For clothes, Eva picked out the lightest shirt and skirt that she could find. Things that wouldn’t agitate her raw skin yet still had pockets. Her belt and its pouches that were specifically designed to hold vials—potion vials, but they worked for blood just the same—was gone. Destroyed along with her hair and her old clothes.
“I have to say that I think most of the demons are hoping that the hunter will win. After the doll is dead,
“Are you still talking?” Eva said as she glanced around the room one last time.
She wished she had time to go get Basila, damaged though she was. Maybe a few spare bloodstones just in case she found a use for them. Unfortunately, they were important things that she kept at the women’s ward. Teleporting was quick. However, Eva had a
It would be just her luck to teleport over there only to find out that nuns were attacking again. Or more hunters. Devon, Catherine, Qrycx, and the waxy demon were all over there. They could handle whatever problems had arisen. Problems that Eva was now certain were definitely going on.
Ignorance was bliss at the moment, or so the saying went.
“Excuse me?”
Saija had her hands on her hips and was glaring at Eva. At least, she was until Eva turned to her. A flap of her wings carried her back behind Irene, once again hiding behind the human girl.
“If you aren’t out fighting, I really don’t care what you have to say at the moment. Of course, I don’t know what I expected from a lowly succubus anyway. Run and hide. Just know that humans are fighting while you
Eva blinked past them, not even bothering to squeeze by or push them out of the way. Nel hadn’t bothered to say which roof, so she had some scouting to do. Even this little detour to collect clothes and blood might have been enough time for the hunter to leave. Especially if the hunter could see through walls.
Not really the scrying method Eva had expected when Srey mentioned it, but it probably counted as being watched. If the hunter saw or suspected that Eva was coming after her, she would probably leave. Or set up more traps.
But she wasn’t in such a rush that she couldn’t stop for one quick moment. She felt a little bad about her words. Eva didn’t feel bad for Saija. But she wasn’t the only one around.
Irene was looking guilty, rubbing her hands together and averting her eyes—not in an embarrassed way as she had before, but just to avoid looking at Eva.
“Don’t worry, Irene. There are real monsters out there. I wouldn’t expect anyone to fight unless they were monsters as well.”
She stayed paused for just a moment, wondering how Genoa might react to being called a monster before shaking her head. It really didn’t matter at the moment.
The shake of her head almost sent her stumbling. Not because of the all-encompassing though gradually lessening pain of her body. It was almost like she was shaking too hard, despite not moving her head any faster than normal. Her hair wasn’t there to act as a counterweight to her brain. Probably her imagination, but the sensation was there.
Without waiting for a response from Irene, Eva sprinted back to the stairwell and climbed it to the top. From the roof, she blinked straight out towards the nearest building. It was a bit too far. Eva reappeared mid-air. She blinked again before she could fall more than a full foot, landing on the roof of another building.
About three inches away from a circle drawn in chalk that was not quite shackles but was definitely unfriendly towards demons.
“That could have been bad,” Eva hissed to herself as she took a step back. She double checked to make sure that there wasn’t another circle behind her before doing so.
Scanning the rooftops, Eva frowned. They were a veritable minefield of shackles. Concentrating harder on more magical effects, she found a number of spherical wards set up around the rooftops and down on the streets. Some might be barriers. Some Eva couldn’t even tell what they might be used for.
Best to avoid them.
However, in scanning the rooftops, Eva spotted her target.
The bright red hair made her difficult to miss.
Eva had no doubt that she had been spotted. And yet, the hunter made no motion. Not a twist of her head or an attack slung in Eva’s direction. For a moment, Eva thought she might be a mannequin designed to lure people closer into some larger trap, but she caught the hunter’s eyes moving ever so slightly.
A couple of roofs away and who knew how many traps in between, Eva now had her target in sight.
Author’s Note:Analyst 001.002 up over on the preview site.
Assistance Rendered
Juliana turned away from Eva with a slight shudder.
Her skin had cracked and broken in the blast. If her hair loss had been the extent of her injuries, that would be one thing.
