Eva pulled back from the screen with a shake of her head. If she continued asking questions, she had a feeling that the conversation would quickly head in a direction that she could not follow. She hadn’t come in to discuss games, after all.
Unfortunately, she did not want to irritate Catherine. With Ylva having already declined her request, Eva didn’t want Catherine to deny it out of pure spite.
So, she sat back and waited. There was a countdown timer at the top of the screen. Eva assumed that the game would end then, freeing Catherine up for a quick chat.
She could wait five minutes.
Thirty seconds later, a golden ‘VICTORY’ flashed across the screen.
Catherine removed her headset with a satisfied sigh and turned to face Eva. “Mortals have come up with some amusing things in the past century or so,” she said with a wistful smile.
That was good news. If she had been in a bad mood, Eva had thought that she might just come back later. Good mood Catherine meant more agreeable Catherine.
Hopefully.
Eva took a deep breath before she spoke. “I need help. Or a favor? Yeah. A favor. And I’ll return the favor, of course.”
“Sounds like work,” Catherine said as she reached for her headset.
Reaching out, Eva grabbed on to Catherine’s arm. “You haven’t even heard what it is yet! Just hear me out. Please.”
Catherine stared for a minute before sighing. The sigh came out far less blissful and far more exasperated than her last one. “What is it?”
“I need someone to sit in on my treatment. You really only have to sit there for a few minutes and donate a little blood. Plus some magic stuff that I don’t really understand. There will be two other demons there in your position, you’ll be the third. But no work at all. It’s just sitting in a chair for a ritual, maybe a few minutes of lethargy, then you can be back to your computer.”
Catherine’s eyes lost their disguise and flared bright red. “You want to take things from me,” she said, her voice cold as ice. “You’re the one who told me to grow powerful. That was just so you might take it from me later?”
Eva’s eyes went wide. Was that why Ylva had declined? No, it couldn’t be. Ylva had seen the ritual. She knew what it entailed. Arachne was not lessened after every ritual. Devon had definitely used the word ‘copy.’
“No! Copy, not take, you’re still fully intact. Minus some blood, but that shouldn’t matter with a demon’s constitution and regeneration speed.
“Arachne used to be my partner for my treatment. I’m sure you’ve heard, but she…” Eva’s voice dropped a few notches in intensity and volume. “She died. Lightning bolt to the face. There wasn’t much face left.”
That at least got Catherine smiling again.
Eva couldn’t decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing. It didn’t make Eva smile.
“I wouldn’t have asked you had she not died. I didn’t plan this or anything. You’re free to grow in power as much as you want and keep it too.” Though, I’m not sure how playing games advances that particular goal.
There must be something that Eva had missed about video games.
“No work,” Catherine said to herself. “I’ll be sitting there and nothing will be lost.”
“Yes. And I’ll owe you a favor.”
“Three.”
Eva opened her mouth. Her first instinct was to glare and state ‘two favors,’ but she was somewhat desperate. With a resigned nod, Eva said, “I can do that.”
“Very well. I’ll do it.”
“Thank you,” Eva said. “I appreciate it. It will be on this coming Saturday. I’ll let you know exactly when after I figure it out.”
“Works for me,” Catherine said with a shrug. She rubbed her hands together with a smile. “Now, for my first favor, I want you to–”
Her smile dropped off her face as she let out a thoughtful hum. “I was going to have you do a tall stack of paperwork that was supposed to be done a month ago. But being owed favors is like having power over you. I wouldn’t want to waste it on frivolous tasks.” She looked up at Eva with a conspiratorial glint in her eye. “Besides, Martina hasn’t yelled at me about the paperwork more than once. Probably not important anyway.
“And you’re not bound by the limitations of my contract.” Her gaze shifted towards the door leading into Martina Turner’s office. “Yes. I think I will hold on to your services until I have something that I want that I cannot get for myself.”
Eva frowned. Something that Catherine was restricted from doing? It couldn’t be any good. “What are the details of your contract?”
“Not telling you,” Catherine snapped. “You’ll find some way around doing what I ask.”
“I wouldn’t do that. Believe it or not, I’m being honest at the moment. I need help and I’m willing to pay for it.”
Maybe I should go offer Ylva a few favors.
“Nope. Not falling for it. You’ll find out when the time comes.” She reached forward, taking her headset in her hands. “If there’s nothing else, you know the way out.” Catherine started to place the headphones on her ears, but paused with them just in front of her face.
“In fact. I’ll use up one of my favors right now. Don’t tell Martina about our arrangement. Or anyone else for that matter. As far as everyone is concerned, I’m helping you with your treatment out of the goodness of my heart.”
Eva scoffed, but she still nodded. “I can do that. No one will hear of it from me.”
“Good.” Catherine slammed the headset on her head. In a flash, her hands were back on the keyboard and mouse.
Once again absorbed in her own little world.
Eva sighed as she walked out of the office. While happy she had secured a second demon for the treatment, she had wanted to ask where Daru and Lucy were. Maybe Zagan too.
Though, owing Catherine favors was one thing. If Zagan asked for the same, she would probably just walk away.
Given the fact that Catherine was in her usual spot, the security guards were probably in the guard room. Or patrolling around the school. Zagan would be harder to pin down, but he might be around as well. If Eva couldn’t find anyone, she could always come back and ask Catherine.
Ten steps down the hallway and Eva already knew she was going to be meeting with one demon. She caught sight of his circulatory system long before she heard his heavy footsteps.
“Intelligent decisions?” Zagan gave a light sniffle. “Our little succubus is all grown up. Brings a tear to my eye.”
Eva turned to face Zagan with a frown. “There is no way that you heard our conversation. Martina Turner’s office was empty. No one else was around. I know, I can see through walls.”
“Alright. I wasn’t there and I didn’t hear,” there was a golden glint in his eye as his silver voice spilled out obviously false words. “Of course, if I wasn’t there and didn’t hear, you might find it difficult to convince me to help with your little problem.”
“You’re willing to help.” Eva’s voice was flat. She crossed her arms and glared, feeling more irritated by his smile as the seconds ticked by.
Zagan mimicked her pose. With his arms crossed, he leaned back, resting against thin air like it was a solid wall. And yet, he didn’t confirm or deny Eva’s statement.
It wasn’t that she would be ungrateful if he was offering to help. Zagan was beyond powerful. Devon didn’t think it would matter much, but he hadn’t ever done this particular ritual before. He was designing it from scratch specifically for her. If there was even a chance that she could give herself a fraction of Zagan’s power…
Well, it would probably help with Sawyer, if nothing else.
The problem was that no one in this world–or in Hell–did anything for free. Everyone wanted something. Zagan would be no different.
Not even two minutes ago, Eva had considered skipping over Zagan no matter what. But with the possibility dangling right in front of her, could she really resist?