12
T he Peak apartment was empty when she arrived. She went into her room and pulled her suitcase out from under the bed as she telepathically contacted her father.
Daddy, where are you? The JE’s sent me on a mission to Europe—
‘I know, he just told me,’ Xuan Wu said from the doorway, with Frankie peeking out from behind his robe-clad legs.
‘I don’t have a choice. I have to go.’ She turned and sat on the bed, then gestured towards Frankie. ‘I’m sorry, Squirt, but the JE’s being a turdface again.’
‘What happened?’ Frankie asked as he walked hesitantly into her room. He glanced at the suitcase as if it was a dangerous predator. ‘You’re leaving? You said you’d stay until Mum came back.’
‘I have to go to Europe. There’s a war there, and I can stop it,’ Simone said.
Michael’s gleaming presence appeared outside the apartment’s living room windows, and their father went to let him past the seals.
‘I’ll come with you,’ Frankie said.
She pulled him into her lap—he was nearly too big to fit—and held him. ‘You can’t. It’ll be really dangerous, and I might have to go to their Hell, and I could be the only one who can come out of it. If you go with me, you could get stuck there.’
‘Are you ready to go?’ Michael asked from the door. He had changed his appearance back to his pre-grief self, and the difference was striking. His glossy blond hair was tied back into a neat ponytail, and he wore jeans and a long-sleeved polo under a beige V-neck cashmere sweater, looking like the Harvard graduate that he was. ‘The Celestial is on my case about going there in a hurry, because Dad’s agents have spotted that Western Shen again.’
Simone stood and returned Frankie to his feet. ‘Everybody out, I need to pack.’ She pushed Frankie towards their father, but he refused to move. ‘Frankie, please. I’ll save lives. I’ll be back soon, and I’ll keep in touch ...’ She had an idea and knelt to speak to him. ‘How about I send you some cool postcards of the places I go in Europe? And send you selfies?’
‘No,’ he said. ‘Stay. Don’t listen to the JE. You said you don’t have to listen to him!’ He grabbed her again. ‘Stay here with me. You promised!’
‘Remember when you asked me to put another banner on Lion Rock?’ she asked.
He was silent a moment, then spoke, his voice small, ‘I didn’t mean it.’
She pulled back to see his desperate face. ‘This is more than that. People are dying, there’s a war, soldiers are shooting and blowing up—’ She didn’t say “children”. ‘—families, and I can help save them. The Jade Emperor says I’m the only one who can do it, because I’m the only one who can go into their Hell and come out again.’
‘Uncle Michael can do it,’ Frankie said, glaring at Michael.
‘The Jade Emperor needs his most powerful warrior to handle this, and that’s Simone,’ Michael said. ‘She’s way more powerful than me. I’m just going along to support her.’
Frankie fidgeted, moving from foot to foot, then turned back to Simone. ‘How long?’
‘I don’t know. Stay with Dad and look after him for me? The JE’s given him some time off, so ask him to take you to all the cool places he took me when I was a kid. And he can teach you, like you wanted.’
‘I don’t want him, I want you! ’ Frankie shouted and ran into his room, thumping both Xuan Wu and Michael with his fist as he passed them. The howls of rage and pain from his room were clearly audible and everybody winced.
‘Go,’ Xuan Wu said. ‘I will handle him.’
Simone wiped her hand over her tear-filled eyes—she would need to see the House of the North’s resident therapist, Audrey Au, again when this was done—and waved them away. ‘Out.’
Michael nodded. ‘I’ll wait for you in the living room.’
‘You’re doing the right thing, Simone,’ Xuan Wu said, and they both left her to it.
‘I wish everyone would stop saying that,’ Simone said and started sorting through her underwear.
Her father was standing with Michael in the living room when she wheeled her bag in, and both of them had the guilty expressions of men who had been discussing her in her absence. Frankie’s miserable presence was a dark, sulky aura coming from his bedroom.
Michael leapt through the living room windows onto a cloud.
Simone hesitated in front of her father. ‘I have a request.’
‘I will watch over him—’
‘No,’ Simone said. ‘Don’t attempt ...’ She hesitated, unsure of how much the JE would allow her to say. ‘To get Emma out of Hell. She has to stay there for the full thirty days.’
His dark eyes searched her face, then he spoke. ‘I understand.’
She relaxed with relief, threw herself into his arms and hugged him, then jumped onto a cloud of her own. As they set off, she sat on her cloud and pulled the folder out of her backpack to study while they travelled.
The premonition slammed into her again, and she hesitated with the folder halfway out of her bag. It was even stronger this time. She would return alone, full of rage and pain after losing someone important to her. All her breath left her as she looked up and saw Michael, sitting on his own cloud, engrossed in reading his binder.
Oh no way. After all he had lost? Really? His wife had just died, his daughter had been taken halfway across the world, his father, the White Tiger of the West, didn’t give a damn about him and his mother had exploded in front of him when her Celtic Serpent nature had rejected the Elixir of Immortality. She picked up her cloud’s pace to match Michael’s. She had a difficult decision to make, and again chose not to say anything to avoid the risk of it happening. She would just have to guard Michael and ensure he returned.
Michael looked up from the binder, noticed her regard, and smiled at her in a way she’d yearned for ever since she realised her feelings for him. For years they’d deliberately avoided each other to prevent hurting Clarissa, who they both adored.
The Jade Emperor really wouldn’t be that cruel, would he? But after what he had just done to Michael, anything seemed possible. She wiped her eyes, drawing her hair out of them, and returned to the binder. Her hair blew into her eyes again and she quickly braided it and summoned a hair tie to hold it. When she had originally gained Immortality, her hair had been long and flowing free, and it had been a damn nuisance ever since. Even if she had it cut short, the next morning when she woke up, it was long again.
It became apparent after ten minutes of travel that Simone’s cloud was at least twice as fast as Michael’s. She slowed her cloud, enlarged it, and stood to gesture towards him. ‘I’ll carry us.’
He nodded, dismissed his cloud, and flew over to hers.
He smiled. ‘Remember me carrying Emma on my cloud to Guilin? And when you didn’t know how to summon a cloud in Thailand? We had to use one of mine, and I wasn’t strong enough to make the full journey. You’ve come so far—this one is bigger and faster than any I could produce.’ He sang the first few words of the ‘Aladdin’ magic carpet song, and it pierced her heart.
She raised one hand. ‘Let’s just go through these briefings. The Shen appears to be so normal it’s unbelievable—Katie says he even sees a counsellor for psychological issues. What do you think?’
‘Frankly, I have no idea,’ he said, then he sat next to her and opened his own folder.
*
T he White Tiger’s hotel was on a side-street off Rue Faubourg, the main strip where all the couture fashion houses had their shop fronts—and the location of the Presidential Palace, where the Tiger probably schmoozed local politicians. The narrow one-way street had four- and five-storey, limestone-faced mansions lining its sides, and the hotel opened directly onto the street, across from a big Asian makeup house’s European headquarters. The entrance had double doors leading to a lobby the size of a suburban double garage. They went in to find a few of the White Tiger’s many wives gathered with a couple of seraglio bodyguards in preparation for a shopping trip.
The wives watched Simone and Michael give their bags to the concierge with open curiosity. One of the bodyguards approached and nodded to Michael.
Michael nodded back. ‘Ahmed.’
The bodyguard glanced from Michael to Simone, to their bags being held by the smiling human concierge, and then up at them again. His expression went stony, and he turned back to the wives.
‘What’s his problem?’ Michael asked quietly.
Simone stared at him. He honestly didn’t know? His expression was open and innocent, and she understood—after the Jade Emperor had messed with his head, it was very likely that his reactions would be inappropriate until this whole thing was finished. Her shoulders slumped and she followed Michael to the reception desk.
‘Hey, Kim, good to see you,’ Michael said cheerfully to the woman behind the desk.
Simone recognised the woman and desperately searched her memory for who she was. She was a couple of years younger than Simone, had blonde hair held back in a bun and delightful freckles, was half-European and was obviously a daughter of the Tiger. Kim, Kim—Simone couldn’t remember.
‘Simone!’ Kim said with a slight Australian accent, smiling at her. She nodded to Michael. ‘Michael.’ She studied his face. ‘So sorry for your loss.’
‘Uh, thanks,’ he said, still cheerful, and shot Simone a knowing grin that she’d longed to see her whole life. ‘I keep forgetting. It’s awful.’
Kim looked from Simone to Michael, wide-eyed and speechless. Simone tried to tell Kim that the Jade Emperor had messed with Michael’s head—and failed. Obviously, this was information that the JE didn’t want shared—and now that she’d agreed to this stupid sortie, she had to obey him. Wonderful.
His head is a bit messed up, Simone said silently to Kim. We’re here for something to do with Celestial politics. Help us out?
Kim nodded understanding. ‘It must be really top-level because Er Lang and Dad both told me to give you the suite that Dad usually uses on the top floor. Let me show you around.’
She took a couple of old-fashioned metal keys on security fob rings from the desk, rose and came around it. She stopped and raised her voice so that everyone in the lobby could hear her. ‘Dad said you needed two separate bedrooms because you’re not here together.’
The wives stood in stunned silence for a couple of seconds, then gathered to have a soft conversation about what they’d just heard.
Simone relaxed. ‘Thanks, Kim, but I don’t think they’ll believe it.’
‘Why not?’ Michael asked.
Kim and Simone stared at him, then Kim gathered herself and guided them through the lobby to a glass-roofed, conservatory-style restaurant next to the hotel’s internal garden, which was surrounded by the high courtyard walls.
‘The restaurant has a Michelin star, you can have food ordered up to your suite or come down here any time,’ she said, standing at the entrance and nodding to the ma?tre d’, who was another son of the Tiger. ‘Katie and Gabriel are on their way to meet with you here, they should be about ten minutes.’ She glanced up at the glass roof, streaked from the rain that had fallen recently. ‘A bit cold right now for eating outside, but it’s lovely in the summer.’ She gestured towards the hotel’s internal courtyard garden. ‘Indoor pool and day spa on the other side, just walk around the corridor to get there.’ She guided them to the narrow lift lobby with two small lifts. One of the lifts arrived and a couple of wives exited, talking with enthusiasm, and rushed to join the rest of the group in the lobby with many loud greetings and air kisses.
Kim guided them into the lift and pressed the button for the top floor. It only held five people and wasn’t big enough to carry the concierge with their bags as well, so he smiled and nodded as he waited for the next one. When the lift door closed, Kim turned to Simone.
‘You saved our lives,’ she said. ‘Me, Eva, Jackie—you couldn’t even tell our parents we were okay, because you were in hiding while you worked to take the demons down. I’ll never forget your kindness.’ She lowered her voice. ‘And your sacrifice. Anything you need ...’ She held the keys out to Simone. ‘Food, help, housekeeping, anything , you give me a call.’
Memory blossomed in Simone’s head. When the Demon King had occupied the Heavens during the war, he had imprisoned three girls to serve as wives for Frankie—Jackie, the Blue Dragon’s daughter, Evie, the Red Phoenix’s daughter, and Kimberley, the daughter of the White Tiger. ‘I remember, Kimberley. The three of you were so brave, it was really scary. I had to slip food and water to you for a couple of days because the Demon King forgot about you—you could have starved!’
Kim held Simone’s hand in both her own and shook it. ‘You saved us and freed the Heavens.’ She glanced at Michael, who was standing with a proud smile on his face and scowled. ‘What the hell is wrong with you? Are you deliberately trying to spread rumours about Simone? You need to stop this!’
Michael appeared confused as the lift stopped and the doors opened, then his face filled with horror. ‘That asshole has messed me up. I am so sorry.’ He wiped one hand down his face. ‘Shit. We are in separate rooms, aren’t we?’
‘Er Lang arranged it,’ Kim said, leading them out of the lift and down the corridor. This floor only had two doors on it. She opened theirs. ‘Unfortunately, you’re in a suite that shares a living room in the centre.’
They entered the room and Kim closed the door behind them. The living room was the size of a double bedroom with a couple of barrel chairs and a coffee table, a narrow window that overlooked the roofs across the road, and two doors that led to the bedrooms. The entire area was luxuriously furnished in bleached ash and gold-and-white satin, but it was tiny, which was normal for a converted European townhouse like this.
‘Michael, I don’t know what you’ve done to yourself, but you are not acting like a man who just lost his wife and daughter. You’re acting like ...’ Kim waved one hand at Simone, her face taut. ‘You’re making her look awful.’
‘I know,’ Michael said. ‘Can you put me in a separate room? Not in the same suite? Even a different hotel would be better.’
‘The Christmas markets are on, it’s the middle of the high season and the entire city is full, so no,’ Kim said. ‘We had to send three wives home to accommodate you here, completely messing up the harem roster system. I suggest you think of something in a hurry to clarify to the Celestial gossip mill—since you’re right smack in the middle of it, here—that you two are not taking advantage of the fact that your wife just passed to spend time together.’
‘This is absolute bullshit,’ Michael said. He turned to Simone. ‘I—’
‘Forget it, let’s just get this done in a hurry so I can get ...’ Simone hit a barrier and couldn’t say, “my stepmother out of Hell.” ‘Your head back together.’ There was a knock on the door. ‘There’s our bags. We’ll unpack, meet with your father’s agents downstairs in the restaurant—completely professionally, and you had better look grieving—and then go out and find this Shen.’
Michael nodded once sharply, his blonde ponytail flipping with the movement, and went to the door to let the concierge in.
*
S imone’s room was barely bigger than the double bed in it, but it was comfortably decorated in white and gold, and immaculately clean. Another attic-style window opened to a small balcony that again overlooked the roofs across the road. The bed had a pile of cushions and a fluffy comforter on it, and she quickly sorted through her clothes and placed her bath stuff in the ensuite, then carried her briefing binder out to the living room to find Michael already there, sitting in one of the barrel chairs and reading his copy.
He stood. ‘You take the lead on this. You’re more powerful than me and can sense things more clearly than I can. Don’t bother explaining anything if we need to move quickly—just run and I’ll follow. Draw your weapons, and I’ll draw mine.’
‘No,’ Simone said. ‘This is a partnership ...’ She stopped and winced at the reflection of Graham’s words. ‘Of equals, so the same goes the other way. If one of us misses something, the other picks it up. Okay?’
He nodded, went to the door and held it open for her. She walked out to the lift lobby, pressed the button, and when the lift arrived, she held the door for him. He saw what she was doing, shot her a quick smile that pierced her through, and they went down to the lobby together.
The restaurant was doing the lunch service and was nearly full. Simone and Michael stopped at the entrance and Simone looked around for Katie but didn’t see her. She didn’t know what Gabriel looked like.
The ma?tre d’ swept up to them with a smile. ‘Michael.’ He shook Michael’s hand with both of his, grinning ruefully. ‘So sorry about everything.’
‘Thanks, Louis,’ Michael said, freed his hands, and wiped one over his eyes. ‘I didn’t want to come on this mission but apparently it’s important and we can do something about the war.’
Louis saluted Simone Chinese-style with his hands clasped in front of him. ‘Princess. This way.’ He guided them through the restaurant—with everyone’s eyes following them—to a private room at the end. He opened the door revealing the standard Chinese setup of a ten-seater table, folded mah-jongg table to one side and karaoke screen on the wall.
Katie was waiting for them, sitting at the table with a man Simone didn’t know. He was obviously a son of the Tiger, but his mother was Black, giving him dark, glossy skin, a sculpted face with a generous mouth, and short straw-coloured hair that was a startling contrast.
Michael and Simone nodded to them as they saluted, then sat at the table.
‘Can I get you anything? Katie? Gabriel?’ the ma?tre d’ asked.
‘How about a luncheon tasting platter in the middle, family-style?’ Gabriel asked. ‘Vegetarian for the Princess.’
‘Sure thing. Drinks?’
‘Green tea please,’ Simone said.
‘Water,’ Katie said.
‘Same,’ Michael and Gabriel said in unison.
Katie had her laptop open and pressed a button, turning on the wall-mounted television and bringing up the photo they’d already seen of the Shen—short, middle-aged, white and not looking anything special.
‘He’s a boring mid-level manager at a trading company,’ Katie said. She flipped to another photo of him sitting at one of Paris’s outdoor café tables alone, brooding over a glass of red wine. ‘Married, no children, divorced a long time ago. Seeing a psychologist for relationship issues. Gabriel?’
Gabriel nodded and took over, his expression grim. ‘My wife’s a stone Shen, and she was directed by the Celestial to investigate his psychologist’s case files on him.’ He scowled. ‘She didn’t want to do it, but an order’s an order, and we have to trust him and do as says.’
‘His wife ...’ Michael’s face filled with horrified realisation. ‘Oh lord he’s making me miss my wife’s funeral , and I don’t care .’
Katie and Gabriel both nodded, unsurprised.
‘He told us what he did to you and asked us to “cut you some slack”,’ Katie said. ‘This had better be worth it because he’s leaving a trail of trauma behind him.’
‘Yeah, my stepmother’s in Hell and my little brother may never speak to me again,’ Simone said. ‘We want this done quickly.’
Gabriel folded his hands on the table and studied them. ‘My wife read through his case files and the synopsis is: the Shen is seeing the psychologist for standard single-man issues, loneliness, unable to find the right woman, and apparently the marriage fell apart because he lost interest in his wife and couldn’t explain why.’
‘That would fit if our suspicions are correct and he’s the god Hades,’ Simone said, and the others nodded. ‘He’s looking for Persephone, the love of his life, and she’s gone forever.’
‘Does everyone here know the story of Hades and Persephone and how he ran off with her and she had to stay in his realm for half the year?’ Katie asked.
Michael touched his binder. ‘I do now.’
‘But the demons in Hell asked me if I would wait for my Lord,’ Simone said. ‘They thought I was Persephone. Is she still around?’
‘The demons may have no sense of time or know that she’s gone,’ Katie said.
‘So we have a choice here,’ Michael said. ‘Approach Hades and ask him nicely if he can let us into the Heavens so we can clear them or go straight to Hell and background him first.’
‘Hades himself can’t go into the Heavens,’ Simone said. ‘It’s a big part of the mythos that he was trapped down in Hell because of his asshole brothers.’
‘If Persephone’s around she can let you in,’ Katie said. ‘She’s allowed there in winter, and we’re in the middle of it right now.’
Michael turned to Simone. ‘Talk to Hades, or go to Hell?’
‘I’ve already been to Hell and there’s nothing there,’ Simone said.
The platter arrived and it was large enough for everyone, with a selection of sandwiches both club-style and open on a variety of different breads. Michael immediately grabbed one with chicken and salad on it and attacked it as if he hadn’t eaten in days. Simone took one with roasted Mediterranean vegetables on a slice of sourdough. She took a bite and realised she was starving as well. She poured herself some tea to go with the food.
‘Eat, stay strong,’ Katie said, placing a croissant from the platter onto her own plate and tearing it open. ‘The Shen—Hades—is at work right now. At five pm, he will go from his office to the café where we took the photo. He has a glass of wine there by himself, looking miserable as all hell, then collects a take-away dinner from the owners of the café and heads home on the train to a little one-bedroom apartment in the outskirts of the city.’
*
T hey arrived at the café just before five. It was too cold to sit outdoors on the icy pavement, so they sat inside, at a booth in the furthest corner from the door, with glasses of an excellent house red wine. The café was on the corner of two busy roads near the train station, which obviously handled freight because large trucks rumbled past carrying rail containers. Simone and Michael pretended to be young lovers, and it was agony for Simone because the pretence was effortless.
Michael smiled at her over the table. ‘Once this is over, would you like to come back here with me and just hang out in all the fun places?’ Charming dimples that she’d never seen before appeared in his cheeks and his voice turned sly. ‘I can take you to the Eiffel Tower and the Science Museum. You loved them when we were little kids.’
Simone swiped one hand over her forehead and pulled the stray hair out of her eyes. ‘You keep forgetting that when this is all over, you will remember that fabulous woman who you loved with all your heart, who just gave her life to bring your child into the world. And the child who is in another country and you may not see again.’
His expression fell. ‘I do. Thanks for reminding me.’ He studied the surroundings—the café’s interior was warmed by a fireplace to one side, and vintage Parisian posters decorated the walls, some of them appearing genuine antiques. He turned back to her. ‘The pain is there, but it’s kind of behind a wall, and I can’t feel it. Please don’t stop reminding me. While I’m like this—I’m a monster. Heartless.’ He lowered his head and shook it. ‘This had better be worth it. When he takes the wall down, the guilt over my awful behaviour may destroy me.’
She sighed. ‘We have to trust him to know what he’s doing.’
‘During the war ...’ he began and stopped.
‘Ask,’ she said. ‘You can always ask me anything.’
‘How accurate was the Jade Emperor’s vision of the future? Did he know that you and Frankie would be the ones to save the Heavens? Did he manipulate everybody to ensure it would happen? So many people suffered ... that time I spent in the Hell of the Trees of Swords ...’ His eyes went unseeing, and he lifted his glass to take a big gulp of wine, then spoke bitterly. ‘Oh, the aftermath of that I can definitely feel.’ He put his glass down and touched her hand. ‘And if it wasn’t for you, I’d still be there.’
She pulled her hand away, and his expression filled with hurt, then understanding.
‘Emma said that the Jade Emperor seemed just as delighted as everyone else when Nu Wa intervened and it looked like it was all over,’ she said. ‘I think he has a clearer view of all the future possibilities than anyone else, but he has to be very careful and only nudge things in the right direction, otherwise he’ll cause the butterfly effect. I’m sure it’s exhausting.’
‘Does Frankie talk about what it was like to be the emperor and have his enhanced vision?’
‘Frankie doesn’t talk much about anything.’ She looked away. ‘Barely a couple of years old, and having to see all that—’ She turned back to Michael. ‘Neither of us had a normal childhood, and it shows.’
‘Clarissa had the right idea,’ Michael said. ‘If you have the choice, stay out of Celestial politics, go to the Earthly and live a quiet life away from all of it.’
‘I was trying to,’ Simone moaned, and took a gulp of her own wine.
The bell on the café’s door rang and the air filled with the lively, uplifting presence of a Shen. It was him. He seemed even smaller in person: plain, bald and overweight, with a lined face full of kindness and an edge of ages-old sadness, but he was smiling. He wore a thick overcoat over a worn, dark blue polyester suit and carried a small, battered briefcase under his arm. He looked around the café and chose a small table in the corner, next to the window overlooking the street, and the café’s owner brought him a glass of wine without being asked. They shared a few words and the owner patted him on the shoulder and left him.
Hades appeared energised and positive, very different from the melancholy man in the photo. He tapped his wine glass on the table and stared out the window.
Simone half-rose to go and talk to him when the bell rang again, and the air filled with life. The fresh scent of greenery filled the café.
‘Another one,’ Michael breathed.
Simone sat back down to watch. This one was a woman, in her sixties, with a lined, weathered face and wispy grey hair under a knitted beanie. She was rotund and plain-faced, and wore work trousers and steel-toed boots with a high-visibility shirt under an ancient, battered puffer vest that was streaked with dirt. She looked around the café and her face lit up when she saw him.
Hades rose and smiled when he saw her. She rushed to him, touched his face, and they embraced, then fell to sit. They twined hands together and gazed into each other’s eyes, their expressions full of joy.
‘Oh lord, he found her,’ Simone said under her breath. ‘We have a way in.’
‘There’s no mention of a girlfriend or partner in any of the briefings,’ Michael said, ‘and they’ve been following him around for months.’
‘Text Gabriel, ask him long they’ve been together,’ Simone said. She studied Hades and Persephone, who made the entire café light up with their joy at being together. The humans around them were infected with their delight and the atmosphere lifted.
Michael tapped his phone and it pinged in his hand. ‘Last time they tailed him was three days ago, and he was alone and miserable then.’ He looked up at the rapt couple. ‘This is new.’
Persephone leaned in to say something to Hades, and he laughed gently. She looked away from him, saw Simone and Michael and a look of confusion crossed her face. She gestured with her head towards them as she said something. He turned and saw them as well, and his eyes widened. He took her cheek in his hand, spoke urgently to her—
‘Quick, he’s saying goodbye,’ Michael said, and climbed from the booth with difficulty.
Simone and Michael struggled to get out of the booth to grab him in time, but they weren’t fast enough. The Shen stood, cast around and ran out of the café faster than any human could.
‘No, no, no ... Simone faster—’ Michael panted, but neither of them made it. The Shen ran straight into the path of a truck and was mown down. Simone ran to him and crouched, then turned away at the sight. His head was smashed like a melon. She rose and approached the woman, who had staggered clumsily out of the café and was glaring at her.
‘Do you know how many years we’d been searching for each other?’ the woman asked. ‘We’d just found each other. We only had a few days together. Why. Why?’ She leaned on the back of one the café’s outside chairs, distraught. ‘Who was he? Why was he like that? Even he didn’t know.’ She slammed her hand onto the back of the chair. ‘He glowed like the sun! He didn’t know why he was special, or why we knew we were destined the minute we saw each other. Then he saw you, said goodbye, and ran.’
‘We need to go to Hell,’ Simone said.
The woman jabbed her finger in Simone’s face. ‘Yes! Go to Hell!’
‘Give me your contact details so that we can find you again,’ Michael said. ‘Quickly! We need to stop him. We can bring him back.’
‘He’s dead, child. There’s no bringing him back.’
‘You know that’s not true, otherwise you wouldn’t still be functioning,’ Simone said. ‘Like he said. Details! We’ll come back. I promise.’
The woman raised her phone and said the number. Simone called her, she answered, and they both hung up.
‘Take my hand,’ Simone said, holding her hand out. Michael grabbed it and she teleported both of them to European Hell.