Irene glanced over Saija’s shoulder, watching the other two demons interact with the humans around them. Maybe so.
And besides. The dean of the school wouldn’t have brought dangerous demons to interact with schoolchildren, would he? She knew Jordan’s dad. He could be scary, but he wasn’t evil.
She shuddered a little as she considered, remembering just why she had ‘needed’ that hug in the first place.
“What did you see just now?”
“Just an older woman in a long leather coat running around.”
“Old woman?”
“Well, she had white hair. That means old for humans, right?”
Irene considered Randal. His hair varied between white, silver, and plain gray depending on the lighting. But he was an exception, not the rule.
“Yeah, I suppose so. She was running?”
“Yep. Just dashed across my field of vision. She was pretty quick, I almost wasn’t sure I saw anything. Probably nothing. Though I do wonder why she had a sword. Most humans don’t carry them. Just that one professor.”
“Sword?! That doesn’t sound like nothing!” Irene paused, trying to think of something to do. There really was only one option. “We should warn Eva.”
Chapter 016
“Hold on a moment,” Eva said.
She didn’t get texts often. Usually only when there was an emergency. Either Zoe or Nel using Zoe’s phone would send her something. Even rarer were actual phone calls.
Right now, her phone was ringing. They had been right in the middle of their conversation about demon hunters, tactics, possible offensive avenues, and defensive security measures. Now somebody was interrupting it.
Rude. Probably. Unless it was an emergency. In that case, Eva might be able to forgive whoever it was.
Genoa nodded an assent. Making a show of noticing that her glass was empty, she got up and walked to the kitchen to refill her water. She was actually using her own two feet. Half of their conversation had been spent on her feet, though she made liberal use of the chairs and tables around the room to lean against.
It was somewhat awkward, being seated on the couch while Genoa wandered about, but Eva ignored it for the most part. It was nice that she was on her feet in the first place. Her recovery was going well, it seemed. No brain damage as far as Eva could tell.
Though she hadn’t asked Genoa or Juliana if there actually was any. But having her heart punctured like that… even a few minutes of oxygen deprivation to the brain could cause permanent damage. It had been one of the main things Eva had tried to prevent by circulating her blood through the air.
Muscle atrophy was a whole other matter, unfortunately. After waking from her coma, she had been unable to move. Too much healing, too much risk of reopening a wound. By the time she had been able to get up for exercise, she needed a good deal of therapy.
Moreover, she was acting. A good act as she really was up on her feet.
But as Eva glanced down to her phone’s screen, Genoa let her facade slip ever so slightly.
Her smile lost its gusto. Still there, ready to reassure people that she was fine. But so long as she thought that nobody was looking, she didn’t put the effort into it. Her breathing changed to be just a bit more ragged, as if she weren’t getting quite enough oxygen though her lungs.
It wasn’t the first time she had let her act falter. Pretty much anytime she thought that her guests weren’t paying attention, she would sigh or pinch her eyes shut. Something to indicate an exhaustion that she kept hidden otherwise.
Eva hadn’t commented so far and she wasn’t about to start now.
Instead, she focused on her still ringing phone.
Irene’s name was lit up on the screen.
Which was somewhat odd. Eva couldn’t recall ever getting a call from Irene. Usually it was the other way around. Eva couldn’t think of a single reason why Irene would call. It wasn’t to hang out. Irene never initiated any kind of hang-out session.
If there was trouble at Brakket, Eva would have expected a call from Zoe first.
Unless Zoe was in trouble.
“Hello?”
“Eva? Oh good. You’re alright.”
That instantly set her on full alert. “Should I not be alright?” she asked with a glance towards Srey.
The other demon hadn’t participated even once in the conversation with Genoa. Not that Eva had really expected him to. She felt a bit bad that Srey was being used purely for his utility and not for something like his charming personality… but he didn’t have much charm under his glower.
Still, he got the message the glance conveyed and shook his head. He mouthed, ‘no one watching.’
That calmed Eva a little bit. If nobody was watching, they probably weren’t about to be ambushed. Probably. Maybe somebody was outside watching the house. They couldn’t see Srey, but they were waiting for somebody to emerge or to walk past the windows. Or maybe they had blocked Srey out of their watching somehow and could keep an eye on the rest without triggering his sense of observation.
Thinking those thoughts erased the little calm that Eva had.
And made her eye the windows with suspicion.
Her blood sense wasn’t detecting anything abnormal, but it didn’t have the range that Srey apparently had.
While Eva had been analyzing her surroundings, Irene had continued on, babbling somewhat incoherently about Saija.
What is it with that girl and succubi?
“Stop,” Eva said, latching onto a word. “Someone with a sword? Were they armored up like a medieval knight?”
“No. Saija said that they were an old lady.”
“Old? How old? Maybe an eye patch and red hair?”
Eva could almost hear Irene shaking her head.
“White hair. And Saija says no eye patch, just a leather coat.”
Some other demon hunter? Eva thought. She knew that there were some around. The demons had killed a few hunters before arriving. None since, but she could understand even a demon hunter’s hesitation in attacking a school full of children.
Frowning, Eva tried to think up anyone she knew that fit that description.
“I didn’t actually see any of it,” Irene said, ignoring Eva’s momentary lapse in thought. “I was turned away. When I did look, I still couldn’t see anything. Saija said that she was running pretty fast.”
“Right. A white-haired, leather coat wearing sword wielder who moves quickly,” Eva repeated for the sake of everyone present. “We’ll be on the lookout. You stay safe, alright. We’ll be back to the dorms…”
Eva trailed off as something clicked.
She had seen someone who fit that description.
Just once. And not for very long.
Someone who had gone unnoticed by her blood vision. Someone who had apparently broken a domain and caused the domain owner to flee into Prax’s domain.
“The doll,” Eva whispered to herself.
But it wouldn’t be coming after Eva. She hadn’t done anything. Maybe it was looking for Prax and was merely unaware that he had died.
Eva glanced over at Arachne and Srey. Void had sent the former here. Unless she had broken some other rule that Eva was unaware of. Srey… Eva couldn’t say much about. For being around each other so much these days, Eva didn’t really speak with him unless necessary.
Which might explain why he was so grumpy all the time. As far as she knew, nobody actually talked with him unless they were wondering if they were being watched.
“Well, I’ll let everyone know,” Eva said. “Thanks for the warning, Irene. Don’t worry about it though. I think I know who it was. It shouldn’t be a problem.”
“You’re sure?”
“I’m sure. You just enjoy your time with Saija.”
“Eva…”
If Irene was going to say anything else, Eva didn’t hear it. She hung up the phone and slipped it back into her pocket.