It might cause problems if she came back in the middle of school, or something similar, but Eva couldn’t muster up the effort to care at the moment. And when Arachne came back, for she would without a doubt, Eva doubted that she would care then.
But that could still be a long way off. More immediate problems revolved around Devon and whoever was looking for him. He wouldn’t be in the mood to entertain questions though. Especially not about his past acquaintances. Shortly after hearing of Arachne’s demise, he had locked himself inside his room with explicit instructions not to be disturbed while he puzzled out what changes needed to be made to her treatment.
The entire ritual had to be altered to accommodate a different demon.
Neither of them were holding out much hope that Arachne would be back in time. There were only a few weeks left before the maximum length of time that she could go without treatment. The one saving grace, according to Devon, was that Arachne’s death had happened soon enough after her previous treatment that it allowed him enough time to work.
There were plenty of other demons around Brakket–Ylva, Catherine, Zagan, the security guards, and the carnivean Devon had summoned after learning of Arachne’s demise–at least one of whom would probably be willing to donate some blood.
It put a sick feeling in the pit of Eva’s stomach to use one of them, but there wasn’t much she could do. If she refused the treatment without Arachne then she ran the very real possibility of permanently damaging herself.
The only other reason to return to Brakket at the moment would be to coordinate with Nel against Sawyer.
A big reason to be sure, but one that Eva was hesitant about acting on.
Eva had spoken with Nel before she had gone on her vacation. Sawyer had been holding position in eastern Idaho, a land of empty wilderness, though not quite to the extent of Montana. He was almost a full day out from Brakket Academy. What, exactly, he had been doing there for the past month or so, Nel couldn’t say. She had been unable to regain exact sight of the necromancer and was estimating his position based off the disturbance caused by his hiding.
The thought of confronting Sawyer actually sent a chill down Eva’s spine. She wasn’t sure if it was from apprehension or excitement. The occasional daydreams she had over the past year or so made her think it was excitement. Imagining wiping that smile off his face, ruining all of his plans, and finally killing him… it was enough to bring a smile to anyone’s face.
The apprehension came from the fact that he had been in one spot for a good amount of time. For all Eva knew, Sawyer currently lived under an ancient graveyard. Charging in to attack him would end up worse than the cave Devon had found in her first year at Brakket.
Eva was quite certain that they wouldn’t have come out of that quite so unscathed had Juliana not been there with them. And Devon had still lost his arm in that incident. This time, Arachne wouldn’t be around to distract half of the skeletons.
On the other hand, if Sawyer came to attack Brakket, he would be out of his home base and Eva would have all of the professors and security personnel to help.
But Eva was starting to lose hope that he was going to move in the near future.
Scooping up the bloodstones, Eva came to a decision.
There were a number of rituals she wanted to perform before confronting Sawyer. Some beneficial to her, some detrimental to Sawyer. Having a few spare bloodstones would be for the best as well.
Thinking on it now, Eva was almost disgusted that she had experimented with a few of the bloodstones. She should have just done it all by the book and walked away with a full six bloodstones.
There were other gangs in this corner of Florida. Other potential bloodstones.
They wouldn’t be as hard to find as that first gang. Eva hadn’t walked away entirely empty-handed. She was almost a thousand dollars richer and had a small stash of drugs that she couldn’t even begin to properly identify. Some were plant-like, others were powder. They would probably just rot inside her home–Eva hadn’t a clue what she would do with them.
The most important thing that she had looted from the gang’s warehouse was a small diary kept by the leader. Eva still wasn’t certain if
Diary would be stretching the word as well. It was more of a notebook detailing a few people who owed money and a few people who the gang didn’t seem to like much. Rivals.
And it contained a few addresses.
Starting points.
Eva stood from her desk, ready to head out to one nearby that looked mildly promising.
—
“Jack,” Eva said, raising her voice slightly louder than the previous time.
The man didn’t move from his face down position on a sweat-soaked bed.
Feeling mildly frustrated at how heavy his sleep was, Eva slammed a fist into the wall.
That did the trick.
