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Rough Draft - Suddenly A Succubus Ch. 33
🕑 Added 2024-12-02 18:00:18 +0000 UTC(Link at the bottom, as usual!)
—
Amara woke up horribly disoriented. For one thing, she’d slept terribly; her lack of sex was starting to extract a heavier toll than just her appetite. She was honestly surprised she’d gotten any sleep at all, the last thing she remembered was tossing and turning, trying to keep her wings and tail from accidentally prodding Vee.
Now, as consciousness slowly returned, she felt incredibly restricted. She tried to flex her wings slightly, but it felt like one of them was asleep. Had she accidentally tucked it under herself? It wouldn’t be the first time. She also felt a strange weight around her waist, and briefly wondered if her tail had fallen asleep too.
However, when she looked underneath the covers, she saw a pair of arms.
Amara’s eyes snapped open in surprise. Vee was behind her, hugging her waist tight, and their legs were intertwined; her tail was even wrapped entirely around one of Vee’s legs. In a panic, she tried to flex her wings as well, and found them partially extended. Vee was lying on top of one, while the other was draped across her like a blanket. As her wings twitched, she heard Vee grumble, so she stopped trying to move.
Okay, this is weird, right? Is she doing this on purpose? No, that doesn’t make sense. It’s just really cold here, so when we were asleep, she must have absentmindedly reached for the warmest thing she could find. That has to be it.
Their precarious situation presented Amara with another problem. She hadn’t had sex in over four days, and Vee had changed into shorts and a crop top last night. She’d done her best not to look, despite her libido’s demonic urging, but now it was impossible to ignore. Their bare legs intertwined, Vee’s arms holding her tight, it was almost too much to handle.
Her pussy ached, already wet with desire. She couldn’t even squeeze her legs to try and fight her urges, as Vee’s leg had pushed between them. She couldn’t use her tail, either, as it was busy keeping Vee warm.
Vee is between my legs, no big deal, it doesn’t mean anything. Her skin is so soft, though, I bet she would feel amazing inside—
Amara squeezed her eyes and shook her head.
I can’t think about her that way. We’re finally friends again, she trusted me enough to tell me her real name and invite me into her bed, I can’t betray that trust! Besides, this is only my desperation speaking, it’s not what I really want. I just haven’t had sex in days, and she happens to be the only other person here. I mean, sure, she’s incredibly hot, but I don’t actually want to fuck her. I don’t need to know if she prefers being on top or bottom. I don’t want to feel her lips on my neck, my thighs, or kissing my—
No! Shut up!
There was no telling how much time passed before Vee woke up. For all Amara knew, it might have only been a couple seconds, but it felt like an eternity. She didn’t want to wake Vee prematurely, as in Amara’s weakened state, Vee would have to be the heavy hitter from now on. Amara stayed perfectly still, silently whimpering in frustration, as she tried to wait for Vee to wake on her own.
Eventually, Vee started to rouse from her sleep. Amara tried to take solace in the fact that Vee had slept so well, but given her body’s urges, it was hard to think straight. Vee grumbled, then took a deep breath and stretched out one of her legs, the one wrapped in Amara’s tail.
“What—” Vee started saying, then Amara felt her quickly tense in surprise. “Oh!”
“Morning, Vee,” Amara said quietly. “For the record, I don’t know how this happened. I only woke up a few minutes ago, and we were already like this.”
Vee began pulling away from Amara, removing her arms and legs before jumping out of bed entirely. “Okay, um, right. Well, maybe, in my sleep, I just happened to reach for something warm, and, um…”
“Right, yeah.” Amara slid her legs out of bed, facing away from Vee. “Look, nothing else happened, so no worries, alright? Besides, it seemed like you got some decent sleep for a change. You were out cold when I woke up, which seems preferable to shivering all night.”
“Well, uh, you’re very warm, and I guess that helped.” Vee was speaking quite matter-of-factly, as if trying to distance herself from any unintended emotionality.
Amara stood up, quickly stretching out her limbs. “I'm gonna let you get dressed.”
Vee nodded just as quickly, then started rummaging through her clothes. Amara practically raced out the door, closing it behind her, then shut herself in the bathroom. The instant she was alone, her fingers were in her shorts, reaching for her sex.
There was no subtlety in her actions, she was desperate and needed release. She gasped as she started rubbing her clit, her entire body shaking as it begged for more. With her other hand, she pushed two fingers into her eager cunt, and her legs almost gave out as they quivered in excitement. She pushed deeper, adding a third finger as she rubbed her clit even faster. She had so little experience going this long without sex, and was terrified that she might not be able to get herself off.
Leaning against the door, she slid down to the floor while she kept fucking herself. She bit her lip, doing everything in her power to avoid making any noise, but she feared that she might be too wet to hide what was happening.
She readjusted her hands, pushing one underneath her bra to free her breasts. She squeezed one tight, then the other, before pinching her nipples to try and push herself over the edge. Her other hand continued filling her pussy, though its thumb was now working her clit. After a few seconds of gasping and squirming, she knew she needed more.
Her tail, which until now had been idly wrapped around her leg, now uncoiled to join in the fun. Its tip replaced the fingers in her cunt, and with both hands free, she began twisting and squeezing both her sensitive nipples. She fucked herself harder and harder, taking her tail as deep as she could, but still her orgasm eluded her. Everything felt amazing, but she wasn’t here to make love; she needed to cum if she were to have any chance at pretending things were okay.
Her mind wandered, desperate for something more, and she found herself dwelling on the most depraved thing she’d ever done. The night she’d surrendered to her instincts and drained three men dry at once. Not only had it felt amazing, getting filled to the brim in every hole, but there had been a twisted satisfaction in turning tables on them. Giving them the strongest orgasms of their lives, twice in a row, then watching their faces fill with fear as she broke free. They had been such fun toys, and the rush of power had been like nothing she’d felt before.
Her tail slipped free of her cunt, then slowly moved towards her tight ass. She was desperate to recreate that feeling, and as she pushed inside, she began fingering her pussy again.
Her eyes rolled back in her head, and her breath caught in her throat as she began filling both her holes. Her ass was incredibly tight, and she could feel her tail inching deeper with the fingers in her pussy. The feelings compounded, the tail in her ass enhancing the pleasure in her pussy, and vice versa. She needed to cum more than anything, this had to work, and she silently begged for release while she fucked herself.
But it wasn’t enough.
No matter how hard she tried, no matter how deep she filled herself, her orgasm evaded her. It stayed just out of reach, and the more desperate she became, the further it drifted. Even the pleasure, what little of it she’d managed to find, started to feel hollow.
She was starving, and without a proper meal, there would be no release.
A door opened behind her, though thankfully not the door she was leaning against. “Amara? Where’d you go?” Vee asked.
“In here, just a minute!” Amara said, doing her best to not sound painfully horny. She clenched her fists, quietly punching the air in frustration as she finally gave up on finding release. She leaned forward, pulled her tail free, then adjusted her clothes. After standing up, she reached for the handle, then paused.
Wait, I’m going to reek of sex if I go out like this. I can’t do that to her, I need to keep things appropriate between us.
Amara looked at her hands and tail, still glistening with juices from her failed experiment, and tried to summon hellfire to clean them off. There was no denying how drained she was, but she needed to do this for Vee. With a deep breath, she reached for her inner fire and urged its last embers to spring to life. A tiny fire appeared at the tip of her tail, just big enough for her to burn off the residue, and she quickly ran her fingers through it before dropping the connection.
Although she was now clean, she could no longer feel any fire left.
Eager for something to distract herself with, she opened the door and joined Vee in the kitchen. She had already put together two small bowls of breakfast, and smiled at Amara as she walked over. “Everything okay?” Vee asked.
“Just, um, running some diagnostics,” Amara said.
Vee paused for a second, likely thinking over her words carefully. “…How long do we have?” The implications of her question were obvious.
“I don’t know, Vee. What I said earlier in the week was true, I’ve never pushed myself like this. I know for a fact I’m not going to be able to fight anymore, but I have no idea what else might happen to me.” Amara forced a spoonful of food into her mouth, grimacing as she reluctantly chewed.
“I think we should check Lysander again. It’s been a bit since I tried to send a message through, maybe Tessa’s figured something out.”
“What about the reapers? We saw four of them, Vee, and we can barely fight one.”
Vee frowned. “We have to try something, and Lysander is our only chance.”
Amara continued pushing her food around, no longer able to muster the willpower to force another mouthful. “No, you’re right. I’m just scared, I’m not used to being this defenseless.” Surprisingly, Vee reached across the counter and squeezed her arm.
“Hey, you’ve still got me. We’re not alone.”
With a smile, Amara looked up and met Vee’s gaze. “Thanks, Vequaniel.”
“If it’s okay with you, I’d much prefer Vee. I’m sure this is obvious, but I’m not a big fan of my name,” Vee said. She had just finished her food, and was throwing on a jacket so they could head out. Amara jumped at the excuse to avoid eating anymore.
“Why’s that? I mean, it’s a bit atypical, but it’s certainly fun and unique,” Amara asked.
They closed up Vee’s apartment, then continued talking as they headed for Lysander Hall. “It’s, well… honestly, I’ve had a pretty complicated relationship with my heritage. I know I said earlier that I’m not sure what to feel about it, but that’s not exactly a recent feeling.”
“Shit, really? I thought that was all because of me. I don’t mean to sound full of myself, but the way you were talking…”
“No, that’s a big part of it,” Vee said. “But, even before everything that happened with you, I just had trouble mustering any excitement for being an angel. My whole life, it’s like I’ve just been shuffled from place to place, existing in a weird holding pattern on the off chance my Patron decides to call me to action.”
Amara paused, trying to pick apart Vee’s statement. “Well, what do you want to do with your life?”
“I’m an angel, Amara. I live to serve the Church, and—”
“Fuck the Church, Vee!” Amara looked up and saw Vee looking back in shock. “What about you? Imagine you had no holy duties, no patron, just you. What would you do?”
“I… I don’t know. No one’s ever asked me that before, not really,” Vee whispered.
Amara jogged closer, eager to have an interesting conversation to distract her from her demonic urges. “Well, they should. You’re more than just your heritage, you matter because you’re a person, just like the rest of us.”
Silence fell again, and Amara started worrying that she might be pushing Vee too far. As a demon, it was presumably much easier for her to speak up against the Church, but she also didn’t want to start mindlessly attacking Vee’s beliefs. When Vee finally responded, she still seemed deep in thought, like she was trying to use her words to sort through her memories.
“I owe them everything, even my life, Amara.”
Amara suddenly remembered how little she knew about Vee. “You know, I’ve been meaning to ask something. Feel free not to answer if I’m crossing a line, but what does being an angel mean? Like, are you from Heaven? You certainly don’t act like a timeless being from beyond the mortal veil.”
After a quick glance, and a reassuring smirk, Vee responded. “The nature of angels has changed quite a bit over the last few thousand years. Originally, all divine beings resided in Heaven, and if there were matters to attend to on Earth, they would just pop down for a quick visit. At first, however, they didn’t have a great way to adapt their forms to be compatible for humans to easily comprehend, and that’s where you get all that ‘be not afraid’ business.”
Vee continued. “Eventually, they decided that it would be helpful to have a continuous presence on Earth, a small collection of holy beings that could help when needed, but were also completely immersed in humanity. This way, instead of trying to adapt to human forms or learn human customs, they could default to local experts.”
“I guess that makes sense. I can’t imagine we have a lot in common with them,” Amara said.
“Long story short, modern angels are more or less mortal. We’re born, live human-standard lifespans, then ascend to Heaven when we die. The big difference is that we exist in a state of Salvation, which gives us a connection to divine magic.”
“I’m sorry, like actual, literal Salvation?”
Vee nodded. “Yup. Traditionally, when a mortal dies, their soul is judged and they either ascend to Heaven in Salvation, or descend to Hell in Damnation. It’s kind of like an official classification around which the entire afterlife is built.”
A troubling realization crossed Amara’s mind, and she hesitated briefly before speaking up. “But I’m a demon. Am I Damned? Am I going to Hell when I die?”
“I-I… well, that’s what the Church says, at least. That’s not something I’m very well-versed in, unfortunately. They only train us to hunt demons, not understand them.”
The thought of guaranteed Damnation was a troubling one, to say the least. Amara had been so focused on her practical concerns that she hadn’t spent a lot of time pondering the existential implications of her recent transformation.
Great, more harrowing thoughts to throw on the pile.
As Amara thought about her possible fate, she caught her eyes wandering over to Vee’s body, appreciating her athletic build and toned figure. She managed to tear her gaze away, and decided she would probably benefit from more conversation as a distraction. “So, what about you? Is your dad actually an archangel or something?”
“No, my parents are both humans. After they got married, they tried for a while to have a kid, but it just wasn’t working. They’ve always been pretty religious, and against all odds, their prayers were literally answered. A divine being, my Patron, performed a miracle on their behalf. They were finally able to conceive, but with the understanding that I would be an agent of God. Once I was old enough, the Church sat me down, explained what I was, and my training began.”
Amara half-heartedly chuckled to herself. “Must have been nice, having all the answers.”
The girls were now approaching Lysander Hall, making sure to pick the entrance opposite the Quad. Before pushing into the building, Vee looked back at Amara, gently grabbing her arm. “I’m sorry you’ve had it so rough, Amara. Maybe, when this is all over, I’ll help you figure out where you came from.”
“You know, that honestly sounds really nice.” Amara smiled at Vee, who returned the gesture before releasing Amara’s arm. “Now, friendly reminder, but I’m kinda useless right now. If we find danger, I can’t do anything but run back to your place.”
“I’ll go first, you stay close behind me.” Vee turned towards the entrance, then hesitated before asking, “You don’t need help, like, walking around, do you?”
“Not yet. I lose my senses first, then my ability to sleep, and then I—” Amara paused, her eyes briefly glancing at Vee’s hips, “I start losing focus. Things like that. If I take any more hits, though…”
“Yeah, let’s try to avoid that.”
Knowing there was nothing else to prepare, Amara and Vee entered Lysander Hall.
—
Tessa yawned, her mouth stretching wide open as she closed her eyes. She normally covered her mouth as well, but she couldn’t pull her hands off the illusory wall in front of her. The contact technically wasn’t necessary to pull down the illusion, but she found it helped her concentrate.
After her conversation with Nick yesterday, she’d stayed up all night to study the runes of the Lysander Circle. It had taken her longer than usual to put together a working theory, and she had no idea what to blame. Many of her thoughts had been preoccupied with Nick, lingering on everything they’d talked about. Facts about her life that she hadn’t shared with anyone in years.
It wasn’t completely Nick’s fault, though. She was also working with unfamiliar magic. Not only were the circle runes ancient, but she was planning more extensive modification than last time.
She yawned again, just as the wall in front of her vanished, when she heard Nick knock on the staircase door behind her. After a quick pulse of magic that shook the door twice, their agreed signal that everything was okay, he opened the door and closed the distance. Most importantly, he had two large cups of coffee in his hands, and the smell alone began to perk Tessa up.
“You’re lucky the coffee place is right above us,” Nick said, taking a sip of his drink. “How late were you up, anyways?”
“Doesn’t matter. Gimme!” Tessa grabbed her coffee, eagerly taking a few large gulps. The warmth, and the caffeine, flooded her body as she sighed with relief. “Fuck, that’s the stuff. Alright, get inside, I need to pull the wall back up.”
“Wait, like, while we’re inside?” Nick asked.
“Yes, while we’re inside. If my first attempt doesn’t quite work, I’ll need time to iterate on my ideas until I can figure it out. We can’t risk someone wandering down here and catching me again.”
Nick walked past the threshold, making his way to the back corner while carefully avoiding the runic circle on the floor. “Again?”
Tessa’s tattoos flared as she began reaching for the magic of the illusory wall, and she started the process to pull it back into existence. “This is where Brandon first found me out. Fucker had been stalking me and walked in while I was taking down the wall for the first time.” Another minute passed before the wall reappeared, at which point Tessa set her backpack down and pulled out her magic notes.
“So, what exactly are we trying here?” Nick set his coffee down as he readjusted, now sitting on his knees as he watched Tessa.
“We know that Vee and Amara are in Purgatory, but we don’t know how they got there. The first thing I did after pinpointing their location was scour the campus for a portal, but I couldn’t find anything, which means whatever pulled them through was a temporary anomaly. Normally, creating a portal would take way more magic and knowledge than I have, but thankfully, I don’t have to work from scratch. This circle is connected to Purgatory, but that connection was initially used to build part of the Planar Gate. Since the Gate is now down, I’m hoping I can use that connection to build a bridge.”
“It sounds so easy when you say it like that,” Nick said with a smirk.
“Yeah, well, I’m dumbing it down so you can understand. You want to start pouring over all the runic symbols with me? Help craft equations to create stable interplanar travel?”
“Look, I know you’re joking, but that honestly sounds kind of interesting. If we weren’t racing the clock, I’d ask you to show me the basics.”
Tessa was crawling around on all fours at this point, her magic exploring the circle, and she paused to look at Nick. “Even if I did, you wouldn’t be able to do anything with that knowledge. You need basic runic tattoos like mine to even interact with any of this shit.”
“Who said I wanted to do magic? Maybe I’m just fascinated by the way everything fits together. If nothing else, I might be able to give you someone to bounce theories off of.”
“Oh my god, you’re such a nerd. Why are we friends again?” Tessa asked, rolling her eyes.
“Presumably because you’re dating Amara,” Nick said, his voice light and playful.
His comment, however, pulled Tessa away from her task. Her tattoos faded, and her vision blurred as she lost focus on the task at hand. A strange feeling had just appeared in her gut, something that didn’t quite feel right. When she responded, her voice was quiet, almost hesitant. “We’re not dating, Nick. We just… hook up occasionally.”
The change in tone seemed to catch Nick off guard. “Oh, I just assumed with all the time you’ve been spending together… Do you not like her like that?”
“The sex is amazing. It’s unreal how good she is at pulling orgasms out of me,” Tessa said flatly.
Nick carefully placed a hand on the circle, waited a second, then slid himself closer. “Tess, what is it? I sense a ‘but’ coming.” He settled in next to her, his voice growing soft with concern.
“It’s nothing, really.” Tessa sniffed, scratching her nose briefly as she tried to push Nick away. When she looked over at him, however, his eyes were locked on her, their gaze unyielding. He stayed silent, but she knew exactly what he was saying. “I just, ugh, I don’t mean— it’s not like I don’t like her! I think it’s just like what you two have, there’s no romantic feelings.”
Another few seconds passed, and when Nick moved again, it was to put a hand on Tessa’s shoulder. “Tess, there’s something you’re not telling me.”
Tessa’s breathing quickened, and memories returned to her unbidden. Flashes of the ritual, of Amara’s bloodlust. Her claws covered in blood, her victims scattered into pieces. The remaining cultists they’d found after, their bodies drained of life. “You didn’t see her that night, Nick. You didn’t see the people she fucked before the ritual.”
“What did she do to them?”
“I don’t know, Nick! According to her, she just fed on them a little more enthusiastically, but they looked sick. Their skin was pale, their bodies weak, and they were terrified of her. And, ever since that night, she’s been getting rougher than usual when we fuck.”
“And you’re scared she might do the same to you?”
“No! I mean… fuck, I don’t know. She’s my friend, I trust her, but that night just made me realize how much she’d changed. What if this isn’t the end? If she’s getting rougher in bed, how do I know she won’t accidentally take too much eventually?”
“I understand where you’re coming from, Tess, and I wish I had an answer, but I don’t.” Nick took a deep breath, then squeezed her shoulder. “You remember that week I took off school? That wasn’t a family thing, I just got overwhelmed with everything that was happening with Amara and needed to get away for a bit. I’ve never been very religious, but when we figured out she was a demon, it shook me.”
Tessa looked up, surprise in her voice. “Really? You still kept fucking her, though. Clearly you weren’t that worried.”
“I just decided to trust her. I’d already slept with her multiple times, and I didn’t feel any different. We could spend all day worrying about the future, about what might happen, but I’d much rather focus on the now. She’s my best friend, and from what I can tell, she has yet to hurt anyone other than a cultist or a stalker. If she’s ever at risk of changing too much, the best chance we have at pulling her back is to stick with her. We’re stronger together, Tessa.”
They both fell silent again, Tessa unsure what to say. She’d never known that Nick had his own doubts about Amara, and her own feelings suddenly felt a bit more valid. Yet, in spite of his concerns, Nick had still been a bastion of reliability for Amara, continuing to sleep with her and help her practice her abilities. From what Tessa remembered from various conversations with Amara, Nick had single-handedly helped her through almost every change in her transformation.
What if my distrust of Amara is what pushes her over that edge? Nick is right, if we don’t give her everything we have, what chance does she have?
“Plus,” Nick said, breaking the silence, “it’s pretty damn hot to fuck a succubus in the ass.”
Tessa snorted loudly, unable to hold back her laughter. All her nervous thoughts vanished in a second, and she had to hold her stomach as the laughter refused to stop. Nick moved her coffee away from her, just in case, and after a minute she managed to pull herself together. “Fuck, Nick, I didn’t think you had it in you. Wow.”
He held up Tessa’s coffee, then said, “How about we get back to the circle, huh? Amara’s strong, but I don’t think she can rip holes between planes quite yet.”
With a resolute nod, Tessa took a long drink from her coffee, then returned to work. Her tattoos flared to life, and she eagerly began making additional alterations to the circle. She did her best to work slowly, to make sure that each change she made was applied carefully. After seeing the disastrous results from the cult’s changes, she knew precision was of the utmost importance.
After roughly an hour had passed, she felt confident enough to make her first attempt. “Alright Nick, ready to give this thing a spin?” she asked.
“Wait, do you have to turn it on? I thought these things were always active.”
“Um, yes and no. It’s not inactive, necessarily, but an active portal requires additional magic. Normally circles like these are self-sustaining, but that would require additional time that I simply don’t have. Think of it like a bike; I’ve got all the gears in place, but I’ll still need to pedal.”
Nick shuffled back into the corner again, making sure everything he had was off the circle. Tessa did the same, then carefully kneeled by the edge and placed her hands on the ground. She took a deep breath, connected with her magic, and reached for the circle. She focused on her breathing, keeping it steady as she observed how her magic was interacting with the circle. She felt it move through the runes, lighting them up one by one, and soon she felt the magic start to click.
She kept pushing, putting all her energy into maintaining a consistent, steady flow of magic. After the first few seconds, as the circle continued to glow brighter, she started to see shapes appear in the space above the circle. Strange red lines at harsh angles, collected on the floor, all stemming from a darker, indistinguishable mass.
“Shit, Tessa, are you seeing this?” Nick asked.
Tessa nodded quickly but didn’t dare respond. She kept feeding the circle magic, knowing she only needed a few more seconds of concentration. The strange shapes atop the circle grew brighter, more defined, and she began to figure out what she was looking at. The red lines solidified into two large wings and a tail, the dark mass at the center suddenly had recognizable brown hair. With one last push, Tessa gave the circle the last bit of magic it needed, then she gasped and fell backwards.
Her gasp seemed to catch Amara’s attention, as she looked up in surprise. “Hello? Is someone there?” the demon asked.
Amara was sitting on the floor while leaning against the back wall, her various extra limbs collected in front of her. As Tessa looked up, she saw why Amara’s figure had initially looked so confusing; only the parts of her directly over the circle were visible. Knowing what this probably meant, Tessa jumped to her feet and walked closer. “Amara! Fucking hell, you’re alive!”
“Holy shit, Tessa?! Vee, get over here!” Amara said, gesturing to the space behind Tessa. “What’s happening on your side? Is everyone safe?”
Nick spoke up next, his usually calm voice now raw with emotion. “Amara!” He ran into the circle, falling to his knees as she tried to embrace Amara, but when he moved forward, he instead fell to the ground. His entire body phased through Amara’s, and he had to catch himself to avoid hitting the back wall.
“Okay, that’s not a good sign,” Vee said, suddenly appearing in the circle. She gestured to the magic surrounding them before directing her gaze at Tessa. “This is your work, I presume?”
“Yeah, once I saw your magic in the circle, I tried to figure out a way to reverse engineer its magic to create a bridge. I must have messed up, though, because it doesn’t look like we can touch each other.” To prove her point, Tessa playfully threw a punch at Vee, only to watch it pass harmlessly through her arm.
“And it looks like we can only see each other if we’re over the circle. This is really fucking impressive, Tess, but it doesn’t look like we’ll be coming home today.” Amara started to stand up, then quickly faltered. She stumbled forward, catching herself on the floor in front of her, and began panting heavily. Shockingly, Vee was at her side in seconds, wrapping a hand around her waist before helping her to her feet.
Once Amara was standing, Tessa finally saw how tired she looked. She had heavy bags under her eyes, and her usually vibrant skin seemed darker than usual. Oddly enough, the strange lighting of the basement almost made it look like the red from her wings was starting to creep into her complexion. She was clearly having trouble standing and had to lean heavily on Vee as they kept talking.
“Amara, are you hurt? What’s wrong?” Nick asked, moving to stand in front of Amara and Vee.
Before Amara could respond, however, her body and Vee’s flashed briefly, almost fading away for a moment. Tessa winced in pain as she felt the magic start to trickle out of the circle, and she knew they didn’t have much longer. “Fuck, we’re running out of time!” she said.
Vee nodded in acknowledgement, then began speaking quickly. “We’re alive and well, if a little tired. We have food and water, but the entropic forces of Purgatory are slowly chipping away at our strength. We don’t know why we’re here, but I think something’s wrong; there are massive undead creatures stalking this version of campus, and we can’t avoid them forever. Tessa, we’ll do everything we can to be back here tomorrow, can you get us home then?”
“I’ll do my best. This was only my first attempt, but I’ve got some more ideas I can play with.”
“Good,” Vee said, nodding. “I’m happy you guys are safe!”
“I couldn’t find any anomalies on our side, hopefully this is an isolated incident,” Tessa said. She wanted to keep speaking, but the circle sputtered again, causing her to wince once more.
“Stay safe!” Nick said, her voice shaking.
Amara looked up at him and smirked. “You too. See you guys tomorrow!”
With a quick flash, the magic in the circle burnt out. Tessa had been holding a connection with it the entire time, and a sharp headache appeared as she finally dropped the link. She grabbed her head before moving to the corner to grab a seat. “Fucking… well, at least we know they’re alive. That’s better than nothing, right?”
Nick moved closer, sliding down the wall to sit next to her. “Did you see Amara? She looked completely exhausted, I’ll bet she hasn’t fed since she disappeared.”
“I mean, obviously. You seriously think Vee is going to fuck her?” Tessa paused slightly, reviewing the rushed conversation as she tried to catch her breath. “Although, they did seem weirdly comfortable with each other.”
Silence fell again, neither sure exactly what to say. A minute passed before Nick spoke up again, placing a hand on Tessa’s knee. “Hey, like you said, they’re alive. As scared as I am, we still have a shot at getting them home, and it’s all thanks to you. You did great today, Tess.”
Tessa almost flinched at Nick’s touch, but couldn’t help but smile at how genuine his words were. She was starting to understand why Amara felt so comfortable with Nick, he clearly had a talent for staying optimistic in the face of uncertainty. She chuckled quietly to herself, then said, “Please, we both know you’re just trying to butter me up so you can get in my pants.”
They looked at each other, and in that moment, Tessa could feel how nervous Nick was. He’d seemed so worried when Amara had appeared, yet there was nothing he could do at the moment. She had no idea how he stayed so optimistic. “You clearly know me better than I know myself,” he said with a forced smile.
“Hey, you know what would be really helpful?” Tessa asked, eager to give Nick something to do. “I’m going to be pulling another all-nighter to try and get this circle up and running, so I’m going to need some food.”
“You can count on me. The usual?”
“The usual.”
The two agreed on a timetable for Nick to return with the food, then Tessa lowered the illusory wall to let him out. Once she’d restored the wall, she turned to the circle, cracked her knuckles, and took a deep breath.
Alright, Tessa. Everyone’s counting on you to get them home, and you’ve got 24 hours to get this circle working. No pressure, right?
—
Chloé nervously paced back and forth outside the cafeteria, most of her face buried in her thick scarf. Each anxious breath she took released a burst of warmth that helped fight back the cold, and every few seconds she would stop to look around.
Did I make the right call? I’ve been wrong about reading people before, and I could be overreacting…
It only took a few more minutes before someone finally joined her. She didn’t see them coming initially, and almost ran headfirst into them before she realized she wasn’t alone.
“Oh! Sorry!” Chloé said, looking down at the sidewalk.
“Don’t sweat it, you barely bumped into me,” Naomi said. “You said you wanted to talk, right? If you want to head inside, the cafeteria’s open.”
“Wait, seriously?” Chloé asked. It was now the first day of the holiday break, and she’d been assuming that most of the campus would have been shut down. She was honestly surprised that Naomi was still hanging around.
“Yup! There aren’t too many students that stay on campus holidays, but there are enough that it’s worth keeping at least this one building running. Like other places on campus, it’s mostly staffed by students that need a part time job, but I’m pretty sure there’s at least one teacher that hangs around to help keep things running.” Naomi held open the door for Chloé, and the two girls walked inside.
“I was surprised to hear you were still on campus, actually. Are you staying on campus for the whole break?”
“Nah, I’ve got some stuff planned with my family, but they’re out of the country at the moment. I’m gonna be hanging out here for a week or so, then driving home to celebrate Christmas with them.”
After grabbing some food, they grabbed a table close to the entrance and settled in. Chloé unwrapped her scarf and set it down beside her, but decided to leave her coat on. At the moment, the cafeteria was almost completely deserted, which Chloé found a little eerie. Other than her and Naomi, she only saw four other people in the building; three guys sitting in the back corner, and the girl that had served them their food. The girl had been very pleasant, and was a regular worker here; even though Chloé was bad with faces, this particular girl had dyed her hair red, which made her easy to remember. The group in the corner seemed to be three random students, or possibly two students and a teacher? Chloé thought the older one looked familiar, but she couldn’t remember why.
She picked at her food slowly as she kept looking around. As creepy as it was to see the cafeteria this empty, it was also pretty cool. She was used to feeling overwhelmed every time she needed to eat, and the freedom to take any table she wanted was quite nice. At the moment, her gaze was lingering on the far wall, which was made entirely of windows. This particular building overlooked the Quad, its myriad trees and plant life visible from inside, and it was a view Chloé never grew tired of. At the moment, there seemed to be a heavy fog forming in the middle of the large field at the center of campus. She didn’t remember seeing any fog out front, but then again, she wasn’t here to study meteorology.
“So, you wanted to talk about something?” Naomi asked, pulling Chloé back to reality.
“Oh, um, yeah. It’s about, well, you remember the last time we talked? You were asking questions about… about if I’d noticed anything strange?” Chloé swallowed nervously. She was torn about having this conversation, but something in her gut urged her to continue.
“Have you? I mean, even if you haven’t, I’m more than happy just to shoot the shit.” Naomi smiled, and the nervous energy in Chloé’s stomach settled somewhat.
“Well, you were asking about my friends, and I… well, I hate to say it, but they’ve seemed a little off this last week or so. I just assumed it was finals week jitters, but I tried to visit Amara, and she didn’t answer the door. But also, like, she’s sick, isn’t she? Maybe I just caught her at a bad time, she could have been asleep.”
Naomi reached out, putting a hand on Chloé’s arm. “Hey, it’s okay to be nervous. If it helps, try to remember that I’m just another student. I’m not here to cause trouble, I just want to help out my campus. We’re a community, aren’t we?”
Chloé nodded and smiled softly. Naomi was right, she was just a student like everyone else. Chloé had spent so much time thinking of her like some kind of pesky journalist, but that wasn’t the case. For a moment, she wished she could be as good at reading people as Naomi seemed to be, but then she remembered why she’d reached out in the first place.
“Right, of course,” Chloé said. “I just don’t really know what to think. We’ve all been friends ever since Freshman year, and I guess I’m a little worried.”
“What if I tried to talk to Amara?” Naomi asked. “We could swing by her apartment again. I’m pretty good at talking to people, and if she’s hiding something, maybe I can help you figure out what’s going on. Or, maybe you’re right, and she was just asleep last time.”
“You know what? That sounds like a good idea. Let’s finish up here, and then we can head over.”
The two girls took their time finishing lunch, though Naomi seemed to finish much quicker. Chloé knew she was a slower eater, but she had a routine she liked to stick to. She had to eat everything in the right order, and eating slower meant it was harder to accidentally overeat.
Once they finished, Chloé bundled up again and started leading the way to Amara’s apartment block. As they walked, Naomi asked a series of questions about the charity Chloé had put together, and she was all too excited to share the details. She talked about her goals for her app, the progress they’d made on the fire relief, as well as her hopes for the future. Naomi had a seemingly endless supply of interesting, insightful questions, and Chloé completely lost track of time as they crossed campus. When they arrived at the apartment, Naomi had to stop her from running into the outer fence.
“Oh! We’re here, I must have spaced out for a moment there. Sorry!” Chloé said.
Naomi laughed as she opened the gate. “You’re fine! I’m the one with all the questions, aren’t I? I’m really happy the campus has people like you, people committed to doing the right thing. That’s honestly why I’m so excited about journalism, I love learning about these kinds of projects.”
“Well, yeah, but I know I can ramble sometimes… Anyways, Amara’s apartment is on the first floor, just down this hall.” Chloé started counting doors, mumbling to herself as they approached Amara’s place. “104, 105… here we are! 106!”
“Would you like to do the honors?” Naomi asked, gesturing to the door.
Chloé nodded, then knocked on the door a few times, making sure to knock loudly in case Amara was still sleeping. “Amara? You up? It’s me, Chloé!”
A few seconds passed, but nothing broke the silence. After nearly a minute of waiting, Naomi stepped forward to try again. “Amara? This is Naomi, we spoke early last week? I wanted to swing by to see how you were doing, it seems like you’re pretty sick and I was worried!”
Another minute passed, and still nothing happened. Chloé was growing anxious and found herself pacing as the silence started to grow awkward. “Okay, so, she’s just asleep again, right? I’m sure it’s nothing, we should probably just lea—” When Chloé turned back to Amara’s door, she froze. Naomi was on her knees, holding a pair of lockpicking tools up to the door handle. There was a small click, then the door opened.
“Aaand we’re in!” Naomi said, smirking at Chloé as she slipped her tools back inside a small pouch.
“Naomi, what are you doing?! Amara’s my friend, we can’t break into her house!” Chloé watched Naomi walk into the apartment, and she chased after her.
“C’mon, you’re the one that’s worried about her, right? What if she’s hurt?”
“That’s not the point, if we’re actually worried about her, we should… I dunno, call the police or something, shouldn’t we? This is illegal! We shouldn’t be here!”
When Chloé entered the apartment, the first thing she saw was Naomi. She was standing perfectly still, her eyes wide as she looked around. Following her gaze, Chloé did the same, and within seconds her expression changed to mirror Naomi’s.
Amara’s apartment, while not dirty or cluttered, had been horribly ravaged. Practically every wall had a series of scratches and gouges in it, with some even extending to the ceiling. Chloé also saw periodic spots of heat damage, small pockets of discoloration that seemed entirely random.
“Still think Amara’s not hiding something?” Naomi asked. She pulled out her phone, then started walking around the apartment as she took a video of everything she saw.
“N-no, this doesn’t make any sense. Maybe someone broke in and wrecked the place!” Chloé said, forcing herself to walk in and start looking around.
“If someone did, why would Nick and Tessa be covering for her?”
Chloé didn’t respond, instead aimlessly wandering around the apartment to try and figure out what might have happened. She started in the kitchen, as it was directly next to the front door, and found a frying pan that had been horribly disfigured. She had no idea how something like that was even possible.
In the middle of the living room, a massive scorch mark took up most of the carpet. It was several feet in diameter, at least, and above it sat another huge patch of heat discoloration.
“Amara’s definitely not here, Chloé. Obviously,” Naomi said. She appeared to be in the bedroom, and Chloé quickly joined her.
The bedroom was just as messy as the rest of the apartment, if not more so. The first thing Chloé noticed was the heavy collection of scratches on the walls, this time focused around Amara’s bed. They were much more prevalent here, and they were all concentrated lower compared to the damage in the rest of the apartment. She watched as Naomi began pushing the bed sheets to the side, and that’s when Chloé saw the strangest thing yet.
There were also large tears and gouges in the sheets and the mattress. It honestly looked like some kind of wild animal had been living here instead of Amara, and the damage only confused Chloé further.
“Amara didn’t have any pets, did she? Even if she did, that wouldn’t explain the fire damage…” Naomi didn’t seem to notice that Chloé hadn’t answered.
Instead, Chloé was now looking around the apartment for signs of Amara being sick. She was hoping to find any scrap of evidence that her friends might not be lying to her, but her efforts turned up nothing. No tissues, no cough medicine, no thermometers, nothing in the apartment seemed to be in response to sickness.
Why? What are they hiding from me?
As Chloé wandered aimlessly back into the living room, she was only faintly aware of Naomi following behind her. Her breathing was growing heavier, and she felt hints of a panic attack coming on. “Naomi, why… what’s going on here?” she asked, her voice shaking.
Naomi walked in front of her, lightly grabbing her shoulders to look her in the eye. “Chloé, I wish I had all the answers, but I don’t. If I’m being honest, something has seemed off about Amara ever since I started looking into this cult, and my current theory is that she’s somehow involved. I don’t think she’s a member, but it can’t be a coincidence that she disappeared only a week after they did.”
“No!” Chloé said, throwing Naomi’s hands off of her. “She’s a good person, she wouldn’t do that!”
“Look, sometimes we don’t know our friends as well as we think we do. It’s honestly pretty amazing what people can hide and how easily they can pretend everything’s fine.”
“She’s a good person! She helped me with the charity, and they’ve all been so nice ever since college started!” Chloé’s breathing began to quicken, and tears filled her vision. “They’re my first real friends, they wouldn’t… they can’t be like this!”
“Chloé, please, I know what you’re going through. Just take a deep breath, let me—”
“NO! I don’t believe you!” Chloé shouted. She pushed past Naomi, out into the hallway, and eventually left the apartment. She ran as fast as she could, her movements sloppy as she kept trying to push the tears from her eyes, and she didn’t stop until she was home in her dorm.
—
Amara’s breath was heavy, and she was finding it difficult to focus on walking. She wasn’t completely out of strength, but what little of it she had left was being used to hold back her demonic libido. Her legs were shaking, and her thoughts were entirely focused on the soft hand wrapped around her waist. She heard Vee say something, but she had to shake her head before turning to face her friend.
“What?” Amara asked, her breathing heavy.
“So much for you not having the strength to walk, right?” Vee said again, her lightness of tone indicating this was an attempt at joviality.
“Oh, um, yeah,” Amara said flatly.
Just keep talking, Amara, it helped earlier. You need to distract yourself or you’ll never make it to tomorrow.
“At least we were able to talk with them!” Vee said. “I’m sorry the connection wasn’t strong enough for you to… y’know, but it sounds like Tessa might have everything online by tomorrow.”
“That would be nice, wouldn’t it?” Amara’s legs buckled, and Vee pivoted to catch her. They were now facing each other, both of Vee’s hands on Amara’s waist, the touch driving her mad. She was leaning against Vee, her head against her shoulder, and her senses were immediately consumed by Vee’s scent.
“Hey, c’mon, it’s not much further. You can do this!” Vee said, lifting Amara to her feet again.
Do it, Amara. Kiss her neck, hold her down, show her where your real talents lie. How deep do you think your tail could go? Do you think she’s a screamer?
“Shut up!” Amara hissed, forcing herself to stand up again. She pulled away from Vee, then immediately saw a look of shock on her friend’s face. “No, Vee, not you, I’m just… I can’t…”
Vee paused briefly before speaking up, her words soft and cautious. “Is there someone talking to you?”
“Just my own intrusive thoughts. Come on, like you said, we’re almost home.” Amara repositioned herself on Vee’s shoulder again, then the girls took off towards the apartment again.
Each step was agony. Even when she found the strength to stop focusing on Vee’s soft skin, she would grow distracted by her legs as they rubbed together. She could smell her own arousal, feel the heat pouring off her sex, and she desperately hoped Vee’s senses weren’t as sensitive as hers.
“Is it like Halloween?” Vee asked quietly.
“What do you mean?”
“When we fought at the party, it almost seemed like you were a different person. It happened during the ritual, too, though not to the same degree. You were… I don’t know how to phrase it.”
“Feral? A monster? A demon?” Amara said, hoping it sounded like a joke. Based on Vee’s reaction, she didn’t think her intention landed.
“I mean, I guess? I don’t know how this works, and I’m scared of rattling off baseless Church doctrine rather than actually listening to you.”
“No, feral feels like a fucking decent word for what I’m feeling right now. I’m shocked I can still talk, honestly.” Amara took a deep breath, and when she released it, her entire body shook. “I know I’ve said this before, but I don’t know what’s happening to me. Sometimes I jokingly think of myself as two people: Demon Amara and Human Amara. When Human Amara grows weak, or scared, or can’t get the job done, Demon Amara has to come out to fix things. Sometimes it’s bad, like our fight on Halloween. Honestly, there are large sections of that fight that I don’t remember, periods where I blacked out and was just a slave to my instincts.”
“Has Demon Amara come out since then? I assume the night of the ritual, but anything else?”
“Terrorizing Derek. Drowning him in his nightmares, invading his place at night and forcing him to question his grip on reality. Confronting Luxnor, holding my bladed tail to his throat and threatening him with eternal damnation.” Amara paused, memories of her past actions nearly overwhelming her. “She’s terrible, Vee. She’s arrogant, angry, convinced that everyone else is beneath her. She’s this overwhelming instinct that I can never quite fight off, but worst of all, she’s me. I wanted to do those things, I enjoyed punishing those people. I reveled in the attention I got the night of the ritual; it felt amazing to treat those assholes like they were defenseless prey to feed to my desires.”
Fuck. I shouldn’t have said that, she’s going to be terrified of me again.
They were close to Vee’s apartment, with only one last street to cross at this point. “You’re more than your heritage, Amara. You can’t discount everything you are just because of where you come from.”
“I don’t know where this ends, Vee! I don’t know what I’m supposed to end up being, but I can already feel how much I’ve changed. At what point is Human Amara gone completely? I mean, fuck, we finally started fixing things, and here I am telling you all about how good it feels to treat humans like they’re beneath me. Why should you trust me? What if I hurt you again?”
As the front door to Vee’s apartment opened, Amara worried she wouldn’t make it to the bedroom. She desperately hoped that their pocket of reality would lessen the effects of her hunger, and did her best to continue putting one foot in front of the other.
“I trust you because I see how hard this is for you. We’re not defined by how we act when we’re desperate, and it’s not your fault you keep getting pushed into corners.” The girls finally collapsed in Vee’s bedroom, and Amara crawled up against a wall as Vee continued talking. “I didn’t give you a choice, Amara! If you hadn’t fought back, I would have sent you to Hell! When you’re not fighting to survive, you’re a kind person, Amara. You’re a loving, nurturing friend who desperately tries to protect everyone around her.”
Vee sat down in front of Amara, who was panting from the exertion of walking across campus. Amara leaned her head against the wall, then looked over at Vee and forced a smile. “Yeah, well, I think you’re too nice for your own good. I have no idea what I did to deserve a friend like you.”
“Oh, that’s easy. You just spent weeks begging for forgiveness and doing everything in your power to apologize. I hate to say it, but I think it worked. You’re stuck with me now, Hellspawn.”
Amara couldn’t help but laugh at Vee’s comment. As tense as their situation was, their conversation somehow felt incredibly natural. She suddenly remembered her choice of words, and couldn’t help but fixate on easy it had felt to call Vee her friend. “Can I say that? Can I call us friends?”
With a soft smile, Vee reached over and placed a hand on Amara’s arm. “Absolutely. You know more about me than anyone in the entire world, Amara. More than my parents, more than the Church, maybe even more than my Patron.”
“Well, as your best friend, I feel I should warn you that touching me is a really bad idea right now. I’m so horny I’d fuck a reaper.”
It was Vee’s turn to laugh, and the sweet sound of her voice was everything Amara needed to forget her earlier breakdown. All she needed to do now was survive one more night of chastity, then hopefully Tessa’s portal would give her a chance to finally find some relief.
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that, alright?” Vee said, pulling her hand back. “We should be heading home tomorrow, and then you’ll have all the time in the world to get your strength back. You think you’ve got one more night in you?”
Amara nodded. “I think so. Though, we should make sure there’s a sheet between us if you still want to share a bed. Regardless of what you think, I still don’t trust myself right now.”
“Not a problem. I’ll get under the sheet, and you can sleep on top. I know things are a little tense right now, but I won’t lie, your warmth feels incredible. I swear I slept better last night than I have in months. If you charged people to cuddle up with you at night you’d make millions.”
As Vee crawled into bed, Amara was unable to stop her eyes from lingering on the angel’s curves. While not as curvy as Amara, Vee had a fantastic figure. Her body was tight and toned, and her muscles were far more defined than Amara’s. While she wasn’t built like a weightlifter, she might easily be mistaken for a professional athlete. Her current pajamas, while not as skimpy as Amara’s certainly weren’t helping Amara’s problem.
You’re already sharing a bed with her, and you’re friends now! What’s a little fuck between besties? You could show her the time of her life, pleasure beyond her wildest dreams!
With a quick flinch, Amara shook her horrible thoughts loose and made her way to Vee’s bed. It was going to be a long night.
—
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kLhVLqH7LnO15tEKlXzN3PAQ6aiq5-YZUZp5kOVc1u4/edit?usp=sharing
It's always exciting to have chapters where I can check in with the entire cast at once, and things are certainly starting to come to a head. On the bright side, though, it looks like Amara and Vee are almost out of Purgatory! What's that? We're only halfway through the book? Hm. Maybe there's no problem this time, and everything will resolve cleanly once they get home. That would be nice, wouldn't it?
Jokes aside, I'm really happy with how Amara and Vee's dynamic has been growing over the last few chapters. My main goal with this chapter, in terms of that dynamic, was to show that things have shifted from "You vs. Me" to "Us vs. Problem". Sure, the problem happens to be Amara's weakened condition, but I'm happy with the interactions we get out of this.
We also get a bunch of angel lore! I know a lot of people have been asking about this, and I'm hoping the information Vee shares this chapter is both interesting and feels right in the world. We obviously have a lot of time to explore the Church in future books, so this is just a fun bit of extra context.
All my usual question apply here. I want the conversation to feel natural, the progression of topics and feels to be in character for our leads. The biggest change is, obviously, Amara's weakened state and how it's affecting her ability to function. Maybe she just needs a good night's sleep!
Tessa and Nick are in a pretty similar place. They're slowly growing closer, learning about each other, and I want it to be clear why they work well together as a pairing. Not like, in a couple sense, but in terms of dynamic. Hopefully it's clear why Tessa is opening up to Nick, but also why Nick is pushing her to share her feelings about Amara and her transformation. My hope that, through these talks with Tessa, we start to understand that Nick is inherently supportive with everyone, it's not just a special dynamic he has with Amara. Sure, this means he's kinda positioned himself as the group therapist, but at least they have one!
Chloé, sadly, isn't doing too hot. I'm particularly proud of pairing her with Naomi here, I think it serves the narrative quite well, but also I think people will come out of this scene with some heated opinions about Naomi. That's good! She's not a perfect character.
I also think I did a good job with the scene of them in Amara's apartment. It's pretty damn confusing, and ideally it makes sense for Chloé to start unraveling like she does.
Anyways, that's pretty much all I've got to say. A lot happened here, and there's still a lot left to explore, so hopefully things are progressing nicely.
Thanks for being the best darned Beta Readers a gal could ask for!
Nyx <3
Comments
Will Armstrong
Ah, ok! That was my initial thought, but then I second guessed by thinking that would hyperextend the joints in the wing.
Nyx Nyghtingale
You're more than welcome, I always appreciate the feedback :) So, imagine you have two wings that sprout from your shoulder blades. My thought was, if they're extended straight out behind you, there's a space in between them that someone could fit in. With Vee hugging Amara from behind, and being sideways in bed, she would be on top of one wing and under the other. Does that make sense? I'll admit, Amara has so many limbs, it's hard to find solid descriptors sometimes.
Will Armstrong
This is great! Just joined as a beta reader, so apologies for the late comment, but I'm struggling with how Vee is snuggling Amara in the opening. I assume Vee is the big spoon here, but wouldn't that have her pinning Amara's wings closed? I can't picture how Vee is on one and under another without them the wing joints bending the wrong way.
Nyx Nyghtingale
That's always the difficult thing about these sections!
Ryan
I actually kind of disagree. I know that when I'm trying to convince myself to do something, I actually tend to slip into second person, so that reads as pretty natural. But maybe that's just a me habit.
Nyx Nyghtingale
This is definitely something I waffled back and forth on, and I totally see where you're coming from. It's a delicate balance to try and show the opposing trains of thought in a single person's head. I'll make a version that switches to first person and see what it feels like!
Know Map Game
Personally having Amara’s instincts express themselves to her in the second person, feels kinda clunky, I feel like it’d be more effective if you switched the “you”s to “I”s
Ryan
Poor Chloe :c If she has to go through winter break thinking all her friends were going to sacrifice her to a demon or something, we're going to riot! Also, lets give a warm welcome to Demon Amara! I'm sure nothing bad will ever happen when she takes control tomorrow.
Ryan
Nick is so consistently patient and understanding that I'm only half joking when I wonder if he's going to be the second coming of Jesus.
AFanofRoses
Haha Fun Times [“Well, uh, you’re very warm, and I guess that helped.” Vee was speaking quite matter-of-factly, as if trying to distance herself from any unintended emotionality.] Good job asking my cat why he sleeps on top of me! [". . . You want to start pouring over all the runic symbols with me? Help craft equations to create stable interplanar travel?”] Yes. Yes I do, and I understand why Nick does as well. [Everyone’s counting on you to get them home, and you’ve got 24 hours to get this circle working.] Does Purgatory run on the same 24-hour day/night cycle as the material world? How would Vee and Amara even know the exact time? I assume it'll operate on Pendragon rules where otherworldly forces will make sure everyone's at the Circle when the time is right. [She had to eat everything in the right order, . . .] Seriously, you can just ask me all of the neuro-divergent things I do and I'll tell you. You don't need to keep calling me out one-at-a-time. [" . . . and I’m scared of rattling off baseless Church doctrine rather than actually listening to you.”] I love how this ties so much of Vee's progress and trust in Amara together in a single line. [“I mean, obviously. You seriously think Vee is going to fuck her?”] Honestly, it may be Vee's best option. I don't want to see what would happen if Demon Amara doesn't give her a choice.
AFanofRoses
Reader Analysis / Predictions [A strange feeling had just appeared in her gut, something that didn’t quite feel right.] I don't know exactly which way to take this line, in a good 'the reader is going to have their own interpretation' way. Half of me thinks it's Tessa going 'Fuck, I guess I do care about Amara!' and the other half of me thinks it's her going 'I don't know if I want to keep banging her after seeing what she did to those people; I could be next.' [Oddly enough, the strange lighting of the basement almost made it look like the red from her wings was starting to creep into her complexion.] That's definitely not just the light. My guess is that Amara is actually turning more red, but the grey of Purgatory prevents Vee and herself from seeing it. ["If it helps, try to remember that I’m just another student."] There's no shot. I'm unshakably certain that Naomi is more than a student. Of the roughly fifteen characters in this series with a name, I count six of them (Chloé, Nick, Derrick, and the members of Tessa's polycule) who are regular people. Amara is a demon, Vee is an Angel, Tessa is a witch, Sebastian Wellington is the leader of a cult, Brandon is a stalker who was in the cult, Brandon's two attempted rape buddies were also in the cult, and Mr. Luxnor is also in the cult. The way I see it, there's about a two-in-three chance that Naomi is more than just a student. In addition to that, the way you write your stories, there's usually a reason for unexplained phenomena. When Amara was poofed away, we learned soon after that it was because of the cult. When we learned that the Circles around campus were artificial, we learned in a few chapters that there was a cult using them for the ritual. I'm confident that at some point, we're going to learn why Vee and Amara (and nobody else!) were pulled into Purgatory. And since Naomi's first mention in this story was very soon before that (despite the mention that Tessa hooked up with her, giving Naomi some history in the world), and since her first appearance was soon after the start of this Book (which makes me suspicious as a reader), and since she doesn't say so when people answer her questions in a way that contradicts earlier testimony, I deep-down believe that she's up to no good. [***Do it, Amara. Kiss her neck, hold her down, show her where your real talents lie. How deep do you think your tail could go? Do you think she’s a screamer?***] Ew. EWWWWWWWW, I don't want that! As much as I love that this story (or at least Amara's part in this story right now) is fundamentally about choosing to be - and resisting the impulses that want you to not be - an upstanding and morally-good person, I don't think I'm prepared for how apathetic, cruel, and despicable Demon Amara is. By all means, bring it on, but I will cry when I read about it.
AFanofRoses
Holy fuck. That was a lot, and I mean that as a compliment (Side note: "Holy Fuck" should be Amara and Vee's slash fic pairing name). When did there get to be so many moving parts in this story about Demons, Angels, Witches, Students, and relationships? As a brief summary, I don't have any problems with any conversation or action in this chapter. More details are below. Starting from the back and working forward: I'm all for Chloé's scene! She managed to discover her friends' secrets (some of the secrets, anyway) in perhaps the worst possible way. What the fuck is she supposed to think with all the burn damage and wall gouges?! Granted, it may make the "Hey, Chloé, Amara's a succubus, sorry you had to find out like this!" conversation more believable, but she's going to need some kind of ultra-therapy by the end of the series. In the meantime, there's no telling what she'll do with the information that Amara has destroyed her apartment and disappeared, and I don't envy Nick and Tessa for having to either come clean and look like maniacs or keep feeding her lies. I still don't know what to make of Naomi. I'll elaborate more in a comment after this one, but the abbreviated version is that I don't trust her, and I think she has nefarious goals. It makes sense that Chloé seeks her out, since she's the only person who's actually telling her facts, but I see it as a shrewd, calculated move on Naomi's part. Nick. It's interesting to me how relatively static Nick has been throughout this series. Amara went from a student to a demon, Vee went from a vindictive angel to a remorseful angel, Tessa went from an emotionally-deflective witch to an emotionally-experimenting witch, Chloé just got absolutely shitfucked, and everyone at some point has needed Nick to be their rock (Chloé hasn't yet, but I'm certain that she will). While it's curious that he hasn't changed very much, I like the person that he is so much that I'm fine if he's going to be like this forever. Tessa is taking steps toward addressing her feelings instead of avoiding them, and I love that for her! It may take her a while to come to terms with them, and I don't expect her to change into a completely different person, but she seems to be on her way to work through some of her trauma. Vee's still being supportive of Amara, and it won't surprise anyone to know how happy I am about that! Everything she says about her angelic heritage makes sense to me, as a person who isn't well-read on the subject of Faith, but of course somebody with more knowledge may feel differently. I'm scared for Human Amara. The next time we see Amara, it may not be her Human side. While she's here, though, I love that Vee and her have turned their fight into "Us vs. Problem." It was a rocky transition from the perspective of the characters in their world, but as a reader it hasn't felt rushed or un-earned.
