The bell signaling the end of class interrupted Eva. She let the annoying chime complete its tones before speaking again.
“Kids are stupid. You know that right? One of these idiots is going to get themselves killed. Others too.”
“The initial test group will all be properly screened for any troublesome individuals. Aside from that, you are a child. You had to have started dipping your fingers in diablery quite some time ago. While I haven’t seen any of her work personally, Zagan informed me that Juliana’s summoning circle was passable and the relative strength of the demons we have attributed to her summoning was not low.”
“And look where that has gotten us!” Eva waved one chitinous hand through the air for emphasis. “I’m barely human anymore. I don’t particularly mind, but others? I can’t speak for them. And Juliana? It was Zagan’s fault in the first place! Her mother might be bedridden for life because of demons.”
“That’s a pessimistic outlook.”
“Now you want to bring other kids into this? How long before one of them gets trapped in Hell, sharing their body with a demon?”
Eva pressed her fingers to her forehead and slowly shook her head. “You know what? I don’t even care. Because of Shalise and Juliana’s recent experiences, I’m getting worked up over a bunch of people I probably haven’t even interacted with.
“So I’ll tell you what. I’ll do it.”
“Excellent. Catherine, start–”
“Not so fast, Martina Turner. You have something I want.”
The dean narrowed her eyes. “What would that be, Eva Spencer?”
Clenching her jaw, Eva folded her arms. “Zagan.”
Catherine whipped her head over and spoke for the first time since entering the room. Her face twisted into a look of disgust. “You want Zagan?”
Eva dismissed the succubus with a wave of her hand. “Not in whatever manner is floating through your mind. Order Zagan to get Shalise out of Hell. Order Zagan to fix Juliana’s mother. Do that and I’ll teach your stupid class.”
A silence settled over the office, broken only by a light gurgling from Lucy’s corner of the room.
The silence gave way to a deep chuckle from behind Eva.
Eva narrowed her eyes. She did not turn around. A circulatory system matching Zagan’s had appeared behind her immediately before the chuckle.
“So demanding, my little embryonic one. What has you all fired up?”
“Can you do it or not?” she demanded. He hadn’t even been here to hear, but Eva had no doubts that he had heard.
“Oh I can. With hardly any effort on my part as well.” A hand clapped down on Eva’s shoulder. “
Eva steeled herself. She wasn’t about to let Devon’s rhetoric dictate a fear of Zagan. Like most demons in Eva’s experience, Zagan liked politeness. He hadn’t hurt her, directly at least.
Except that one time when they first met. He had pulled her arms off. But he fixed them right away, so did it still count?
“You see, you must ask yourself one question. Does what I offer meet the worth of what I am asking?” He let out a snort, filling the air with the rancid odor of sulfur. “I don’t know that a little teaching position is worth all that much. You know what I mean, yeah?”
“And what,
“That, little one,” he said in a mocking tone of voice, “is something you will have to find out for yourself. Don’t worry, you’ll have plenty of time to think it over while you keep dear Catherine out of trouble.”
Catherine let out a sharp scoff, but otherwise remained silent.
Eva ceased speaking as well. Her own teeth were grinding about as hard as Catherine’s had been. Zagan implying that she would accept irked her, but also gave some hope that he might actually help.
The real question was just what Zagan might consider valuable enough to help her friends.
“This is a disaster waiting to happen. I’ll sit in on the stupid class, but don’t come crying to me when the school is set aflame.”
“Excellent,” Zagan said as he clapped her on the back. “I knew we could count on you.”
Eva clenched her fists as Zagan moved up towards Martina’s desk. After a single calming breath, she relaxed.
“Zagan,” Eva said, “are you doing anything to stop Hell from being brought into the world?”
He paused his movements, glancing back over his shoulder, he said, “no. Not a thing.”
“You want it to happen.”
“I think,” he said slowly, “that it would be a bad thing–”
“Then why–”
A vice grip clamped down on Eva’s jaw. Zagan’s fingers clenched to the point where Eva could feel the strain in her bones.
“Don’t interrupt me, Eva. I do not appreciate it.”
He held on for another moment until Eva managed a slight nod of her head. When he pulled away, his fingers stuck to the thin layer of perspiration on her skin. It took a conscious force of effort to avoid rubbing her face. There would definitely be a mark there in the morning.
