“Poorly preserved drivel, then.”
“I’d like to see the state of your potions after thirty years.”
“Thirty years? Why?”
Devon shrugged. “Haven’t found much use for a memory altering potion. I brewed a batch thinking I could erase everyone’s memories of my work.”
“You decided to kill everyone instead?”
“No. Decided not to tell anyone.”
“Prudent,” Jean said. “Are you going to invite me in?”
“No.” Devon tried to slam the door in her face. A boot–steel toed if he had to guess–wedged in the crack. “You’re toeing my wards,” he said.
“I can feel them,” she said without even the slightest flicker of pain on her face. “Not the same type that Eva uses.”
“I’m no haemomancer. They’re standard thaumaturgical wards.”
That same winning smirk crossed her face again. “Ahh, thought so. The blood needed to key me in tipped me off. She wasn’t as successful at hiding the bloodstone as she might have thought.”
Devon rolled his eyes. Of course she screwed up. Eva thought she was a lot of things that she wasn’t. She’d gotten some unwarranted confidence since starting school. Likely as a result of having Arachne constantly around.
“So little Eva has killed people then?”
“No one who didn’t deserve it,” Devon said. It wasn’t even a lie, at least as far as he knew. He wasn’t the girl’s minder.
In retrospect, that was a mistake. He should have taken a far more heavy-handed approach in her upbringing. Too late for that now.
Jean just barked out a laugh. “Good. Good.”
Devon had to raise an eyebrow at that response.
“What. You think I’m squeamish about killing people?” She laughed again as she placed a hand on her hip. “You don’t get to retire as a mage-knight without breaking a few eggs. So long as she isn’t indiscriminate. She is a bit young though. I imagine a diabolist had something to do with that.”
“Demonologist. And I didn’t do anything. Pulled her off the streets when she was six. Taught her a little about channeling magic and working with it. Then she found and stole half my library. She took it from there.”
“She learned everything from a book? I find that hard to believe.”
Her foot was still in the door. It somewhat surprised Devon that she hadn’t pulled out yet. Eva must have hit her hard with her blood wards to get her screaming. Impressive though it was, that didn’t stop her from being annoying.
“I may have taught her more. Is there a point to this aside from inane chatter?”
“Oh, I’m here solely for the inane chatter. Need to get to know the old man who hangs around with my daughter.”
“I don’t
Jean’s smile turned downwards before her face settled in a neutral expression. “And your relationship with Eva is?”
“Test subject. Go bother her about it. I have work to get back to.”
“I intend to.” Jean removed her foot from the doorway. “Tomorrow, I’ll stop by for ano–”
Devon slammed the door in her face.
Subjects were another issue.
Arachne wouldn’t do. That much was clear. It was an excellent donor subject at the start. It agreed to the experiment almost immediately. Likely something that would remain unique to it due to its specific desires. Unfortunately, it grew attached. Disgustingly so.
Devon didn’t expect a similar event to affect non-Arachne demons, but keeping both subjects separate outside of the actual treatment event couldn’t hurt.
A nonsentient could work. A cerberus could be interesting. They wouldn’t have any of the same issues that Arachne had. The real problem arose in the need for domination. Devon doubted he would be able to convince a nonsentient demon to remain still while he jabbed them full of needles. If the demon fought the domination, it could break loose at an inopportune time.
Another problem with using bestial demons rested with the new circle itself. Devon had no hard evidence, but he suspected there would be drastic changes related to the donor demon in the recipient.
Eva displayed minor secondary demonic characteristics–sharpened teeth, elongated tongue, and altered eyes–but no major mutation into anything Arachne specific. She never developed anything coming close to Arachne’s exoskeleton or unique biology. Even with her transplanted hands and legs, they had yet to display any indication that they would spread to cover her body.
