Cait si were technically not demons, her master once told her. They were a subset of fae. They, along with simorghs, boggarts, most snake-related beings, and a handful of other creatures, were part of a small group of outliers that could be summoned with an infernal summoning circle.
Why it was possible had never been adequately explained to Eva. She didn’t care too much; demonology was her master’s domain, not hers.
As the milk dwindled in the bowl, Eva took the chalk and drew a straight line through the shackles to break them. “Come on,” she said, “I need a favor.”
The cait si gave her a glance then returned to the bowl. It tried to lick up every last vestige of milk.
Eva sighed. “We will get you some more milk later if you’re good. I might even go out and get you some fresh fish.”
Arthfael perked up at that. When he crossed over the shackles, Eva erased the line that broke them. She left her modifications to the summoning circle and the jar of eel eyes, but picked up the bowl and carton of milk. Devon could clean up the rest after he was feeling better.
“Come on,” Eva said as she stepped out of the room. “Master is feeling a bit under the weather. And he is injured.”
Arachne perked up as they entered the room. When she saw the cait si, she frowned. “I thought you were getting help. What is that ball of fluff supposed to do?”
Arthfael just stuck his nose in the air and strutted past Arachne without a second glance.
“Hey,” Eva said, “cait si have healing abilities.”
Arachne said with a scoff, “and I can weave works that leave gods stunned in awe.” She turned back and continued writing in a notebook. “Oh wait,” she held up a six jointed finger, “I
“Yeah, you’re hilarious.” Eva threw back the bed sheets and knelt down by her master’s leg. She said to Arthfael, “An Elysium Sister hit him with a spell that looked like a bolt of lightning. He was healing it himself and it seemed to be working, albeit slowly. He apparently took the wrong combination of potions because,” she gestured towards the ritual circle on the floor, “he thought whatever this is would work.”
The great cat leapt onto the bed, causing it to sink under his weight. He sniffed at the leg, glanced back at Eva, then licked it.
Eva winced, glad her master was asleep while the sandpaper like tongue ran across his injured leg.
“If you can help heal it, great. If not then don’t worry. Just try to keep him away from the potions for a few days. I’ll make sure to leave a note about how he owes you lots of extra fish.
“Speaking of, Arachne.” The spider-demon turned in her chair. “I’m heading out to pick up a few supplies for our trip, as well as a fresh fish for Arthfael. When you are done with the letter, head back home and start putting anything you think we should take in a neat pile. Clothes, books, everything.”
That said, Eva turned to leave the room. “Oh,” she paused at the door. She flicked her finger between the cat and the spider. “No fighting.”
—
Eva stepped straight through the window into her room with a freshly acquired suitcase. It was already loaded down with books she had liberated from her master’s library.
A pile of clothes lay neatly folded on the end of her bed. Next to it lay a small satchel containing potions. Inside were mostly restoratives, though a few poisons seemed to have made their way in. Her two daggers along with all her vials of Arachne’s blood rested atop a pile of books, mostly on the topic of blood magic.
The only thing missing was the cage for Arachne and the spider-demon herself.
“Arachne,” Eva called out. “Are you home?”
“In here.”
Eva poked her head into the hall and peeked around. Arachne sat on the floor in the open doorway of the summoning room. Six legs arced out from her back, flexing slightly around her.
“Is it staring at you again?” Eva asked as she walked up behind her.
“No it isn’t.” She stood up and edged around the shackles. The skull never budged. “I even climbed outside the window to see if it would look at me then, but it didn’t.”
“Maybe it wasn’t sure if you were a threat or not the first time, now it doesn’t think you are.”
Arachne growled. “I think I’d rather be seen as a threat.”
Eva walked inside the shackles and picked up the black skull. “I haven’t had the time to really examine it,” she said. She held it out in her palm, weighing it.
While it was still golden and in the bag, it had been very heavy. All the gold she had stolen was heavy. They always said gold was heavy but she never had the opportunity to just grab a handful and hold it in her hands.
Now that it had blackened, the skull weighed almost twice as much. Despite feeling the weight, Eva had no trouble lifting up the palm sized skull. It was an odd sensation. Her arm should be straining right now, but it didn’t feel much different from holding a baseball.
