“Better be careful. That could almost be interpreted as praise for a demon.”
Harrumphing, Devon stormed up to the door. “Just get my truck back.”
Eva did not follow him as he left the women’s ward. Rather, she went back to her room and placed the cursed dagger on top of her dresser. It was far too dangerous to just carry around anywhere she went. If the stone-like sheath ever failed, it would be far too easy to get accidentally cursed by its blade.
As she placed it on top of her dresser, she let out a short sigh of disappointment.
She hadn’t even had the chance to use it on Sawyer. After torturing him, that was how she had wanted to end his life. A certain cruel irony. He had stolen even that from her.
“So,” Serena said from the doorway. She couldn’t actually step into the room as it ran off separate wards that only Eva and Arachne were keyed into. “What do you suppose is going on back at the city? That demon seemed far too excited about the rituals to skip researching them for anything small.”
Eva raised an eyebrow as she slung off her backpack. There were still a few vials of demon blood left, including one from Zagan. That was a nice positive. It was always good to have a supply of quality blood.
With the load off her back, Eva focused on Serena’s question. “Nothing good, I bet.” Far from it, in fact. Hopefully it wouldn’t be another mass attack. “This is Brakket City after all. At least whatever is causing the disturbance isn’t Sawyer. Probably.”
“Probably?”
“He died too easily. There
“You seem… calm about that prospect.”
“Brakket has been attacked once or twice before. With all the demons running around, I’d be surprised if whatever situation that had cropped up wasn’t already resolved. Aside from that, I did drop Nel off at Brakket and didn’t see any fires outside the dormitory window. It can’t be that bad.
“Still, I suppose that I should go check it out.”
“You can’t leave me behind,” Serena said with a half pout. Her tone lost its playfulness and became far more serious. “If something has happened and Wayne is in trouble, I should be at his side right away.”
Eva turned to glance outside, but the thick blankets covering the windows of the common room impeded her efforts. She still knew roughly what time it was. Her watch worked fine whether the windows were covered or not.
“It will be daylight soon.” Her and Prax’s conversation had occupied much of the night.
“I am aware, but I still can’t do nothing. If the sun does rise, I will be able to find some closet to hide away in.”
“If you’re sure.” Eva couldn’t claim to have spent
“Do you have a quick way of moving about? I was planning on teleporting to the gate in my dorm room. I’d offer you a ride, but the last human I brought with me looked like they had fallen into an industrial grade paper shredder. You aren’t human, but I still don’t know how pleasant it would be.”
“That human lived, right?”
Hesitating ever so slightly, Eva nodded her head. “Yes.”
“I’ll be fine. Besides,” she paused for just a moment to lick her lips, “if I do wind up severely injured…”
“Then I’ll throw you in some closet while I take a look around,” Eva said with a false smile. Deliberately injuring herself just to get some blood was less than endearing. She probably would give Serena blood if it came down to it, but she wouldn’t have to like it.
“So meaan.”
“Yep. Now come here, hold on tight, and don’t let go.”
Serena came up to Eva and wrapped her arms around in a tight hug. Slightly shorter than Eva, her head was nuzzled right beneath Eva’s chin. She drew in a deep breath through her nose.
For a moment, Eva worried that she might bite down. She didn’t, but it was still somewhat creepy.
Gathering her magic, Eva teleported.
The familiar screams and meat grinding filled Eva’s head. She waited with clenched teeth, preparing for and expecting the incineration of her non-chitinous flesh. It and the fact that she needed an exit gate were really the only two downsides to her method of teleportation.
So long as she had a gate, it was far superior to Zoe and Wayne’s teleportation.
As the teleportation continued, Eva realized that something was off. There was pain. Not much, but it was there. Rather than her flesh burning off until there was nothing left but bones, boils formed on her skin. They spread, charring the skin until it flaked off like ash. Muscles were exposed without the skin.
The effect didn’t go much deeper than that. It tried, but the pain just slid off her muscles.
