"Sorry about that," Jhai Tserai said. She was lounging against the opposite wall, absently cleaning the dagger that she'd plucked from the guard's shriveling body. Hell was taking its toll on Jhai, Chen observed with interest. It had brought out her true inner form, her tiger nature, the form that Jhai was so keen to conceal from the human authorities of Singapore Three. There were laws against those of demon stock from holding interests on Earth—not that the regulations couldn't be surpassed by a generous bribe, Chen was sure. But for whatever reason, Jhai had chosen to do things the hard way. She probably enjoyed the risk.
So now the industrialist still regained her elegant sari, her expensive earrings and delicate bangles, but these were accessorized by tiger claws and tiger teeth. Jhai's eyes were a deep dark gold, hidden fire, and stripes shadowed her skin. A tail flickered about her ankles.
"What are you doing here?" Zhu Irzh asked. Jhai's sudden, lethal, appearance seemed to have rattled the demon more than anything else on this trip.
"I got bored," Jhai said. "Company's doing its thing, rebuilding is progressing as planned, life was normal. So I thought I'd come and see what you're doing."
"Are you checking up on me?" Zhu Irzh said.
"Why? What have you been doing?" Jhai raised a painted eyebrow. "Actually, you don't have to answer that. I pretty much know."
"It doesn't really matter why she's here, does it?" Chen said, hoping to forestall a domestic tiff. "She saved your life."
"Thank you, Detective," Jhai said. "And it's lovely to see you, by the way. We never seem to have enough time to chat." Jhai was always heavy with the charm, but the trouble was that she seemed to mean it.
"Unfortunately, that includes now," Chen said. "We still haven't found Qi and the Ministry knows we're here."
"You haven't found your Heavenly friend," Jhai said. "But I have. I took a quick detour while you were hanging about commenting on the décor back there. She's one level down, in a holding cell. It was pretty obvious who she was. That peach blossom smell's a dead giveaway."
"Is she all right?" Chen said, and at the same time Zhu Irzh asked, "Why didn't you free her?"
"Too many guards," Jhai said. "And I don't know whether she's all right or not. She was sitting up and she didn't look pleased."
"We need to get down there," Chen said.
"All right," Jhai agreed with a shrug. "No time like the present, eh?" And with a flick of her tiger tail, she jumped through the hole in the floor. Zhu Irzh, with a curse, started after her.
Following, Chen descended into a passage very similar to the ones through which they had just come, but more dimly lit. Fragments of insect guards littered the floor. As Underling No dropped through the hole, the light from above was abruptly cut off as the hole closed. Jhai led the way down the passage, moving swiftly. Chen and the others followed.
"I can't believe she's bloody here," Zhu Irzh muttered. "She followed me! Can you credit that?"
"She must care more than you think," Chen said. He didn't want to get caught up in a disagreement between Zhu Irzh and Jhai. He had a feeling Jhai might win.
"That's the trouble," Zhu Irzh said.
"I heard that," Jhai remarked, without turning round. She put out a warning hand. "Careful."
It wasn't clear whether she was referring to the present circumstances or to her dispute with Zhu Irzh. They had come to another door, and the sibilance of voices beyond it. Chen checked for magic—an inward turning, a moment of focus—and to his consternation, found none there. The Ministry had blocked him.
"I'm useless, magically," he said quietly to Zhu Irzh. Underling No turned, frowning.
"But you can still fight, yes?"
"Yes, to some extent. I'm trained in Hsing-I. They teach it to the infantry on Earth." No defensive maneuvers, no blocks. Just a fast forward striking, lethal in the right—or the wrong—hands.
"Good," No said with evident relief. Chen wondered what she'd do if she ever met someone who was not capable of fighting. Perhaps she would literally be unable to see them.
"You're going to need it," Jhai said. "I think the Ministry's marshaling its troops. There are at least six guards in there."
"And more on the way," Zhu Irzh said. Just as he spoke, Chen could hear feet running along the corridor behind them. No choice, then.
"In," he said.
Jhai kicked the door open and dived. Inside, something shrieked. Blood, black and sticky, spattered Chen's face as he went in after her. Zhu Irzh brought the scimitar down and around in a sweeping rush and cut two of the guards in half. The whole room stank of sudden rot.
"Detective!" a familiar voice cried. "Seneschal!"
Jhai had been right about one thing, then. They'd found Qi.
"Let me out!" the Celestial demanded. Chen struck a guard hard above the eye, let her crumple. He rushed to the cell and started tearing at the lock, eventually ripping it free from the wall, which began a slow seep of blood.
"Miss Qi, are you all right?"
The Celestial turned to Chen with eyes the color of bruises. A dreadful weight hung over her like a psychic pall.
"No," Miss Qi replied.
But she did not have time to explain further. A guard was on them, stabbing out with a needle dagger. Miss Qi knocked the dagger from her hand, seized the guard by the throat and the jaw, and with careful deliberation, tore off her head.
"Wow," said Jhai, momentarily distracted. "She's not as delicate as she looks, is she?"
Miss Qi gave Jhai Tserai a look of deep disdain. Her usual humility seemed to have disappeared, scoured by recent events. "I am a Celestial warrior. Deal with it."
The guards fell back, and Chen felt a fleeting sense of satisfaction, before realizing why. There wasn't any need for the guards to risk further destruction. More of the insect-eyed women were pouring into the chamber, carrying bows. Chen and his companions were confronted by a ring of glittering arrowheads. The ring split, briefly, to allow a woman to walk through.
She wore rubies. Her hair was as red as blood, as were her slanted eyes and full lips. Her garnet tongue flicked out, thick as a toad's, and the air became dreamy and filled with desire. Chen hadn't been so much at the mercy of his hormones since he was a teenager; he took a deep breath and concentrated on a Zen meditation. Behind him, he heard Jhai give a small snort; Miss Qi was blushing furiously.
"Visitors!" said the Minister of Lust.
Chen had, on a couple of occasions, been invited to parties where someone had tried to kill him. But he'd never found himself facing a swathe of weapons only to be invited to a party. He mentioned this to his companions.
"Believe me, it won't be much of a party," Underling No said bitterly from across the cell. "More like an orgy."
Jhai, lying flat on a bench and to all intents and purposes asleep, murmured, "It might even be entertaining."
"You don't understand," No said. "The only ones doing any entertaining will be us."
Chen could not avoid glancing at Miss Qi, who sat statue-still with her face turned to the wall. He had not yet dared ask what had happened to her.
"Use it as an opportunity," Zhu Irzh said. "We'll be together, presumably, and we'll be free to move about."
"How do you know that?" No demanded. "How do you know they won't tie us up in some kind of bondage session?"
"I don't," Zhu Irzh said, discomfited, "but we have to think positively."
"To be brutally frank," said Chen, "it's hard to think at all around the Minister."
"I'd forgotten that you hadn't met Su Yi," Zhu Irzh said. "She's difficult to deal with. For obvious reasons."
"Well, I don't find her remotely attractive," Jhai said. "All that red is so last century. And that sexual magnetism is a well-known trick of the trade—you take pheromonal enhancers to boost your appeal."
"One assumes that you would know?" Underling No said, but politely.
"I would, actually. I come from a long line of Keralan courtesan demons. We know how to big it up, if you'll pardon the expression. Normally, I take suppressants to dim it down: it's not very helpful in the lab. And I don't think it's terribly businesslike, to be honest."
"If that's the case," Chen said, "then is there any more indirect way in which you might be able to fight the Minister? After all, you're not taking the suppressants now, are you?"
"No," Jhai said. She opened her golden eyes and stared at Chen. "That's an interesting suggestion."
"Moving between the worlds changes people," Chen said. "My magic is different down here. Zhu Irzh's abilities alter when he comes to Earth. And it's impossible not to notice that your own inner nature is more strongly aspected, the longer you're here. You're more tiger than you were when I first saw you a while ago."
"It's definitely bringing it out of me," Jhai agreed. "But I'm not losing sentient awareness. I'm still me. And it has a limit, obviously. A few more stripes and I'll be there fully."
Miss Qi turned an arctic face in her direction. Reflecting on it, Chen did not think that Qi's froideur was completely due to recent events: Jhai had, after all, been crucially involved in a plot to help Hell overcome Heaven not so long ago. One could hardly blame Miss Qi for not holding Jhai in very high regard.
"A curious aspect for a courtesan," Miss Qi said, "that of a tigress."
Jhai shrugged. "What can I tell you? Keralans must like stroppy, fierce women."
"But is there anything you could do?" Chen persisted.
"I don't know," Jhai said slowly. "I can certainly try. The Minister is a lot more powerful than I am. She's a lot older, for a start."
"What if someone were to distract the Minister?" Chen said. "If you could influence the guards, Jhai . . ."
Zhu Irzh looked up in alarm. "What do you mean, 'if someone were to distract the Minister'? Like who?"
Chen grinned. "I gather that you are reasonably appealing to the ladies."
"Hang on," Zhu Irzh said. "I'm not coming on to Su Yi."
"You might not have to. She might come on to you." This was not entirely out of the blue; Chen did not think that he had been mistaken in noticing a slightly speculative glint within the inhuman gaze of the Minister of Lust.
"Well, one thing's for certain," Underling No said gloomily. "We have to do something. Because either they'll kill us after the orgy, or we'll wish they had."