“Maybe you should wear clothes.”
Arachne scoffed at that. “They’d just get torn up when I change.”
Eva just shook her head. “In that case, I’m sure you’ll be excited to get started on your next task so you can get out of this dust.”
“Task?”
Eva handed the spider-woman the vials. “Fill these up.”
Arachne frowned.
“If you’re lucky,” Eva said with a sigh, “maybe I’ll use one of them to key you into the upstairs wards when I wake up.”
“When you wake up?”
Eva nodded. “It is late and I have to meet with the lady from the school tomorrow.” She left out that the meeting time would be set by when Eva decided to tap the business card.
It was Arachne’s turn to sigh. “The same way I filled them last time, right?”
“Yep.” Eva turned back to the stairs but paused at the first step. “Oh, do try to keep dust out of the blood. I’ll be able to tell and you’ll be redoing them.”
“You’re a regular slave driver, you know that right?”
With a small smile, Eva said, “do it for me and I’ll consider it the first step of your apology.” She continued up the stairs, giving the demon a halfhearted wave.
Once back in her room, Eva stripped off her clothes and crawled under her covers. She twisted a coaster on her end table, breaking a light rune and plunging the room into darkness.
Chapter 005
Sunlight crept through the second floor of the abandoned retirement home. It prowled through the corridors until it came to the last room. Ignoring the blood wards and avoidance runes, it pounced on the sleeping girl.
Eva groaned and pulled her covers over her eyes. She slept through her alarm and school with it, only to be awoken by the cruel morning sun. She missed some of the final tests for the year, yet somehow school just didn’t feel as important with all the events of yesterday.
Besides, what were they going to do? Keep her out of the magical school?
She sat up. Would Zoe Baxter reject her for ditching the last few days of eighth grade?
Eva threw off her covers and jumped out of bed. The sun, while not high in the sky, was high enough for her to have missed at least two classes. Eva cursed her lack of a watch and vowed to pick up a small mechanical pocket watch someplace.
She almost stepped straight through her window, but she hesitated. While books might not be needed for her tests, Eva didn’t think showing up naked would garner her any extra points. She threw on a skirt and shirt, grabbed her pens and Zoe Baxter’s card, and stepped.
She kept stepping, rooftop to rooftop, until she found herself at her school. It wouldn’t do to step right in front of someone even with how late she was running. Instead, Eva stepped behind a small tool shed on the school property and ran straight in the front doors.
The large clock adorning the main entry way showed quarter to ten. Math and English had both passed. Eva ran to her science class. It only started five minutes ago. With any luck they hadn’t started the test yet.
—
It took several lies about caring for a sick father and losing track of time, but Eva managed to finish the day. She even managed to make up her math and English test, though English had a part two the next day along with another science test.
Next was meeting with Zoe Baxter. Eva thought about calling her in the middle of school, or perhaps a little coffee shop, but if the woman wanted to meet in a public place, they wouldn’t have approached her in the alley to begin with.
So, Eva chose the original alley. After double checking to make sure there were no people around, Eva pulled out the business card. Realizing she had never given the card a second glance, Eva looked it over.
It wasn’t anything special. Any random person would probably not give it a second look. It didn’t mention magic or the academy. Zoe Baxter, Instructor, and a small circle on one side. The back was completely blank.
The circle was the obvious point to tap. Deliberately avoiding it, Eva tapped just beneath the name.
It didn’t matter. The circle faded slightly. Cupping her hands over the card, Eva found the circle faintly glowing.
Less than a minute after tapping the card, cold air blew through the alley. A light clearing of a throat startled Eva.
She reached for her dagger and vials as she whirled around. Yet all her hands gripped was empty air.
It was probably for the best. Standing in front of her was Zoe Baxter in her black suit with red tie. Her face was framed by her bobbed hair with not a single strand out-of-place.
It had to be done by magic.
Zoe tilted her head slightly. “Jumpy much?”
Eva relaxed her pose, trying not to look like she had been about to attack her future instructor. “Tired, actually. I had a long night and you startled me.”
“Hmm. Getting into trouble?”
“I wish.” Eva gave a small chuckle. “Studying.”
“Ah yes, your current school. Classes going well?”
“I have a few tests tomorrow and then I’ll be done until… well hopefully forever, I suppose.”
“I take it you spoke with your… person, then?”
“We agreed that it might be handy for me to learn ‘proper’ magic,” Eva said, emphasizing her air quotes.
“Indeed. And this person is who taught you magic?”
“I said last time that I learned from books.”
“Miss Spencer. Books are many things, but a substitute to thaumaturgical instruction they are not. If you wish to attend my academy, I would appreciate it if you do not lie so plainly to my face.”
Eva had to suppress a flinch, but compared to Ylva, the woman’s glare amounted to almost nothing. “I apologize,” she said, “I’ll keep my lies more subdued in your presence.”
The corners of Zoe Baxter’s mouth twitched, though Eva couldn’t tell if it was into a smile or a frown. “I suppose it would be too much to ask to meet this person?”
“I’ll ask, but he is a fairly private individual.” Personally, Eva didn’t really care if they met. Getting her master to meet with someone might just prove a fun side challenge to herself.
“Can you tell me if he uses a focus or does magic like you do.”
Eva considered for a moment. There probably wasn’t much harm in answering. “He uses rings.” She tapped her right ring and middle finger. “They connect to a bracelet that… does magic. I’m not sure on the exact details.”
“Ah. A fighter then?” The woman looked more interested than concerned that Eva had spent time learning from a potentially dangerous person.
“You can tell just by his focus?”
Taking on a pose Eva imagined she used while lecturing, Zoe Baxter paced up and down the short alley. “While wands are the standard focus, they are easily broken, dropped, or disarmed, especially in the heat of combat. Rings are none of these things and generally preferred by combat mages. They aren’t the only type, of course, but fairly common.”
“I see.” Eva thought for a moment. “Well, he may have been a fighter once upon a time, but he can barely walk right now. I doubt he’ll be having too many adventures at the moment.” And that, Eva thought, wasn’t even a lie.
“While I would like to meet this mysterious guardian of yours, we should go back to the matter at hand. You have decided to accept the Brakket’s offer for enrollment and scholarship?”
Eva nodded. “If you’ll have me.”
“Excellent.” Zoe Baxter pulled out a large manila envelope from somewhere within her jacket. How it fit without being folded around her body had to be magic.
Eva accepted the offered envelope and peeked inside.
“Within you will find a card, similar to a credit card. It will get you all your meals, uniforms, books, and other school equipment. It also has a small monthly allowance for other necessities you may have.” She paused and held up her fingers pinched together. “And I do mean small, Miss Spencer. We are not a charity.”