“Take a moment to breathe, dear.”
Despite her earlier hostility against Ylva, Genoa’s smile had grown to match Carlos’ grin.
“Um,” Nel said. She had started looking somewhat sick partway through Carlos’ deluge. “So, they’re living things?”
“Of course. I wonder if I can be here when… I mean, it could be decades away still.” His eyes slowly turned over towards Eva.
Eva gave him a shrug. “You need to ask Ylva about that. I don’t know when and I’m not in charge of this place.”
“Of course, of course. I’ll be sure to,” his eyes flicked over to his wife as he stumbled over a few words. “That is to say, I’ll just–”
Genoa let out a long sigh. “Do what you want.”
His smile returned to full brightness in the blink of an eye. “I’m sorry,” he said to Nel, “I interrupted your tour. Shall I stay here? I’m all wet and I’d love to talk–do they talk?–or examine them.”
“Um, sure.” Nel turned and half sprinted from the room. She led the remaining members of their group straight to the bedroom. “The sleeping quarters. I don’t think there are any secretly living statues in here,” she added with a nervous laugh.
Genoa raised an eyebrow. “One bed?”
“It’s gigantic,” Eva said. “I’ve seen large swimming pools before, but this is as big as the stupid bath. Have you ever seen a bed even half this size?”
Shalise just gaped open-mouthed.
“That’s a problem though,” Juliana said. “You sleep naked.”
“I do.”
“And Arachne will be sleeping next to you.”
“Most likely.”
“Nel will be here too?”
“Don’t ask me.”
“My mother?”
Eva shrugged and glanced at Genoa.
“I’ll be keeping an eye on Arachne. Ylva and Nel too.”
“Yes, Juliana,” Eva said, “your mother as well.”
The blond girl let out a long sigh. “Our little camp out got really awkward somewhere along the way.”
Chapter 017
The clouds were unnatural.
Yesterday had been bright and sunny. Not a cloud for miles around. Eva wasn’t in the habit of watching the news, but she imagined the forecast would have been sunny for the next several days.
The sheer level of overcast hanging over the school’s campus–and only the school’s campus–had several students skipping school. It was far too ominous for their tastes.
Eva might have agreed had she not known the cause. While she hadn’t specifically asked for clouds, it could only be Ylva.
It was for the best. She had no idea what madness took hold of her when she scheduled this meeting for Monday morning. Nighttime, or a weekend, or not at school at all would have been better. At least with the clouds, people wouldn’t be starting rumors about her walking around with a skeleton.
She would have rumors about the giant instead.
Students on their way from the dorms to the school stopped to gape. Ylva was gathering glares, stares, looks of awe, and plenty more. Several of those looks shifted towards Eva, often turning to confusion at some point. Eva even caught the eye of Des who stopped to glare for a moment, though that glare was aimed undoubtedly at Eva.
Let them try to figure out a connection. What is a blue-lipped giant of a statue doing walking next to the monster girl? What Eva wouldn’t give for a peek into their thoughts.
Though only those that were early to school would see them, Eva held no doubts that the rumors would spread through the entire school by lunch. They would likely explode into full-blown conspiracy theories by the end of the day.
Maybe some of those theories would even be right.
“We gather an audience.”
“Don’t worry about it. It isn’t your fault.” Partly. “I’ve been drawing plenty of attention on my own lately thanks to my hands and eyes.”
“Change your form. Become human-like in appearance.”
Eva glanced up at the demon. She didn’t appear to be joking. Though she had to wonder if she would even recognize an Ylva joke. If Ylva knew what a joke was.
“I can’t,” Eva said with a hesitant shrug. “I’m stuck like this.”
Ylva managed to look down at Eva while keeping her head straight. A faint smile touched her icy lips. “We will teach.”
“While that might be nice,” Eva said slowly, “I can’t say that I am interested in being a slave for hundreds or thousands of years.”
“We treat Our property well.”
“And I can see that with Nel. She appears very… content.” For the most part. Any time Eva was around and Ylva wasn’t, Nel became far more skittish. “It just isn’t the life for me. Perhaps I’d take you up on the offer eventually. Not in the foreseeable future.”
“You repeat the mistakes of your companion. A disgrace.”
“Like I said, in the future. You would be my first choice, especially over someone like Zagan.”
“Surely I’m not that bad, am I?”
That silky smooth voice appeared right in her ear. She felt the hot breath caress her ear. Eva jumped. Her claws raked through empty air almost of their own accord. She couldn’t help it.
“Calm yourself, embryonic one.” Zagan stooped over with a smile on his face–his nose was a mere millimeter from the tip of Eva’s claw. “Lashing out in fear makes you look weak, yeah? Look at this one,” he said with a wave towards Ylva. “Her composure didn’t waver for even an instant despite being equally startled by my presence.”
Eva clenched her fist. She had half a mind to step forwards and punch him in the face. A mere glower would have to suffice.
“You are one of the ten kings, Great King Zagan.”
Zagan managed to move in front of Ylva, sweep up her hand with his own, and press his lips against it all in the time it took Eva to blink. She didn’t move or even acknowledge his actions. Ylva just stared with her usual dead gaze.
“I am. And you are a daughter of Hel. Tell me, how is the old woman?”
“Busy. Liches plague the mortal realm.”
“Ah,” Zagan said with a nod. “The more humans multiply, the more will attempt to stave off the machinations of Death. But, what of you? Dithering here when your sisters and mother require you elsewhere? Surely the only hel with free access to the mortal realm has more interesting things to do than babysit.” His eyes flicked over Eva for just a moment before returning to Ylva.
“We have Our own mission.”
“I see.” He pulled himself up to his full height–still two heads shorter than Ylva–releasing her hand in the process. Despite Ylva towering over him, he still had several inches on Eva.
This must be how Juliana always feels.
Looking at Zagan all but confirmed that Carlos had been correct. Eva was shrinking. The distance between them hadn’t been so great even as recently as the first day of school. It was too bad. She rather liked her newfound height. Hopefully it wouldn’t shrink too much.
She needed to surround herself with more people of Juliana’s stature. At the very least, Eva would still be taller than her.
“Martina asked me to escort the two of you. I think the presence of someone uncontracted is making her somewhat nervous.” He glanced down at Eva and added, “she gets like that sometimes.”
Eva frowned. He had said something similar on the rooftop while trying to find a summoned demon. “So long as she doesn’t bother me, I don’t care what she’s doing. I’ll not interfere unless her plans bring harm to me or anyone I know. If that is what you’re wondering.”
“I will let her know,” Zagan said with a sneer.
Was that the wrong answer?
Eva’s frown deepened as Zagan turned back to Ylva. Did he want interference? She let out a soft sigh. Between regular school, her own studies, and this demon attack on Zoe, she just didn’t have time to dedicate to snooping around Martina Turner’s plans.