Wudang. They had placed their staves upright, climbed up them, and were standing on the tips of the vertical staves with one foot, their hands clasped in front of them. They swapped from foot to foot without the staff falling, then switched to one hand, doing a handstand on the end of the staff.

      ‘Are there holes in the stone for the staves to sit in?’ Ben said.

      ‘No,’ I said, ‘it’s a matter of balance and energy control.’

      ‘Could I learn that?’ Vincent said.

      ‘If we don’t have you doing that within a year I’ll hand in my gold sash,’ I said.

      ‘I heard that!’ Leo said. ‘It’s a bet!’

      I strode to Leo, held my hand out and we slapped palms. I bent to whisper in his ear. ‘You’re supposed to be celibate at the moment, so no sexing him up to ruin his energy manipulation.’

      ‘I’m with Martin right now so I wouldn’t do it anyway,’ he whispered back.

      I straightened and studied him. ‘It’s that serious?’

      ‘No,’ he said, meeting my gaze. ‘I am.’

      My mobile rang in my bag and I pulled it out. It was Ronnie Wong.

      ‘I hear you just found something very interesting, ma’am. I was wondering if you’d let this worthless small demon examine it? Is it really a male Mother?’

      ‘East-West hybrid,’ I said. ‘Hold on a minute.’ I turned to Ben and Tom. ‘I have a gentleman who is an expert on demonkind who would like to have a look at you. Do you mind?’

      Ben and Tom shared a look, and Tom nodded.

      ‘We trust you,’ Ben said. ‘Do what you have to.’

      I returned to the phone. ‘Are you big enough to come up here unescorted?’

      ‘That I am, ma’am.’

      ‘Call me again when you reach the main gate.’

      ‘Ho ak.’

      ‘He’s been in Hong Kong too long,’ I said as I snapped the phone shut. ‘Ho ak indeed.’

      ‘Better than Hell,’ Simone said.

      ‘Vincent, do you know Ronnie Wong?’ I said.

      ‘No,’ Vincent said.

      ‘Ben? Tom? Do you know a gentleman by the name of Ronnie Wong? He runs a really small crappy fung shui shop full of paper effigies and Hell money out in Western District.’

      Both of them shook their heads.

      I looked down at the phone. ‘Then how the hell did he know that we just found you?’

      ‘Ask him when he gets here,’ Simone said. ‘Let’s go to the admin area and sort out what we’ll do with this lot.’

      We walked along the path from the three main halls on the largest peak, heading east to the support areas. The buildings here were close together, mostly low, brick and single storey, except for the Imperial Residence — a two-storey courtyard house standing alone, flush against the stone side of the mountain — and the Armoury, which was one floor but had an exceptionally tall roof. We crossed a twenty-metre-long marble bridge, a perfect semicircle over the deep chasm between the peaks, to the administrative area: a cluster of small buildings housing offices and meeting rooms around a central larger hall — the War Room.

      We went into my office and sat at the small conference table, and Yi Hao ran off to find the allocations for quarters in the residential area.

      ‘If this is Chinese Heaven, then what about Western Heaven?’ Ben said. ‘Have you been there?’

      ‘The Eastern Shen — the gods from here — have made intelligence-gathering trips to the West and encountered demons, but haven’t met any Western Shen,’ I said. ‘Xuan Wu — the most powerful guy, the boss of Wudang — actually has a house in Kensington and spent years in London, and never met a single Western Shen.’

      ‘It’s possible they may have been avoiding him because he has a very dark nature,’ Simone said. ‘Xuan means dark, and he sort of changed sides and joined the Celestial.’

      ‘But other Shen have been over there too, and tried to visit Western Heaven, and found nothing,’ I said. ‘It’s like it’s only demons over there, no Shen at all.’

      ‘Not many of the Asian Shen have shown much interest, though,’ Simone said with resignation. ‘There’s still the “Middle Kingdom” mentality. China is the central ninety per cent of the world and nothing else really matters.’

      ‘Middle Kingdom?’ Ben said.

      ‘The Chinese characters for China are “Middle Kingdom”, Dad,’ Tom said.

      ‘Oh.’

      My phone rang and I answered it.

      ‘Emma, this is Gold. We need an advanced energy worker over at the infirmary — Amy’s in labour.’

      ‘Where’s Meredith?’

      ‘Here, but we need you too. We have to deliver by caesar; she can’t deliver normally and hold her shape. If she changes to dragon, she’ll kill them.’

      I snapped the phone shut, rose and bowed slightly. ‘One of our dragons is about to give birth to human children and I’m needed to make sure that she stays in human form. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll be back later.’

      ‘I’ll take care of this,’ Leo said.

      ‘Thanks,’ I said, and hurried out.

      ‘Did she just say what I think she said?’ I heard Ben say with disbelief behind me.

      ‘I’m going to be an auntie!’ Simone said.

       CHAPTER 3

      Gold held Amy’s hand and smiled down at her while the staff gave the newborns their first bath. Amy smiled back at him, then around at everybody else.

      ‘Do you have names for them?’ Meredith said.

      ‘Richard after Amy’s father, and Jade after mine,’ Gold said.

      ‘How’s the urge to change?’ Meredith said.

      Amy didn’t reply, and Meredith nodded.

      ‘We’re nearly done here,’ Edwin, the Academy doctor, said. ‘You’ll

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