A ring signaling the end of the class put a stop to Bradley Twillie’s mumblings.
“All of you should be able to answer the question by Thursday’s class,” he said as the students packed up. “We’ll have live specimens in class for you to observe.”
Eva packed her things lethargically compared to her classmates. Everyone else had alchemy next. Eva intended to use her free period to enjoy not being stared at constantly.
“Well,” Juliana said on their way out, “that certainly was something.”
“Oh?”
“Tension was a bit thick. I thought a lynch mob was going to form by the end of class.”
“L-lynch mob?” Shalise squeaked.
“I can’t imagine that would end well for anyone,” Eva said softly with a pat to Arachne. Not that there was any danger of being overheard. A large bubble had formed around their group. Shelby and Jordan were the two closest but they were still hanging back with a very nervous Irene and a slightly less nervous Max.
“In any case,” Eva said, “I don’t think they were going to form a lynch mob. I get the feeling they were more afraid or creeped out than angry or hostile.”
“Watch your back. Just in case.”
“They’ll have a whole class period to discuss and calm down without me around at least.”
“What are you going to be doing?”
“Finding a room and having Arachne read me books.” There was a small squirm beneath Eva’s shirt when the spider-demon heard her name.
“In school? What if someone walks in? The claws are hard enough to explain.”
“We managed all last semester. There are plenty of empty rooms and students are all in class. We’ll be fine.”
“I hope so.”
“What about them?” Shalise asked with a not-so-subtle nod of her head towards Jordan’s group.
“Zoe advised me to tell them the truth–minus the ‘d’ word–given they already know about ‘Rach’ and are sure to make the connection, if they haven’t already.” Eva turned to face Juliana. “I was actually hoping your father could come up with some cover story for Arachne. She could be a magical creature instead of what she is.”
“Maybe,” Juliana hummed. “So long as he doesn’t find either of you to be objectionable.”
“We will be on our best behavior. Won’t we, Arachne.”
The spider-demon gave an almost hesitant tap against Eva’s right shoulder.
“Right. That’s what I thought. So,” Eva said with her first smile of the day, “he knows how to get to the prison?”
“Maybe Arachne should give him a ride.”
Chapter 008
Eva coiled the muscles in her legs and jumped off from the ground. She soared through the air, free from the tethers of gravity for a scant few seconds. When gravity finally reasserted itself, Eva fell only a few inches.
Her bare feet impacted the top of the sandstone wall. It was a very light impact–Eva had plenty of practice getting the jump just high enough–but as light as it was, it still caused some of the sandstone to crumble. One of the walls had partially collapsed from Arachne climbing over it while in her largest form.
Something to look into reinforcing at a later date. Carving runes would strengthen it, but the time and effort required to reinforce the entire prison was no laughing matter.
Maybe she could pay Juliana to go around using her earth magic to reinforce the entire place.
Eva dropped off the fifteen foot wall to the interior of her prison. She took stock of the entire prison using her expanded senses within her own blood wards. Nothing seemed out of place.
Hopefully it would stay that way as long as Carlos was inside.
Speaking of, Eva thought. She marched over to the main gate and activated the opening mechanism. Heavy metal bars slowly lifted up to grant entrance to her guests of the night.
Arachne had turned back to her humanoid form since Eva left her. She strutted in with a confident grin on her face, as if she owned the place. Putting on a show for the guests. She certainly had the presence to pull a sultry gait off when the mood struck her.
Hot on the demon’s heels bounced in Shalise. Her head darted left and right in wonder as the prison opened up before her.
Eva wasn’t entirely sure why; the prison wasn’t anything special to look at. At least not around the exterior entrance. But, it was her first time. Eva supposed she shouldn’t fault the excited girl.
Most of Shalise’s excitement likely came from simply being at the prison. Eva invited her on a whim, for the most part. Thus far, her excuses for not bringing Shalise along had been transportation issues. Eva couldn’t use, nor was she willing to attempt, her method of teleporting on others. Zoe adamantly refused to bring another person into ‘this mess’ on the rare occasions she could be persuaded to bring Juliana over.
Convincing Arachne to carry Shalise in her arms wasn’t easy. Juliana and her father rode on Arachne’s back, but they were the whole purpose of walking to the prison instead of Eva teleporting herself and Arachne. In her eyes, Shalise was unneeded baggage.
Carlos Rivas had one bony hand gripped tight on his daughter’s shoulder. They walked in together with the father scanning everything that he could see through his thick glasses, keeping a protective eye out for anything that might harm Juliana. He only released his daughter when he came to a stop in front of Eva.
“That was an interesting experience,” he said. He pulled off his glasses and wiped them down on a corner of his shirt. “Will we be returning in the, ah, same manner?” His eyes darted over Arachne for just a moment as Carlos set his glasses back on his nose.
“Devon, my mentor in magic before Brakket, has a truck. However, I doubt he’d be willing to use it.” Eva gave him a sympathetic shrug.
She hadn’t seen Carlos with her eyes. Eva couldn’t tell his age by sensing his blood. Genoa looked to be in her early fifties, so he should be somewhat similar. Even if he wasn’t feeling the effects of age, riding on Arachne’s back was far less comfortable than being carried.
“If he is even around, that is.”
“Well, it isn’t that big of a deal. I’m hearty enough to survive a return trip.” He took his eyes off Eva and glanced around. “When you said ‘prison’ earlier, I must confess that I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. Not an actual prison. Some version of Hell flashed through my mind first.”
“And you still decided to jump on Arachne’s back?”
Carlos’ hand clapped on Juliana’s shoulder once again. “I trust my daughter. Besides, passing up a chance to ride on the back of a demon? Too fascinating to ignore.”
Arachne made a small huffing noise.
“Genoa always tells me I’ve no self-preservation instinct and my beloved wife is never wrong. At least not while she’s in earshot.” He gave a light, wheezy laugh. “Anyway, you live here?”
“It is a sort of second home. Come,” Eva gestured down the path, “let’s get inside. Most of the place is empty. Arachne and I have renovated one of the buildings, Devon has taken over the top floor of another building. One other building is in use.”
Eva brought the group across the prison grounds until they reached the entrance to the women’s ward. She bit her lip as she turned to Carlos. This part had the potential to be worse than the demons.
“I’ll need a drop of blood,” Eva said. “The wards use blood to decide who to allow in. You too, Shalise.”
Shalise merely nodded. She’d been warned beforehand.
Carlos didn’t nod. His eyes widened and his heart rate jumped a few notches. “Blood?” He shot a quick glance towards his daughter. “You can do some awful things with someone’s blood.”
“I assure you that I have no such intentions. If you’d like, I can destroy it when we’re done tonight.”