The demon had been overexcited the entire way over. She shifted to full Arachne-mode the moment they got away from the dorms. Her smile hadn’t left her face since. Eight eyes still trumped no eyes; Eva could only hope she’d use them effectively.
“Zagan?” Eva asked. “Catherine?”
“Can’t sense Zagan at all. I’d say the succubus is a good distance away in the direction of your school.”
“Right.”
No Zagan was good. He wouldn’t be able to show up and blame Eva. Or show up and attack Eva in the event that he was behind it.
“Can you put out that fire with all that fancy magic you insisted on staying at school and learning? I feel like the demons are inside.”
It was a lot of fire. She couldn’t actually see it, but Eva couldn’t imagine much of the house would be left. Eva shrugged. “I can try. Before that,” Eva froze one of the ten orbiting spheres of Arachne’s blood. It formed the pattern for a shield in mid-air.
With a clap of her fingers, a dome appeared in Eva’s vision. Arachne was only half in it, but it was formed with her blood. It wouldn’t hurt her at all.
“I thought you graduated from clapping.”
“Standing around for half an hour while I concentrate doesn’t seem like a good idea at the moment.”
Eva ignored Arachne’s half-laugh as she raised her arms in front of her, aimed at the house. She doubted it was necessary, but someone with a wand would have it pointed towards the house.
Extinguishing flames had been a big part of her final exam. It was also the first thing taught. A pyrokinetic being unable to control the flames they create could only create disaster.
Those tests were in controlled environments. Half the time, the flames were created by Eva herself. They were far easier to control than natural fire, but even that was limited to a few logs in a dedicated fire pit.
Not an entire house.
Every inch she managed to reclaim from the fire just burst into even more flames the moment she tried to move on to the next area. It was too hot. Too much fire around to reignite the ready to burn wood.
Eva wiped a forehead of sweat onto her shoulder as she continued concentrating.
“Oh, I think it is working,” Arachne said. She actually sounded somewhat impressed.
Eva couldn’t bask in the praise. “No talking unless you’re learning magic and helping.” Sparing concentration on the demon would lead to relapse.
A tingling spread through her fingers as more and more magic built up. She could feel the flames dampening and receding. The entire house slowly died down. Eva would have blinked in surprise had her blindfold and eye situation been different. No new flames cropped up. No spontaneous recombustion.
It didn’t feel as natural as it should have, but Eva couldn’t complain about the results.
Cool September air crept over her without the flames to keep it at bay. Eva allowed a small smile to cross her face as the heat dampened. “And that’s–”
“Pathetic,” a voice grunted from behind Eva.
Eva cursed herself for letting her concentration lapse. Arachne apparently felt the same if her sudden hiss was any indication.
Whirling around, Eva launched three orbs of blood as another two began to form a wire frame ball.
Ice cold air exploded throughout the street. Her blood orbs flew through empty space. Arachne barreled through the area a moment too late.
“Spencer,” he growled. His voice had moved off to another side. “I should have expected you two.”
Eva mentally narrowed her eyes as she turned to face the alchemist. “Wayne Lurcher. You almost died.”
The blood she’d sent out returned to orbiting her. Her wire frame ball pulled back into two separate orbs.
“Touching you care,” he said with a scoff. “What did you do with Zoe?”
“First,” Eva said with a gesture towards the charred house, “I had nothing to do with that except to extinguish the fire.”
“
Eva frowned. Stealing credit for her hard work? How dare he.
“Zoe is safe and fine with only minor injuries.”
Wayne twitched. A snarl crossed his face for an instant before he returned to a more placid expression. “Key me into your wards,” he said.
“Even if I wanted you to have access to the safety of my home, I can’t. Need to deal with the demons that caused this in the first place.” Eva faced the demon slowly creeping towards Wayne. “Arachne, are they still here?”
The spider-demon gave Wayne a growl before turning to Eva. “Still nearby and in the direction of the house.”
“Some of your friends get off their chain?”
“You’re so distrustful,” Eva said with an aside glance towards Wayne.
“I accepted what you said about Zoe at face value.”
