She took one look around the room before focusing her gaze on Eva. It wasn’t a hostile gaze, but it had weight. Eva had to force herself not to take a step back.
“Daughter of Hel, name yourself,” Eva said calmly. She found herself trying to replicate the taller woman’s posture.
Like her gaze, the woman’s voice was heavy, commanding, yet not hostile. “Ylva,” she said, “daughter of Hel, daughter of Loki.”
“I am Eva, familial ties severed.”
The regal woman gave a mere nod to acknowledge that she heard.
“A soul, long denied Death’s embrace, has found its way into my possession.” Eva placed the golden skull on the ground, careful not to touch it with her bare skin, and slid it across the barrier of the shackles. She took care to keep her skin out of the shackles. Hel were supposed to be docile, but when a single touch could kill, you didn’t take chances.
“Its container,” Eva continued, “has proven resistant to damage. On behalf of my master, Devon Foster, I seek the aid of a servant of Death to return this wayward soul to its rightful place in His arms.”
Ylva knelt and retrieved the golden skull from the ground. If she took any offense to being forced to kneel, she didn’t show it.
The moment her fingertips touched the gold, it darkened and tarnished the way silver might. The ruby eyes and opal teeth fell to the ground, shattering to dust. The golden skull finished tarnishing in her hand, turning as black as obsidian.
“It is done,” the demon said.
Eva blinked, but nodded and gave a respectful bow. She hadn’t expected the demon to work for free. “Thank you, Ylva, daughter of Hel. I will–”
“Wait.” The hel knelt once more. She placed the black skull, facing Eva, on the ground at the edge of the shackles. Using both hands, the woman slid it back across the shackles. “A gift,” she said as she stood.
Eva blinked. It took a moment for her to regain her wits. She smiled and gave a deeper bow. She wasn’t about to reach down and touch it. “That is far beyond what you were summoned for. If I might ask its purpose and the reason for your favor?”
The hel narrowed her eyes. “It won’t harm you, if that is your concern.”
Cold fingers ran themselves up and down Eva’s spine. Her breath hitched at the demon’s glare. She wanted to run out of the room. Yet she forced her instincts down.
That seemed to pacify the demon despite it being an obvious lie. Her glare became less hostile.
Eva stifled a sigh of relief as the weight of Ylva’s presence lessened. She knelt down and, suppressing her hesitation, picked up the skull with both hands. “I accept your gift.”
Ylva smiled. Despite the lack of obvious malice, Eva felt a chill run through her body at the sight of it.
Half of her wanted nothing more than to throw the skull to the ground and banish the demon. The other half told her to just keep smiling and avoid angering the servant of Death any further.
The temptation was taken out of her hands when the summoning circle rippled once more. Ylva turned without another word and walked down into the circle. When the tip of her head disappeared beneath the floor, the circle ceased its rippling and returned to an inert state.
Out of the presence of Death’s servant, Eva took deep, calming breaths. She carefully set the blackened skull within the summoning shackles, just in case.
Back in the main room, Arachne sat at the table, toying with some of the garbage jewelery from the museum. Devon’s swelling looked like it had… not worsened. He was dedicating all his efforts to healing his leg.
“Arachne. You bound yourself to me. Time to put you to work.”
The spider-demon smiled. Her claws flexed in anticipation.
“Go find me all the books on hel that we have.”
Her smile slipped, but she walked out of the room without complaint.
Devon ceased healing and stared at Eva. “What went wrong?”
“Oh nothing, summoned a hel, soul jar destroyed. Mission complete.”
“Then…?”
“She returned the remains of the skull to me as a gift. When I asked its purpose, she got mad until I accepted the gift. Then she left without answering. I left it within the summoning shackles.” At her master’s scrunched up frown, Eva prodded, “any ideas?”
“A demon that favors a specific summoner will often give gifts to entice additional summonings. Depending on the item, they can use it to force themselves out of Hell without being summoned. I’ve got a handful of ‘gifts’ myself,” he said with air quotes. “I keep all of them locked away in the heaviest shackles I can make.”
Eva sat down on the table, facing her master. “I’ve never summoned a hel before, let alone this one, and we barely interacted before she offered the gift.”
