Void Domain, Book 01 полностью

Lynn sighed at her reluctance. She couldn’t remember the last time Shalise kept something from her. That it was an injury that cured her spoke of black magic. She thought for a moment about asking Shalise to see the wound, but decided to let it be.

From the sound of it, Shalise knew this person, this ‘her,’ outside of whatever incident this was. Probably not a necromancer that grew a conscience. Someone who was at the club? A friend then.

Something to look into later.

“So what are you going to do now?”

Shalise just shook her head.

“You sounded like you were having fun, learning magic and being with your new friends.”

“I…” She leaned back and turned her gaze out the window. “I think I need time, for now.”

“I understand. Don’t take too long to decide, you’ll fall behind in class.”

When Shalise didn’t respond, Lynn stood up and ruffled the girl’s brown hair. “I have to go. In fact, I’m going to Brakket.”

Shalise’s eyes snapped over to Lynn. “You? Why?”

“Didn’t I ever tell you? The Elysium Sisters are necromancer hunters.”

Shalise’s eyes spread wide open. Lynn was quite sure she didn’t know that the order of nuns was even magical.

“They hurt a good friend of mine so I’ll be going personally to oversee the operations.” She fluffed up Shalise’s hair once again. “I have to make it safe if that good friend decides to go back to school.”

A white-robed nun stood outside both of the dormitory buildings. One in the short pathway leading to the Rickenbacker and one on the opposite end of the street in front of the Gillet.

Eva froze at the sight of them. There was still a good distance between her and the dorms. She spun and headed down an alley in the entertainment area just outside of the dorms. The thick snow crunched under her feet as she ran to a secluded spot.

“Arachne,” she whispered, “there are Elysium nuns outside the dorms.”

The spider stirred beneath her heavy coat. She slipped out and dropped to the ground. An instant later, Arachne stood in front of her on two legs. A grin split across her face. “Let’s take them out,” were her first words.

Eva shook her head. “If there are two, then there are more. Probably a response to the necromancers.”

“So? We can take them.”

“I’d rather not risk it. Even if I wanted to, I’d still like to be able to attend school, at least for now.”

“We running back to the prison until they leave then?”

“I’m not. You are.” Eva held up her hands before the protest could even start. “If they’re looking for the necromancers, they might look at the prison. All my books, my notes, my equipment. It needs to be hidden. I trust you to do that for me.”

Arachne still looked sulky even after the emphasized trust. “I can’t move that skull. Your other demon wouldn’t tell me a thing about it.”

“This again? Ylva is not my other anything. I couldn’t just leave her to wander on her own with that death touch of hers.” At Arachne’s continued bad mood, Eva unzipped her jacket and pulled her shirt down, exposing her modest cleavage and the small black sphere that nestled between. “You don’t see me carrying around that skull, do you? You should be aware that I never take this necklace off, given where you spend most of your time.

“Now, are you going to help me or should I really call up Ylva again?”

It was an empty threat, she knew it and she knew Arachne knew it. Arachne knew she knew it. It was a vicious cycle.

Having the daughter of Hel marching around the prison for the last week had been stressful enough. Her setting up a full throne room in cell house two and asking that it not be touched until her next visit made Eva even more nervous.

Arachne eventually sighed. “You should come with me. It would be dangerous if the nuns catch a whiff of your… treatments. I can protect you while I’m around, but not from the prison.”

“That is one of the reasons I want you back there. Stay there after you hide the books. Or wherever you decide to hide them.” Eva gave the demon a comforting smile, at least, she hoped it was comforting. “I’m only halfway done with the treatments and even further before I’m where you are. I look normal and no one has noticed anything amiss so far. I can’t say the same about you.”

A sudden pull in her wrists knocked Eva off-balance. She fell right into Arachne as the spider tightened her grip around Eva’s wrists.

“What if they find out anyway? What if the necromancers attack?” She half whispered, half shouted.

Eva let out a soft sigh as she relaxed into Arachne’s shoulder. “Arachne,” she said after a slow breath, “if the necromancers attack then the sisters will fight them. I’ll be fine. However, we run an increased risk of them detecting something wrong if we’re together.”

“I’m not staying there,” Arachne said after a few minutes of them resting against each other.

Eva definitely enjoyed the heat radiating off the spider-woman. She might have to look into making more heat runes for her clothes, or just upping the intensity; Montana winters were cold.