Free Shadow Pavilion by Liz Williams

individual is of supernatural origins.”
    â€œYes. Indian supernatural origins. And very, very angry.”
    â€œDoes he know you’ve come here?”
    â€œShe, and I certainly didn’t tell her. But she might be able to find me. I’ve no idea, to be honest. I don’t know what her capabilities might be.”
    â€œI can put out a call on her. Do you have a name?”
    Thank God she was taking him seriously, at least. Somehow, he’d expected ridicule, disbelief. “Yes.” He paused. An ensuing conversation unrolled, movielike, in front of his inner eye. There were some advantages to being a scriptwriter, it seemed:
    â€œHer name’s Lara Chowdijharee .”
    â€œYour pursuer has the same name as a film star?”
    â€œNo, my pursuer is a film star.”
    â€œI thought you said she was a demon.”
    â€œShe is. We summoned her up from Hell and turned her into a star.”
    The clerk’s eyebrows rose so far that they nearly floated off the top of her head. “Lara Chowdijharee—the movie star—is a demon. And she’s after you, you say? Was instrumental in burning down your house? Tore her agent’s throat out with her teeth?” Stealthily, under the desk from a different camera angle, Go watched the desk clerk’s hand move toward a panic button, the one reserved for visiting lunatics.
    Back in the real world, Go said, “Uh. I mean, no. She said her name was Cherry. But I don’t think it was her real one.”
    The desk clerk nodded. “All right. I understand what you’re telling me and we do take this kind of threat very seriously, you know. I won’t put you in a cell, because we might need it later on, but what I will do is put you in the interrogation room. It has no windows and the door can be locked from the inside. Would you like some tea?”
    With heartfelt gratitude, Go replied that he would.

16
    W hen Chen went back outside to await the arrival of the forensic team, he found Inari sitting on a low wall near the car in the company of No Ro Shi.
    â€œWhat happened?”
    No Ro Shi looked at him. “Could I have a word with you in private, Comrade?”
    With a sinking heart, Chen told him that he could.
    â€œYour wife’s a demon.”
    â€œI’d noticed.”
    â€œDoes Captain Sung know?”
    That was a rather more conciliatory statement than he might have expected from the demon-hunter. Perhaps No Ro Shi had mellowed.
    â€œIf he does, I haven’t told him. Look—”
    No Ro Shi sighed. “This makes things very awkward. I respect you, Chen. Your wife, despite her origins, seems to be a decent woman.”
    He had mellowed.
    â€œI’ll tell him, unless you plan to. Now, can you tell me why she isn’t in the car where I left her? What are you doing here?”
    â€œA while ago, this would have been unthinkable,” No Ro Shi said, as if no question had been asked of him. “But now, things have changed, in this city, in China. Your partner isn’t human. Where is Zhu Irzh, by the way?”
    â€œThat’s the problem.” Chen explained. No Ro Shi stared at him. “We have two officers—effectively—missing. And both are demonic.”
    â€œBoth of them can be trusted,” Chen added, rather more sharply than he intended. “And both were investigating the same case.” He told the demon-hunter what he and Ma had discovered in the basement of the warehouse. “The forensic team is on their way. Meanwhile, I’ve ordered a search of the area. Now, about Inari.”
    It was his turn to listen to an explanation.
    â€œThere was a—here. A demon shaman, with a luring rattle. He was trying to snare her. From the look of things, he was succeeding.”
    â€œEven though Inari is, as you helpfully point out, herself demonic?”
    â€œShamans from Hell wield a great deal of power,” No Ro Shi said. “It does not