Eva glanced over at Arachne and Srey. Void had sent the former here. Unless she had broken some other rule that Eva was unaware of. Srey… Eva couldn’t say much about. For being around each other so much these days, Eva didn’t really speak with him unless necessary.
Which might explain why he was so grumpy all the time. As far as she knew, nobody actually talked with him unless they were wondering if they were being watched.
“Well, I’ll let everyone know,” Eva said. “Thanks for the warning, Irene. Don’t worry about it though. I think I know who it was. It shouldn’t be a problem.”
“You’re sure?”
“I’m sure. You just enjoy your time with Saija.”
“Eva…”
If Irene was going to say anything else, Eva didn’t hear it. She hung up the phone and slipped it back into her pocket.
“Well, that’s interesting.”
Arachne, on her feet and pacing around the room, turned to Eva. “Should we be on guard or not?”
“Probably. Just to be safe.”
“You know who is after us?”
“The Keeper’s doll. I think. Could be wrong. Irene was somewhat unclear.” She didn’t panic as easily as Shalise used to, but when she did get worked up, she could be hard to understand.
Arachne froze in her pacing, staring at Eva. The carapace that made up her lips curled downwards into a frown as she let out a low growl.
Compared to her somewhat subdued reaction, Srey was on his feet and at the windows almost immediately. His eyes darted back and forth while his body lost most of its solidity. After a moment, there was nothing in front of the window but an outline of the gaseous demon.
A bit of an extreme reaction, in Eva’s opinion.
“Srey,” she said. “You and the other demons were all summoned properly, right?”
“As far as I know,” he said. His voice had the air of an echo about it.
Genoa came back around the counter, casually sipping at the water in her hand. “Eva doesn’t seem worried.”
“From what was explained to me, they’re sort of like prison wardens. Unless one of us has done something worthy of demon prison, nothing to worry about.” Eva glanced between Arachne and Srey. “Right?”
“If a doll is running around the mortal realm, who knows what minor offenses— little things that are normally overlooked—that doll might notice and decide to act on. Why would it be here? Did a human break a contract? They almost never come to the mortal realm for demons. They’ll wait for a demon to die or be banished.”
Reassuring himself a little bit, Srey managed to pull himself together. He returned to his human form, stepping away from the window partially.
“We just need to make sure we don’t do anything,” he said after a deep breath. “Play it cool. Don’t draw attention.”
“Are they really so dangerous?” Genoa asked. “I can personally attest to Arachne’s strength. Eva’s blood magic is fairly formidable. I don’t know about you,” she said with a nod towards Srey, “but you
“I’ve seen one fight,” Juliana said from within a full suit of armor. “Only for a short time as we were escaping from the prison. So fast. And its sword cut straight through everything that it came into contact with. The way it moved was… monstrous.”
“That’s because they are monsters. Shells of humans, hollowed out and filled with unnatural machinery of the Keeper’s design. They’re his
Eva hummed. Her brief encounter with the doll fit with that. She hadn’t been able to sense it with blood. Though she had apparently tricked it into thinking that she could sense it.
Frowning, Eva looked around with narrowed eyes. Was it already watching them? Just standing out of sight somewhere?
“Monstrous or not, you said that we shouldn’t need to worry.”
“Not unless someone has violated the terms of their contract. Or something else idiotic.”
“Arachne,” Eva said, “you don’t have a contract.”
The spider-demon’s lip curled. “Shouldn’t be a problem. Contracts are not required. They’re merely there to protect both the demon and the summoner. If a demon escapes confinement and kills the summoner before a contract is made, they can freely rampage across the Earth if they want.”
“But you weren’t summoned properly either.”
Arachne snorted. Not a sound she made often. “Void himself sent me here. If the doll is here to drag me back because of that, I can only imagine how Void might dismantle it upon its return.”
“I see,” Eva said, turning towards the doorway that led to the rest of the house. “Then why is the doll sitting around spying on us?”
Everyone in the room, despite their reassurances that there was nothing to worry about mere seconds ago, spun to face the door. Genoa had a dagger out and in her hands in seconds, pointing towards the entryway. Srey was back to his gaseous form, backing away.
