Miao lounged back languidly against the plush crimson velvet cushions. The warmth of the soft fabric was a constant delight against her bare skin, while its dusty jasmine scent hung deliciously in the air around her. With one leg draped carelessly over their edge, her bare foot dangled until her toes just brushed the cool stone floor. Gilt fish, their beautiful scales flashing with glittering jewels, darted and nipped playfully at her foot, worshipping her with every gentle bite.
A pile of thin, pink silk lay discarded on the ground before her. Clothed in nothing but the soft caress of the cool air, she lay back, basking in her own effortless perfection.
Her exquisite emerald-green eyes drifted down to the man who lay beside her. A low, vibrating purr resonating from deep within her throat as she watched his chest rise and fell in a slow, contented rhythm. His wide, glistening eyes looked up at her, brimming with nothing but pure adoration.
How could any man behold such a resplendent beauty as her in any other way?
With a touch as soft as down feathers, she brushed away a stray lock of hair from his forehead. He really was a fine specimen, and so unexpected, too. Who could have imagined that a man as world-wise as he would simply stroll into her web so willingly.
Closing her eyes, she let her mind reach forward. The invisible wisp of her consciousness gently wound into Charles’ soul, brushing aside any feeble resistance that he might still offer. Daintily she lapped at his thoughts. The rich, intelligent taste of such a vivid and imaginative mind washed over her tongue. He was a rare treasure, quite exceptional among the savage and ignorant Western barbarians that she was usually forced to drink from. This one she intended to savour like the sweet, earthy bouquet of a vintage jar of Nu’er Hong. She had no intention of releasing him back onto the streets. No, he would make the most magnificent addition to her menagerie, quite the centrepiece for her collection. In time she would show him true beauty, letting him taste the sharp, electric shiver of genuine pleasure.
One day, perhaps she would be able to enlighten all in this city of filth and grime. Perhaps one day she would be able to cleanse the place its inhabitants call London by Day of all its vile corruption and greed. She would teach them the sensuous, intoxicating ecstasy of decadence and absolute indulgence.
Miao leaned over him as he nestled into her, pressing up against her body. Her mouth hovered near his ear, her breath, warm and sweet, faintly stirring the coarse, dark hairs of his beard. Slowly, her lips parted, poised to whisper into his very soul.
The words never came; they froze on her tongue as her feline ears twitched. A muffled, rhythmic vibration tugged on their fine, sensitive hairs through the silence of her chamber.
From the passage outside, there came the unmistakable scrape of soft, creeping footsteps and the frantic murmur of hushed voices. Her ears turned towards the sound, straining, but even with her superior senses, she couldn’t quite make out the words being spoken.
A burnt, acrid stench tore through the sweet scent of jasmine, stinging the back of Miao’s throat. Her nose wrinkled in disgust, her ears pinning flat against her skull. The foul odour was unmistakable; it was the reeking, scorched rot of the Blackened Hell.
She sprang to her feet and spun around, her tails flicking from side to side behind her as she faced the heavy velvet curtains.
Their golden rings rasped loudly against the metal pole as slowly the fabric was yanked aside.
Then she saw them.
Two black, hunched figures took a shuffling pace into her chamber. The choking stench of stale ash and charred wood hung heavily around them, thick and suffocating like an executioner’s shroud, while a trail of soot stained the plush Oriental carpets behind them. Cold, red eyes, glowing like embers in the pit of a fire, locked onto her, staring at her from within faces that had been blackened and scorched by the hell fires’ eternal torment. Dark, viscous tears of blood wept a winding trail down their charred, tormented cheeks.
Huoshen!
Stepping backwards, Miao’s feet tangled in the heap of silk that was her discarded robe. Unable to free herself, she toppled, striking the hard floor with a spine jarring thump that clattered her teeth.
The gilt fish scattered in a frantic search for safety while her claws and heels scrabbled uselessly on the hard, smooth surface, desperate to find purchase as she shoved herself backwards and away from the horrors looming before her.
Why were they here?
Surely they hadn’t come for her.
“Why are you here?” she hissed through a dry throat. “What do you want?”
“We’ve come to take Mr Dickens back,” one of the creatures answered, her voice cold and hollow.
“This one is mine by rights,” she forced out in reply. “My debts are all settled.”
What reason did The Emperor’s wardens have to chase her halfway around the world after so long? She had settled her debts with their master many moons ago. It had been more than paid off by the hundreds, if not thousands of souls she had sent back East.
Miao pressed her trembling form flat against the floor; her eyes fixed on the swirling, icy blue hue of the marble.
She had been forced to suffer the indignity of being cast out of The Emperor’s court. She had accepted her punishment without argument. She had left behind her homeland, her family, obliged to dwell in these damp, dull lands.
Her breathing came in short, ragged gasps; her three hearts pounded a chaotic rhythm against her aching ribs. Every muscle in her body was tense; her mind screamed at her to run, the urge to flee vibrated through every sinew, yet she knew it was useless. There was no corner of the world dark enough to hide her from a Huoshen.
Not daring to look up, she heard the low rustle of fabric as her prize was lifted from the cushions. Their cloying, sharp tang filled her nostrils as they shuffled past her.
Her nose twitched. For a fleeting moment the stink of soot parted, and behind it she picked up something else. A warm, damp scent.
It wasn’t the stench of an ancient demon from Hell. It was the nauseating scent of something far more mortal, a human.