Blue Dragon Part 10

'Good,' the stone snapped. 'Give her to the Dragon.'

'No,' Obsidian whispered.

I stayed quiet.

'Report to Lord Qing Long,' John said.

'My Lord,' Obsidian choked, saluted without looking up, and disappeared.

'No attempt to defend her?' John said softly.

'She deserved it,' I said. 'Both of them should be sent to the Dragon. I take it you've sent her there because he's Wood and Stone is weak against Wood.'

'Yes. But mostly I sent her to the Dragon because he's a complete b.a.s.t.a.r.d to all his staff,' John said. He smiled slightly. 'You are more and more cold-blooded all the time.'

'You're right,' I said, miserable. 'I can't believe I just stood by and let you do that to her.'

'You will make an exceptional Regent, Emma,' John said. 'And I am sincerely looking forward to taking up my Celestial duties again with you by my side. Together we will be the greatest team the Celestial has ever seen.'

I turned to open the door. 'I'm sure they'll be glad to have your warm heart to counter my cold blood.'

'We will,' the stone in my ring said softly.

'I still can't believe this stuff was all around us and we never even knew,' Alan said as we sat at the dinner table. Simone, Mark and David sat with Leo and giggled together.

'Some of the Celestials here in China have never been to the Earthly Plane since they were Raised,' John said. 'I don't think the Celestial himself has been more than two or three times.'

'Who?' Amanda said.

'Their Jade Emperor,' the opal said. 'Their biggest boss.'

Simone piped up. 'Can you give us rides after dinner, Uncle Bai?'

The Tiger glowered at her, then grinned. 'Sure. You eat your vegetables like good children, and you can all have rides.'

David and Simone put their heads together and whispered with excitement. Mark didn't seem so sure.

'You don't have to if you don't want to, Mark,' I said.

He nodded, serious.

'Why are you vegetarian, John?' my mother said.

'It's a long story,' John said. 'All human Immortals are vegetarian.'

'But you're a Shen, Daddy, not a human Immortal,' Simone said. 'So why? Uncle Bai isn't vegetarian.'

I made my voice very deep. 'That is not for one such as you to know.'

Leo did an excellent imitation of John, Cantonese accent and all. 'That information is not for mortal ears.'

The Tiger's mouth opened with astonishment, then he banged his palm on the table and roared with laughter.

'Directly after dinner, twenty-five level one sword katas, both of you,' John snapped, but his eyes sparkled.

'Yes, my Lord!' Leo and I both shot back, saluting.

'You're a fool to have human staff, Ah Wu,' the Tiger said, still chuckling.

'Neither of them are staff, they are family,' John said. 'I love both of them dearly, and they know it.'

A swift expression of pain swept across Leo's face, so quick that it was almost unnoticeable. Neither John nor I missed it though, and we both decided to change the subject.

'The Dragon says they will be here with your sister's family in about an hour,' John said. 'Jade is bringing the bags.'

'Will she be okay? Gold was followed and attacked,' I said.

'With the Dragon and Phoenix carrying them, your family will be protected, Emma,' the Tiger said. 'Jade can outrun just about anything; dragons are much faster than stones. Don't worry about her.'

'Was Jennifer okay about coming?' I said.

John didn't reply.

'd.a.m.n,' I said quietly.

'What's a sword kata?' Amanda said.

'You've already seen me do it,' I said. 'A sword set. What I did for you in the yard back home.'

'Wanna see some real stuff?' Leo said.

'Show Amanda how you can take Leo down,' my father said to me.

I glanced at my father. His face was full of pride. I grinned with delight; my father was proud proud of me. of me.

'Let's just rub it in,' Leo growled, but his small brown eyes sparkled as well.

'You want to see?' I asked Amanda and Alan.

'We're here, we might as well have a look,' Alan said.

'Yes, I want to see,' Amanda said. 'Mum's been telling me some of the stuff you can do, and I find it difficult to believe.'

'Okay,' I said. 'After Jennifer's here and settled in, Leo and I will give you a small demonstration. The sword katas can wait.'

'I ordered you to do them directly after dinner,' John said.

'Yes, my Lord,' I shot back, saluting again. 'Like I said, the sword katas can wait.'

The Tiger roared with laughter again.

The Tiger was giving both Mark and David a ride in the living room when the Phoenix and the Dragon turned up with Jennifer and her kids. Leonard had legal business to tidy up in London and would follow in a week.

The Dragon placed Jennifer gently on the couch, and the Phoenix lowered her boys next to her.

The Tiger quickly dropped to his belly and guided Mark and David off, then changed back to human form.

'I still want to ride,' David whined.

'If I'm a tiger when your cousins wake up they'll be scared to death,' the Tiger said.

John and I went to Jennifer. Amanda pushed John out of the way and she and I hovered above Jennifer, waiting for her to wake.

She came around slowly, rubbing her hand over her face. She saw us, her sisters, then cast around for the boys. She reached out to hold both of them and glared at John. 'Stay away from us,' she hissed.

John and I shared a look and he silently moved away.

Amanda dropped to crouch in front of Jennifer. 'Hi, Jen.'

Jennifer didn't say anything. She hugged Colin, still unconscious, to her and pulled Andrew closer on the sofa.

'What's her problem?' the opal said.

'Stop it!' Jennifer whispered ferociously. 'Go away!'

The boys began to come around. Colin whimpered and Jennifer held him tighter. Andrew's eyes opened and he looked around, then buried his face in his mother's sweater.

'I think it would be a good idea if you people were to leave us alone for a while,' my father said grimly, moving around the couch to sit next to Jennifer.

John nodded without saying a word, and all the Shen disappeared. John turned and went down the hall to his study. Leo took Simone's hand and led her out as well.

'Well, here we are, all three sisters in one place-first time in years,' I said with forced cheerfulness.

Everybody ignored me.

'I'm in Hong Kong?' Jennifer said.

Everybody nodded.

'The Tiger will take you to the Western Palace tomorrow,' I said. 'You'll need some time to rest from this trip before he does. How do you feel?'

Jennifer stared at me and didn't say anything.

'Okay,' I whispered.

'This is all your fault,' she finally said, glaring at me.

'I know,' I said, running my hands through my hair. 'I'm so sorry, guys. I've completely screwed up your lives.'

'Stupid b.i.t.c.h,' Jennifer said and turned away.

I didn't know what to say.

Amanda's son Mark threw himself at me. 'Teach me some kung fu! I wanna learn!'

Everybody was completely silent.

'I don't think that's a good idea right now, sweetheart,' I whispered.

Jade appeared in True Form on the other side of the room with the bags, and collapsed. I ran to her, ignoring the shrieks of fear from my nephews; she was bleeding, her scales ripped in many places. One of her front legs was obviously broken.

She attempted to rise, looking around. 'I did did make it,' she said. 'I thought I'd made it. They were so fast...' Her voice trailed off and she fell heavily. make it,' she said. 'I thought I'd made it. They were so fast...' Her voice trailed off and she fell heavily.

'John!' I screamed.

John and Leo raced into the room, Simone hurrying behind them. John crouched to examine Jade. My parents hovered behind him.

'Is this Jade? The girl?' my mother said.

'Yes,' John said, placing his hand on Jade's head. He concentrated, and the Blue Dragon appeared next to him in his usual human form.

'Out of the way,' the Dragon said, quickly moving to Jade's side and putting both hands on her head. Everybody retreated to give him room.

The Dragon concentrated, and his long turquoise hair floated around his head. 'I'm taking her home,' he said softly. 'She needs to be under the water. This will take a while. My Lord?'

'How long?' John said.

'I'll still be able to return tomorrow to take the Lady's family West,' the Dragon said. 'Jade will need to recuperate for a few weeks. She has ma.s.sive internal injuries, far too much for any energy worker to handle. Leave her with me.'

'Go,' John said, and both Jade and the Dragon disappeared.

I flopped to sit next to the bloodstains on the carpet. I lowered my head and shook it. 'd.a.m.n.'

'This is all your fault,' Jennifer said loudly from the couch.

I jumped up and stormed to the spare room where I was staying. Gold was still in the bed, his boyish face peaceful as he slept. I sat on the floor next to his head with my back against the wall and buried my face in my knees.

About five minutes later, John came in and sat cross-legged on the floor on the other side of the room. He rubbed his hand over his face, sighed, and tied his hair back.

'No one should be suffering like this for me,' I said into my knees. 'I'm dragging my entire family away from their homes. Gold and Jade nearly died. I can't do this to them any more.'

'Gold, you are released,' John said loudly. 'You have your freedom. Go.'

'You can't release him,' I said. 'He told me only the Jade Emperor can release him.'

'I am the First Officer, Highest Celestial General,' John said. 'In precedence I am second only to the Celestial himself. If I say Gold is free, then he's free.'

Right Hand of the Jade Emperor. I inhaled sharply as I understood. 'But you said that as your chosen, after you've gone I'll be accepted as...'