“Demons have concerns?” Catherine didn’t believe it. A nervous demon? Preposterous.
“This is something of a special batch. Selected specifically with the help of Zagan before his untimely disappearance.”
That had Catherine on edge. Anything Zagan came up with had to have some catch.
But maybe some of them would work well for her next ritual. Zagan had been the initiator for her ritual research. Perhaps he had thrown in a few demons that had special characteristics.
“What would I have to do?”
Chapter 008
Eva’s forehead throbbed.
Not horribly. She had suffered through worse headaches before. The ritual to share Sawyer’s senses for one and anytime enigmas were around for another. And this current headache was already subsiding to unnoticeable levels.
The only reason the headache was special at all was the cause.
A dozen demons were making their way from the outskirts of town towards Brakket Academy. Altogether, they weren’t so bad. It was just that they had all come into Eva’s range at the same time.
Each of them had their own feel. None Eva could really place as anything specific.
All the demons that Eva knew had their own distinct feel. Zagan was power. Ylva had a chill to her aura. Catherine felt a bit sultry. Lucy, Prax, Qrycx, and all the others were easy to separate as well. However, the only reason that Eva knew which feel went with who was because she knew all the demons.
As such, even if she could feel a certain slime from one or a feathery floating from another, Eva couldn’t tell who or even what they were. Maybe in describing them to Devon, he would be able to tell their species. Except they would be in town long before Eva had a chance to run off to Devon. It would be far easier to meet them in person.
But they were still a ways away. Eva didn’t know precisely how far her range extended. And a good portion of that also depended on the relative power of the demons she was sensing. Zagan could be felt in the city while she was all the way out at the prison.
That she felt one or two of the new demons a great deal before the others all made it into her range meant that some of them were stronger than others.
They were all together though. All traveling at the same speed. A bus perhaps. Maybe a shipping container if Anderson was feeling a bit inhumane.
“Are you alright?”
Eva blinked, glancing over towards Shalise. She had a spoonful of… whatever Brakket Academy was serving for lunch today. Some gravy-like slop that made Eva extraordinarily grateful that she didn’t need as much food as regular mortals.
Juliana, Irene, Jordan, and Shelby were all gathered around as well. All eating lunch together for the first time since forever. At least, it felt like forever. Between Shalise and Juliana being gone and school taking a major back-seat to other events, Eva could barely remember the last time that everyone had a bit of downtime for regular school activities.
The only real difference was the lack of Max. He had stopped sitting with them a long while ago. Since before Shalise and Juliana’s trip to Hell. Looking around the cafeteria, Eva couldn’t spot him at all. Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve seen him since the year started.
Maybe he had decided that Brakket was just too exciting for his tastes.
Arachne had taken his seat at the table. Sitting directly across from Eva, she drew the eyes of everyone around even after a week. Of course, anyone who stared too long or got too close got a glare and maybe a growl, but she hadn’t actually done anything to anyone.
Hopefully, people would just learn to ignore her.
Still waiting for an answer, Shalise gave a slight cough as she raised an eyebrow. “Eva?”
“Oh. I’m fine. I was just a bit distracted by all the demons currently on their way to school. Trying to get a feel for them all.”
Everyone stilled, including people not sitting at her table. Eva hadn’t thought that she had spoken too loudly, but nearby forks clattered to their plates catching the attention of people at more distant tables. In short order, the entire room was nearly silent. The only sound was the faint wisp of whispers explaining Eva’s words to those farther away.
Soon enough, even the whispers stopped.
The entire room sat and stared at Eva.
Eva just rolled her eyes. There had been a definite tension among the student body over the last few days. Ever since Anderson’s introductory speech. To have him effectively confirm all the rumors that had been circulating beforehand, especially those about the fight with the demon hunters over the summer, had only served to keep people a little paranoid.
Really, if they were so worried, they should have just left the school.
“They’re on their way,” Eva said, ignoring everyone not sitting at her table. “Maybe fifteen minutes? Twenty? Unless they stop somewhere else for some reason. I sort of just assumed that they’d be housed in the dorm buildings and that they would be heading straight there.”
“What–what are we going to do?” Irene all but whispered. She had hunched over, leaning half past Juliana in an attempt to get a better view of Eva.
Eva had no idea why she was so concerned. Out of all of the people in the school, Irene knew more about shackles and how to at least stop demons from approaching.
Barring Eva, of course. And maybe Juliana. Eva hadn’t actually discussed how much she knew in terms of summoning circles and shackles. Enough to summon Zagan, at least.
But shackles had been one of the things that Irene was most interested in studying during the diablery class. Eva doubted that she would have let her studies slide over the summer. Not to mention all the lessons she had been given on demons in general.
In comparison, her sister was entirely blasé about the whole thing. Maybe she had spoken to Jordan more. Maybe she just didn’t view demons as being all that scary.
She was sitting immediately adjacent to Arachne. The only reaction Shelby had to Eva’s words had been to shrug and continue to eat.
“Maybe we should go say hello,” Eva said. “Missing out on Wayne’s class wouldn’t be so bad.”
Eva didn’t know why she had bothered signing up for it again in the first place. Potions barely did anything for her.
“Though,” Eva added, “I do want to be back before golemancy. That class has actually been enjoyable.”
Shelby frowned, putting her spoon down. “I like alchemy.”
“We don’t all have to go. But I think I will.”
“Me too,” Juliana said. “It would be better to get a view on who is going to be around early on so that I can come up with explanations for my family.”
“Alright.” Eva gave a pointed glance towards Irene. “Anyone else?”
The girl in question hung her head with a long sigh. “They’re not going to hurt us, right?”
“I doubt it. Arachne and I will be there. I’ve been told that I’m quite intimidating towards demons.” Eva paused, feeling out some of the more familiar demons around. “Besides,” she said with a smile, “Catherine will be there. That should make you happy, right?”
“Not really,” Irene said with another sigh.
“Well, I think Ylva might be there. Though I’m not sure if you’ve actually met her or not…”
Eva shook her head with a shrug. It didn’t really matter. None of the approaching demons were on Ylva’s level, let alone that of Zagan.
“I’ve already met them,” Jordan said. “And I don’t really want to anger Professor Lurcher by skipping his class.”
“Probably for the best.” Eva raised her voice ever so slightly—she didn’t want to be obvious in her machinations, but she wanted to get a message out to all the nosy students who were pretending not to listen in. “We shouldn’t crowd them. Making demons feel like they are zoo animals might disturb them.”