Arachne cleared her throat, very unnecessarily, to pull everyone’s eyes to the letter. “‘Dear Ms. Baxter,’ it reads, ‘I offer my most sincere apologies for the simply dreadful state in which both you and your quaint adobe found themselves in. The fault, I’m afraid, lies with the liberal interpretation that two devious demons took with their orders. I must confess that I am unaccustomed to my minions failing to heed my exact orders. Perhaps next time will go over in a manner acquiescing to my desires.'”
“Is this a joke?”
“Quiet,” Arachne snapped. “I’m not finished. ‘You’re a busy woman. I understand. If you would like to avoid any further property damage, I offer this chance. Your ring–specifically the lovely black ring you wear your on your left hand–is needed for a test. If you would be so kind as to deposit it on the circle where you found this note, I would be most pleased. Have a nice day, Your Friend.'”
Once again, a brief silence settled over the group.
Apart from the laughter of a certain spider-demon.
“My ring,” Zoe said. “Why?”
“This ‘Friend’ wishes to experiment on Our magic.” Ylva’s voice boomed with anger.
If Zoe’s expression was sickly prior to Ylva’s exclamation, it would not be remiss to describe it as deathly ill afterwards.
“Juliana has a ring as well,” Eva said. “We need to keep both of you safe while we–”
“No.” Zoe cut in with only a slight tremble. “You said your blood wards would kill anything?”
Eva gave a slow nod. “Arachne doesn’t believe even a demon of Zagan’s caliber would survive for more than thirty seconds. Though he could probably destroy them before he died. Or before he walked in. Things like the carnivean and jezebeth wouldn’t last more than a second or two.”
“Move Juliana here.” Zoe shut her eyes as she took a deep breath. When she opened them, much of the stress had disappeared. The lines were still there. Her weight hadn’t returned. The pallor in her face remained.
Yet she looked stronger. More confident.
“I’ll be bait.”
“You’ll what?” Eva jumped to her feet. “Absolutely not.”
A faint smile touched the edges of Zoe’s lips. “Eva–”
“You’re about the only teacher I actually like. We’ll move both of you here, Shalise too, until–”
“Until what? Until this person decides they can’t get to us? They give up and go home?” Zoe shook her head. “Given time, they might find a way through your wards. There must be ways to breach them. And if they did give up? How would we know? We could be stuck here for the rest of our lives.”
Nel’s small harrumph drew eyes off of Zoe for a brief moment.
Devon leaned forwards, rubbing the end of his ever-scraggly goatee. “The bait plan might work. We’d set up so you could get reinforcements in minutes.”
“You think it’s a good plan?” Eva scoffed as she retook her seat. “You’d actually put yourself on the line for someone else?”
“Of course not. Don’t be stupid, girl.”
“I didn’t think so.”
“That doesn’t mean that I can’t sit around here in safety and help. I might be willing to take the field after planning and preparation. Just like any other job. With less payment.” He glanced up towards Zoe.
Eva thought he was about to ask for something in return, but her master simply shook his head.
“She sticks her neck out, or hand out in this case, and waits. That one,” he points towards Nel, “can constantly watch her and alert us to any problems. The only real question is how much protection can we hide around her without tipping off anyone. And what kind of protection.”
“More demons?” Zoe asked with almost a sigh.
Devon shook his head. “While I find the idea unlikely, the demons could be compromised if this ‘Friend’ is dominating his own demons. He likely wouldn’t have trouble dominating others.”
“That’s good.” Zoe nodded. Her nod froze half-way through. “Except, neither myself, Wayne, nor Eva managed to even hurt the demons. That was all,” she slowly glanced over at Arachne.
Who promptly sported the widest, sharpest toothed grin that Eva had seen in months.
“That’s right,” Arachne said. “You should be on the ground, licking my feet.”
“Arachne,” Devon said with a cruel grin of his own, “while certainly more headstrong than most, is not insusceptible to domination.”
“If you try that again,” Arachne growled at Devon, “I will not hesitate to tear your throat out.”
Devon turned to her and smiled his own off-white smile. “And then what? Who would complete my research. You?” He let out a long laugh. “No. I have nothing to fear from you. But I wouldn’t want to dominate your sick mind again. Once was enough for a lifetime.”
“We would not be so weak as to succumb to the whims of a mortal.” Ylva showed off a regal smirk in Arachne’s direction. “We possess the power to defend Our subjects.”
“Subjects?” Zoe quietly whispered.
Eva couldn’t do much but shrug.
“It was lucky your brief stint into Brakket went relatively unnoticed. Attracting the wrong sort of attention could spell disaster.”
“We know the meaning of discretion. None would notice Us.”
