Suddenly A Succubus Ch. 25

Earlier that day

Amara’s vision was blurred, the edges of her world tinted with blood and anger. The fight against the possessed cultists had been going well, in her opinion, until multiple spears of Enochian energy had lodged themselves in her back. Now, as she leaned on Tessa to try and escape the cult’s headquarters, it was taking all of her strength to stay lucid.

“That will buy us some time, we need to move!” Vee shouted.

Amara was only briefly paying attention to the words, and was much more focused on the blinding wall of energy that had just sprang into existence next to her. She squeezed Tessa tight, then leaned closer to whisper. “Tess, if I don’t feed soon, things are gonna get ugly.”

The witch nodded, and soon all three girls were scrambling through the dim corridors in hopes of finding another exit. The hallways seemed to stretch on for an eternity, and Amara had no idea which path they were taking. She could feel blood dripping down her back, and could barely muster the strength to keep following Tessa. She heard a few whispers occasionally, the other girls complaining about the path, but soon enough they found an illusory wall that Tessa was able to start working on.

“Thank fuck,” Amara said, gasping. She moved to a nearby wall, leaning against it for support as she tried to focus on holding herself together. She only barely registered that Vee was moving closer and had started speaking.

“Amara, I… I didn’t mean to—”

“Likely fucking story,” Amara snapped. She could feel the angelic energy lingering on Vee’s body, and the smell was pushing her closer to the edge. The two girls locked eyes for a moment before Tessa managed to bypass the illusion, giving everyone a chance to escape. It only took a brief minute for Vee to scout the area and Tessa to bring back the illusory wall.

“I think we’re safe, this looks like a pretty standard basement,” Vee said.

“Good. Amara, do you want to recover here, or at home?” Tessa turned to Amara, holding her shoulders gently. The touch excited Amara, fanning the flames that were already raging inside of her.

“Now.”

Amara grabbed Tessa’s waist and pulled her close, their lips meeting as Amara’s hands started exploring the witch’s body. Her tail curled around Tessa’s leg, holding it tight as it sought out her sex, eager to start pleasuring her. Amara began kissing Tessa’s neck next, licking and biting as she felt Tessa’s aura start to grow. They both wanted this, and Amara was sick of waiting.

Tessa said something to Vee, who was still standing around for some reason, but Amara wasn’t paying attention. She was more focused on undoing Tessa’s pants, on tasting her sweet cunt that she could smell growing wetter by the second.

A door closed nearby, and Tessa’s hands quickly found their way to Amara’s body. “We’re alone, finally,” the witch said.

“Good,” Amara said. She pulled away from Tessa, quickly moving behind her and pinning her to the wall. One hand grabbed Tessa’s hair, holding it tight as she kept Tessa’s face pushed against the bricks. The witch was clearly excited, her aura was growing brighter and brighter, and Amara moaned with delight as she began feeding. Strength poured into her, and she held Tessa tight as she began pulling her clothes off.

Soon enough, the witch’s pants were bunched around her knees, along with her panties, and Amara’s fingers had found Tessa’s sex. There was no time for subtlety, not when Amara was this hungry. She pushed her fingers inside Tessa, feeling the tight walls twitch as Tessa moaned aloud.

“Fuck, Amara, I’ve never seen you this rough before!” Tessa said, moaning quietly as Amara began playing with her clit.

“I know you like it,” Amara whispered, playfully biting Tessa’s ear.

Amara’s tail moved closer, slowly circling Tessa’s entrance before pushing inside. As her tail began thrusting, Amara stepped closer and pushed her own hips against Tessa’s ass. Both her hands moved down, wrapping around Tessa’s hips, and she started grinding against Tessa in time with the thrusts of her tail. Through her connection with Tessa’s aura, she could feel all the pleasure she was providing, and it made her shudder with excitement.

It was almost like she had a phallus of her own, and was using it to thrust deep into Tessa’s eager cunt. The tip of her tail twitched, and Amara’s moans joined Tessa’s as they continued fucking. Amara was being pleasured both through Tessa’s aura, and by grinding her own pussy against the witch’s bouncing ass.

Tessa was soon moaning even louder, and Amara knew it wouldn’t be long before she came. While she regretted not being able to draw this out, Amara knew they couldn’t linger in this strange basement. After another minute of frantic fucking, both girls tensed with excitement as their orgasms took them. They both came hard, Tessa’s hands forming fists as she steadied herself against the wall, and Amara pushing her tail even deeper into Tessa while biting the witch’s neck. Amara felt her senses expand, Tessa’s powerful orgasm restoring all the energy Amara had lost in attempting to recover from Vee’s attack. She felt her wounds close, and the Enochian energy that had been lingering dispersed as well.

Amara stepped back, happily running her hands through her hair as she took a breath of fresh air. She felt like herself now, no longer a ravenous beast, and she gently pulled her tail out of Tessa’s quivering sex.

“Fuck… wow… Amara, that was… fuck.” Tessa was still leaning against the wall, her breathing heavy. Amara stepped to the side, softly tracing her fingers over Tessa’s cheek.

“I didn’t hurt you, did I? I kinda… let loose a bit,” Amara said.

Tessa shook her head quickly. “Only the good kind of hurt, promise.” Despite Tessa’s words, Amara couldn’t help but notice that the witch was rubbing her neck, rolling her head back and forth as she winced.

Shit, did I push her too hard? The last time I felt those urges take over was back on Halloween, inside Vee’s circle. I don’t even remember that entire night… At least this time I didn’t black out.

With a nervous smile, Amara squeezed Tessa’s shoulder before moving towards the open floor nearby. She pulled her clothes off, summoned a healthy amount of hellfire, and used it to remove all the blood from her body. The flames also seared away the lingering sweat, the grime, and Tessa’s delicious juices that had gotten stuck to her tail. After a minute of bathing in hellfire, Amara quickly got dressed again.

There was a soft knock at the basement door, and Tessa quickly answered. “We’re decent, Vee, you can come on in!”

As Vee walked inside, Amara couldn’t help but scowl. While the injuries had been healed, looking at Vee made her back tingle again. The girls took a few minutes to discuss the next steps, and Amara could feel the tension in the air. Sure, Vee seemed willing to meet them halfway, but now seeds of doubt had lodged themselves in Amara’s mind.

—

It was late in the evening the following day when the girls were able to meet up again. Amara had borrowed Nick’s key to the gymnastics building, as they needed both privacy and a wide-open space to practice. The day leading up to this strange rehearsal had been confusing, to say the least. After so many weeks of beating herself up, convinced that she could change Vee’s mind by just explaining herself, Amara was now skeptical. In their very first fight, supposedly as allies, Amara had wound up with a volley of holy arrows lodged in her back.

What if Tessa is right? I’ve been so focused on proving to Vee that I’m trustworthy, but… I never bothered to ask the same about her. Am I so desperate for forgiveness that I’m blind to what’s in front of me?

Amara was waiting outside the gymnastics building, idly scrolling through her socials as she waited for Vee and Tessa to show up. She wore an outfit similar to yesterday, athletic shorts and a matching sports bra, though this time they were a deep, royal purple. Comfortable sweats covered them, but they were unfortunately not the same sweats from yesterday; those had been a tragic casualty of the fight. She’d briefly revisited the elevator in Lysander Hall, just in case, but her clothes were nowhere to be found.

Vee arrived first, unsurprisingly. “Hey Amara, any problems today?” she asked.

“Nothing really. I don’t think they’re stupid enough to cause a scene in public. Tess tells me that people who know about magic like to keep it hidden.” Amara’s words were tense. After being literally stabbed in the back yesterday, she was having trouble extending the same generosity to Vee that she’d mustered their last few run-ins.

“I’ve heard the same thing,” Vee said. They stood there awkwardly for another few minutes before Tessa arrived, and Amara was pretty sure they both sighed in relief.

Soon enough, all three girls were entering the gymnastics building, and Amara quickly ran over to the light switches. The bright fluorescent lights took a while to fully kick in, but soon the building was ready for action. Amara started by pulling her sweats off, and she immediately noticed a swell in Tessa’s aura. Amara was fully aware that her outfit was pretty revealing, but she needed as little coverage as possible to make sure her wings and tail had room to breathe. Though, she couldn’t deny that it was nice to have clothes that so perfectly showed off how athletic her demonic body had gotten.

Remembering Vee’s request from back in Whitmore Hall, Amara spoke up. “Alright Vee, I’m manifesting my true form, which means there’s going to be some fire. That okay?”

“Sure, go for it.”

With a burst of hellfire, Amara’s demonic features returned to her. She happily ran her hands over her horns, always happy to have them back, and noticed that they seemed to have grown again recently. They reached further back than usual, and were now starting to angle back up as they reached the back of her head. A quick check of her tail and wings revealed nothing else had changed, so she started stretching everything out in preparation.

Vee, presumably, wasn’t planning on wearing the same revealing clothing; she was wearing loose, white and gold running pants that cinched at the ankles, and a blue athletic jacket. She pulled out her Enochian Texts, casting a couple quick spells while Amara continued stretching. They were far enough apart that the angelic magic didn’t sting too much, but Amara certainly bristled at its presence.

“Alright, what’s the plan you two?” Tessa asked, leaning against a nearby pommel horse.

“What? Why is this on us?” Vee responded.

“You two are our heavy hitters and have the most varied abilities. You want me to explain everything I can do? I can make knives float and try to stab people. There, you know everything you need to know.”

“What about when you threw Brandon across the room?” Amara asked. “I know you said that was stressful, but it’s an option, right?”

“Not really. See, most magic has trace amounts of psychic energy to it, likely even yours and Vee’s. Your hellfire, for example, is an extension of you, but you still have to control it. Think of the psychic connection like a muscle, a necessary part of controlling any magic that’s not physically attached with musculature. Pretty much everyone has a low-level psychic field, which means they can try to resist magical effects. Some people are better than others, but generally, the more resolute you are, the more you can resist most magic.”

“So why did it work on Brandon?”

“Cuz he’s a weak little bitch, that’s why. He’s got no backbone, and he was terrified of me. Fear can be incredibly helpful for bypassing psychic resistance. A roomful of cultists and demons, though? Better to assume you won’t be able to just light them on fire. You’ll have better luck throwing fire at them, or lighting up your fists and beating them senseless.”

“Makes enough sense, I suppose,” Amara said. She looked to Vee, who seemed to be looking at Amara’s tail again, though she quickly averted her eyes. “Vee, you or me?”

Both girls looked at each other silently, the tension more than obvious. “You first,” Vee said.

Hardly surprised, Amara sighed and nodded. “Alright, fine. It’s pretty straightforward, honestly. I have enhanced vision, I can see in the dark as clear as day, and I can also see electrical signals. I’m not great at deciphering them, but I’m working on it. I can also see auras around everyone, which tell me if they’re horny, who they’re attracted to, when they last had sex, things like that. I don’t think any of that is going to be very helpful in a fight.”

Starting to feel antsy, Amara jumped up on the balance beam and continued warming up while she kept talking. “Physically, I’m much stronger. I can overpower Nick easily, and you both know how strong he is. My shapeshifting lets me grow a chitinous exoskeleton over my body, giving me natural protection, but I can also sharpen it to give myself claws, or turn my tail into a blade.”

To illustrate her point, Amara manifested her chitinous gauntlets and sharpened her tail, swishing it through the air as a demonstration. “I can do the same for my wings, and give myself a pretty hefty shield, but it weighs me down. I can summon hellfire and exert my willpower over existing flames. If you see purple fire, chances are I’m the one controlling it. I’m completely immune to fire myself, but as a side effect of that, it’s really hard for me to notice changes in temperature, even dramatic ones.”

A thought jumped into Amara’s head, and she decided to test her balance even further. She leaned forward, planting her hands on the balance beam, and kicked her legs over her head. It was a rocky start, but with the help of her tail, she found the motion came quite naturally to her. “That’s about it, honestly.”

Vee seemed surprised that Amara didn’t have more to say. “That’s it?”

“Um… I guess I also dreamwalk, but it’s pretty sporadic, and I’m not sure how to control it yet. Even if I could, I doubt we’ll need that in a fight.”

Amara and Tessa looked at Vee expectantly. The angel let out a sigh of her own, no doubt regretting that she had to give up divine secrets, but she soon began talking. “Alright, my abilities are… complicated. Long story short, angels wield the power of Creation, and our magic can manifest as almost anything we want. However, the more esoteric our desires are, the harder it’ll be to control the magic.”

“Is that why you stick to making weapons?” Amara asked.

“That’s part of it, yeah. Angelic magic can be incredibly taxing, and it takes years of training to prepare our bodies for it. I have an innate well of angelic energy of my own, but it’s pretty small. That’s why this book is so important.” Vee tapped her Enochian Texts, and they glowed slightly under her touch.

“This book is essentially a battery, a reservoir of holy magic that’s been cultivated for generations. These pages contain detailed descriptions of spells, knowledge on how to cast them, and the magic to do it. Traditionally, every angel that inherits this book adds a spell of their own, and future generations continue to iterate and perfect those spells. Those arrows I created came from an angel that roamed the Earth a few hundred years back, and they’re one of the most reliable offensive abilities I have.”

“You’ve also got a banishment spell in there, right?” Amara asked.

“I do, but… you saw me try to cast it. It takes a while, and I can’t be interrupted. Best case scenario, I can try to trap someone in a circle to buy time, but it’s possible to break out.”

Amara couldn’t help but glare at Vee, watching her recount the events that led up to their fateful fight. “Okay, so you have a lot of options. You’ve also been training for this your whole life, whereas I’m just some idiot that happened to turn into a demon. Do you have any suggestions on strategies? Spells that might synergize with what I can do?”

“I’ve certainly been thinking about that, but it’s tough. If you weren’t a demon, I could probably try to enhance your abilities, make you stronger and faster, maybe even give you weapons of your own, but I think it’s safe to assume that my magic will always hurt you, even if it’s not aggressive.”

“Agreed,” Amara said. “Even that healing spell you cast on yourself stung pretty bad. We need something that will let us keep out of each other’s way.”

“There’s another wrinkle, too,” Vee continued. “Not all the cultists have been turned into demons yet. I fought one that was still human. Depending on what magic I use, they might be completely immune to it.”

“Wait, that’s it!” Tessa said, rejoining the conversation. “You can separate the demons and the humans!”

“How would that help?” Amara asked.

“It’s simple. On Halloween, Vee locked you inside a circle, right? Well, what if we did the opposite? Lock us both inside a barrier, so that the only people that can get through are humans! That way, Amara can focus entirely on the demons, while Vee can take out any non-possessed cultists that enter the field. If I’m inside the barrier, that should buy me enough time to reverse engineer the circle!”

“That’s… honestly a really good idea, Tessa,” Vee said.

“What, like it’s surprising?” the witch replied, sticking her tongue out.

“Well, we’ve no time to waste. Let’s test it out,” Amara said, jumping off the balance beam.

“Fine, just give me a few minutes. I need to figure out which spell would work best for that.” Vee sat down, opening her Enochian Texts and starting to flip through them. While she read, Amara busied herself by trying some of the other gymnastics equipment. A few minutes passed before Vee spoke up again. “Got it!”

Amara watched as Vee moved to the middle of the large spring floor, then held her book aloft and started reading. Her hair started billowing and angelic energy swirled around her, the book glowing as its magic activated. Various Enochian runes began to form around her, building in complexity, until they all connected to form a large wall that circled Vee, creating a space roughly fifteen feet across. As expected, Amara’s body reacted poorly to the Enochian chanting, but the uncomfortable seizing ended once the spell finished.

“Certainly looks impressive,” Amara said. “Tess, can you walk through it?”

Moving closer, Tessa carefully pushed a hand against the barrier, watching as it harmlessly passed through. She then took a step inside, shivering slightly as she did, but nothing seemed to happen. “I think I’m fine. It tingled a little, but nothing else. What about you? That’s the real test, isn’t it?”

Amara looked towards Vee, who gestured at the wall. “Give it a shot,” she said.

With a deep breath, Amara approached the glowing wall. She could feel the angelic energy bristling at her presence, and she braced herself for some discomfort as she reached for the barrier. The instant she touched it, her entire body seized up once more, holy sparks surging through her body. It felt like she was holding the Enochian Texts again, the energy making it difficult to move. When she finally managed to pull away, she was panting heavily, and could feel sweat running down her temples.

“Fuck, that stings…” Amara said through gritted teeth.

“That’s kind of the point, Amara,” Vee said. “Do you think you’d be able to break through?”

“Probably, I did it last time.”

“I’d like to see you try,” Vee said. The two girls stared at each other through the barrier, the tension obvious as the challenge was posed.

Amara’s eyes flared, and she happily manifested her chitinous gauntlets before engulfing them in hellfire. She took a few steps back, crouched low to the ground, and leapt at the barrier. She threw the entire weight of her body behind her first punch, watching as her fist collided with the barrier, holy sparks flying through the air and assaulting her body. The barrier threw her back slightly, but she wasn’t done yet. She continued attacking, trying to expand her senses to get a feel for the barrier’s limits. She had a harder time reading it than she did on Halloween, presumably because she was on the outside this time, but eventually she started to get a sense of what was needed. With each strike, another barrage of Enochian magic attacked her, and she could feel herself getting angrier from its influence. Eventually, just as the holy magic was threatening to wear her out, she managed to land a strike that sank further into the barrier than before. Her second hand joined in, then her bladed tail. She grabbed the edges of the barrier, let loose an angry shout, and ripped a hole in it.

All at once, the holy barrier surrounding Vee and Tessa dissipated. Amara watched Vee’s eyes go wide in surprise, and her own body seemed to recoil as Amara broke through the magic.

The angel and the demon locked eyes, and when Amara finally spoke, her words were surprisingly smug. “Looks like I win again, Vee.”

Vee snarled at Amara, pulling herself together before she started pacing sideways, skirting around Amara. “Please, I wasn’t even fighting back.”

Amara matched the movement, and now both girls were slowly circling the open floor, each waiting for the other to escalate the situation. Out of the corner of her eye, Amara could see Tessa nervously looking back and forth, before deciding to back out and take a seat on the pommel horse.

“Maybe we should practice fighting, since apparently you know so much more than I do,” Amara said.

“Maybe we should. You clearly have a lot to learn.” Vee dropped her Enochian Texts to the ground, then kicked them back to keep them out of the way. She unzipped her jacket, throwing it aside as well, revealing a sports bra that seemed to resemble marble, with streaks of white, gray, and gold running through it.

“Says the girl that trained her whole life just to lose to a month-old demon!”

“Um, guys? Maybe we should—” Tessa tried to say, but her words were instantly cut off by Vee.

“Shut up!” Vee shouted. She leapt forward, summoning her holy blade with a burst of Enochian energy. She slashed at Amara, who managed to dodge out of the way, but only barely. Vee continued attacking, again and again, trying to push Amara off balance, but Amara continued to evade each attack. This harrowing dance continued until Vee summoned a flash of light from her off hand, which startled Amara and created an opening for Vee to jab the demon’s side with the hilt of her sword.

“Your movements are sloppy and unrefined. Your inexperience is obvious,” Vee hissed as Amara grabbed her side in pain.

“Yeah? Well you can’t handle extra limbs!” Amara’s tail darted out, wrapping around Vee’s ankle and pulling hard. Vee fell to the ground, gasping as she landed flat on her back. “You only stood a chance because you caught me off guard.”

Vee was breathing heavily, and she glared at Amara before responding. “You’re right about one thing, at least.” With a quick spin, Vee swung her legs towards Amara, who wasn’t ready for retaliation. She fell to the ground herself, and Vee quickly jumped on top of the demon to try and pin her down. “You can’t read your opponents! You leave yourself open with every attack!”

Amara’s tail lashed out again, knocking Vee’s sword out of her hand. Amara thrust off the ground, turning the tables on Vee as she tried to pin her down as well. The girls quickly locked hands as they wrestled, tumbling back and forth as each tried to force the other into submission. This continued for close to a minute, neither one able to cement their advantage. Eventually, the girls began to tire, their actions slowing as they both refused to surrender. Amara, however, had already exerted herself breaking through Vee’s barrier, and soon found herself on her back while Vee pinned her hands on the floor over her head.

They were both panting heavily, sweat pouring down their bodies as they glared at each other. The tension only broke when Amara’s nose twitched, and a familiar smell filled her senses. The change in expression threw Vee off guard, and both girls paused as Amara turned her head to look at Tessa.

“Really, Tess?” Amara said.

“What’s she doing?” Vee asked, her grip loosening slightly.

“Watching us fight is turning her on!”

“Oh come on, look at you two!” Tessa said, gesturing at them. Amara looked back at Vee, who was clearly straddling her, her athletic body glistening with sweat. “This is the most homoerotic shit I’ve ever seen!”

“It is not!” Amara and Vee said in unison. They looked at each other in surprise before Vee rolled her eyes and got off Amara. They both stood up, huffing as they pulled themselves together. Vee picked up her sword before dismissing it, then grabbed her Enochian Texts and her jacket. Amara walked over to Tessa, playfully smacking her with her tail before grabbing her own clothes and starting to put them on.

“I guess we’re done?” Tessa said, looking at Amara and Vee.

“For tonight? Absolutely,” Vee said. She was clearly flustered, both from Tessa’s comments and the tiring fight.

A moment passed, Amara doing her best to calm herself down after the fight with Vee. Enochian magic always riled her up, and she wanted to think about things calmly. “For what it’s worth,” she started, “I do think we should keep training while we have the time. We’ve got a couple days, might as well be as ready as possible.”

“Yeah? Training? Is that what we’re calling this?” Tessa said, the insinuation obvious.

“I’m serious, Tess! Setting aside our… history, Vee’s right. I don’t have any fighting experience, and she’s the only person that can match my strength. If I try to fight you or Nick, I risk snapping you in half.”

“Fine by me,” Vee said. “I’d like to live past Sunday, so every bit of practice helps.”

While it was obvious that Tessa only wanted to make crude jokes, Amara was glad to be on the same page as Vee. She still wasn’t entirely sure if the angel could be trusted, but for some reason, their fight had been strangely cathartic. Once everyone had packed up their things, and Amara had double checked that they hadn’t scorched anything, she turned off the lights in the building and locked up.

—

In the chaos of trying to stop the cult, everyone had forgotten about one crucial detail; the following day was no ordinary Thursday, it was Thanksgiving. Amara woke to a very confusing text from her mother, asking when she was planning on driving back, causing Amara to panic and share that she was spending the holiday with Nick. When she ran over to Nick’s to make sure they were on the same page, she’d discovered that he’d spun a similar lie.

“Ugh, Nick, I feel so bad lying to her!” Amara complained, falling onto his couch.

“You’re not technically lying, we are spending today together,” Nick said, cleaning up his kitchen.

“You know what I mean! Not only does she think I’m with your family, but this means she’s going to be completely alone.”

“Can you remind me why? I always forget. Her family… lives far away? Something like that?”

“She always said they were awful, and she moved to get away from them. Obviously my dad was never in the picture, so there isn't family on that side either. Plus, y’know, since I'm pretty sure he's an incubus, I'm not sure we'd want to hang with his family anyways.”

“Well, you can make it up to her on Christmas, assuming there’s not a secret second cult somewhere on campus.”

With Nick’s roommate away for the holiday, Amara was free to manifest her tail, which she immediately used to throw a pillow at her friend. “Don’t say that! You’re gonna jinx us!”

Nick dodged the pillow easily, laughing to himself as he started pulling bags of food out of the fridge. “Come on, it’s just a joke. Now get over here and help me get everything ready.”

“Ready for what? It’s way too early for lunch,” Amara said, sliding off the couch and joining Nick in the kitchen. She was surprised to find a massive spread of food, probably enough to feed a dozen people, including a giant turkey. “Hold on, are we actually doing Thanksgiving?”

“Why not? We’re here, there aren’t any classes, and it’s not like you can spend the entire day sparring with Vee. I heard last night was… interesting.”

“What did Tessa tell you? Because whatever it was, she’s lying, and that’s not what happened!” Amara’s face turned red, still flustered from last night’s events. She made a face at Nick, who was far too pleased with himself, before diving in to help prepare all the food. The two continued prepping in silence for a few moments before she spoke up again. “Wait, speaking of Tessa, should I tell her about this? There’s no way we can finish this by ourselves.”

“No need, I already took care of it. You’ve been busy with Mr. Wellington, and I’ve been busy making sure we all have a home to come back to.”

“Nick… you’re such a dork, you know that?”

The rest of the morning was spent preparing their holiday dinner. Nick blasted music the whole time, singing and dancing like an idiot as he tried to shake Amara out of her malaise. It felt weird, doing something so frivolous with a cult prowling underneath the campus, but after a while, she let herself get swept up in the holiday spirit and joined in. She even ran back to her apartment to change into a stuffy, beige sweater, one that had plenty of room for her tail to be out.

When she returned, she found Tessa sprawled on the couch, happily recounting the events of last night’s tumultuous training session.

“—so they look into each other’s eyes, right? Amara’s tail is flicking in excitement, Vee is out of breath, and— No! Get away!” The witch, tragically, was unable to finish her story. An enraged succubus leapt onto the couch, pillow in hand, eager to shut her up. Both girls laughed as Amara tried to smother Tessa, who was failing to hold her own. “You can’t silence me! The truth will come out eventually!”

By the time Nick needed more help in the kitchen, Amara had pinned Tessa to the ground and was relentlessly tickling her with her tail. The call to action spared Tessa from any further torment, though she seemed to have learned her lesson, and stopped talking about last night. After another few hours, during which all three friends did their best to ignore the impending chaos of the ritual, dinner was ready. It was earlier than usual, but everyone was eager to dig in after spending all day smelling the food.

“Amara, where’s the oven mitt?” Nick asked, ready to take the turkey out of the oven.

“Psh, beats me.” Amara pushed Nick out of the way with her tail, then grabbed the roasting pan with her bare hands and pulled it out.

“I guess that works too. Huh.”

“Hey, you’re the one that got me into cooking. I learned pretty quickly that this was way easier than dealing with that fussy glove.” As Amara looked for the tools to move the turkey, it suddenly rose up on its own, floating lazily through the air until settling on the plate Nick had put out. She looked over at Tessa, her tattoos starting to fade, and smirked.

“What? You two have been doing all the work, figured I might as well pitch in a little bit,” Tessa said.

As Nick started moving all the side dishes to the table, someone knocked on the front door. Amara quickly looked at him, her head cocked to the side, silently asking who it might be.

“Could you get that, Amara? I’m busy,” Nick said.

Slightly nervous, Amara tucked her tail into her sweater and demanifested her horns before answering the door. Thankfully, there were no cultists on the other side, but instead a girl with bright blonde hair and a serious look on her face.

“I heard we’re meeting early for tonight’s training?” Vee said.

“I, uh…” Amara opened the door further, looking for answers from Nick, while also revealing the Thanksgiving spread. Nick looked over at the two girls, smiling wide.

“Vee! You’re just in time!” he said.

“You… tricked me into coming here for dinner?” Vee asked, refusing to enter the apartment. She looked on in confusion for a few moments before finding something to say. “This is hardly the time, and… honestly, I don’t think I’m in the mood. Just text me when you’re ready to get some practice in.”

Vee turned to leave, walking down the hallway, and Amara quickly glanced back at her friends. Nick had his hands full with dishes, and Tessa seemed to have no interest in helping. Amara ran into the hallway after Vee, the door closing behind her. Amara caught up quickly and grabbed Vee’s arm. “Vee, wait!”

Vee spun on her heel, pulling out of Amara’s grasp. “Come on, Amara, Thanksgiving dinner? Is this supposed to make everything right between us?”

“I didn’t do this! I mean, I helped make all the food, but I didn’t know Nick had tricked you into coming over.”

“There’s always a convenient excuse, isn’t there?”

“He’s trying to help! We all had to cancel our plans; he just wants to give us something else to think about other than a fight to the death.”

“We don’t holiday together, Amara. I know you’re new to this, but angels and demons don’t just… hang out. That’s not how this works.”

“Yeah? And what if we all die Sunday? Do you want to spend your last days moping around your apartment?” Vee went quiet, her eyes falling to the carpet. When she didn’t answer, Amara huffed and rolled her eyes. “Fine, go be miserable for all I care.”

Amara turned away, angrily taking a few steps, before pausing. She was almost at Nick’s door, but she couldn’t bring herself to open it. She continued waiting, expecting to hear Vee walking away, but that didn’t happen. Vee moved closer, and when she finally spoke, her voice was incredibly quiet, as if she were nervous about someone listening in.

“This… doesn’t change anything, Amara.” Vee placed her hand on the door, carefully pushing it open before walking inside. Amara followed, almost surprised that she’d managed to talk Vee into joining them. The angel nervously sat down at the table, her posture picture perfect, as Tessa glared at her. Amara unwrapped her tail from her waist and used it to close the front door, bringing her horns back as well. By the time she made it to the table, Nick was finally cutting into the turkey.

“Ah, shoot,” Nick said. “This isn’t quite done yet. Amara, could you finish it up?”

With a smirk, Amara’s eyes flared as she focused on the heat inside the turkey. She stared intently at the oversized dinner, the tantalizing smell filling her senses, as she carefully finished cooking the turkey from the inside out. It took a few minutes, mostly because Amara wanted to play it safe, but soon enough everything was ready to go.

As Nick started handing out slices of meat, Amara looked up at Vee only to catch her staring back. Vee immediately averted her eyes, her look hardening as she spoke. “We couldn’t have just stuck it back in the oven? You had to use hellfire?”

“I can control all heat, Vee, it’s not like I opened up a portal to Hell inside the turkey to finish it. I just tweaked the temperature a bit,” Amara said, shoveling sides onto her plate. She’d recently begun to notice that her appetite seemed to be increasing, though it was nowhere near high enough to handle the feast in front of them.

“Would Heaven care if it weren’t an open flame?" Tessa asked. “At what point does heat stop being associated with Hell? If Amara heats up a room, is the whole room considered evil?”

Vee clearly wasn’t amused. “I’m not justifying that with a response. I’m here to eat, not to have my faith ridiculed.”

Nick spoke up next, having finally finished cutting up all the meat. “Hey Vee, did they tell you about our codewords?”

“Doesn’t sound familiar,” the angel said.

“I was planning on bringing it up tonight, but now’s as good a time as any.” Amara wiped some cranberry sauce off her lip before continuing. “I’m a shapeshifter, right? It’s probably safe to assume other demons might be able to do something similar, so we all have specific codewords to verify our identities. If you’re ever suspicious of someone, just ask ‘What’s for dinner tonight?’ and we’ll know what you mean. Tessa’s code is lentil soup, mine is hand-seared chicken.”

“Mine is pad thai, extra spicy,” Nick said.

“That’s honestly a good idea. They shouldn’t be able to shapeshift, since they’re in human hosts, but I suppose we don’t know what the point of the ritual is. I’ll say… spaghetti carbonara. I still can’t find any place in the states that can compare to when I first had it in Italy.” Vee smiled slightly, seemingly lost in her own memories.

“You’ve been to Italy?” Amara asked, surprised.

“It was a Church thing; angels do a lot of traveling. I had to visit the Vatican.”

“No fucking way! Did you meet the Pope?” Tessa asked.

“No, he was busy at the time. I probably could if I wanted to, though…”

“You should totally go back, bring us with, and then we steal the Popemobile and take it for a joyride!”

“Absolutely not!”

“Okay, but picture this. Amara, wings out, crammed in the back of the Popemobile while we’re leading a high speed chase through the Vatican!” Tessa started laughing, her own conjured image clearly too much for her. Her laughter grew more and more intense, and soon she was gripping her sides. While Amara didn’t find the thought as funny, the sight of Tessa losing her shit soon became contagious. She started laughing as well, which led Nick to join in soon after. Vee, unsurprisingly, was clearly annoyed by this, and didn’t seem interested in playing along. However, after a few moments, her face softened slightly, and she even started quietly chuckling along with everyone else.

The four of them continued eating for well over an hour, and as much as Nick tried to keep things light-hearted, Amara could tell that Vee was still very conflicted about being here. At times, Vee seemed to be genuinely relaxed, laughing and talking with everyone like everything was back to normal. On several occasions, though, Amara caught her friend staring down at her lap, with a strangely mournful look on her face. The look always vanished quickly when Vee realized she was being watched, and Amara couldn’t bring herself to broach the topic.

After everyone finally threw in the towel, a mountain of almost finished food in front of them, evening had dawned. Amara, Tessa, and Vee decided that they were far too full to visit the gymnastics building today, and Nick tried to convince everyone to move to the couches so they could throw on a movie.

Vee, however, had other plans. As everyone stood from the table and stretched, she spoke up. “I’m… going to head out. Thanks for having me, Nick, but… I need to leave.”

“O-oh, are you sure?” Nick asked.

Vee nodded. “I’ll see everyone tomorrow for practice. We can’t lose sight of what needs to happen this weekend.”

Nick looked to Amara, silently asking her to say something, while Vee quickly moved to the front door and grabbed her coat. She seemed strangely driven, especially given how much she’d just eaten, and when Amara finally agreed to say something, the door was already closing behind Vee.

Amara ran after her, shapeshifting back into a human form, and finally caught up once they were outside. She ran in front of Vee, stopping her in her tracks. “Vee, what’s going on?”

“Look, don’t make this any harder than it needs to be, okay?” Vee said, taking care to avoid looking Amara in her eyes.

“Why not? I’m a demon, I’m supposed to make things difficult, aren’t I?” Amara said, trying to lighten the mood. Vee didn’t seem to appreciate the joke.

“That’s entirely the point, Amara, you’re a demon! We tried to kill each other! How are we supposed to move past that? We’re literally being compelled by forces beyond our comprehension to be at each other’s throats, but you think we can just ignore that?” Vee paused, her voice tense as she sighed heavily. “Even… even if I wanted to, I can’t. Once this is finished, if we survive… we can’t be friends, Amara.”

Vee stepped to the side, her pace quickening as she walked away. Amara watched her leave, trying to think of something to say, but nothing came to her. She was never one for big picture arguments or ideas, and trying to picture the will of Heaven was not something she felt prepared to deal with.

She finally walked back inside, her mood soured despite the hours of good company she’d just enjoyed. A part of her had started to wonder if Vee would come around, that maybe they were starting to patch things up, but now she didn’t know what to think.

Would Heaven really care if two people happened to be friends? What does it matter to them?

Inside, Amara manifested her tail and horns again, then collapsed on Nick’s couch. She rested her head in Tessa’s lap as she remained lost in thought.

“I take it that didn’t go well?” Nick asked.

“I don’t know, Nick. She ate with us, which made me think things were getting better, but then she storms out like that… Why is this so confusing?”

“She’s an angel, Amara,” Tessa said, starting to play with Amara’s horns. “I’ve dealt with Church people before, and it’s like a giant cult. They’re all brainwashed into thinking there’s only one right way to live, and that they have all the answers. You know all those people that are convinced they’re better than you because they happen to be religious? Now imagine how insufferable those people would be if they were literally Heaven-sent.”

“Ugh, I don’t want to think about it right now. Can we just… put on a movie or something?”

Nick stayed quiet, giving Amara a knowing look, but likely decided that he didn’t want to force the issue any longer. Amara ended up falling asleep in Tessa’s lap before the movie ended, her thoughts a tangled mess as she tried to make up her mind about Vee.

—

For better or for worse, the next two days passed without any significant developments. On the one hand, no cultists tried attacking anyone in their sleep, but on the other, Vee seemed determined to keep her distance from everyone. The girls still continued meeting up in the gymnastics building to practice, but the Vee that had willingly shared Thanksgiving dinner with them was nowhere to be seen. Still, although things with Vee remained unresolved, Amara was at least happy that she had someone who could genuinely match her strength. She could feel herself improving with each hour that passed, and she had a sneaking suspicion that Vee appreciated having a chance to vent her frustrations.

Tessa continued studying her notes about the circles, and even managed to learn a few things from the decoy circle. While it had been a fake, many of its runes were still demonic in nature to sell the deception, and that proved to be an invaluable learning tool for her understanding of the circles.

Vee spent most of her free time creating small trinkets to help in the fight, all things she’d used against Amara on Halloween. Salt, holy water, rosaries, she even blessed Tessa’s switchblade temporarily.

Before long, the night of the ritual was upon them. Amara met up early with Tessa, both girls working out their tension with an intense hour of fucking, which left Amara feeling more then ready for their assault on the cult. When Vee arrived at Amara’s apartment, she had a sizable collection of holy items that she distributed between herself and Tessa. She even gave a bottle of holy water to Nick, who had helped finalize some of the logistical planning for the night. If everything went well, they were all hoping to meet up at Amara’s apartment after the ritual, where Nick would be ready to help with any recovery that might be needed.

“How’s everyone feeling?” Nick asked, clearly nervous about the upcoming fight.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Amara said, warming up as she checked the fit of her current athletic outfit. “Do we all remember the plan?”

“I’m reverse engineering the circle, Vee is creating a barrier to block out the demons, and you’re beating up everything on the outside.” Tessa recited the plan half-heartedly, which had been burned into her memory after hours of practice.

“I also need to stop Mr. Wellington as soon as possible. We have no idea what he’s trying to bring through, but it’s safe to assume it’ll be worse than the demons all the other cultists are getting,” Amara said.

“I’ll be waiting here. I know I can’t do much, but when this is all over, I’ll do my best to patch up any wounds that need attending to.” Nick held up a first-aid kit he’d recently bought.

With a heavy sigh, Amara looked around at everyone. It was weird, finally preparing to interrupt this ritual after so many weeks of sneaking around to figure out what the cult had been up to. She checked her phone one last time, watched the clock turn over to 2 AM, and handed it over to Nick. “I guess it’s now or never. Who’s ready to kick some—”

Amara was unable to finish the sentence, as her entire body seized unexpectedly while she let out a scream of pain. Hellfire erupted from her body, growing hotter and hotter until it enveloped her completely. With one last burst, the flames vanished, as did Amara. There was nothing left but a scorch mark on the carpet, leaving her friends to stare at each other in shock.