Twelve
Just Like You
A bag slips over my head, and a cold fizzing sensation courses through me. My head spins; my senses go numb. I no longer feel the chains on my wrists, the hard wooden floor against my knees, my tongue against my teeth. An unbearable lightness obliterates every part of my being until nothing remains.
Awareness returns. I shiver. How much time has passed? The chain rattles as I flex my fingers and toes. The bag is still over my head, but pinpricks of soft light sneak through the woven fabric. I inhale deep and slow to inventory the room.
Tony is close. The scent of his blood dries my throat but relief overshadows all else. Gigi and Ah Lang are somewhere to my right, Lord Aengus behind me. Interspersed with those familiar scents is the rose and camphor of our kidnappers, but there are only a handful in the room with us. Five or six.
In one motion, I roll to my side while straining against the chains. They break with a dull snap. There’s a shout as I yank the bag off my head.
I crouch, fists at the ready.
Floor-to-ceiling windows frame two figures against a pink sky. The dark-haired man and emerald eyes. No one else is here. Where is Tony? Ah Lang, Gigi, Lord Aengus?
The pair approach but stay well out of arm’s reach, watching me. The man barks something unintelligible. The woman responds, the sounds and lilt unfamiliar. She comes closer,bends to face me, curiosity in her gaze. I lunge, teeth bared, but the space where she stood is empty.
The man laughs and I stare because the woman is now at the other side of the room. How?
‘Hello,’ she says in tentative Mandarin. ‘I’mMarianne. What’s your name?’
Ignoring her question, I hurtle towards the gap between her and the man, aiming for the windows. I wonder for a moment where she learned to speak Chinese, but shake the thought away. It doesn’t matter. Right now, the most important thing is to break free, find my friends.
I’m almost at the window but the man, impossibly, grabs me from behind. I fight, whirl, kick, bite, anything to get away. He shouts, and Marianne, almost bored, reappears at my side.
‘If you continue like this, we will kill the mortal.’
I stop immediately. Marianne smirks, says something to the man. My mind is a knot of rage and worry but I force myself to count, to breathe slowly. I practise every anger management trick I know to control my temper.
Think, Jing.Slowly my thoughts untangle. I remember Big Wang said people from our outpost would meet us at the station. They’ll know by now something happened and will be searching for us. I need to figure out who these creatures are and what they want.
‘Where am I? What have you done with my friends?’
Marianne nods at the man. He drags me away from the window and dumps me on the floor.
‘This isMaximilien,my brother. What’s your name?’ she repeats.
‘What are you? What do you want?’ I say.
Marianne’s mouth pinches, the corners pulling down. She says something to Maximilien,who disappears with a shimmer.A second later, another shimmer, and he reappears with Tony in a chokehold.
I lock eyes with Tony. There is fear in his, but also defiance and concern. The second I move towards him, Maximilien tightens his grip and Tony gasps. I stop.
‘What is your name?’ Marianne says each word slowly, softly, sweetly. Violence rolls off her in waves.
Though I take comfort that Tony is close and thus far unharmed, I dare not look at him. Standing straight, I lift my chin, and say, ‘I am Grand Princess Overflowing with Sagacity, Noble Lady Hu Xian Jing of the Turquoise Hills, Lady Jing of Mount Kunlun. And I demand on behalf of the Ministry of Hell, the noble Hulijing Court, and the Pantheon of Tian that you explain yourselves.’
Marianne’s expression shifts through emotions so quickly I can’t parse them all. Surprise, satisfaction, anger, doubt? She and Maximilien have an animated conversation. Maximilien disappears with Tony.No!I reach out, but even as I lunge forward, Marianne’s arm snakes around my waist. The familiar cold fizzing in my veins grabs my attention. The air around me shimmers with golden motes, like yang qi in sunshine. Like before, my body seems to disappear and I lose consciousness.
When I come to, I’m slumped against another floor-to-ceiling window. Judging from the still pink sky, I haven’t been out for long this time. The room reeks of the camphor and desiccated rose that mark these yaoguai. Before I have a chance to look around, Marianne yanks me to my feet. I twist from her grip.
We face each other – me breathing hard while Marianne looks at me with a vague irritation. She has the upper hand and we both know it.
‘Be good,’ she says. ‘Remember—’
A voice that’s half-purr, half-sizzle interrupts us. ‘Bonjour,ma bichette.’
Turning towards the voice, I’m greeted by a pair of very naked, very voluptuous breasts. I’m no stranger to ta-tas – after all, I grew up around hulijing courtiers and they love nothing better than to let theirs hang right out. However, like all the other yaojing of Tian, hulijing are much more conservative about exposing the rest of their bodies.
