If too much time had passed, she would be considering their agreement null and void, consequences be damned.
Swinging her legs—all eight of them—out of the nest of webs that made up her bed, Arachne stalked through the halls of her cavernous domain. She had wasted enough time lying around.
Most of her domain had been designed with her in mind. No one else would be able to climb around the holes in the walls. Any guests or intruders would be relegated to the front entryway. Unless they could fly. Or were as good at climbing craggy walls as Arachne was. Even if that were the case, the tunnels between rooms twisted and wound around like a giant maze. It was entirely possible to leave a room from three separate tunnels only to loop around and reenter the room without passing through any others.
Though it was something of a moot point. Never once had someone invaded her domain. Arachne had never had a visitor stop by. Not unless she counted Eva after her kidnapping. Even if she did count that, Arachne had carried Eva around during her visit.
Arachne charged into the gate room.
And found herself scowling.
The gate room was inert. No glowing patterns in the walls or floors. No feeling of a pathway to the mortal realm.
“You bring me back,” she shouted to the walls, “and my beacon is destroyed?
Arachne swung out an arm, cutting five large gouges into a stone pillar.
Seething, Arachne turned from the gate room, ready to rush to Eva’s domain. She likely wouldn’t be around at the moment, but perhaps she still made regular visits. Even if she didn’t, Arachne could leave a message before returning to her domain to await a summoning.
Eva couldn’t summon Arachne herself, not without violating the tenets of Hell. Devon would. All she needed to do was get a message to him.
But, in turning from the room, a shimmer in the air caught her eye. A faint purple haze back in the far corner of the gate room.
The haze grew solid, forming a thick line in the air.
Arachne’s fingers twitched as she watched it spread apart. She spread her legs, steadying her stance and readying for combat.
The first thing that came to her mind was the creatures that Eva called enigmas. Monstrous little beings—by Eva’s description—that had been attacking Hell. The second thing was the purple streaks in the sky that had appeared just before the ill-fated venture to the nuns’ church. Purple streaks that were supposedly related to the enigmas.
Between the violet lines, a deep darkness formed. Staring into it brought back the same uncomfortable sensations as when she had been dead. A hole into pure nothingness, so empty that putting words to it couldn’t be done.
Arachne took a step back, waiting for some creature to emerge forth and attack.
Not even I will violate my laws. However, a few back doors have been left open by my attacker.
Arachne didn’t budge. Her instincts were shouting at her to flee. Her thoughts screamed at her to run from this anomaly before she wound up dead once again, further delaying her reunion with Eva.
It was obviously a portal of some sort. Reminiscent of the portals Void used to drag deceased demons back home. It wasn’t dragging Arachne into it and nothing was coming from it.
It just sat there, inviting someone to wander inside.
Arachne took a step forward.
If this was a trick, there would be hell to pay. Mortal, demon, or even Power, she would tear them to shreds.
Another step had her right in front of the portal. She was too large to fit through in her largest form. With a thought, she started shrinking. The bulbous abdomen sticking out of her melted into her torso. Her legs pulled up, recessing into her body one by one until only two legs were left.
Reaching an arm out, Arachne let the tips of her fingers scrape against the surface of the hole in space. She half expected something—magical force or a creature—to grasp her fingers and drag her into it, but nothing happened.
Nothing but a sensation of not being able to feel her fingers. As if they suddenly ceased to exist.
Pulling her hand out, Arachne found her fingers to be whole and intact. Wiggling them, she made sure that she could feel them again.
Everything seemed fine. She clawed through the stone walls of her domain, checking to ensure that the strength and toughness of her fingers hadn’t been ruined by exposure to the portal.
Stone crumbled into chunks and dust while her fingers came away with just as much sheen as they had started with.
Moving back just a bit, Arachne took a deep breath and charged at the portal.
There was a brief sensation of nothingness, as if she were back in the depths of Void again, before she could feel the wind rushing past her body.
Violet filled her vision. That only lasted a few seconds.
She was falling.
