“Gloves off in this class unless they’re lab gloves.”
“I was doing fine until you shouted at me.”
“You’ll soak up materials you don’t want to walk around with.” Professor Lurcher glowered down at the girl. “Gloves off.”
The steel spoon bent in her other hand. Grains of paradise spilled over the table. Eva grit her teeth. She threw down the spoon with a clatter and marched out of the classroom.
Juliana sat for a moment longer, watching her friend leave. She nimbly dodged a stool someone left out as she stormed out.
How the girl compensated for her blindness, Juliana didn’t know. Eva mentioned she could see blood, but Juliana very much doubted that stool had blood in it.
Her hands were another matter. They were obviously Arachne’s hands, but Eva didn’t want to talk about it. She just folded them up into some gloves and went about her day. The gloves only came off inside the dorm room before they left for school.
Juliana hadn’t seen Arachne in a week, since before Eva’s disappearance.
Before Eva came back to school, there was talk that she had left.
The flesh golems and their subsequent cleanup by the Elysium Sisters had simultaneously frightened off and reassured the students. Eva was rumored to be one of those scared away, or pulled by her parents.
She showed up at the start of the day, much to the surprise of everyone except Zoe and Juliana. Eva had been hiding out inside the dorm since she showed up the day after.
There was a brief talk of surprise before everyone’s eyes drifted to Eva’s lack of eyes. The thin leather band stretched over her eye sockets did nothing to actually hide the emptiness.
No one spoke to her, not even Jordan and Irene. Everyone stared for a moment and then quickly pretended she didn’t exist. She spoke to no one in return.
She sat with the group during lunch. Even there, everyone was silent. No one knew what to say. At least, Juliana didn’t. Max didn’t even speak up and Juliana had pegged him as impulsive enough to start up some kind of conversation.
He didn’t.
Professor Lurcher was the first to call attention to her while she was around. That she refused to remove her gloves did not go unnoticed by the class.
The room went silent in the wake of her departure, but murmurs started up soon after.
“–saved by the Elysium nuns.”
“How does she see?”
“Think she was a necromancer?”
“Watch the nuns, one of them gave her a nasty glare at lunch.”
Juliana dropped her flask of antimony oil on the ground. Loudly. She made sure it would shatter by helping it drop with a strong swing of her arm.
The classroom went silent.
She got up and walked to the door.
“Rivas,” Professor Lurcher said, “you both have detention with me on Saturday.”
Juliana opened the door and walked out into the hall, ignoring the murmurs of her classmates that were already starting up.
She’d taken too long. Eva wasn’t anywhere in sight. Juliana sighed as she headed towards the dorms. If Eva wanted to be found, that’s where she would be.
If she didn’t want to be found, Juliana couldn’t do much about that.
— — —
Nel tried to stifle a yawn as she leaned back in her chair. It wasn’t so successful. She waved away the lingering wisps of frankincense as she turned from the floating strand of hair. She replaced the large sack of beads in her desk drawer and pulled out her laptop.
“Another unimportant status update,” Nel said as she typed.
Keeping near constant surveillance on the abomination was taxing work. None of it was particularly interesting. The last line in her report consisted of a couple of broken lab materials. Accidentally no less.
Most of the last week consisted of the girl trying to get used to her hands, both with gloves on and off. She never sneaked off at nights to murder other students. There was not consorting with any demons, not even the one Nel saw her with the first night.
Her biggest crime was chopping down nearly a full tree in pencils just trying to hold them without breaking them.
Nel turned to the floating black leg–she’d been told it was a leg anyway–and concentrated. Sister Cross destroyed five legs in holy fire as abominations. The last leg had been squirreled away to the augur’s chambers.
The demon sat still. The same position she’d been in for half a week. The other half of the week had been spent resting and recuperating, by the looks of it. She never left the small room she was in.
Nel had been ordered to keep an eye on her, though why Sister Cross didn’t go to destroy the demon while she was weak, Nel didn’t know.
No one ever told her anything.
With a sigh, Nel added another line to her report.
Pops rippled throughout the small room as Nel cracked her knuckles. She shut and locked the armoire containing a leg and a hair. Her eyes glowed with righteous light as the protective enchantments settled into place. It would take a metaphorical tank to break in.
Or someone with the authority, like Sister Cross.
She pulled her wimple over her head and attached her collar and veil. Nel straightened her cross and adjusted the rosary at her belt.
“I hope this is perfect,” Nel said to herself. Appearances gave a lot of authority, and she wanted to project as much as she could.
Nel crossed the tiny room to the door.
The Sister on guard jumped at the door opening. She quickly caught herself and smoothed out her scapular before lightly clearing her throat.
“Is there something you need, Sister Stirling?”
Nel took a deep breath of the fresh air. “I have run out of frankincense beads.”
“I shall send someone to fetch more at once.”
“I shall get them myself.”
Sister Mable’s shook her head. “Sister Cross has instructed that I keep you here until we are absolutely sure it is safe.”
“I don’t mind if you guard me, but it has been a week since I left this room.”
A look of pity crossed over Sister Mable’s face. “I’m sorry, Sister Stirling. Sister Cross’ orders.”
Nel took one last deep breath of the fresh air. “Very well. I expect the frankincense will be delivered within the hour.”
She turned inside and shut the door without waiting for a response. People in authority didn’t wait for underlings to acknowledge an order. They expected the order to be taken care of promptly and efficiently as soon as the words were given.
“At least,” she sighed and deflated a little, “that’s how Sister Cross does it.”
She pulled off her veil and almost threw it across the room. She stopped. That might wrinkle it. An augur couldn’t be caught showing disregard to holy items. Instead, Nel set it on the rack, nicely and neatly. She took off her wimple and collar as well. Nel started to take off the rest of her habit, but paused.
The nuns would be delivering frankincense soon, even though she didn’t need it. She wouldn’t be able to take much of a nap before she had to check in on the girl again.
With a sigh, Nel undid the enchants and locks on the armoire and pulled out the strand of hair.
At least she could see outside her room for the next hour, even if it wasn’t anything interesting.
— — —
“Next is,” Martina Turner glanced down at her notebook. She ran a finger down the paper. Halsey would rely on Orgell for any of her meetings. Turner fired the man the day she got in the office and had yet to replace him.
When she paused in her notebook, her sharp eyes turned straight at Wayne.
“Ah yes, Mr. Lurcher. You gave two girls detention this Saturday. The reasons?”
Wayne glared back at the new dean. “I don’t see how it is your business how I run my classroom.”
“Detentions are handed out rarely at Brakket. I’d like to know what kind of trouble these two got into to warrant such drastic action.”
Her tone wasn’t harsh or accusatory, it was just a question. He grit his teeth anyway. “Spencer refused an order to remove her gloves during class. Both girls damaged lab equipment then stormed out of class.”