Void Domain, Book 03 полностью

Blood wards permeated the entirety of the prison. Wall to wall, even outside of the women’s ward courtyard. They were simply turned off.

It was difficult to accept guests when they kept exploding.

The real trick was modifying it to not explode Genoa. It was too easy to set it to full power.

Eva stuck her dagger into the blood that made up her ward scheme. Slowly, she amped up the power in the courtyard. Eva kept a careful eye on Genoa through her blood sight. The slightest hint of a problem and Eva would drop it straight back to zero.

It didn’t take long.

Genoa dropped to the ground and started writhing back and forth. Likely screaming.

Eva turned down the power a few notches.

Arachne barreled over, turning human as she did so. She had the good sense not to separate Genoa’s head from her shoulders and merely pinned her down. The moment Arachne had Genoa under control, Eva shut off the power.

Just in time for frantic knocking at the door.

“Eva, stop it,” came Juliana’s panicked voice. “Whatever you’re doing, stop!”

Eva pulled open the door to her room. “Already did,” she said with a smile. “Shall we go talk to her?”

“What was that? She was–the screams… I don’t–I’ve seen her walk around on untreated broken legs with a smile. What did you do?”

“Um, overloaded the pain center in her brain?” That wasn’t close to right, but a good enough for an explanation. “She’s not hurt and will be perfectly fine in a minute or two.”

Probably.

Juliana gave a slight shudder. “I don’t like it.”

“I don’t like my home having holes in it. You yourself said that she wouldn’t stop when the shield went down.”

Eva opened the front door and marched out as a victor would. Head held high and superior smugness in every step. Watching Ylva walk around was good for that at least.

Shalise stood just a short distance from the two combatants, shouting at Arachne. She was probably the main reason Arachne hadn’t taken off Genoa’s head. Whatever pleas she made worked.

“If you agree not to cause any more damage to my home,” Eva said as she approached, “Arachne will let you up.”

“What is–what was–I should have–” Genoa’s gaze pulled away from Arachne to look at Eva. “What happened to you?”

Both Zoe Baxter and Carlos Rivas were standing just outside the women’s ward walls, watching in with wide eyes.

It was a good thing Eva had forgotten to even ask Carlos if he wanted his blood removed from the wards. She hadn’t even noticed either of them before walking out.

Eva bent down to pick up the sunglasses that must have flung off her face during her seizure. “In order: Genoa, meet Arachne. That was the prison defenses, the real ones that were turned off to allow you entry. You shouldn’t have. And long story.” Eva gave her a polite smile. “Would you like to come in?”

— — —

“Alright,” Genoa said. “I think I understand most of the situation.”

Juliana leaned into her mother’s side. Normally, she’d never show such affection in front of her teacher and friends. Hearing those screams changed her mind. She just needed some reaffirmation that her mother was alright.

It was completely unnecessary. Juliana knew that. Genoa had popped up once Arachne got off of her. Not a single stumble could be seen in her walk. With a flick of her wand, she casually cleaned off all the dirt she had gathered from rolling on the ground.

Convincing her to give blood to Eva took longer than Juliana’s father, but that had passed by without too much issue.

Genoa pointed at herself then towards Eva. “Powerful wards. Necromancer shenanigans. West African tarantula.” Her voice dropped a few notches in kindliness as her finger settled on Arachne. “I don’t believe that for a second,” she said with a glare towards Carlos.

That earned a sigh from Eva.

“We’ll come back to that,” Genoa said as she looked down at Juliana over the rims of her glasses.

Uh oh. Juliana tried to squirm away from her mother, but her grip on Juliana’s shoulder tightened like an iron vice.

“What I do not understand is what you were thinking.”

“I just–”

“Your dwelling was under attack by a potentially lethal force. And you didn’t help mount a defense? Not a single stone flew towards me. If it weren’t for the wards, I would have won. I would have killed you.”

“You wouldn’t have,” Juliana said softly.

“No. But you’ll wish I had by the time I’m done with you.”

Juliana tried to shrink in on herself. The grip on her shoulder only tightened further. The metal coating her creaked under the strain.

“Honestly, I love you dear, but I thought I taught you better than this. What if I were an impostor? You and your friends could be dead because of your failure.”

“Genoa–”

“No, Carlos. I’m not finished.”

Her mother’s glare changing targets to Eva was one of the best feelings. Juliana didn’t even care that it effectively threw her friend to the wolves.