back to me, Jane. And hurry…’
I woke with a start, tears staining my face and pillow. I sat up to find myself in an unfamiliar hotel bedroom, not a hut.
I was still in Hong Kong, and Anyan was a dragon.
A sob wailed, unbidden, from my lips and seconds later Ryu was standing in my doorway. We had booked ourselves into a suite at the monks’ hotel, at the behest of the kindly old monk, who wanted us to talk to someone the next day. So we’d scanned and emailed the important poem about dragons to Caleb, who’d either be able to translate it himself or would know who could, and we’d called it a night.
We’d also gone ahead and sent our clothes in for cleaning after ordering everything we needed, from pajamas to toothbrushes, on the tab of Ryu’s compound. Sometimes it was good traveling with someone who worked for the Man, at least when he or she also had access to the Man’s expense account.
‘Are you all right? What happened?’ Ryu asked, coming to sit on the edge of my bed.
‘A dream. It was important…’ I was supposed to remember something, but I couldn’t. I shook my head roughly, as if I might dislodge whatever it was I had to remember.
‘Easy, Jane,’ Ryu said soothingly. ‘We had a crazy day, and you’re really stressed. No wonder you had a bad dream.’
I frowned. What he said made sense, but it wasn’t right. The dream had been important.
‘Anyan was there,’ I said, my memory flashing briefly. Then failing.
‘I’m sure he was,’ Ryu said, his voice grim. ‘Today was the first time you saw the White since he took Anyan, right?’
‘Well, yes, but…’
‘That’s why you dreamed about him, Jane.’ Ryu’s voice was gentle, sympathetic. He was obviously concerned for me. I sort of wanted to strangle him.
But he was probably right.
‘It was just so real,’ I said, leaning back against my pillows in defeat.
‘Of course it was.’ Ryu patted my hand where it lay in the bedclothes. ‘You miss him.’
More tears welled up. I blinked them away furiously, refusing to speak for fear that whatever I tried to say would come in a garbled sob.
‘Now, try to get more sleep. You need it.’
I let Ryu tuck me in, felt his cool lips on my forehead as he gave me a goodnight kiss. But my mind was a hundred miles away.
When he shut out the light and closed the door behind him, I blinked in the darkness.
On the one hand, I desperately wanted to shut my eyes and see Anyan again. I knew I’d dreamed about him.
Dreams aren’t real, I reminded myself. And yet they were something.
Which was why, on the other hand, I wanted to stay awake. I’d felt so utterly alone, so heartbroken, when I’d woken up just now. I didn’t want to feel that way again, not if I wanted to function as a normal human being for the rest of the day.
Unfortunately, no matter what I wanted or didn’t want, my body had other plans. I was exhausted, and after a few minutes I felt my heavy eyelids sliding shut of their own accord.
My dreams, this time, were empty.
Chapter Nine
The next morning we had a surprise visitor.
A sweet-faced, deferential young monk ushered Ryu and me into a boardroom on the same floor as our suite, where we found Daniel Rankin, the British secret agent who had helped us fight the Red. He was part of a special unit within MI5 or MI6 – I couldn’t keep them straight – that knew about supes and liaised with the Great Island’s Alfar Powers That Be.
‘Daniel,’ I said, shaking his hand. Our friend, the older monk from yesterday, smiled and nodded his own greeting to me, which I returned.
‘This is Ryu Baobhan Sith,’ I said, introducing the two as they shook hands.
‘A pleasure to meet you,’ the human said, his eyes aglow with curiosity. ‘I’ve heard so much about you, and we’ve been watching your territory’s experiment in democracy with great interest.’
‘Is that so?’ Ryu asked, his ever-eloquent eyebrows rising.
I took a moment to explain to Ryu who Daniel was, and for whom he worked. I could tell my ex had not known about Daniel’s organization, and that he was not too happy to find out about it now, under such circumstances.
‘The Great Island always has done things its own way,’ was the baobhan sith’s cryptic reply. Daniel couldn’t hide his obvious pleasure in discomfiting such a well-known supe.
‘So what brings you