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‘That’s very easy for you to say, Ms Kwan.’
Ms Kwan raised her arms in welcome. ‘Shall I show you to your rooms?’ She took Simone’s hand, then linked her other arm in mine. ‘Come, let me show you where you will stay, Emma. Tomorrow Leo will take you and Simone to see beautiful Paris while I talk to Ah Wu. And then you, Leo and I will have a little chat.’
I was too awestruck by her graceful presence to say a word.
Simone adored the Eiffel Tower. There was a long queue for the lifts, but she was happy to wait, hopping from one leg to the other with excitement until she fell over.
‘Try to stay on your feet, Simone,’ I said with mock exasperation.
‘I know, I keep “doing a Simone”,’ she said. ‘I can’t help it.’
Leo studied the crowd around us carefully.
‘What?’
He shook his head.
I moved closer to him and spoke more softly. ‘We’re a long way from home, Leo. I don’t think anybody around here even knows who she is.’
‘You can never be too careful,’ he said.
When we reached the top of the Tower we had to run to keep up with Simone. She raced from one side to another, showing me all the landmarks: the Louvre, Notre Dame, the Arc de Triomphe.
‘How come you know Paris so well?’
‘Because I come here all the time, silly Emma. We used to come here a lot before. Now we don’t come as much.’
‘Before what?’
She ran away.
‘Is Ms Kwan Mr Chen’s sister?’ I asked Leo.
‘Nope.’
‘But they’re related, then?’
Leo turned to follow Simone without answering me.
It was already dusk by the time Simone had finished with the Tower. By then Leo and I were thoroughly sick of it.
‘Wait until the Science Museum,’ Leo said. ‘She likes it even more than this.’
Leo called the driver to collect us from one of the side streets bordering the Tower gardens. As we walked through the darkening city, he put his mouth next to my ear. ‘Don’t stop, keep walking, don’t look back.’
I did as he said. We walked on a few metres without him, then Simone stopped dead. I pulled her hand, but she refused to move. She shook my hand free and ran back. I hurried to follow her, but she had stopped.
Leo was facing off against three young Chinese men. All of them appeared strong and muscular and they were concentrating on Leo.
‘Move back, Emma,’ Leo said without looking at me. ‘Take Simone back out of the way.’
I did as he said. I thought about running, but I didn’t know how many more of them might be waiting for us in the shadows.
In martial arts movies, the villains take on the hero one at a time and he defeats them individually. All three of these guys threw themselves at Leo at once.
Leo grabbed one and lifted him easily, then pushed him into the other two, knocking them backwards. Then he raised the man he held with one hand and smashed him into the ground.
The young man hit the pavement with a crack, then exploded into black streamers that dissipated quickly.
‘Bad people,’ Simone whispered. I pulled her closer to me.
Leo straightened. The other two guys held back, watching him. He gestured a come-on.
They both threw themselves at him. He caught the first one’s hands and crossed them over his chest, pinning them, then turned him to block the other guy. He smashed his fist through the first guy’s face. This one also dissipated into feathery streamers.
The last guy held back, smiling at Leo. Leo lunged forward, grabbed him, and hoisted him by the scruff of the neck with one hand. The young man struggled, then went still. Leo carried him to us.
‘Check if this is one as well, sweetheart,’ Leo said. ‘I want to be sure.’
‘Okay, Leo.’ Simone shook my hand free and went to him. I tried to stop her, but Leo raised his free hand.
‘It’s okay. Let her.’
Simone touched the young man’s arm. He screamed and his arm went black. When Simone moved her hand away, his arm returned to normal.
‘Thanks, sweetheart,’ Leo said. ‘I just wanted to be sure. Next time, tell me if any are nearby, okay? I’m not as good as you.’
‘Okay, Leo,’ Simone said. ‘You’d better take it to Daddy, he’ll want to see.’
‘I know. That’s why I didn’t destroy it.’
Simone came back to me, took my hand and smiled up at me. ‘Leo’s really good, isn’t he?’
I was speechless with shock.
‘You okay, Emma?’ Leo said.
I recovered my voice. ‘What the hell is going on?’
‘I’ll explain when we get back to Ms Kwan’s house.’
I opened my mouth to protest and he raised his hand to stop me. ‘I promise. I’ll tell you all about it when we get back. Right now,’ he glanced at the young man hanging limply in his hand, ‘we need to take this one back to Mr Chen.’
It was an uncomfortable ride back to Montmartre. Leo put me in the front passenger seat and the young man in the middle seat in the back, between himself and Simone. Leo’s trouser legs were covered in black sticky foul-smelling goo, from when he’d destroyed the other two men.
At Ms Kwan’s house, Leo hoisted the young man out of the van and carried him into the house. The driver didn’t seem to notice.
Leo stopped in the entry hall. ‘Mr Chen!’ he called.
Mr Chen hurried out from the back of the house. He stopped dead when he saw the young man. He sighed. ‘What happened?’
‘Three of them attacked us. I thought I’d better bring this one back here for you to question,’ Leo said.
Mr Chen glanced at me.
‘Yes, I saw a great deal of very strange stuff,’ I said, ‘and if you don’t tell me right now what’s going on, I’m out of here.’ Mr Chen and Leo shared a look.
Ms Kwan came out of the back of the house. ‘Is there a problem, Ah Wu? Why is there a–’ She saw Leo holding the young man and sighed. ‘Dear Leo, you are such an idiot sometimes.’
The young man struggled and freed himself from Leo’s grasp. He threw himself to lie at Ms Kwan’s feet. ‘Protect me, Merciful Lady!’
‘Shit,’ Mr Chen said under his breath.
‘Chen Wu!’ Ms Kwan scolded.
‘Protect me,’ the young man said again, watching Mr Chen like a rabbit caught in headlights.
‘Leo, you have broken every seal in this house and ensured that we will gain no information,’ Mr Chen said. He gestured towards the young man. ‘The Lady’s nature is mercy to any creature that requests it. Even one of these.’
‘Uh-oh,’ Simone said.
‘Oh no, damn!’ Leo said. He ran his hand over his bald head and turned away. ‘I am so sorry.’
‘What’s done is done,’ Mr Chen said, still watching the young man cowering at Ms Kwan’s feet. He glanced sharply at Leo. ‘You destroyed the other two?’
‘Yes, sir. This is the only one left.’
‘But I must release it, Ah Wu,’ Ms Kwan said. ‘It will return and report, and there is nothing we can do about it.’
‘Damn,’ Leo said again, softly.
‘Emma, please take Simone upstairs to wash for dinner,’ Mr Chen said.
I opened my mouth to protest.
‘Just do it, Emma,’ Leo said gently. ‘I’ll tell you everything after dinner. I promise.’
I glared at him. ‘I’ll hold you to that.’
I took Simone’s hand and led her up the stairs. We looked at one another quickly, then crouched at the top of the stairs to watch the little drama below.
Leo brightened. ‘How about you let it go and I nab it again?’
‘That is not possible, Leo,’ Ms Kwan said stiffly. ‘He has asked. I must give.’
‘Thank you, thank you, Merciful Lady,’ the young man said, still not shifting his eyes from Mr Chen.
‘Go,’ Ms Kwan said. ‘The Dark Lord will not follow, neither will his Retainer. Go far, go fast, they will not follow. I will not tolerate you, I detest your kind.’ She raised her hand towards the front door. ‘Go.’
The young man turned, flung open the door and ran through it.
Ms Kwan closed the door as if nothing had happened, then linked her arm in Mr Chen’s. ‘Dinner time. I have employed a wonderful French chef to prepare something special for us.’
‘Western food?’ Mr Chen said suspiciously.
‘Oh, come, Ah Wu, French food is very good. You may learn to like it.’
She smiled over her shoulder at Leo. ‘Go and change, dear Leo. Once again your clothes are ruined.’
Leo frowned down at his goo-covered slacks. ‘Yeah.’
‘And you two ladies had better wash for dinner as well,’ Ms Kwan called up to Simone and me. ‘Hurry, or it will be cold when you come down.’
‘She’s right, Emma,’ Simone whispered. She pulled me to my feet. ‘I need to wash my hands after touching that thing.’
I followed her into the elegant bathroom. ‘What was special about that man, Simone?’
Simone carefully washed her hands. ‘That was a bad person.’
‘The kind that can hurt you, like you said?’
‘Yes.’
‘Did his arm really go black when you touched him?’
‘Yes.’ She grinned. ‘It hurts them when I touch them – that was cool.’ She wiped her hands on one of the towels.
‘It’s not cool to hurt things, Simone,’ I said automatically.
‘It’s okay to hurt them. You have to destroy them, otherwise they’ll hurt me, and you, and a lot of other people besides.’ Simone opened her mouth to continue, then gave up. ‘I think you need to talk to my dad about it.’
‘I think I do as well.’
Leo had already changed his slacks and was waiting for us at the bottom of the stairs. Simone ran ahead to find her father. I stopped in front of Leo and glared up at him. ‘Well?’
‘Dinner isn’t the time to be discussing this, Emma. After dinner, I’ll tell you the whole story.’
‘Promise?’
He smiled slightly. ‘Cross my heart.’
‘Good.’ I stormed past him into the dining room.
CHAPTER NINE (#ulink_0194e839-ac32-55ad-ac45-8073097e699d)
The dining room was as elegantly furnished as the rest of the house. I sat at the table; Leo followed me and sat as well.
Ms Kwan smiled compassionately. ‘Dear Emma, I know you have no idea what is happening, but we will tell you all.’
