Hell to Heaven by Kylie Chan Read Free Book Online Page A

resting on her shoulder.
    ‘I worry I’m gonna squeeze you and hurt you,’ she said. ‘You’re kinda soft and squishy under the scales.’
    ‘I think my ribs are pretty springy, and you’ve never hurt me yet,’ I said. I wished I could smile, but opening my mouth made my fangs slide down, which wasn’t a good look.
    She kissed the end of my nose. ‘I’m going to bed. See you at breakfast.’
    ‘Night, Simone.’
    She disappeared; she would travel invisible to the apartment she’d commandeered so that nobody would see her in her pyjamas. There were no human-suitable beds in my quarters.
    I slithered into my own bedroom, which had arecessed floor area filled with beanbags, and a couple of infra-red heat lamps above to provide heat without light. My quarters were generally kept at a warmer temperature than was comfortable for humans but very pleasant by reptile standards. I put my head next to the edge of the sleeping recess and the stone from my ring, now in the filigree crown on my head, reached out a long green tendril and lifted itself and the crown onto the recess ledge. It grabbed a paper seal from the stack there, reached towards me and stuck the seal onto the top of my head between my eyes.
    I stretched out under the ray lamps and performed a mild meditation cycle, moving my serpent chi through the length of my body. The serpent’s chi was different from both human and demon essence; darker and brighter at the same time, and colder because of my cold-bloodedness.
    The stone moved around the edge of the recess so it was closer to my head.
    ‘You’ll be asleep yourself; you won’t know if the seal slips,’ I said drowsily.
    ‘You’re too casual about the consequences of losing that seal,’ the stone said.
    I began to drift off, my vision blurring. ‘I’m more comfortable as a snake anyway; I doubt I’ll lose the form.’
    ‘I’ll make sure you don’t,’ the stone said, but I barely heard it.
    The next morning I joined Simone in her apartment while she ate breakfast. She was already in her school uniform, and she checked the art deco mantle clock on the rosewood side table as she scooped up her cereal. ‘You still have time,’ I said.
    She nodded, but finished quickly and bounced up. ‘I have swimming training after school so I’ll be late back.’
    ‘Stay down there. Monica and Leo can look after you,’ I said.
    She hesitated, then shrugged. ‘Okay. I’ll come back on the weekend.’
    ‘How’s the swimming going?’
    ‘I’m second best on the team,’ she said proudly. ‘We have a meet in two weeks.’
    ‘Book me in,’ I said.
    ‘Already did.’ She came around the table, put her hand on the back of my neck and kissed the top of my head. ‘See you on the weekend, Emma.’
    ‘I’ll call you later,’ I said.
    After she’d gone, I took myself over to the palace’s administrative centre. The Serpent Concubine Pavilion was on the western side of the palace complex, with only the servants’ quarters and the support areas—the laundry and kitchens—further north of it. There had only ever been one Serpent Concubine in the entire history of the palace, and nobody would say much about her. John had never bothered to have the Serpent Pavilion returned to a human-style dwelling, and nobody had spoken much about his reasons for that either. The servants wouldn’t even tell me whether the Serpent Concubine had died or had left him; they all suggested that I contact the Archivist for the full story.
    The palace was divided into two rectangular areas: the residential section took up the northern half; the administrative section, the southern half. A four-metre internal wall with a single gate separated them, entirely blocking off one side from the other. Tradition called for the Emperor and his most senior advisors—andconsorts—to be carried around the complex in sedan chairs, but John had never bothered with that, preferring to walk through the complex so he could check the status