Eva continued laughing as she gripped her dagger. With a final laugh, Eva jammed it into her stomach.
She had to fight to suppress the wince. Her arms had built up a sort of tolerance to the constant cuts over the years. Not so with her stomach. But it was a much larger pool of blood–blood she’d need.
As much blood as Eva could pull without becoming debilitating formed a solid ring around her. She opened the remaining three vials of Arachne’s blood and set the spheres orbiting her head.
With a hard kick of her demonic legs, Eva sent Arachne’s head flying. She gave her widest, most maniacal grin to the carnivean with a cocked head.
As if she would die without a smile on her face.
No. Arachne was fine. Winning even. The amount of tentacles still attached to the carnivean’s head was rapidly dwindling. Arachne’s hand might be held on by nothing more than tendons, but the rest of her injuries looked minor at best.
The carnivean certainly did not look half as cocky as its illusion.
This was another trick by the jezebeth.
It failed to understand the range of Eva’s sight. Or perhaps failed to erase Arachne and the real carnivean due to their fight. Whatever the case, it failed.
Eva was willing to bet her shield was even still up. Otherwise she’d likely be dead by now. No. It was distracting her. Using up her blood. Possibly while fighting Wayne for real.
Now, how to find it.
She knew of several wide area blood rituals. Something she wished she had committed to memory. Even if she had, Wayne was likely in the area.
If she had some of its blood; Eva knew several quick and dirty rituals to use with the blood of an enemy. Carlos wasn’t wrong about keeping blood out of other people’s hands.
Eva glanced down at the fake corpse of the jezebeth. Not insignificant amounts of blood stained the ground. It wouldn’t work. Not unless that wasn’t an illusion and the demon was merely pretending to be dead.
No harm trying. It was a better idea than standing around waiting.
Eva moved to the edge of where her shield would be if she could still perceive it. Keeping as much of herself within the boundary as she could, Eva quickly swiped the tip of her dagger through the pool of thick blood.
The blood felt off as Eva pulled a large sphere of it in front of her. Whether that feeling was from an illusion or the unusual viscosity of the liquid was hard to say.
The carnivean stepped closer to Eva. “That won’t help,” she said. “Your demon is dead. Your friend is dead. And I am going to pluck your legs off like a child plucks the wings off of flies.”
“Good luck with that,” Eva said.
The ball of blood was already spinning in her palm. Some of her own blood wrapped around the ball in three thin rings. Her blood started heating up as it constricted around the main sphere.
“You are a pathetic creature,” the demon’s voice rumbled. She walked closer and closer until she stopped a mere arm’s length away from where Eva’s shield should be. “Neither here nor there. Everyone you know is using you for their own purposes. Your demon never cared about you. Your friends are going to betray you. Your–”
“I find it hard to believe that Arachne lost to someone who can’t shut up. Did you talk her head off?”
The false demon growled as it started walking around Eva’s shield. Despite Eva’s belief that her shield did exist, she couldn’t help but feel nauseous under the carnivean’s hungry glare. All of her instincts screamed to either run or bring up a new shield.
Only three orbs of Arachne’s blood orbited her head. Eva would need every one of them in a few moments.
She spared the remainder of her own blood to form into a shield. It wasn’t strong and wouldn’t stop much. Hopefully it would soak enough hits for Eva to escape if needed.
The jezebeth’s blood was starting to boil. The rest of the blood on the ground started boiling with the ball in her hands.
Eva smiled as a faint scream started ringing in her ears.
The illusion of the carnivean shimmered. It didn’t disappear, just a flicker. It twisted its face into a grimace.
“Fool.”
Eva blinked.
Her shield was gone. Broken. Drained instantly.
All the blood around her–her own, Arachne’s, and the jezebeth’s–all dropped out of the air. It splashed against the ground.
Two stinging spots appeared just beneath her breasts. Hot liquid ran down her stomach.
“Wha–”
Blood spewed from Eva’s mouth as she started coughing.
She couldn’t breathe.
Eva tipped backwards, falling against the ground. Two tentacles wrenched themselves from her chest with an audible squelch.
She couldn’t understand. The real demon was still fighting Arachne.
No. Both of the fighters within the house, Arachne and the other copy of the carnivean, shimmered out of existence.
Eva tried to scream.
Blood gurgled in her throat.
Her lungs were filling with blood. Both had massive chunks taken out of them.
Even her heart suffered damage. One chamber was open and spilling.
She’d bleed out if her heart didn’t fail completely.
Clouds started forming in her thoughts. The blood to her brain, the shock, the drowning in her own vita. All of it added up.
Mustering the last of her rapidly dwindling strength, Eva swung her arm into her own chest.
A void dagger pierced her heart.
Eva concentrated as hard as she could. Focused on one task. She had to force her blood to move properly. She had to drain her lungs.
She had to repair the damage.
Before the demon thought to finish her off.
Chapter 010
Author’s Note: If you find yourself becoming uncomfortable, skip to the line “time to find some containers”
“Demon of strength?” Arachne let out a long laugh. “When I kill you, I think I will be taking your title.”
“Fool. Such arrogance will be your demise.”
Arachne laughed again. As if. The carnivean only had one tentacle of any significant length remaining. And that would soon be gone.
It was disappointing, actually. Carniveans were supposed to be strong. Very strong. Sure, if it managed to wrap a tentacle around anything, that thing would break off–two of Arachne’s legs and most of one arm were testament to that.
None of that strength translated to martial prowess.
Still, it was the first real fight she’d been in since the necromancer’s cave.
Arachne intended to enjoy it to the fullest.
The carnivean jumped through the air at Arachne’s laugh. Two glowing red eyes blazed brighter as her three-fanged mouth opened in a snarl.
Arachne swung her entire body around, catching the small body with her bulk. The tentacle slipped off of smooth carapace as the carnivean flew through another charred wall.
More of the wall tumbled over as Arachne gave chase. Creaks and shudders in the house went ignored. She reared back, intending to send several legs into the back of the prone demon.
None of them hit their target.
Using the tentacle, the demon knocked herself across the room and into a kitchen. She slammed into the refrigerator. It teetered and would have crushed her had she not thrown herself out of the way again.
The sight sent Arachne into another fit of maniacal laughter.
The fridge falling probably wouldn’t have killed the tiny thing. Despite her lack of size, she was still a demon.
It might have held her down long enough for Arachne to end her.
Not giving her a moment of respite, Arachne gave chase. She raked a leg across the carnivean’s chest. Whatever scraps of cloth the demon once wore had long since been shred. Another thin line of black spread over her chest.
Arachne missed the tentacle. The demon twisted into the attack to avoid losing her last tentacle.