Eva, on the other hand, didn’t hesitate for a second. She whipped out two vials of her blood. The first was poured in a small circle, setting the radius and center point. The second vial was used to form a golf-ball sized globule hovering over the blood ring. Eva snapped her fingers.
A black-red sphere formed over the two women just as an attack hammered into the shield. The globule shrank noticeably and shrank again as another attack hit.
Confident that the shield would hold for at least a few more attacks, Eva uncorked her vials of demon blood and surveyed the alley.
A large pool of blood trailed to where her master sat against a building’s wall behind a large metal bin. She couldn’t see the pool in the darkness, but she knew it was there. Blood always stood out to her.
The trail ended at a fresh wound on her master’s leg. With another flash of lightning, Eva noted that Devon had chalk out and was inscribing something on the wall.
Eva ignored him, figuring he could take care of himself if he wasn’t dead, and turned her attention to their attacker.
Standing alone at the end of the alley was what could only be described as a nun. She wore a pure white version of the traditional nun’s habit and had a large silver cross dangling from her neck. Her eyes were aglow with white fire and her hands outstretched, sending what appeared to be bolts of lightning down the alley.
Eva withdrew demon’s blood from one vial, forming a golf-ball that seemed to absorb all light. With a flick of her wrist, Eva launched the ball at the nun’s face.
A faint blue light flickered before the nun just as the ball hit. Cracks spread out over the light. The nun ceased her attacks for an instant while her shield regenerated. The moment the cracks mended, the shield disappeared and she renewed her attacks tenfold.
Eva poured the second vial of demon blood into a sphere and dug the fingers of both hands into it. She pulled and twisted. Strands of blood stretched around a small circle in the air forming intricate designs as they moved. Once finished, Eva pulled back her right arm and punched it into the pattern as hard as she could.
A car sized fist fell through the air, directly on top of the nun’s head. The nun stumbled as her blue shield flickered once again. The shield cracked, sending ethereal shards flying around the alley. All too quickly the nun set about repairing her shield.
Out of handy blood, Eva cast her awareness about. Her master still sat, scribbling away on the wall. Arachne, on the other hand, simply stood within Eva’s blood shield. She looked thoughtful and all too pleased with herself for having contributed nothing to the fight.
“Arachne! Do you mind helping out a bit!”
The spider woman shrugged. “I was contracted for the smash and grab. You smashed, he grabbed. This,” she waved her needly fingers about the air, “is past that.”
“I thought we were family, sisters or whatever.”
Arachne shrugged again and pointed at herself. “Still a demon.”
Another spell crashed into Eva’s blood shield. She pulled out the last vial of her own blood and added it to the rapidly shrinking shield orb. “I’ll banish you,” she threatened.
“Aww,” Arachne ran her sharp finger down Eva’s cheek, just lightly enough to avoid cutting, “but then you’ll be out of easy access to help.”
“I can’t say I’d notice much of a difference at this point.”
“Contract with me.” Her flighty nature vanished, replaced by an aura of utmost seriousness.
“What? I can’t–”
“You’re going to your fancy school, right? Take me with you.” She held up a finger to Eva’s lips, stymieing her objections. “One year binding. You’ll have someone to protect you and I don’t have to go back to Hell. Win-win,” she said with a smile.
“That’s–”
“Or you can hesitate, your master killed and your shield whittled down until you’ve got nothing between you and the nun but me. I’d probably still protect you, just because I like you, but wouldn’t it be so much easier to just contract now and not have to worry about such fragile words as ‘probably’?”
Eva glared at the demon. Past her, Devon was still pinned down behind the dumpster. Lightning bolt after lightning bolt struck it. It wouldn’t be long before the bolts melted their way through or the nun changed tactics.
As a bolt of lightning slammed into her shield, Eva shouted “Alright.”
The moment the first syllable left her mouth, Arachne grasped the back of Eva’s neck, pulling her close. The demon’s long tongue thrust down her throat as lips touched chitin. It wriggled for a moment before Eva felt the spider woman’s sharp teeth bite down. The oily demon blood ran down the long tongue and dripped down Eva’s throat. Eva felt a small scrape on her own lip and a familiar copper-oil taste on her tongue.
Arachne held on until another bolt whittled down Eva’s shield a notch. She pulled back and licked what passed for her lips. “Now we are talking.”
