Eva jumped, whirling around to find Devon standing in the doorway. She had been so concentrated on the markings on the floor that she hadn’t even checked for any blood systems around her.
He stepped forward, trench coat billowing behind him. “You just barge into my room? I remember when you had some respect for me.”
“I was worried about you,” Eva said with a frown. That frown turned into a good-natured smile. “Besides, all that respect vanished out the window when I met some people who could actually fight with magic. Imagine my surprise when I find out that you’re not as good as you claim to be.” After a faux-sigh, Eva said, “I guess you’ll just have to content yourself with the fact that you’re the number one demonologist I know.”
“Such cheek,” he said with a sneer.
Eva just laughed.
“I suppose you being here does save me the effort of writing a letter. I got a job in Colorado.”
“A ‘job’ job?” Eva said as she stood up. “Or a real job?”
“There are rumors of a nihasa running around. Some kid probably summoned it and got killed, freeing it to roam.”
“A ‘job’ then. I’m not familiar with a nihasa.”
“Minor demon. Like if a succubus and an imp had a kid that took mostly from the imp side of the family.”
Eva frowned slightly. Imps were sort of disgusting little things. Almost like goblins, except worse. Barely sentient at that. And a succubus? Some people were into some pretty strange things.
After shaking her head, Eva asked, “need any help?”
“Not from you. I’m going to be giving out a few trial runs to some demons.”
Eva blinked. “Undominated?”
He just gave a grunt of acknowledgment, brushing around past her to his desk. He opened the bottom drawer and started rummaging through.
“Well,” Eva said, “if you’re going to be running around with undominated demons, maybe you would be interested in a real job.”
“And what is that supposed to mean?” he asked without glancing up.
“Martina Turner wanted me to let you know that there was a job offer at Brakket for you. Teaching kids.”
“I’d rather throw myself down that giant hole in Ylva’s domain.”
Eva nodded, curling a strand of hair around her finger. “I thought as much. When are you going to be back?”
“In time for your February treatment.” He continued rummaging for a few seconds before freezing solid. His neck craned his head over his shoulder. “Don’t you dare send a haunter after me again.”
“It worked, didn’t it?”
Devon pulled a small black rectangle from the desk. A tiny book. He shook it in Eva’s direction. “Don’t send
Eva shrugged and started towards the door.
“And Eva,” Devon called as she reached the threshold. “Don’t get yourself killed while I’m gone.”
“I could say the same about you.”
—
Eva stepped into the spare room in her women’s ward. Even with the door opened, the light failed to penetrate far enough to reach the opposite wall. There was nothing but shadows.
And eight red eyes glowing in the darkness.
“Hello Eva.”
“You know, I didn’t ever say that you had to lock yourself up in the dark like this.”
There was a slight pause as the eight red eyes tilted to one side. “I prefer it this way.”
“Fair enough.” Eva slid the door open as wide as it could possibly go. Just enough light entered to reveal a thin fold of cloth held in Arachne’s hands. “Another one?”
Arachne held it up to the light, letting the long tapestry unfold in its full glory.
A life-sized portrait of Eva stared back at the real girl.
It looked like her, but the pose and expression just didn’t fit with reality. Arachne fashioned her as some sort of empress. Really, it was like looking at Ylva with black hair and red eyes. Though it wasn’t quite finished. Arachne was working upwards. The top half of her head was missing entirely.
“Me again? Why not you?”
“Weaving is something I do to pass the time. I have more than enough of myself back in Hell. There is no shortage of time there.”
“How about us then? Both of us, together. Defeating foes or just sitting around resting.”
“Maybe.” With a swift movement of several legs poking out of her back, Arachne pulled the tapestry back up into her lap. “After I finish this one.”
At the rate Arachne worked, she could probably start a new one tonight.
As if to demonstrate said speed, Arachne set to work. One leg held the vertical tapestry base taut and another maneuvered in and out of the vertical threads while the rest started weaving threads horizontally. Her hands focused on knot making and finer details of the colorful portions of the thread.
Without glancing away from her work, Arachne said, “what brings you here? Surely not to comment on my work.”
“I…” Eva trailed off.
If she told Arachne about the job that the dean wanted her to do, Arachne would insist on coming to school again. For Eva’s protection, of course. She’d been around the spider-demon enough to know how she would react to something like that.
