Chapter 44

Tessa woke to the sound of frantic, heavy pounding. It sounded like someone was trying to break down her front door, and she immediately leapt out of bed while her magic reached for her switchblades. They began swirling around her head, ready to strike at whoever, or whatever, would dare to try to invade her home.

As she raced to the front of her apartment, she heard two feminine voices arguing out in the hallway.

“—you didn’t even give her time to respond! It’s been, what, half an hour?”

“We can’t risk waiting any longer, she needs our help!”

Rolling her eyes, she opened the front door with a scowl. “For fuck’s sake, Amara, this had better be important,” Tessa snapped.

“Tessa, we need to—” Amara froze mid-sentence when Tessa pointed a knife at her throat, just as she was doing to Vee.

“Wait. What’s for dinner?” Tessa asked.

“Hand-seared chicken. Fuck, what’s your problem?” Amara asked, batting the knife away and walking into the apartment. Tessa looked over to Vee, whose answer was considerably more apologetic.

“Spaghetti carbonara,” Vee said softly.

“Okay, now we can talk.” Tessa closed the door with her magic, then set her switchblades down on the kitchen counter before turning to face Amara again. “What’s so important you had to nearly break down my front door at six in the morning?”

“It’s Chloé! I think she survived!” Amara was now pacing back and forth, sparks of hellfire occasionally drifting off her hair.

“Wait, wait?!” Tessa looked to Vee, hoping for a better explanation.

Vee sighed. “Amara was exploring the Dreamscape last night, and when she returned to her body, she thinks she saw Chloé briefly appear in front of her. She was screaming and clutching her head, like she was in some kind of pain.”

Tessa balled her fists as she glared at Amara. “That’s what this is about?! You had a bad fucking dream and decide to spin some fantasy about Chloé still being alive?”

“It wasn’t a dream!!” Amara shouted back. She spun to face Tessa, hellfire framing her eyes.

“How can you know that?” Tessa asked. “The last few times you fucked around with dreams, you were always stuck inside Derek’s nightmares! What proof do you have that this wasn’t one of your own?”

“I’m sorry, who’s the succubus here?” Amara hissed, jabbing a finger into Tessa’s chest. At its tip, a small trail of smoke appeared. “I don’t tell you how to do magic, Tessa, so stay in your lane and let me worry about the dreamwalking, okay? I know what I saw!”

Vee walked closer, gently placing a hand on Amara’s shoulder to try and calm her down. Their natures briefly collided, and a flurry of angelic sparks leapt into the air as Amara jumped in surprise. “Amara, please. Let’s take a deep breath and let Tessa explain her side of things. She’s not saying she knows your abilities better than you do, it’s just ... we were all there. We know what we saw.”

Strangely, despite the hostile spark from Vee’s magic, Amara didn’t get the least bit upset. Instead, she did exactly what Vee asked; she took a deep breath and stepped back from Tessa. She even reached up and briefly grabbed Vee’s hand, which Tessa found strange.

Looking down, Tessa sighed in relief. Despite the earlier smoke, Amara hadn’t actually burned a hole in her shirt. “Okay, look. Let’s say I believe you, alright? Let’s say that Chloé didn’t die when the portal closed on her. Maybe she’s trapped between planes, or her consciousness got scattered, something along those lines. Even then, I still wouldn’t be able to do anything.”

“How can you say that?” Amara asked. “How can you say it’s not even worth trying?”

“This is different than when you two were stuck in Purgatory. It’s not like Chloé’s trapped in another plane and we need to get her back; she’s gone, Amara. We all saw what happened, and there’s no coming back from that.” Tessa paused, briefly wondering if she should bite her tongue, when she decided that Amara didn’t deserve to be coddled. “And don’t you dare insinuate that I’m not desperate to see her again. She was my friend too.”

Amara went quiet, her eyes glued to the floor. Tessa looked back to Vee, whose tender eyes still seemed to be apologizing for everything.

“How about we let Tessa get back to bed, Amara,” Vee said softly. She grabbed Amara’s arm and started leading her towards the door. After a half-hearted attempt to stay put, Amara nodded slowly and let Vee lead her away.

“ ... Sorry for waking you, Tess,” Amara whispered.

Tessa didn’t bother responding. She vaguely waved towards Amara and Vee as they left, then sighed in relief as the door shut behind them. Now alone again, Tessa collapsed onto her couch with an angry huff. She closed her eyes, hoping she might be able to claw back a few more minutes of sleep, but it wasn’t to be.

Stupid Amara. Stupid dreamwalking demon, getting my hopes up. She doesn’t care about anyone but her fucking self and her stupid pity party.

Too angry to keep pretending she was trying to sleep, Tessa reluctantly crawled off the couch and walked to her room. She grabbed a change of clothes, reshaved the side of her head, and bundled up in her winter gear so she could walk to the nearest coffee joint.

With the campus coffee place closed for the Winter Break, Tessa had to walk much farther than usual to get her morning fix. If nothing else, it wasn’t snowing anymore, and the clouds even parted occasionally to let through bits of sunlight. While her initial goal had only been the coffee, it was hard to argue that getting away from campus for a bit was a welcome change of pace.

Pushing into the coffee shop, Tessa was greeted by a small chime and a burst of warm air. The smell of freshly brewed coffee and succulent breakfast confections washed over her, spurring her to pause before approaching the counter. She closed her eyes, losing herself in the aroma as she took a deep breath, then sighed once she managed to find the moment of peace she was looking for. The sound of a coffee grinder echoed out from the kitchen, forcing Tessa back to the present, and she opened her eyes before approaching the barista.

Several minutes later, with a piping hot cup nestled between her hands, Tessa took a seat by the front window. She was a few blocks away from campus, which meant the streets were bustling with people rushing to work. She watched them race back and forth, chuckling to herself as she thought about how different their lives were.

This whole place was almost enveloped by Purgatory, and none of them know a thing. Would more reapers have shown up if we hadn’t stopped Brandon? Did he even have the power to continue expanding his portal?

Tessa paused, taking a sip of her coffee. She stared at the lid as she set it down, thinking back to this morning.

They’ll never know what Chloé did for them. How many people did she save? If she hadn’t stepped in, the Coven would have stopped him eventually, but how long would it have taken them to get here?

I guess the other students would have just fled. They never would have been stupid enough to take the fight to Brandon. Nooo, we had to play hero and charge headfirst into danger, and for what? So I could keep pretending I didn’t need the Coven?

Maybe the Headmistress is right. I just ruin everything I touch.

Another chime echoed through the shop, accompanied by a burst of chill, winter air. Tessa grimaced as the outside world dared to invade her bitter sanctuary, and pulled her jacket closed again.

“Tessa? Oh my gosh! What are the odds?”

Shaken from her thoughts, Tessa looked up to see Imani walking over from the entrance. She was wearing a puffy, white winter coat with thick gloves to match, and an equally plush headband covered her ears. Tessa briefly wondered if her hair would even fit in a hat, but bottled those thoughts in favor of saying something more appropriate.

“Oh, um, morning Imani,” Tessa muttered, kicking out the chair opposite herself to invite Imani in. “Pretty good I’d say, this is the closest coffee place to campus.”

Imani sat down, shivering as she pulled her gloves off. “I guess that makes sense. Though, honestly, I’m more surprised you’re up this early at all; you don’t strike me as an early bird.”

“Oh, I’m absolutely not,” Tessa said with a smirk. “Amara didn’t give me a choice in the matter, unfortunately.”

“Ah, so you’re partners? That explains a lot, actually.”

“What? No! I mean, we fuck occasionally, but we’re not dating or anything. That’s not what happened this morning. She decided to nearly break down my door in a panic, that’s all.”

Imani leaned closer, a soft look of concern on her face. “Is everything alright?”

Tessa rolled her eyes before slumping into her chair. “Ugh. She had a bad dream, and now she’s convinced Chloé is still alive.”

“She’s not taking it well, from what I gathered. I tried to offer my condolences yesterday, but I barely got two words in before she snapped at me and stormed out. I still haven’t had the chance to properly talk with her about everything.”

“Yeah, sounds like her.” Tessa took another sip of her drink, then realized that Imani didn’t have any coffee of her own. “You gonna order anything?”

“Oh, I ordered on the app,” Imani said, holding up her phone. “Just waiting for them to call my name.”

“Ah.”

Tessa wasn’t sure what else to say. She knew nothing about Imani other than the fact they were in the same coven. Imani’s name was called a second later, and by the time she returned with her drink, Tessa still hadn’t thought of any good small talk.

“So, we kinda glossed over this in your initial briefing, but how exactly did Amara help out with the cult? Or against Brandon?” Imani asked.

Tessa was in the middle of another sip and nearly choked on her coffee. After a small fit of coughing, she finally caught her breath and responded. “W-well, she’s ... stronger than she looks. She, um ... studied jiu-jitsu when she was younger.”

Fuck, Tessa, really? Jiu-jitsu?

“Oh, wow! I meant to ask her myself, but with her temperament the way it is ... I’m sure you know what I mean.”

Tessa nodded slowly, trying to hide her expression behind her coffee. “Yup. Even apart from her, uh, martial arts training, we also had that knife I enchanted for the incursion.”

“That’s right!” Imani leaned forward, grabbing Tessa’s free hand. “You wouldn’t happen to have that here, would you?”

Eager for a change of topic, Tessa pulled out her switchblade and handed it over. “Knock yourself out. It was a bit of a rush job, so don’t get your hopes up.” She flinched as Imani reached for the knife quicker than anticipated. She began turning it over in her hands, and Tessa had to intervene to stop her from hurting herself when she tried to open it.

Imani’s eyes went wide as she saw the full extent of Tessa’s handiwork. “This is fascinating! You said you had to incorporate some of the sigils the cult used, right?”

“Yeah, but they didn’t know what they were doing. I had to patchwork together their shitty ideas with something a bit more legible.”

“That’s what’s so impressive about this!” Imani said, talking faster and faster. “You clearly had to incorporate that language in, since those were the sigils that allowed Brandon to take command of Purgatory, but the way you integrated it with our more refined techniques ... And here, you clearly take influence from the language of the circles on campus, but you did so while preserving the clarity we’ve gained in the centuries since! Not to mention you were working with such a small canvas; I mean, look at the size of this knife! Without incredibly fine penmanship, this whole thing could have fallen apart, but you were also applying it over dried blood! I can’t imagine how that must have changed the application process! Though, on the other hand, you probably could have cut out this rune on the hilt; it’s a bit redundant given what you applied here, under the finger groove. Redundancy can be a great safety feature, but in more complex patterns it can generate unwanted magical feedba—WAIT, did you do that on purpose? Trap his magic in a feedback loop to block out the sources he was gathering energy from?”

Tessa had completely forgotten about her coffee and instead watched in awe as Imani ranted about the knife. “Uh, yeah, that was the goal. It’s nothing special, really.”

“Nothing special?! Tessa, this knife is immaculately well-designed! If I’d made this, I would be bragging about it to every witch in the country! And to think, Miss Gautier said that—” Imani froze, seemingly stopping herself before the sentence could continue.

“Wait, what?” Tessa asked, leaning forward. “What about Miss Gautier?”

“It’s nothing, really. She’s just not your biggest fan, but you know that,” Imani muttered, looking at the table. “It’s crazy, isn’t it? That you’ve learned so much in spite of how they’ve treated you? It’s almost like breaking away from them was ... No, I shouldn’t say any more.”

Although it was frustrating that Imani wouldn’t spill the beans, Tessa knew all too well how risky it was to gossip about the Coven Heads. “Hey, how about we head back to campus?”

Imani perked up again. “That sounds great!”

The two girls donned their winter gear once more, then pushed out into the crisp air as they started towards the University. They spent the first half of their trip in silence, but after a few minutes, Imani spoke up again.

“You know, it’s funny what you said about Amara.”

“Yeah?”

“About her being a trained martial artist. She doesn’t exactly move like she knows how to fight. Plus, I talked to quite a few students yesterday, and none of them mentioned anything like that.” Imani paused for another sip of coffee. “Honestly, there was quite a bit of conflicting information overall. There are a bunch of accounts that both her and Vee were instrumental to stopping Brandon, but the stories diverge heavily when pushed for details.”

“W-well, a lot was happening, and with the trees blocking the view from the cafeteria...” Tessa muttered.

Imani kept talking, and it wasn’t entirely clear if she was listening to Tessa simply spinning her thoughts aloud. “Not to mention those pictures she posted a few months ago. You’ve seen them, right? Who am I kidding, there’s no way you haven’t.”

Tessa swallowed nervously. “What about them?”

“She didn’t leave much to the imagination, did she? Yet, for a martial artist, she doesn’t appear to have much muscle mass. Plus, I doubt I need to tell you this, but she’s crazy hot. Like, unnaturally hot.” Imani paused to look at Tessa, who swore she saw the faintest hint of a smile.

“She edited the pictures!” Tessa blurted out. “I-I mean, she obviously doesn’t have a tail, right?”

“Oh, I noticed the editing. I’m studying to be a Scribe, don’t forget; fine details are everything. If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear the editing was a smokescreen. Still, I’ve met Amara myself, I know she doesn’t have a tail. I’m just saying it’s odd, that’s all.” Imani stepped closer, her voice growing softer and more intense. “You don’t think she’s hiding anything, do you?”

Tessa stopped walking and stared into Imani’s eyes. “I’ve told the Coven everything I know, Imani.”

“Everything? That’s impressive, even I don’t tell them everything.” Imani reached for Tessa’s shoulder, her fingers lightly dancing as they traced the curves of Tessa’s jacket. “After all, some secrets are better kept to ourselves, don’t you think?”

With no idea how to respond, Tessa stayed quiet. She held her ground as Imani stared back, her eyes framed with brilliant, immaculately detailed white eyeliner. After a second, Imani’s stoic face gave way to a knowing smirk, and she slowly stepped back as she winked at Tessa. She playfully tapped Tessa’s shoulder one last time before slipping her hands into her coat pockets, then softly laughed.

“I’ll see you around, Tess,” Imani said. She turned and walked away, leaving Tessa frozen in place behind her.

Another minute passed before Tessa released the breath she’d been holding, and a burst of warm vapor appeared in front of her. She began racing back to her apartment, not quite running, but not quite walking, as she replayed their conversation over and over in her head.

Fuck. Does she know?

Amara sighed as she stared out the window. Trees raced by at impressive speeds, as did the occasional field of corn or soybeans. The clouds in the sky stayed frustratingly still, taunting her with their ability to stay aloft. Not only was she stuck on the ground, but for the last few hours, she’d been stuck in Vee’s car. She’d heavily reclined the passenger seat, and her feet were propped up on the dashboard, but comfort eluded her no matter the position.

She could barely even remember the last time she’d been in a car. Had they always felt so cramped? Most frustrating of all, Vee refused to tell her where they were going. At first it had almost been enjoyable, Amara had tried pestering Vee into giving up her secrets, but as minutes turned to hours, the exciting mystery turned to boredom.

It had been nearly an hour since either of them had said anything. Vee had music playing to fill the silence, but Amara’s thoughts were preoccupied with other things. She kept thinking back to last night, to seeing Chloé screaming out in pain.

“Maybe she’s trapped between planes, or her consciousness got scattered, something along those lines. Even then, I still wouldn’t be able to do anything.”

Uncertainty weighed on Amara as she recalled Tessa’s frustrated words.

Is there really nothing we can do? I saw Chloé when I was coming out of the Dreamscape, maybe I just need to go back. What if I’m the only one that can help her because of my abilities? What if she’s suffering, and I’m just ignoring her by wandering around the waking world?

The rhythm of the car suddenly changed as Vee slowed down. They traveled down an off-ramp, eventually merging onto a small side street that was completely devoid of traffic. A few minutes later, as they approached a small cluster of trees, the road vanished entirely. The car began shaking as dirt and gravel replaced smooth concrete, and a short while later, Vee parked the car with a huff of satisfaction.

“Here we are!” Vee said with a smile. She smacked Amara’s leg before stepping out of the car, holding her hand up to her face to block out the sun.

Amara did the same, eager to stretch her legs after the long trip. “So, are you finally going to tell me what’s going on? I wasn’t planning on leaving campus today, let alone taking a hours-long trip to the middle of nowhere.”

“You’ll know it when you see it, I promise.” Vee began walking further from the dirt road, her car beeping as she locked it behind her.

With a heavy sigh, Amara followed her friend deeper into the trees. A cool breeze rushed over them, kicking up their hair along with small flurries of dust and dirt. The trees rustled and bent with the wind, and as they walked further away from the road, they found more shade amongst the foliage. The cool air felt nice, and as they traveled down the beaten dirt path, Amara noticed a small railing off to the side. Still trying to figure out where they were, she walked to the railing and gasped as she pieced it together.

Roughly a dozen feet in front of her, the ground vanished completely, replaced with a massive pit nearly a mile wide. The entirety of the man-made pit was lined with incredibly steep cliffs, and Amara saw several places in the distance where thin, winding roads led to the bottom. Trees encircled the entire area, which is how Amara hadn’t seen it earlier, and the stiff breeze was likely due to the massive gap in the earth.

Vee stepped closer, taking a deep breath before exhaling with a smirk on her face. “It’s nice, isn’t it? It’s an old quarry that got abandoned decades ago.”

“I mean, sure, it’s a decent view.” Amara turned to Vee, leaning against the railing. “But why are we here? I know you didn’t drive us all this way just to show off an old quarry.”

With a playful smirk, Vee hopped over the railing and began walking towards the edge of the cliff. “I’ll show you! C’mon, it’s this way.”

“Just be careful, alright? It’s a straight drop down to the bottom.” Amara followed suit, walking slower as she approached the edge. In front of her, Vee nervously crouched and peered over the edge, holding her hair back as she did. She whistled in appreciation of the view, then looked around one last time.

“You’re telling me. That would be a nasty fall.” Despite her words, Vee continued standing dangerously near the edge of the cliff. She turned to look back, Amara meeting her eyes as she tried to figure out what was going on.

“So, are we looking for something?” Amara asked, stepping closer.

Vee said nothing, instead staring at Amara while she stepped backwards towards the cliff. Her foot met a small pebble, sending it tumbling over the edge, and she closed her eyes.

“Hey, be careful,” Amara said, her voice tense.

Vee took another deep breath, her body shaking slightly as she released it. When she opened her eyes again, a faint smirk appeared on her face, and she jumped.

“VEE!!”

In a panic, Amara ran forward and dove after Vee. It had taken a few seconds to reach the cliffside, and her heart raced as she tried to catch up. Vee was easily a few dozen feet in front of her, her hair billowing in the wind as she plummeted towards the bottom of the quarry. Amara held her arms close to her body, doing everything she could to catch up. She manifested her horns, a familiar buzz returning to her body as she read the air currents, and began reaching out as she closed the distance.

Seconds later, after they’d nearly fallen halfway down the cliff, she managed to catch up to Vee and grab her hand. Pulling her close, she manifested the rest of her true form and tried to catch the wind.

“Vee, you idiot! What were you thinking?!” Amara yelled, the wind dulling her voice. Vee wrapped her arms tightly around Amara’s neck, her blonde hair occasionally blocking Amara’s vision.

Yet, for some reason, she was laughing.

“This isn’t funny, Vee! You nearly killed yourself! You know I can’t fly!” Amara growled.

Vee squeezed Amara again, then whispered into her ear. “Oh, can’t you?”

Amara stopped talking, taken aback by the statement. She’d been so preoccupied with catching Vee that she hadn’t thought about anything else. At Vee’s urging, she turned her head to look at her surroundings.

Dozens of feet beneath them, rock and gravel raced by at incredible speeds. They were no longer falling; Amara’s wings were fully extended, gliding through the air as she unconsciously made tiny adjustments in line with the feedback she was getting from her horns. They passed through small pockets of differing air pressure, soaring up and down as they did, and Amara gasped.

She was flying.

“I ... that’s not...” Amara stammered. “I should at least set you down and find a more comfortable position!”

“Don’t you fucking dare, Amara,” Vee whispered again. “You can figure it out. I believe in you.”

Still stunned by the last minute, Amara’s mind began racing with possibilities. She barely had time to think about her actions, and it felt like her body was moving purely on adrenaline. Curiosity took hold, and she flexed her wings once, twice, three times. They felt strong, supportive, and completely under her control. With a nervous breath, she pulled them back, then thrust downwards.

She had an idea.

They ascended higher, and Amara repeated herself. Following her own intuition, and the sensory input from her horns, she climbed higher and higher as Vee held tight. Terrified of dropping her, Amara wrapped her tail around Vee’s waist as they flew, then set her sights on the clouds above. The air began to cool, and she was forced to adjust the movement of her wings slightly, but was otherwise shocked at how little resistance she faced at this height.

In her arms, Vee began shivering slightly, and Amara extended a small pocket of warmth to keep her warm. They continued ascending in silence as they held each other tight, and other than occasional twitches as Vee looked around, neither dared to readjust themselves.

The higher they climbed, the more intense the wind became, but Amara kept pushing. She was closing in on the nearest cloud, and she desperately wanted to see the other side. As it raced closer, she held out a hand and launched several small bursts of hellfire, puncturing the cloud and giving them a clear path to the sky above. Her heart pounded in her ears as she closed the distance, her eager breath betraying her excitement. Her tail, still wrapped around Vee, pulled her even closer as Amara prepared to break through. Hellfire began to gather underneath her feet, growing hotter and brighter as Amara condensed it, before she finally let it go in one loud burst.

The explosion catapulted her through the cloud, and she felt remnants of water vapor sting her face as she raced through. Vee gasped before yelping with delight, burying her head in Amara’s shoulder as they soared above the clouds. Seconds later, as the momentum from the explosion faded, Amara stopped climbing.

She paused in midair, her powerful wings slowly beating to hold them both aloft. The cloud underneath them was moving quickly, and soon gave way to a spectacular view of the countryside beneath them. Amara took a deep breath, then placed her hands on Vee’s waist to create some distance between them. Vee took the hint, adjusting her grip so they could look at each other, and they both met each other’s eyes.

“Do you trust me?” Amara asked.

Vee said nothing, instead smirking and raising an eyebrow.

“Alright, fair point.” They both laughed, the sky surprisingly quiet now that they weren’t racing upwards. With a small nod, Amara hinted that she was ready, and Vee returned the gesture. Amara swallowed nervously, held Vee even further away, and stopped moving her wings. Gravity took hold, pulling them back down to Earth. Amara held one wing out to turn them upside down, and once they were completely inverted, she pushed Vee away and let go.

They drifted away from each other and, despite the wind rushing past them, Amara heard Vee gasp with excitement. She held out her arms, catching the wind as she closed her eyes, and angled her head towards the ground to keep her hair out of her face.

Amara mimicked her every move, torn between wanting to enjoy the freedom of the sky and wanting to see Vee’s expression as they raced through the air. She noticed that Vee was spinning, ever so slightly, and adjusted her wings to stay in front of Vee as they fell. She kept her eyes trained on her friend, watching closely as she beamed with excitement. The sun occasionally passed behind her as they circled each other, and Amara was struck by how at peace Vee seemed.

As she continued watching Vee, she started seeing strange flickers of light appear above her. Confused, she narrowed her eyes and engaged her demonic senses, hoping to figure out what was happening. After another few seconds, she saw that light wasn’t simply appearing above Vee, it was refracting through something. Her first thought was that water had somehow gathered ahead of Vee, but that didn’t make any sense. The light she saw was splitting too cleanly, creating faint rainbows that seemed to bend and cascade across Vee’s body as she fell. Soon enough, there was enough light to see what was causing this strange phenomenon; an ephemeral, invisible disk hovered just above Vee’s head, catching the rays of the sun before scattering them around Vee.

Wow.

She’s beautiful.

From above them, Amara saw the ground rushing closer, and she decided it was time. She used her wings to adjust her angle, closing the distance with Vee before turning around. Vee reached out, wrapping her arms around Amara’s shoulders once again, this time from the back. Amara looked to her side, looked Vee in the eyes, and they both nodded.

Looking forward, Amara flexed her wings in preparation, then quickly opened them. She caught the wind, sharply angling up to stop their descent and level out. Vee’s body pushed against hers, confirming that she was safe and secure, and Amara smiled.

“Where do you want to go?” Amara asked, looking back again.

“Everywhere.” Vee hugged her tightly from behind. “Show me everything!”

With a wide smile, Amara looked forward again. She closed her eyes briefly, focusing on the feedback from her horns, before angling towards a pocket of warmer air and riding it higher. As her eyes flared, the warm pocket began to expand, giving Amara the perfect conditions to easily climb. Her wings continued working to bring them higher into the sky, and while she wasn’t flying straight up this time, she still ascended incredibly quickly. Every muscle in her body seemed designed for this, and all the frustration she’d felt being cramped up in Vee’s car vanished in the face of her newfound, absolute freedom.