Eva dived to the side, tumbling out of the path of the attack.
“It took all five specters and she is fighting every step.” Eva watched as the meat in his tongue slipped over empty space. His teeth. “I love the feisty ones. She’s a much better fighter than you.”
Arachne lurched forwards. Her steps were unsteady, more like a zombie than some of the actual zombies she’d seen. Another step almost sent her to the ground; one of her legs stretched forward to catch her.
Eva didn’t waste a second of time. Her blood spread forward, wrapping around each of Arachne’s legs at the base of her back. She doubled and tripled up the rings of blood. Arachne was a demon and her carapace was strong.
Eva clapped.
Not strong enough. Six legs violently exploded off the back of the arachnid. Arachne fell on her face a moment later. Eva couldn’t tell for sure, but an arrow sticking out of her chest might have been pushed all the way through. The legs squirmed and writhed on the ground before they went still.
“Heartless,” Sawyer quipped as he looked down at the lamely flopping Arachne.
The stubs on her hands didn’t seem to offer enough grip to prop herself back up. That or Arachne was fighting every movement.
Eva hoped it was the second.
Eva shrugged. “She’ll regenerate. You,” Eva couldn’t help but grin at the man before her, “will not.”
“I had my doubts about you being a demon. I suppose my doubts were unfounded.”
“Arachne,” Eva said as she walked over to Sawyer, “you have until I finish sorting our friend’s organs from smallest to largest to fight off those ghosts. If you fail, I’ll banish you until we find a solution.”
“Smallest to largest?” Sawyer said with mock confidence. “Why not alphabetical? It just seems so plebeian, otherwise. Or,” he gasped, bringing a hand to his mouth, “are you a simpleton who doesn’t even know the names of half the body’s organs?”
“Really, the only organ that matters to me is the heart.” Eva knelt down near the grinning man. “I could coat you in blood and clap my hands. I could, it would be so easy. I could have done it instead of the golems or Arachne.”
Her fingers clicked as they tapped against each other. “I think it would be much more cathartic to do this by hand,” she wiggled her needle-like fingers, clacking them together more, “or claw, as the case may be.”
Sawyer offered nothing but his wide grin. His heart rate increased. Not by a little bit. It hammered in his chest almost as hard as Eva’s own heart.
“Shall we start here?” Eva gripped his little toe, or tried to. The man was wearing a shoe that Eva couldn’t see. Eva pinched, intending to only cut through the shoe. She misjudged her hand’s strength. Her sharp fingers pierced straight through his toe.
He didn’t scream. He didn’t even slip in his smile. His heart beat faster.
“Sorry,” Eva said. “I don’t have much experience with these hands. Something we can explore together. You still have nine toes and plenty more after that.”
Eva reached into the small opening in his shoe. The next toe, Eva rolled back and forth in her fingers. Bone snapped beneath her fingers before she squeezed it off. “Eight now, Sawyer. Any comments?”
“Just one,” he said with a laugh that sounded far less forced than it should have sounded, “I’m glad I took your eyes.”
Eva frowned at that. She reached for his third–
Hot pain pierced her side. Eva gripped her side as something kicked the side of her head.
“Trouble with two naked whores, Sawyer? I am disappointed.”
“Weilks, good to see you.”
Eva couldn’t breathe, not well at least. She could see exactly what happened, at least to her blood vessels. Something pierced her lung. She set to healing as much as she could. Her bloodstone flew into the cut, giving her more control over her own blood. Lungs were far more complicated than skin; as long as it matched the opposite side, it should be fine. Her blood magic could keep her from drowning in her own blood as well.
“The Elysium Sluts are on the move. Now would be the perfect time to find the augur. Except,” the larger man made a show of looking around the chamber, “is this our entire army?”
“A third.”
“Sawyer,” Weilks said warningly.
Eva gripped the thing piercing her side and pulled it slowly out, healing as she went. The blood sticking to the blade made a familiar pattern.
This was her dagger.
She launched the blood at him, forming rings around his feet and hands.
Eva clapped.
Weilks fell forwards, nearly crushing Sawyer. He tumbled without even a scream.
The skinnier man scrambled out of the way. Eva noted with some satisfaction that the smile finally slipped from his mouth.
Eva let him scramble to the side. She mostly ignored him as she rolled Weilks over on his back.
“Where is my bloodstone,” Eva said. She felt a distinct need to cough, but suppressed it. Her claws pressed around his neck as she straddled his chest. “My bloodstone, I want it back.”
