Void Domain, Book 06 полностью

But Eva stayed where she was. There was another, more likely reason why this woman was inside Prax’s domain.

“You’re here for the demon hiding here. That demon is hiding from you?”

The woman nodded, sending her ponytail up and down in a light bob.

“Hiding here? Why? This isn’t her domain. She has no advantage or power over this place. Her own–” Eva cut herself off. That was a stupid question. Obviously, she was hiding here because they would look for her in her domain.

But if she left a place she had total control over for a place inhabited by a possible enemy… “You did something to her domain, you broke it or somehow made it inhospitable, didn’t you?”

“Not I.”

“The Keeper then.”

The woman remained silent, neither affirming nor denying Eva’s suggestion.

Neither spoke for a time. Eva watched the woman like a hawk while she thought.

Really, it was a pretty stupid decision in Eva’s opinion, showing up at Prax’s domain even though he had also escaped from that prison. At least, that was Eva’s first thought. Given how Willie had treated her, perhaps going with a known quantity was always better than going to some random demon’s domain. Together, they might have been able to fend off assaults. That was what Prax’s domain had been designed for.

Except Prax wasn’t here.

And now Eva might have given Prax’s jailers the key to finding him.

Eva gave a quick mental curse. “Well, don’t let me stop you. I’ve no love for the demon here.”

With that said, she stepped forward–actually blinking just above the surface of the water.

It engulfed her before the woman could respond. Eva felt the familiar yank as she was pulled off to her domain.

Shalise needed to be hidden better or cured of her Prax affliction. Immediately.

Eva came down into her domain hard.

It was supposed to catch her, and probably would have had she not considered her current situation so urgent. Her domain compensated for her urgency by not slowing her down.

That was fine. Her legs could take the abuse.

Eva rolled out of the way and glued her eyes up to where she had come from. She didn’t want to take any chances that the woman had followed her.

This nagging feeling in the corner of her mind told her that the moment she turned, she’d be stabbed in the back.

When nothing appeared for several moments, Eva stood up and started backing away. Her slow movements turned to a full-on backwards sprint across the beach. Eventually, she turned around despite the feeling and began running full-tilt towards the alternate women’s ward.

Eva opened the door and slammed it behind her, startling both of the occupants. Shalise let out a small screech.

Lynn Cross, on the other hand, jumped to her feet and sent a bolt of lightning at Eva before she had even turned around.

A blackish-red shield appeared between the two, catching the lightning. Eva didn’t bother questioning it. She hadn’t intended to form any kind of shield. Obviously, it was some oddity of her domain working to protect her.

“You sure took your sweet time–”

“Later,” Eva interrupted. “We have a problem. Or, to be more specific, Shalise has a problem.”

The girl blinked twice. “Wh-what do you mean?”

Eva stepped up to Shalise, or tried to. Lynn moved between the two. Ignoring the woman, Eva looked around her shoulder at the brunette. “If you’ve got any far-out ideas of how to get out of Shalise, you had best voice them now, Prax.”

“What,” Lynn said with at flat tone of voice as she crossed her arms, “is going on?”

“I found out why Prax’s mother was hanging around in his domain.”

“You hung around to speak with an enemy after deciding it was for the best if we left immediately?”

“No. I hung around to speak with the one hunting Prax’s mother.”

Gently pushing her mother aside, Shalise stepped around to face Eva. “Prax wants to know who would be hunting anyone in his domain.”

“Didn’t catch a name,” Eva said with a shrug. “Didn’t feel like a demon though. Couldn’t see her with my blood sense. She had silver hair, a well-fitting leather duster, and a sword of some sort at her hip.”

That got a gasp from Shalise.

“Someone you recognize.”

“The doll. But-but that doesn’t make sense. The dolls let us escape. They wouldn’t come after us… would they?” She tilted her head to the side. “Would they?”

“Her specific words were ‘cells that were once full must be filled again.’ She didn’t specifically mention Prax, and since she didn’t follow me immediately, I assume she’s not after him right this second. Probably dealing with his mother first and foremost.”

An earthquake punctuated her statement. While in Hell, there had been small tremors every now and again.

Nothing quite like the one that had struck now.

All three of them went rocking back and forth. Shalise and Lynn Cross tumbled forwards and backwards, collapsing in a heap of limbs on the floor. Eva managed to stay upright only through the virtue of her toes acting as claws and digging themselves into the ground, providing an anchor of sorts.