Eva didn’t mind. She enjoyed the peace and quiet. Her feet were slowly yet surely drying.
Since arriving at Brakket, Eva had scarcely two minutes without someone else around. Usually that someone was Arachne, though Arachne wouldn’t have bothered her at the moment. She’d have been silent in spider form, clinging to Eva’s chest as another heat source.
The white forest was a serene place in any case, even if Eva would have preferred almost anyplace in Florida.
The serenity broke again with more crunching snow. That the sounds were coming from the wrong direction immediately put Eva on guard. She jumped to her feet with her hand already on the dagger attached to her back.
She relaxed as the approaching figure held up a hand in a peace gesture.
“You miss all the fun times, don’t you?”
“So I hear. Although, sneaking past all the Elysium Sisters is a bit of sporting fun.”
“I’m surprised you managed.”
“I have a few tricks up my sleeve.”
Eva snorted and a smile spread across her face. “I should hope so. You’ve got nothing else up it.”
“A problem I am still working on resolving,” her master said.
“So,” Eva said, crossing her arms, “you were just watching me and waiting until I was alone? What a creeper.”
“I said I have my tricks, girl. Don’t push your luck.” He took a step forward, waggling his finger in Eva’s direction.
Eva just laughed the gesture off. “I take it this isn’t a social call?”
“It has been three months and I would rather not be dragged here by a haunter again. Assuming you are still willing to go through with it?”
“Of course I do,” Eva answered without a moment’s hesitation. “Not that you’ve given me a choice before.”
“The only choice you’re being given now is between being knocked out or coming willingly.”
Eva glared at her master. He’d never acted like this in the past. “Why would you think I wouldn’t want to continue the experiment?”
“You have friends now, human friends. Human friends that might disagree with your ‘condition.’ I was concerned they might poison your mind.”
Eva scoffed. “The only poisoning done to my mind is your doing.”
Devon’s neutral expression turned to a glower at that.
Eva quickly amended, “though they say one man’s meat is another’s poison. I should think I’m in the former category with regards to the experiment.”
“Let’s get on with it then.”
He turned and started walking off into the forest.
“Right now?” Eva called after him. “I haven’t seen Arachne in a few days. She said she’d come back after she finished hiding some books, but she hasn’t returned yet.”
“Don’t worry about the demon. I stopped by the prison yesterday. Arachne will be waiting there.”
“Shouldn’t we wait until dark?”
“I’ve been watching the Elysium Sisters’ movements. They mostly hang around during the day. Night is when they become far more watchful. Now is the best time.”
Eva sighed. “At least let me leave a note. If a student goes missing with the way things are now, a ruckus is sure to be raised.”
“Fine,” he said after a minute, “but hurry up. We’ve wasted enough time.”
Eva quickly scrawled out a short note explaining she was feeling ill. She signed it and left it stuck in the crack of the door.
Her master was already walking by the time she finished. Eva hurried to catch up with him. Once she did, he began stepping. Soon enough, they reached an edge of the school building and moved to the roof. Devon led her across a series of rooftops and out-of-town.
The prison was just as she remembered it, thankfully. No obvious traces of Elysium Sisters raiding the place.
As they walked past cell house two, Devon paused. “I’ll ask about that later.”
Eva winced at Devon’s tone. Her wince was quickly replaced by a burst of anger. She knew she messed up. She already knew where she messed up. If he hadn’t gone missing, he could have dealt with Ylva.
All things considered, it could be worse; cell house two could belong to an obviously malicious demon rather than Ylva. That only left the glaring issue that Ylva was subtly malicious.
The demon hadn’t done anything that others might consider morally reprehensible in either of Eva’s interactions with her. She supposed Ylva might be more of a good demon. Not that her master would ever admit to good demons existing.
One of those demons Eva considered good paced back and forth in front of the small building she now called home. Upon seeing her, Arachne lunged. She crossed the ten feet between the doorway and Eva. Eva waited as four legs sprouted from her back midair.
All four of her legs along with her arms wrapped around Eva as she landed.
Eva patted the spider-woman’s back. “It’s only been four days Arachne. I’m fine.”
“Enough lollygaggin. Let’s get this done with. I still need to get back to looking for a replacement to my arm.”
Eva sighed and walked into her home. Arachne didn’t let go in the slightest and half dragged herself along.
The ritual circle was already set up, the regular furniture and rug pushed off to the back.
Eva stripped down, tossing her clothes into a corner. The cold Montana air quickly moved in to bite Eva in the backside. She shivered but shrugged it off. There were heating runes around her home, she hadn’t noticed that they didn’t keep up well with the dropping temperatures. She made a mental note to drastically increase the intensity after they were done.
Until then, she’d bear with it.
She took her seat in the seat on her half of the circle and waited while Devon hooked her up. Arachne sat in her own chair, looking very much like she wanted to say something. Eva gave her a quirked eyebrow but the spider-woman just gave a small smile in return.
Her master stepped back to his section of the ritual circle. The moment he did, Eva felt the familiar drowsiness take hold of her. The room swirled away into a black void.
—
Eva’s eyes snapped open at a loud bang. She immediately wished she hadn’t heard anything. She snapped her eyes shut again to keep the blinding light from penetrating her brain.
The regular post-treatment nausea had settled in full force while she was asleep. It didn’t compare to the early days of her treatments. After the first one, she had been so sick she couldn’t move for half of a month.
She wanted nothing more than to slip back into sleep. Sadly, loud noises usually meant something was wrong.
With a groan, Eva sat up. Or tried to. Firm and elongated fingers pressed themselves against her chest, gently pushing her back into her seat.
“Shh,” Arachne said, “it was nothing you need to worry about. Devon decided to make himself a snack in our kitchen.”
Eva thought back. The bang might have been a pot being dropped. The hammering inside her head wouldn’t let her remember clearly.
Sharp fingers gently moved through Eva’s hair, caressing her scalp as they went. It had a nice, calming effect on Eva. She took slow breaths; in through the mouth and out through the nose.
She relaxed until the shuffling feet of her master moved across the floor.
“Awake already?” he asked.
Even with her eyes closed, Eva could tell he had just shoved something into his mouth. A small box dropped into her bare lap before she could respond.
“A little gift,” her master said.
“Aww, it isn’t even my birthday for another two months,” Eva said. She risked a small peek through one eye and winced back as light poured in. Still, she struggled through long enough to open the lid on the box. Two hazel eyeballs stared back at her.