Heaven to Wudang by Kylie Chan Read Free Book Online

illusion,’ LK said.
    Ronnie nodded agreement inside my head.
    I showed them what I’d seen when I walked in the door. I’d tasted LK’s pure Shen nature and Ronnie’s dark demon nature, made sour by his fear. I’d smelled Tom and Ben behind me; Tom’s demon nature was similar to Ronnie’s but in many ways different. Ronnie saw it as well and his mind glowed gold with the smell of spice and curiosity. Ben I saw as human; he was the only human there. Compared to LK his nature was earthy and rich, but he did have traces of something greater within him, like flashes of a deeper scent that came and went.
    â€˜You aren’t supposed to be able to do that,’ LK said.
    â€˜That’s something I haven’t heard anyone say in a very long time,’ I said.
    â€˜No, Leo said it yesterday,’ the stone said. ‘And before you ask, I have no idea what you are.’
    â€˜You don’t see people’s souls, you taste them,’ LK said. ‘I’ve never seen anything like it. Usually we have a sight or sound analogue for the way we perceive the higher senses. Why are you experiencing them as smell and taste?’
    â€˜Probably because I’m a snake,’ I said. ‘We work off taste and smell more than anything; that’s why we flick out our tongues all the time.’
    â€˜Snake?’ Ben said weakly.
    I released their hands and turned to speak to him. ‘Many spirits on the higher plane are the essence of nature, weather and animals,’ I said. ‘Dragons, tigers, wolves, foxes — many types of animals. Reptiles as well, including turtles, dragons, and snakes like me.’
    â€˜Any cockroaches?’ Tom said, amused.
    â€˜I’m glad we found you, Tom, you’re smart and brave and have transcended your nature,’ I said. ‘Only demons take the form of insects; they’re not intelligent enough to be Shen.’
    â€˜I’m starting to feel less and less like a freak all the time,’ Tom said.
    â€˜Oh, we’re all freaks, one way or another,’ I said.
    â€˜Hear, hear,’ LK said. ‘Now that everybody’s established how scary we all are, let’s have a look at you, Tom.’
    Tom’s eyes widened and he sat back in his chair.
    â€˜Nobody’s going to hurt you; we’ll just look at you,’ I said. ‘No need to be concerned.’
    I sat at the table and gestured around it. LK and Ronnie Wong could have been brothers: both appeared to be mid-thirties and were wearing plain white dress shirts and slacks and ugly plastic-rimmed glasses. ‘LK Pak is the Wudang Mountain Demon Master; he’s made an extensive study of the nature of demons. Ronnie Wong here is a Prince of Demonkind and exiled from Hell. He turned from the hosts of Hell and has aligned himself with the Celestial, but because of his nature and the strength of the seals he is still unable to enter Wudang uninvited.’
    â€˜I wouldn’t go in anyway. One of your students might think I’m a threat,’ Ronnie said with good humour.
    â€˜It is important at this point that you do not change to your demon form,’ LK said to Tom. ‘You would be destroyed.’
    â€˜I won’t anyway,’ Tom said. ‘It tries to control me, and it thirsts for blood.’
    I had a sudden horrible idea. ‘Do either of you know a woman called Kitty Kwok?’
    They both started and shared a look.
    â€˜I remember you mentioned a Kitty before, but it didn’t click until you said it again,’ Ben said. ‘Not Kitty Kwok; she said her name was Kitty Ho, same as my wife’s name. She came to visit us in Wales, said she was my wife’s sister, and my wife welcomed her.’ He grimaced. ‘But the way they behaved wasn’t like sisters at all. It was more like …’ He hesitated.
    Tom said it for him. ‘Lovers.’
    Ben nodded, his face full of misery.
    â€˜Did she