Ylva spoke with the same calm authority that accompanied every word. No underlaid malice. No threat. A simple question that sounded more like a statement.
Devon stared for a moment. Slowly, he retook his seat.
Eva sighed and turned to Arachne. “Do you have any information that is actually useful?”
The spider-demon smiled as she brushed up against Eva’s shoulder. “We tracked them back to where they were summoned. A dilapidated house with a large summoning circle in the center of the room. No shackles around it, oddly enough.”
“No other protections?”
“Not even the sign of them being erased.”
Eva glanced up towards her master. “Dominated at the moment of summoning?”
He let out a short grunt. “You said they were arguing, debating. Not likely to be dominated. A botched job, if they were.”
“There were traces of other demons,” Arachne said. “Ones that had been summoned at a different location and brought to the dilapidated house. Possibly demons that kept the carnivean and jezebeth in line.”
“Tracking them?”
Devon shook his head. “They just ended. No traces of brimstone from an infernal teleport. No trail.”
“Some other type of teleportation?”
“Possibly,” he said with a shrug. “I’m only an expert in demons.”
Arachne let out a short laugh at that. Her jovial mood died out almost instantly as she poked Eva in her cheek. “There is one thing you should know. We found a zombie. Second floor, locked in a bathroom.”
Eva felt her own mood darken.
Sawyer.
If Sister Cross had done her job instead of hounding Eva day and night, he might have been found.
If Eva had kept his toes. She could have used them. Nel could have used them. She hadn’t been thinking straight at the time and Nel hadn’t been part of their little retinue.
Hindsight hurt.
Eva promised him pain and torture. Eva intended to deliver.
Some amount of her emotions must have bled through into her eyes. Both Zoe and Nel were shrinking into their chairs.
She closed her eyes and took a deep, calming breath.
“I see.”
“It might not have had anything to do with the demons. It could have been left over from last year. The zombie was barely animated. It had rotted to the extent that it couldn’t even crawl. Naturally,” Arachne split her mouth into a grin, “I dismembered it before crushing the skull.”
Devon grumbled from the side. “I incinerated the remains.”
Eva just nodded.
“So,” Zoe said after a moment of silence, “what now?”
“There is one more thing,” Devon said slowly.
Eva did not miss the glare he gave Zoe. She gave him a light nudge in the side.
Devon just harrumphed and looked towards Arachne.
“This.” She pulled out a small envelope from somewhere.
Eva actually took a moment to look over Arachne before she paid attention to the letter. There were only three places that Eva thought it might have been hidden in and none of them were very likely.
“We found it on a transferrance circle,” Devon said. “In a side room with no shackles around it.”
Zoe looked up at him. “Transferrance circle?”
“It allows sending things to Hell. This one was aimed at a carnivean’s domain, though I can’t tell if it was the same one that attacked you.”
“I see.”
Arachne cleared her throat, very unnecessarily, to pull everyone’s eyes to the letter. “‘Dear Ms. Baxter,’ it reads, ‘I offer my most sincere apologies for the simply dreadful state in which both you and your quaint adobe found themselves in. The fault, I’m afraid, lies with the liberal interpretation that two devious demons took with their orders. I must confess that I am unaccustomed to my minions failing to heed my exact orders. Perhaps next time will go over in a manner acquiescing to my desires.'”
“Is this a joke?”
“Quiet,” Arachne snapped. “I’m not finished. ‘You’re a busy woman. I understand. If you would like to avoid any further property damage, I offer this chance. Your ring–specifically the lovely black ring you wear your on your left hand–is needed for a test. If you would be so kind as to deposit it on the circle where you found this note, I would be most pleased. Have a nice day, Your Friend.'”
Once again, a brief silence settled over the group.
Apart from the laughter of a certain spider-demon.
“My ring,” Zoe said. “Why?”
“This ‘Friend’ wishes to experiment on Our magic.” Ylva’s voice boomed with anger.
If Zoe’s expression was sickly prior to Ylva’s exclamation, it would not be remiss to describe it as deathly ill afterwards.
“Juliana has a ring as well,” Eva said. “We need to keep both of you safe while we–”
“No.” Zoe cut in with only a slight tremble. “You said your blood wards would kill anything?”
Eva gave a slow nod. “Arachne doesn’t believe even a demon of Zagan’s caliber would survive for more than thirty seconds. Though he could probably destroy them before he died. Or before he walked in. Things like the carnivean and jezebeth wouldn’t last more than a second or two.”
“Move Juliana here.” Zoe shut her eyes as she took a deep breath. When she opened them, much of the stress had disappeared. The lines were still there. Her weight hadn’t returned. The pallor in her face remained.
Yet she looked stronger. More confident.
“I’ll be bait.”
“You’ll what?” Eva jumped to her feet. “Absolutely not.”
A faint smile touched the edges of Zoe’s lips. “Eva–”
“You’re about the only teacher I actually like. We’ll move both of you here, Shalise too, until–”
“Until what? Until this person decides they can’t get to us? They give up and go home?” Zoe shook her head. “Given time, they might find a way through your wards. There must be ways to breach them. And if they did give up? How would we know? We could be stuck here for the rest of our lives.”
Nel’s small harrumph drew eyes off of Zoe for a brief moment.
Devon leaned forwards, rubbing the end of his ever-scraggly goatee. “The bait plan might work. We’d set up so you could get reinforcements in minutes.”
“You think it’s a good plan?” Eva scoffed as she retook her seat. “You’d actually put yourself on the line for someone else?”
“Of course not. Don’t be stupid, girl.”
“I didn’t think so.”
“That doesn’t mean that I can’t sit around here in safety and help. I might be willing to take the field after planning and preparation. Just like any other job. With less payment.” He glanced up towards Zoe.
Eva thought he was about to ask for something in return, but her master simply shook his head.
“She sticks her neck out, or hand out in this case, and waits. That one,” he points towards Nel, “can constantly watch her and alert us to any problems. The only real question is how much protection can we hide around her without tipping off anyone. And what kind of protection.”
“More demons?” Zoe asked with almost a sigh.
Devon shook his head. “While I find the idea unlikely, the demons could be compromised if this ‘Friend’ is dominating his own demons. He likely wouldn’t have trouble dominating others.”
“That’s good.” Zoe nodded. Her nod froze half-way through. “Except, neither myself, Wayne, nor Eva managed to even hurt the demons. That was all,” she slowly glanced over at Arachne.
Who promptly sported the widest, sharpest toothed grin that Eva had seen in months. It’s nice to have eyes again.
“That’s right,” Arachne said. “You should be on the ground, licking my feet.”
“Arachne,” Devon said with a cruel grin of his own, “while certainly more headstrong than most, is not insusceptible to domination.”
“If you try that again,” Arachne growled at Devon, “I will not hesitate to tear your throat out.”
Devon turned to her and smiled his own off-white smile. “And then what? Who would complete my research. You?” He let out a long laugh. “No. I have nothing to fear from you. But I wouldn’t want to dominate your sick mind again. Once was enough for a lifetime.”