He raised an arm, pointing.
Eva bit her lip. The hunter was still between them and the prison.
What they were lacking at the moment was information. How were they being spied upon? Who? Someone she knew or some random hunter that showed up while tracking the new demons?
“Counter reconnaissance? Shall we go and see if we can’t catch a glimpse of them?”
“What happened to running… and, uh,
Eva frowned at Srey, shaking her head. “If they are matching pace when they could easily catch up, they probably don’t want to fight.”
“You’re fooling yourself.”
Maybe so. Eva didn’t want to fight. She didn’t even want to spy on them. Getting too near to them would likely commit them to a fight. Worse, it would leave them open to that second observer circling around and flanking them.
There could even be more individuals or groups out there who weren’t actively spying but were in contact with the others.
At the same time, if they could spot their enemies, they could start planning around them…
“Actually. Wait,” Eva said as she pulled out her cellphone.
They might be able to see what she typed. If they did, it wouldn’t really matter. There wasn’t much they could do about it.
Unfortunately, she didn’t have Nel’s cellphone number. She wasn’t sure if Nel even had a cellphone.
With a tap of her thumb, Eva sent the text out to Zoe.
It would solve at least one problem. Namely, who their pursuer was. If Nel could continue watching them until they went back to wherever they had made their base, it would be possible to turn the tables. They could be more offensive.
Unfortunately, Zoe would be wondering what Eva and three demons were doing out in the middle of nowhere. She would have to explain that later on. Maybe the truth, maybe some excuse. That could be decided whenever she had to explain. Hopefully she would go on and ask Nel with haste and without complaint.
The return message came almost instantly with a light beep on Eva’s phone.
“Well tough for her,” Eva said aloud. She didn’t bother replying, though she kept her phone out and in her hands just in case Zoe sent a reply. “Any change in their distance, Srey?”
“No change in the last few minutes,” he said, glancing off in the direction of their watchers. “I don’t like this. What are they waiting for? We’re doing nothing interesting and they’re still watching us.”
Eva glanced over towards Arachne and Vektul. Arachne stood as a silent aegis over her, ready to protect Eva if need be. Her eyes were glued on the horizon of the rolling hilltops as if daring the hunters to crest the top. Hands curled at her sides, Arachne stood slightly hunched. Just enough to easily leap into motion at the first sign of trouble.
Vektul, on the other hand, stood far more lackadaisically. Like a bored student. Not a single muscle in his body was tense.
Though he was staring up at the sky with some intensity.
Following his gaze, Eva found herself frowning at the clear night sky. The sun had finally fallen below the horizon not long ago—just before they had started running—and the stars had come out in force. With no nearby lights of any kind and the moon a mere crescent, Eva could even see the milky arm of her galaxy against the stars.
But nothing more interesting than that.
“Something up there?” she couldn’t help but ask.
“It might not be a good idea to stand still,” he said without a hint of fear in his voice.
But something sent a chill up Eva’s spine. She glanced towards the sky again, staring at one particularly bright star directly overhead.
Something clicked. Eva didn’t argue with Vektul.
She immediately turned and blinked in the direction away from the observers. Arachne caught on quick, actually lifting Vektul off the ground and carrying him over her shoulder. Srey turned to mist and whisked off ahead of even Eva.
They cleared the area just in time for a white beam of magical light to crash down right where they had been standing. The cold of the night was chased away by the blistering heat of the beam.
“It’s that thing from the Elysium Order,” Eva hissed.
Not the most articulate response Eva could have come up with. Nobody else present had even been around for the inquisition’s attack on the prison. She had told Arachne in the time since, but Arachne hadn’t been nearby.
