Blue Dragon Part 35

'Happens all the time on the Mountain,' he said, amused. 'Both the students and the Masters have the wisdom and discipline to keep professional and personal completely separate, otherwise they would not be on the Mountain in the first place.'

'I noticed,' I said. 'But Leo would never touch any student.'

'Leo is the wisest of us all.' He pulled me in again and sighed. 'We have to go soon.'

'I'd like to return here some day.'

He rolled over to face me and ran his hand along my arm. 'You will. I promise you. And you will one day be presented to the King of the Dragons as my Empress, and you will see the finest undersea palace in existence.'

'Do you have one?' I said. 'You're Water.'

'I have a small holiday place under the North Pole, only about ten rooms,' he said. 'Cold and dark, the way I like it. I use it to get away sometimes, to have time alone. I don't need anything bigger. I spend most of my time on my Mountain and in the Northern Heavens. When I have a choice, that is.'

'Holy s.h.i.+t, you have a Fortress of Solitude Fortress of Solitude at the North Pole,' I said, barely controlling the giggles. at the North Pole,' I said, barely controlling the giggles.

'I don't understand,' he said, bemused.

I pulled myself into him. He put his arms around me and buried his face in my hair.

'You have one last chance if you wish,' he said into my hair. 'We have time, and you know that I have the ability.'

I didn't look up at him. I left my cheek against his chest. 'Can we just stay here like this?'

'It is what I would prefer as well.'

We held each other close.

He sat upright and levered his long legs over the edge of the bed. He tapped me on the shoulder. 'The Dragon's here to take us back.' He rose and pulled on his pyjama pants. I giggled. 'What?' he said.

'I don't have any pants,' I said, sitting cross-legged on the bed and lifting the remains of my shorts. 'After we're married I'll have my entire wardrobe made with Velcro fastenings, otherwise I'll spend my whole time buying new clothes.'

'Good idea,' he said, turning away and concentrating. 'Mich.e.l.le...' He stopped.

'Mich.e.l.le what?' I said gently.

He hesitated and looked down.

'It's okay, tell me.'

He looked back up at me and smiled. 'Mich.e.l.le enjoyed having new clothes made. But she'd shoot me anyway.'

'I wish I could have met her.'

A light cotton robe appeared on the bed next to me. 'Wear that,' he said.

'No way am I riding the Dragon wearing that,' I said fiercely.

'Put it on anyway,' he said. 'They'll have something else for us.'

I rose and slipped on the robe. He approached to help me, pressing himself into me from behind while he wrapped the belt around my waist. He pushed his face into my neck, then shoved his hand inside the front of the robe and ran it over me, making me gasp. My skin burned in trails where his fingers touched me. He gently drew the top of the robe down over my shoulders and ran kisses over my skin, making me writhe with need.

Both of us breathed heavily as he pushed into me from behind. I felt him hard against my back. He ran his hands under the hem of the robe and drifted his fingertips up my thighs and further. My knees went weak and I sagged as he held me.

'To h.e.l.l with it,' he said, yanking the robe up and pus.h.i.+ng me forward to bend me over the bed. 'They can wait.'

I didn't have the breath to say anything. But I still hoped they didn't hear me.

CHAPTER NINETEEN.

Once again Leo couldn't meditate on the boat back to Hong Kong from Macau. I sat next to him on the couch in the lounge and moved to take his hand, but he pulled it away.

'Tell me what happened,' I said.

He closed his eyes and pretended to meditate, his dark face rigid with concentration.

'They found out, didn't they.'

He didn't move.

'What did they do to you?'

He remained completely still.

'One of the Celestials could help you, you know. Meredith could clear it all up for you.'

'Not an issue,' he said, then threw himself up and stalked down the stairs into the cabin at the front of the boat.

I moved to sit near John, and he looked at me over the top of his book. 'Do you know what happened?' I said.

'No. He's never told anybody. Most of them think that somebody sabotaged the seatbelt in the helicopter rescue simulation.'

That was too horrible to be true. 'I know about that,' I said. 'They put you in a mock helicopter, strapped in, high above a big pool. Then they tip it upside down and drop it into the water. You have to release your own seatbelt and swim out after you're submerged, still unsure about which way is up. Sounds terrifying.'

'Imagine what it would be like if the seatbelt wouldn't unfasten,' John said, turning back to his book. 'And the safety crew were hanging back, enjoying the sight of watching you drown, only rescuing you when it was obvious you were in serious trouble.'

'No. They're much too professional to do something like that.'

'That's where the money is. Some of the Celestials agree with you, that the crews are more professional than that. There's also money on a Nitrox accident at very extreme depth.'

'They have a book running on it?'

'Since Leo arrived and it became obvious.'

'That is so wrong.'

He shrugged almost imperceptibly. 'Most of my staff are Chinese, Emma.'

'You don't have money on it, do you?'

'I'm running the book.'

'Oh my G.o.d, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d b.a.s.t.a.r.d!' I hissed. 'Does Leo know?'

'Yep. He finds it highly amusing. I think he asked Gold to wipe the records in the States so that n.o.body will ever know.'

'Good.' I jumped up and went to talk to Simone and Michael at the back of the boat.

I stood against the long wall of the training room back at the Peak, unsure. We hadn't invited the Dragon along; we wanted to see what would happen first, just the two of us.

'Let's try it on a little one,' John said. He reached into the jar. 'Level five.' He glanced up at me, eyes sparkling. 'It was a level three that nearly broke your nose that first time. Now you can handle a whole battalion of these with one hand.'

He threw the demon under the mirrors, and it formed: a normal-looking Chinese female. He released it and it went for me.

I generated black chi and threw it at the demon. The demon imploded completely, taking my chi with it-a visible suction into a shrinking black hole that quickly disappeared. The chi was gone.

John didn't move at all. Then he pulled another demon out of the jar. 'Do that again.'

He threw the demon onto the floor. It was a level ten, a small humanoid in True Form.

'Can you lose that much chi without draining yourself?' he said.

'Yep,' I said. 'Not a problem at all. Let it go.'

He released the demon, it went for me, and I threw black chi at it.

It melted like a wax sculpture, losing its form slowly, the black stuff oozing into a puddle on the ground. The puddle moved towards me and I realised with a jolt of horror that the demon was still alive.

'Black again,' John said.

I threw another bolt of black chi at it and it reformed and shook its head.

'Again,' John said. 'Stop if you become too drained.'

I threw black chi at the demon and it imploded, disappearing completely. But this time the chi returned to me.

'This is ridiculous!' I said. 'It's different every time.'

'Fascinating,' John said. 'Want to try something bigger? How's your energy level?'

'Let's try a level twenty,' I said. 'I'll hit it with ordinary chi to top myself up if I'm too drained.' I stopped dead as I understood. 'If I can use both types of chi alternately, I'll never drain myself or explode from absorbing too much. If I balance it out correctly, I'll be able to use energy for as long as I like.'

'Precisely,' John said, and reached into the jar. He pulled out a bead, threw it under the mirrors, and it formed. It was a small c.o.c.kroach, about a third of a metre long.

'Oh G.o.d, you hate me, Xuan Wu,' I said, running my hands through my hair.

'Let's see what the black chi does to one of these,' he said. He released the insect and it waved its feelers at me.

'Don't you dare turn,' I said softly. 'I hate you things.'

It raced towards me and I hit it with a big ball of black chi. Nothing happened. d.a.m.n, now I had to take it out hand-to-hand; my weapon was too far away.

's.h.i.+t!' I shouted. 'I don't want bug goo all over my hands!' I hit it with a huge ball of gold chi instead and it exploded into feathery streamers of black stuff. Some of it hit my pants, but not enough to worry me.

'You okay?' John said.

'Fine. Let's try that again. Another level twenty.'

'Another bug?'

'Yeah, I think so, then we'll try a humanoid.'

'Okay.' John shuffled around inside the jar. 'Here we are.' He threw the bug demon onto the mat under the mirror and it formed. He released it and it went straight for me.

I hit it with black chi and the bug changed into a miniature Mother, only about a metre tall. It slithered towards me.

'Again,' John said.

I hit it with black chi again, and it exploded exactly as if it had been hit with gold chi, returning the energy to me.

'Different every time,' I said with exasperation. 'This is ridiculous.'

John shuffled in the jar and pulled out a humanoid. He tossed it in front of the mirrors and it formed. He released it and it went for me. I hit it with black chi and it changed into a young human Chinese female of about sixteen years old.

She fell to her knees. 'I plead! I swear allegiance! I am yours!'

'Get up,' John said.

The demon didn't move.

'Rise,' I said, and the demon shot to its feet. 'Go and take the Dark Lord's hand.'

John waited patiently with his hand out. The demon winced. It sidled towards him and took his hand. Nothing happened.

John's eyes widened. 'Emma, what have you done?'

I moved to John and the demon. The demon still held John's hand, its face rigid with awe.

'Has it definitely turned?' I said. 'It didn't change to True Form.'

'This is its True Form,' John said softly. 'Release my hand, dear.'

The demon dropped John's hand, burst into tears and fell to her knees. He stood over the demon, seemingly unable to decide what to do.