“Maybe so,” Zoe said as she flicked her dagger. The cool embrace of between took hold of her. The sensation lasted a scant few seconds before she appeared on the rooftop her students occupied.
Wayne, Zoe noticed as she glanced back, chose to simply run and jump the gap between the buildings. It wasn’t that far. Zoe could have jumped the distance herself. Doing so added unnecessary risk of landing wrong or even tripping and falling.
He did not approach. Wayne stopped just at the edge of the building. The tome focus in his hand was open to a page as he stood in a defensive stance. His hard eyes never left Arachne.
The demon herself appeared entirely relaxed. She half slouched on Eva’s shoulder. All eight of her red eyes remained focused on Wayne. And she smiled. The sharp, interlocking teeth bared full against the lights carried by the crowd below.
Not wasting any time, Zoe closed the short distance between herself and her students.
“Arachne,” she said, “could you not antagonize Wayne? He is upset enough about the situation as it is.”
“Antagonize,” the demon said in a faux innocent voice, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I was just watching to make sure he wasn’t about to do anything foolish.”
“Being watched makes him nervous.”
“That doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be watched.”
“Arachne,” Eva said as she patted the demon’s arm with her own clawed hands, “I’m sure he won’t hurt us right now. Not if he hasn’t already tried something. Isn’t that right, Zoe Baxter?”
Zoe sighed as she looked to Wayne again. He hadn’t moved, still standing with his tome out. Judging by the few spars she’d done with him over the years, she’d guess he would shield and try to run based on his defensive stance.
“I don’t think so,” Zoe said. “Not unless you attack first.”
“Well,” Eva said, “it is good that you are here. I can’t say I expected it, but good nonetheless. Just in case things do go pear-shaped, you and Wayne can teleport Juliana out of here.”
Zoe spared a glance at the other students. Juliana had her armor fully covering herself with only a few holes in the front and her blond ponytail poking out the back. She sat with her legs dangling over the edge of the building. Two metal spikes jutting from her backside seemed to be anchoring the girl to the roof.
“Not you?”
“I’m confident everything is under control. If things do go wrong, I need to be here to keep people from dying.”
“And what is happening–no.” Zoe shook her head. Students first. “Juliana, are you alright?”
“I asked her to be here. I don’t have any eyes,” Eva tapped the leather band around her head, “so I asked her to keep an eye out for things I might miss.”
“And that’s fine with you?” Zoe asked with a glance towards Juliana.
Metal covering her face melted off. Zoe had to marvel once again at the control she had over her ferrokinesis. That skill alone could get her through her class four exam despite her age. Zoe held herself up as the best during her school days. Whatever Genoa did to get her daughter to this level was a wonder indeed.
The blond looked up to Zoe and gave a light nod of her head. “I trust Eva not to get us killed.”
That gave Eva a laugh. “I don’t know that I’d trust myself,” she said. “It was only a few months ago I found myself in a situation to lose my hands, eyes, and toes.”
“That was different,” Juliana said. “You were ambushed, alone. Here we’ve got both of us, Arachne, and now two professors. And we’re not going to be ambushed.”
“Keep on your guard anyway. Neither the Elysium Order nor myself ever found Sawyer. He could very well use what happens tonight as a distraction for his own purposes.”
“And what,” Zoe said, “is happening tonight?”
“Running the nuns out of town, of course.”
“That… I don’t… Are you sure that is a good idea? You just said yourself that Sawyer is still on the loose.”
“They weren’t searching for him,” Eva spat out. “I spoke with Nel and another nun. I know that they had no interest in anyone but us.” She gestured her hands towards her roommates and Arachne. “The other nun was unhappy with that fact, so we’re doing all them a favor anyway.”
“And you got the whole town in on it?”
“Sort of.”
Zoe sighed and gave Eva her best stern teacher glare. “Sort of?”
“Well, they were already angry with the nuns. A few wrath runes placed around the town might have made them angrier. That was followed by an inverted sloth rune to spur them into action.” Eva gave a bright smile. “That is heavily simplifying it, of course. It really was some of my best work. Figuring out all the nuances of timing everything and keeping students and staff from feeling the effects.”
“You brainwashed them?”
“Let’s not be silly.” Eva crossed her arms. The action somewhat destabilized her, but Arachne held her tight. A good thing too, they were right on the edge.
“Can’t you move back from the ledge a few steps?”
“Nope. This is the furthest I can be while still being able to turn on shields around the people if things go bad.”
Zoe blinked. “Shields?” she asked.
