“W-what… Where am I?” Palesa muttered. She seemed completely exhausted, pushing Vee to wonder if Amara had managed to feed on her. Palesa’s eyes locked onto Tessa, and she gasped. “Miss Blackwood! Please, you have to help, there’s a demon on campus and she’s—”

“Closer than you think, Palesa,” Amara whispered, leaning over the Coven Head’s shoulder. Despite how quietly she spoke, the air around her shimmered in the presence of her words. Palesa froze with fear, sitting up straight as she continued staring at Tessa. After studying her face for a moment, Palesa’s eyes shot open.

“Y-you know? You’re on her side?!” Palesa asked, horrified. Every breath she took seemed strained, as if staying conscious were itself a herculean feat.

Amara walked around Palesa’s chair, her hips swaying as her tail flicked back and forth in front of the Coven Head. She chuckled quietly as she walked, her voice nearly overshadowed by a soft tremor that emanated out from her footsteps. “Now’s our chance, Tess. We can stop this here.”

“T-that’s not… Amara, we can’t—”

“Can’t what? This is what you always wanted, Tessa. For me to embrace my powers, to use them against everyone trying to hurt us.” When Amara reached Tessa, she gently grabbed her shoulders and looked deep into her eyes. “I’m doing this to keep you safe. Your Coven is never going to hurt you again.”

Chloé reappeared briefly, clearly shocked at what she was seeing. “Amara, Palesa’s just as much a victim as Tessa is. Davenport is holding something over her head. We should be helping her!”

Pondering Chloé’s words, Amara turned to face Palesa again. “Did you know that Davenport was only here to steal magic from the other planes? To promise us safety while ensuring the opposite?”

After taking a deep, pained breath, Palesa responded. “I knew she wanted to alter the circles to siphon away magic, but… are you saying that process poses risk to the campus?”

Turning towards Palesa herself, Chloé continued talking. “I overheard her speaking with Elijah! He said the only way to actually take the magic they wanted was to leave the campus exposed to the other planes. The more they imperil the lives of the students here, the stronger they become.”

“But that flies in the face of everything we believe in! We’re here to help, to keep people safe and stop the planes from crossing over!” Palesa looked towards the ground, seemingly lost in thought as she picked apart Chloé’s words. “I… I knew she wanted control, but I never thought she would go this far.”

“Amara, don’t you see? She has no part in this!” Tessa said.

Vee tried to step closer, hoping she might be able to talk Amara down, but her angelic nature bristled against the constant waves of overwhelming infernal energy pulsing from her demonic friend. She felt like she was walking on the edge of a knife, that a single misstep might push Amara away.

There’s got to be something I can say, something I can do to show her this is wrong. But what?

Still focused on Palesa, Amara leaned forward so they were at eye level. “If you truly mean that, if you believe that what she’s doing is wrong, then help us. Tell us how to take her down.”

“Ally myself with a demon? Are you mad? We both know you’ll throw me away the instant I stop being useful. How do I know you won’t hurt the others?”

Standing tall again, a flash of recognition crossed Amara’s face. “Ah. This isn’t about Davenport at all, is it? This is about her.

” With a flash of hellfire, Amara shapeshifted into Coven Head Bishop. Although her voice changed as well, to one softer and brighter, it was still accompanied by sinister, infernal rumbling. “You can’t be with her, not in any way that matters, until Davenport is gone. Help us, and you won’t have to hide in your dreams anymore.”

“You have NO right to take her form!” Palesa shouted, tears streaking down her face. “You insult everything she is with this mockery!”

Turning away from Palesa, Amara shifted back into herself before walking back towards Tessa. “See? She’s not going to help us. She’s one of them, Tess; she always will be. That’s why we have to stick together.”

Some unknown well of strength seemed to bubble over in Tessa, and she pushed past her before walking over to Miss Tsopnang. “For fuck’s sake, Amara, they’re not monsters! We’re not facing down mindless creatures from another plane that want nothing but death and destruction! My Coven isn’t perfect, but they’re still people, and it’s wrong to treat them like this!” Tessa sank to her knees beside Miss Tsopnang, then started picking at the ropes tying her down.

As she did, however, more ropes magically sprang into existence. Vee looked over to Amara, whose hand was outstretched towards the chair. “We can’t let her go, Tess!”

With a frustrated shout, Tessa jumped to her feet. “What do you want me to do, Amara? Give up on the people who raised me? Yes, Davenport is a horrible bitch that deserves to be stopped, but her actions don’t reflect on everyone around her! What’s the alternative? Leave Palesa tied up in this chair forever?”

Tense silence filled the room as Amara weighed her options. “ She knows too much. We can’t let her warn the Coven about us.”

“You have to leave eventually, Amara. And when you do, I’m setting her free,” Tessa hissed.

The two glared at each other, and Vee felt the infernal power radiating off her friend intensify. “Fine. Then we end this now.”

NO!

Amara began walking towards Miss Tsopnang, her claws swirling with hellfire. Her eyes, previously unfocused, now barely restrained her bitter determination. Before she could close the distance, however, Vee finally overcame her fear and ran forward, jumping in front of Amara. She held up a hand, summoning a small shield of radiant energy to keep Amara from losing herself completely.

“Amara, STOP!” Vee pleaded.

A hideous growl filled the chamber as Vee’s Enochian magic collided with Amara’s hellfire. “Vee? You too?”

Vee stared Amara deep in the eyes, as unsettling as it was. The air crackled with intensity as their natures collided, and it took all of Vee’s strength to hold back the innate, overpowering aura that surrounded Amara. “This isn’t you, Amara! You’re not a killer!”

“If I let her go, she’ll tell the Coven what I’m planning! She’ll tell them who we are!” Hellfire concentrated and swirled around Amara’s horns, some even dripping from her mouth as she spoke.

“For fuck’s sake, Amara, they already know!” Tessa shouted.

The hellfire receded for a brief moment as Amara looked over Vee’s shoulder at Tessa. “What?”

“I told them! I thought they needed to know in order to close the Gate!” Tessa stormed past Vee, shoving Amara back with her telekinesis. “So what are you gonna do? Are you gonna kill me too? Where does this fucking end, Amara?!”

Faster than Vee could comprehend, Amara raised her hand to Tessa’s neck and shoved her back, slamming her against the thick concrete pillar behind them. “You ratted me out? After everything I’ve done to keep your secret, this is how you repay me? How can you possibly side with them over me?!”

Tessa started gasping for breath as Amara’s rage intensified, her grip tightening. Tessa’s tattoos lit up to no effect as she tried to free herself. “Amara… please…”

“You’re hurting her! Let her go!!” Chloé reappeared again, just beside Amara, and tried to push her away from Tessa. Although Vee doubted Chloé was anywhere near as strong as Amara, she acquiesced anyways and let Tessa go.

After taking a step back, looking at all her friends in shock, Amara spoke up again, her voice shaking the chamber. “All of you? You’re all siding with the Coven?”

Vee squared off against Amara, her own eyes flaring with angelic flames as she tried to resist the incredible energy Amara’s presence generated. “We’re not siding with the Coven! We need to stop them, but not like this. We don’t kill people, Amara!”

“No, YOU don’t kill people, Vee!” Amara shouted, stepping closer and jabbing her finger into Vee’s chest. As she did, a pillar of hellfire roared upwards from her horns. “You’re the Angel, you have the divine light of Heaven giving you permission to take the high road! Do you know what I think? I think demons have to exist because we’re the only ones willing to do what’s necessary.”

“You’re better than this,” Vee whispered, wrapping her hand around Amara’s. The familiar warmth she’d grown accustomed to was gone, replaced with malice and hatred, and it brought tears to her eyes. “You don’t know what taking a life will do to you.”

Amara narrowed her eyes. “There’s nothing left that can be done! I’m already gone, Vee. I’m a Demon, my soul is damned, and nothing I do matters anymore! If I can’t keep you safe, then all of this—turning into a demon, stopping the cult, stopping Brandon—it will have been for nothing!”

Another wave of infernal energy pulsed off Amara, forcing Vee back. Chloé briefly reappeared, helping to steady her, before calling out to Amara. “This isn’t why I came back, Amara! I came back so we could be together again! Please, just stop!”

Clenching her fists, Amara flicked her eyes between everyone present. Nick was at Tessa’s side, both staring at her in horror, and Chloé was silently pleading for her to stop. When Amara looked at Vee, still brandishing motes of Enochian energy, thick pillars of hellfire began to condense around her hands. With a powerful scream, she pivoted away from everyone, launching a concentrated blast of hellfire so intense it blew a small crater in the side of a nearby pillar. Shrapnel scattered across the floor, narrowly avoiding everyone present as dust filled the chamber, causing them all to cough and cover their face. Vee, thankfully, was able to shield her eyes and lungs from the debris, and she tried to look around for Amara. Instead, she heard an ominous voice that seemed to be coming from everywhere in the chamber at once.

“There’s only one way this ends, isn’t there? When I bring you Davenport’s head on a platter, you’ll thank me.”

“Amara, come back! Let us help you!” Vee shouted. She cast out a small pulse of angelic energy to scatter the dust cloud, giving her friends space to breathe again. She’d hoped the pulse would help her locate Amara as well, but she didn’t feel any adverse reactions to her magic. Whatever Amara was planning, she was no longer in the chamber with them.

“Vee, go find Amara!” Nick said, helping Tessa to her feet. “We’ll take care of Palesa!”

Nodding quickly, Vee ran to the elevator and began the frustratingly slow journey back to the surface. She was thrilled they’d managed to stop Amara from hurting Palesa any further, but the look in Amara’s eyes had terrified her. Whatever she was going through, whatever power coursed through her veins, she was absolutely convinced she was beyond saving.

I have to prove her wrong. I have to show her there’s a better way.