during the summoning, and she saw enough to guess the truth. She threatened to expose me unless I handed over control of the project to her. I couldn't risk that, Zhu Irzh. Deveth had no managerial skills; she couldn't have run a bath. So I tried out the Celestial's new-found aggression on her."
"What's that Western expression? Killing two birds with one stone?"
"Exactly."
"So," the demon said, turning in his seat to look at her. He reached out and touched her cheek. "Why are you telling me all this? So that I can take you down to the police precinct and charge you with all manner of iniquities?"
"You think you could make any charges stick? It's your word against mine, Zhu Irzh. You're a demon from the realm of Hell. And I'm Singapore Three's premier businesswoman. I could buy this city. In fact," Jhai frowned, as if trying to remember where she'd purchased a pair of shoes, "I think I already have. If the police department gets too close, I might have to do something about that, but they haven't so far and I've been all co-operation, of course. The Chinese government might have believed Deveth—her father has close connections to it—but I don't think they'll believe you. Anyway, why would you want to expose something that could be to your immense advantage?"
"Then what are you offering me?" Zhu Irzh asked. He did not want to seem dense, but he wanted to hear her say it.
"A partnership. You could be the next Celestial Emperor, Zhu Irzh, if we get this right."
"And if we don't? I could end up consigned to the lowest pit of the farthest level of Hell as something the size of a toe, and you with me."
"That won't happen. My sponsors are protecting me."
Zhu Irzh's eyebrows rose. "You've made a bargain with someone in Hell and you trust them?"
"If I go down, I'll make sure they go with me. They won't risk that. And also, remember that my ancestry might be Hellkind of a sort, but it's not from the Chinese afterlife. I have somewhere to bail out to if I have to. So what do you say? Are you with me?"
"I'll think about it," Zhu Irzh said. Jhai nodded.
"All right."
The car slowed at the entrance to the harbor.
"I'll walk from here," the demon said. He gave Jhai a sidelong smile. She hid her disappointment well.
"When am I going to see you again?"
"Tomorrow," Zhu Irzh said firmly. "I need some time to think." Leaning over, he kissed Jhai hard, and was out of the car before she had time to respond. He did not look back, but he smiled again as he heard the car pull away. Well, he had wanted to know what she was up to, and now he did. High stakes indeed. And a great deal of power for someone brave enough, or foolish enough, to grasp the nettle. Zhu Irzh had already become involved in a political battle in Hell, and he wasn't keen to court another one. Besides, he could see that Jhai was making a classic mistake: even in spite of her ancestry, because of her Earthly power, she was tacitly assuming that Hell had little influence over her, as long as she was not actually there. Zhu Irzh knew better. The first slip, and Jhai's masters would make a sacrificial lamb of her.
Zhu Irzh blinked up into the glowing darkness, and wondered what exactly he was going to do about this. Telling the human authorities did not seem to be an option: he believed Jhai when she spoke of her control over the city council. She could make life difficult for him, demon though he was. Nor was he inclined to sell her out; if the plan worked, then there would undoubtedly be something in it for most of Hellkind, and some dark part of Zhu Irzh's demonic consciousness reveled in the idea of the chaos to come. So, he thought, ambling down the wharf, this was one situation that he would simply wait out.
Achieving such neutrality might be easier said than done, given that Jhai had already drawn him a certain distance into her schemes, but Zhu Irzh was confident of the degree of power that sexual authority conferred upon him. The demon rarely underestimated women; Jhai, however, owed him a debt, and he intended to capitalize upon it as much as he possibly could.
He stepped carefully over the pontoons, and halted as he came within reach of the houseboat's ladder.