Earth to Hell. Kylie Chan

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ I said, still very gentle.

      The chi floated back down into Apple’s hand and she sagged.

      ‘Take a break now, and don’t try it again without supervision,’ I said. ‘I’ve been called away, so we’ll end it there. Head back to the Folly and have a rest.’

      Apple nodded. ‘Yes, ma’am. Thank you.’

      I patted her shoulder, then quickly rose and spoke urgently to the stone as I charged out to the stairwell. ‘Get Marcus to bring the car around the front. I’ll meet him at the ground floor. Which Masters are free?’

      ‘Sit, Park, Lee and Edwards are there already. The demons are holding the students hostage. It’s a standoff,’ the stone said.

      I jumped over the balustrade to the empty space in the centre of the stairwell, twenty storeys to the ground. I fell at maximum speed until the floor loomed below me, then slowed my fall, levered one foot on the railing and jumped down to the landing in front of the ground floor door.

      ‘Demons holding third years? They must be big,’ I said.

      Do you need us? General Ma said into my head. The demons holding your students are quite large.

      ‘Aren’t you dealing with a demon attack on the Horse Village?’ I asked via the stone.

      The Majia are handling it well, General Ma said. If we bring in the Princess we will be finished very quickly and be back in Hong Kong within the hour to help your students. Western Horsemen are on their way to assist us.

      ‘Can the Horses and Horsemen handle it?’ I said. ‘I don’t want to take Simone out of school unless it’s absolutely necessary, you know that. She’s skipping a lot of school with these attacks as it is.’

       They can handle.

      ‘Head back when you’re relieved, and we’ll see if we need your help. How long do you think it will be?’

       About an hour and a half.

      ‘See you then.’

       My Lady.

      It took nearly forty-five minutes to reach the area of Mong Kok where the students were being held hostage. Marcus wound his way through the narrow, busy streets of the area and dropped me outside the brothel, then went off in search of a car park. The brothel had a large sign outside advertising the prices: White Russian 500; Fair Skin Thai 400; North and South Chinese 300.

      Two of the Masters, Sit and Park, stood outside the brothel with a group of five or six seniors, looking up at the second-storey windows. The brothel was a blackened concrete apartment building, 1950s era, with small barred windows on each floor. The ground floor was occupied by a microscopic mobile phone shop, all pristine white tiles and blazing lights. The brothel’s single front door had a steel gate, which now hung open. Plain narrow concrete stairs led up inside.

      ‘Where’s Edwards?’ I said.

      ‘Around the back in the alley with another couple of seniors,’ said Lee.

      ‘What do we have here?’

      ‘Six level fifty to sixty demons. A couple of them appear to be Mothers. They’re holding a team of third years who came in to practise on them and were taken by surprise.’

      ‘Mothers? Damn. Anybody hurt?’

      ‘One of the prostitutes tried to escape and a demon smacked her down; she’s probably concussed,’ Sit said. ‘A couple of the students sustained some severe injuries when they were taken — these demons hit them hard with some sort of energy blast.’

      ‘The police aren’t aware of what’s going on? We won’t see uniforms and guns roll up?’

      ‘No,’ Park said.

      ‘What do the demons want?’

      ‘Free passage.’

      ‘That’s all?’

      ‘Yes. We’re just waiting for you to give the go-ahead on either a raid or to let them go. We’re prepared either way.’

      ‘Recommendation?’

      ‘Let them go.’

      ‘Can we take them down without hurting any more girls or students?’

      Park hesitated, then, ‘No.’

      ‘Let them go.’

      ‘Ma’am.’

      Park concentrated, and the teams moved into action. Sit and Lee went upstairs to deliver the deal to the demons. A bus appeared around the corner and stopped outside the brothel.

      ‘Demons took off,’ Park said. ‘Lee has taken a recording.’

      ‘Good.’

      Three more of the seniors with us charged into the building and up the stairs. Two of the four third-year students who had been held hostage came limping down the stairs, obviously nursing injuries. They made for the bus.

      ‘By your leave, ma’am,’ Park said, ‘we’ll take the other two injured students directly to the infirmary.’

      ‘Go,’ I said.

      Park and Lee went into the building.

      The seniors who had run up the stairs shortly before came down escorting ten or so prostitutes. The girls were tiny and slim; some of them only looked about fourteen or fifteen. There were no Europeans, only Thais, Indonesians and Chinese. They were obviously terrified as the seniors guided them onto the bus.

      A few bystanders watched, curious. One of the seniors jumped off the bus, walked over and loudly told them in Cantonese that this was a police plainclothes operation and to move along. The bystanders grinned but continued to watch, unfazed.

      ‘Update on the Horse Village,’ I said to the stone.

       Under control. A squad of about fifty demons attacked the village, but the Horses held them off. Three Horses were killed and four were injured before the Generals arrived to help.

      ‘Tell General Ma we have a lid on things here and he’s not needed,’ I said.

      We have been called to another attack anyway, ma’am, Ma said. A phoenix has called for help — a Mother is outside her nest and threatening her clutch.

      ‘Can they make it in time?’ I said.

      If we move now we may make it, but we will be cutting it close, Ma said.

      ‘Need help?’

      Simone could be there immediately to protect these chicks, Ma said. It is the phoenix’s nursery; she thought it would be safe in this remote area, but some Mothers have found it. She and her children are fighting but there is a large number of demons after her clutch. СКАЧАТЬ