“I don’t think I want to know where you got the bed and stuff from, so I’m going to not ask you and pretend you asked a passing dryad to shape some wood you had.”
Arachne shrugged. “There is also an office type room that was probably used by the guards for this place. I figure that you could use the office to remake your summoning room. Unless, of course, you want to use one of the other buildings. You can use runes to get the showers operational at least, if not the kitchen. Put up some blood wards and we’ve got a new home.”
Eva shook her head. She didn’t want to rain on the spider-demon’s parade. “This place is amazing and I’m sure we will get a lot of use out of it. But, for now at least, I’ll be living at the dorms.” Before Arachne could object, Eva quickly said, “this place is too far out of the way to return every night and leave every morning. What we need to do is find fast magical transportation. Something you could use as well. Maybe I can get Zoe Baxter to teach me her method of teleporting.”
Arachne’s grin slipped, but she nodded. “There’s always infernal walk,” she said.
Eva shifted a bit. “I’m not sure that I am too keen on walking through Hell to go home.”
“You’d really not notice it. There would be a few seconds of heat and maybe a bit of discomfort. Then your there. Though,” she said with a bit of a frown, “you might not be ready for another few months. Speaking of, has Devon contacted you?”
Eva shook her head. It was already early July and not a peep from her master. “I’m beginning to get worried. If he doesn’t show up by mid August…”
“I am always ready to donate blood.”
“As much as I appreciate that, without the ritual I doubt I’d survive an infusion. I have no idea how to draw the circle let alone have someone else to manage it while I go under.”
Arachne growled. A low, venomous, almost murderous growl. “I’ll track him down.”
“No. If you’re gone and he does show up, that could be even worse.”
“We’ll send another demon after him then. And we’ll make sure it is a very fun one, like me.”
Eva half chuckled at that. “We’ll do that tomorrow then. For now let’s–”
“Sleep here?” Arachne almost pleaded. “It’s nice to not be a tiny spider all the time, even if I do get to stick to you.”
Eva smiled. “Alright. We do need to return tomorrow, but we can spend the night here.”
Withdrawing her usual dagger, Eva slid it across her arm. She pulled at a thin strand of blood and began twisting it into a circle filled with intrinsic designs. Eva frowned as she worked. The wards in the abandoned hospital were done years ago when Eva first found the place. Back then her blood was far more human than today. Magic considered her current blood impure.
And it was as impure as it would get, hopefully. Further treatments should tip the scales back towards pure. Eva looked forward to when the treatments were complete. Not only should her blood be considered perfectly pure by whatever magics governed such things, but it would be powerful. As powerful as a fresh batch of Arachne’s blood.
Once satisfied with the design in front of her, Eva turned to the still seated Arachne. “Arm, please.”
Arachne held out a chitinous arm. She used her other clawed hand to slice straight into the armored exoskeleton. Eva lightly tapped the crystal edge of her dagger against the blood leaking over the black armor. Tapping too hard might have cracked the crystal, the dagger was not designed for even the lightest of combat.
Eva pulled a droplet of demon blood and placed it within the floating blood circle. “Not the full suite of protections, but should keep things who aren’t us out. Though I doubt we have much to worry about out here. Mostly wildlife.”
Eva walked over to the only bed in the room and took a seat, kicking her shoes off. Ignoring the spider-woman as she healed her arm, Eva said, “so, where is your bed?”
The panicked look that crossed Arachne’s face nearly sent Eva into a fit of laughter. “I– That’s–”
Eva set her clothes on the bedside table. The floor might look clean, but Eva wasn’t ready to test it just yet. A large rug, at least for this room, might be a nice addition. The cold stone floor didn’t look all that inviting.
Arachne had stood up and was looking about ready to lie down on that floor beside the bed when Eva took pity on the poor spider.
“Alright Arachne, it was just a joke. But,” Eva said with a single finger in the air, “I want your feet cleaned off before you climb under these sheets.”
The spider half ran from the room without another word. She returned a second later with a fluffy white towel. She made a show of sitting on the bed and rubbing down both of her feet. She flung the towel onto the dresser and snaked under the covers.
