"What the fuck is my mum doing on a battlefield?" Zhu Irzh said.
Jhai gave him a wary glance. "That's your mother?"
"Yeah, she ditched my dad, threw him out of the house, and started seeing the Minister of War. I forgot to tell you. In all the excitement and that."
"And I thought my family was dysfunctional," Jhai sighed. They were still sitting in the truck, still bound. The tank containing the Minister of War and his consort had just rumbled by, heading for the industrial plant that, so Zhu Irzh had recently informed Chen, formed the main power source for the whole of Hell.
Chen leaned to one side and spoke urgently to Zhu Irzh. The guard had shuffled down from the truck by now and was having a quiet cigarette over by the side of a tank.
"I'm not at all keen on being captive while there's a battle going on. We won't even be able to make a run for it."
"I agree," Zhu Irzh said, and the women also nodded. "I couldn't do it while that guard was watching, but if you move round . . ."
Chen did so. He felt the demon's sharp claws sawing against his wrist and then a sudden sensation of freedom.
"Good. Thanks."
Meanwhile, Miss Qi had freed Jhai. Chen felt at a distinct disadvantage, with ordinary human fingernails. He did a cautious inner check, assessing the status of his own magic. Down here, furthest away from the home of the goddess Kuan Yin, the original source of his powers, the magic had dwindled to no more than a thin trickle, like the faintest source of moisture in the depths of the desert. A human among demons, Chen knew that he was worse than useless.
But he still possessed cunning. Better than nothing, wherever you found yourself.
Zhu Irzh gave him a nudge. "Look up there."
Chen did so and, had he known it, had the same experience as Pin on the watchtower: the kuei, and the glow and gleam of Heaven beyond.
"Do you think there's any chance of Kuan Yin putting in an appearance?" Zhu Irzh asked.
"I don't know whether any of the gods will be coming themselves or whether they're relying on the army," Chen said, but Miss Qi added:
"No, she won't. I heard before I left Heaven that she had gone into retreat and was not expected to emerge for several weeks."
"Lying low because she doesn't go along with the Emperor's plans." Zhu Irzh said. "Can't blame her."
"Neither can I, but she's the one person who might have been able to help me out," Chen said.
"Never mind," the demon replied. "You'll just have to rely on us."