“It would be like walking in on Devon and Arachne tearing each other apart.”
Eva gave a quick snort. “Probably not the same. I’d probably get popcorn and start cheering one of them on.”
“Which one?”
“Arachne, obviously. Devon is a lot of things but my bets go on almost anyone else in a fight.”
“You don’t think a,” Juliana glanced around at the other students on the path leading to the botany building. “You don’t think a person of his talents would have the means to defeat someone like Arachne?”
“He’s a researcher. He might have something up his sleeve. Based on every other time I’ve seen him in stressful situations, I wouldn’t count on it. He might be able to overpower the mind of something with less intelligence, but I doubt that would work on Arachne.”
Juliana made a long humming noise as they continued up the path.
Eva froze.
Right at the edge of Eva’s sight, it was there. Watching.
Beneath her shirt, Arachne gripped Eva’s back. Hard. Eva could see the small cuts where each of her legs clamped down.
Eva used some of the blood that dripped down to her dagger to send more flecks off in the direction of the bull. There were trees in the way. Lots of them. None of her friends would be able to see it.
A twisting in her stomach gripped her. The demon–the devil’s eyes were focusing on her even through the trees. She should walk. Go to class and pretend she hadn’t noticed.
Just as she was about to take a step forward, she changed her mind.
“You guys go on ahead,” Eva said. “I think I left something back at Bradley Twillie’s classroom.”
Arachne used three of her legs to repeatedly tap ‘no’ into Eva’s back.
Juliana stopped and glanced back, everyone else did shortly after. “I could come back with you, if you want,” she said.
“No thanks,” Eva waved her off while trying to keep the winces off her face. “It is just a pen. A nice pen, but just a pen. I’ll catch up in a few.”
“Sure,” she said with a slight slump in her shoulders.
Without another word, Eva spun on her heels and slowly walked back down the path. Her group of friends continued on their way with a moment of hesitation. Eva paid their quiet discussions no further mind and focused on dodging between other classmates she walked past.
The bull followed her as she walked. It kept its distance. Eva could see her own heart pick up the pace. For an instant, she thought of simply teleporting to the prison and finding Devon. Maybe checking on Nel as a pretense for hiding within Ylva’s domain for a few hours.
Arachne would not object. She ceased her poking, but had yet to relax her grip. Teleporting away would make her very happy.
That thought was banished from her mind. If it was following her, it likely wanted something. It didn’t seem overly hostile. If worst came to worst, she could always escape later.
Probably.
That kind of thinking is what got her captured by Sawyer.
Eva paused in her walking. There were no students around, just the bull.
After a deep breath, Eva walked off the path. She pulled out her dagger and bled out another few marbles of blood. It was too easy to get lost with no eyes. Arachne had no eyes beneath Eva’s shirt. Leaving a trail of blood would help return at the very least.
The bull turned and lumbered further into the woods.
Eva followed.
She had no idea why. It was stupid. A stupid idea that her master warned her about. He specifically ordered her not to even think about the royalty of Hell, let alone approach it.
Yet Eva walked.
She uncorked all the vials of Arachne’s blood she had hidden around her person all while leaving a thin trail of her own blood back to the path. The vigil she kept on the surroundings was constant. Eva would not be surprised by anything.
It wasn’t long before the bull stopped moving.
Eva stopped with it at the very edge of her vision.
The bull didn’t turn around. It didn’t look back at Eva. It continued staring straight ahead.
Nerves in Eva’s body lit up like a wildfire. Something was wrong. She took a step backwards. Half the bull disappeared as she moved back.
Grunting bellows shook the very air of the forest. It repeated again and again.
The moment Eva stopped moving backwards, it stopped its bellows.
That can’t be a good sign. Eva froze and slowly built up the magic necessary for an infernal walk to the prison. If she wasn’t allowed to move, she’d simply disappear.
Before she could get even half way through the process, a voice carried through the trees.
“What is all this racket?”
Eva paused. She could only see the hindquarters of the bull. Someone either walked up or teleported just in front of it. The slight rasp was familiar, but Eva couldn’t place it.
Just as she inched forwards, trying to bring the figure into view, the bull rumbled.
Its insides twisted and shrunk while other parts grew and pulled. The great wings shrunk and shifted positions to rest against its back. Slowly, it pulled itself up onto its hind legs, though the knees still faced the wrong direction.
The process was very similar to how Arachne looked when she pulled out legs or her abdomen.
After everything else, the long face of the bull pulled in on itself. It twisted and shrank until a human sized head was left. Eva could tell there was a place for its horns to protrude, though no blood reached far enough into them to tell how long they were.
“You’re going to draw attention,” that same feminine rasp spoke.
A deep, throaty chuckle erupted from the former bull. “Let them come. I will decimate all without distinction.” If silk were a voice, that man had it colored in deep bass. The sounds all but massaged Eva’s ears.
“That’s what I’m worried about. We want distinction.” There was a long sigh from the woman. “You nearly killed two children last week.”
“They survived. A scare will go a long way for your plans. I merely took that into consideration.”
“Do I need to remind you? Killing students or staff will break our contract.” A smug tone entered her voice. “You don’t want that.”
If that worried him, he didn’t show it. The devil waved a hand off to one side. “I’ll keep my raids limited to maiming and breaking then. They have to be believable, yeah?”
“Was there a point to calling me out here or were you wanting my heels ground into your back again.”
“As enjoyable as that is, I think I will pass. For now. When am I to slaughter next.”
“I’ll see about tipping off the nuns sometime soon. It will be after school hours, but only just. My familiar will deliver the message. Be ready.”
Despite her being out of Eva’s vision range, she could feel the woman vanish after speaking. The strong scent of brimstone wafted over the woods before a light gust of wind stole it away. She waited to see if the former bull would vanish as well.
He didn’t.
His head slowly turned to focus on Eva. There were trees in the way. She knew there were trees in the way–Eva was half crouched behind one. Yet his head stopped right on Eva without moving an inch too far.
A smile spread across his face.
“Come out, embryonic one. I know you are there.”
Eva assumed as much. As she slowly approached his position, Eva pulled the blood out two vials. Behind her back, it twisted and formed into the wire frame ball of her favorite attack. Three more marbles orbited around her with one forming the base for a shield.
Arachne finally loosed her grip on Eva. The muscles in her legs coiled, ready to strike through Eva’s shirt. The spider-demon wouldn’t be any use, by her own admission, but she still readied to attack.
Eva pressed one arm down on the demon, pinning her to Eva’s chest. Teleporting out was a far better option. One Arachne would benefit from if she stuck next to Eva.
She stopped with twenty feet to spare. No trees were in the way, or around in the small clearing where he stood.