None of her intimidation seemed to work on the grinning blond. “I knew you weren’t just a regular spider,” she said. “I checked every book on magical creatures I could get my hands on and nothing fit your description. So what are you?”
“This,” Eva said before the demon could answer, “is Arachne.”
Juliana looked the spider-woman up and down. “The mortal weaver who challenged Athena?”
“The one and only,” Arachne half growled out. That Juliana wasn’t intimidated by her seemed to bother poor Arachne.
“So, which version is true? You beat Athena and were cursed for your hubris or you lost and were cursed for your hubris?”
“I won of course.”
Juliana hummed at that, giving Arachne another appraising look over.
“Anyway,” Eva said, “we should go. Arachne will carry you.”
“What?” came Arachne’s half shout.
“I can move on my own, she can’t.”
“But–”
“You’re the one who said we should bring her.” At Juliana’s questioning look, Eva explained, “I believe her exact words were ‘if only Juliana and Shalise were fine with me, maybe I wouldn’t have to hide as a spider all day.'”
“I said nothing of the sort.”
“Pretty close. In any case, I’ll just step there and you carry her.” Eva turned to start stepping, but a squelching noise gave her pause.
She turned back to find Arachne’s legs shifting from her back to the bulbous growths emerging from her back. She grew, standing high enough on her eight legs for Eva to fit beneath her without much stooping. Her human body shifted, rising higher and growing larger to match her new body’s size.
Juliana took a step back, looking at least a little intimidated this time. Amusingly enough, Arachne wasn’t trying for intimidation. At least not as far as Eva could tell. Her transformation was quick and clean.
“I’ll carry the both of you then,” she said, reluctantly, as she stopped growing. “It isn’t good to exhaust yourself before we enter a dangerous situation.”
The poor spider-demon looked almost like she was pleading. Eva had never been carried by her outside her human form. She rarely even saw Arachne in full on Arachne-mode unless the demon was planning on hurting something.
Still, Eva shrugged. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt.”
Juliana turned and gave Eva a nod before going back to admiring Arachne.
Eva wondered if the blond would act like that when she learned of Arachne’s demon status. They had talked it over and decided not to mention it, though Devon might. Hopefully after seeing Arachne, living with her for a few months, and now being carried by her would dampen any shocking revelations by Eva’s master.
Arachne helped Juliana up onto her back. She fit neatly in the small crevasse between Arachne’s vertical human body and the bulbous mound of her abdomen. “Hold on tight, I’m not responsible for you falling off.”
She swooped down and picked Eva up in her usual one arm beneath Eva’s knees and one arm behind her back.
Eva had to fight down a scream. It was a
With the girls in place, Arachne launched off the roof. Despite her added weight, or perhaps because she had more legs than normal, Arachne flew through the air. They landed on the ground far from the dormitory. Juliana’s scream turned into a groan as she bounced on the spider’s back.
Arachne skittered forwards. Her legs crashed into the ground, likely leaving marks as she propelled herself forwards.
Eva patted the spider’s neck and said, “no trails,” into her ear.
Arachne nodded and stepped lighter as they rushed through the Montana wilderness.
An hour later brought them to the front of the prison. Rather than climb or jump over the wall, Arachne ran to the large double gate. “Alright, off,” she said. She set Eva lightly on the ground.
Juliana didn’t need telling twice. She slid off the spider’s back and took several steps away. Her face looked a tint greener than when they left and she was rubbing her backside.
A small smile touched Eva’s lips. She was glad she didn’t have to sit for over an hour on Arachne’s back. Arachne was a lot of things but soft was not one of them. The hard carapace that covered every inch of her body couldn’t have been comfortable for the poor blond.
Not that being in her arms was very comfortable. To her credit, Arachne did seem to keep the jolts down for Eva. The lack of support for most of her body always left her feeling a bit tingly. However, Eva had gotten mostly used to it over the past few months.
Devon approached as Arachne shrank. He engaged the contraption they had set up to open and close the gates. As the group walked closer to the inner gate, he gave a hard look at Juliana.
“I figured it would be you,” Devon said. “The other girl looked like she was about to cry when I glanced at her. You looked about ready to fight me. The question is, can you?”
“I can handle myself. My mother was a mage-knight and she trained me personally.”
