When the door opened, Amara saw Nick first. He opened the door slowly, his eyes darting from Vee, to Amara, and back to Vee with a silent question. Although no one said anything, Vee subtly nodded, and her reassurance seemed to release the tension in Nick’s shoulders. “Hey, you two. Tessa’s on the couch, Chloé is… around? She’s here somewhere.”

Vee walked inside first, then Amara, who’s face burned with shame. She avoided looking at Nick as she entered, instead opting to focus on the floor. Walking past the breakfast bar, she only briefly looked up once she saw Tessa, who flinched at her presence and slid back on the couch to put distance between the two of them. Her tattoos flared, the side of her head lighting up as her switchblade floated in front of her, pointing directly at Amara.

Tessa’s neck still had small bruises from where Amara had grabbed her earlier.

Thick, uncomfortable silence hung in the air. The incredibly faint buzz of Tessa’s magic, something Amara was pretty sure only she could sense, rang in her ears as she tried to force herself to speak. When she finally found the strength, her voice was weak and broken.

“I-I’m sorry,” Amara whispered. “I’m sorry for everything. I’ve been a terrible friend, and a terrible person, for weeks now. I let my anger get the best of me, and the instant I found an excuse to let it out, I stopped bothering to pretend I wasn’t just out for blood. I wanted someone else to hurt as much as I did, I was obsessed with the thought that throwing the first punch would somehow fix things. Last night, I… I did terrible things. I hurt a lot of people, including all of you, despite the fact that I consider you my closest friends. What I did is unforgivable, and I have no right to come to you all now, but I want to make this right.”

Amara looked at Tessa. “You were completely justified to tell the Coven about me, Tess. I can’t even pretend to understand your relationship with them, but I should have trusted that you were only doing what you thought was right. You’ve always been incredibly supportive of me, and I can’t possibly express how terrible I feel that I attacked you.”

Although Chloé wasn’t visible, Amara did her best to address the entire room, trusting that Nick had shared the truth about her being here somewhere. “And Chloé, if you’re listening, having you back is a miracle. It’s the greatest thing I could have ever hoped for, and instead of celebrating, I made everything about me. Again. You’ve given us a chance to fight for our campus, and instead of giving you an opportunity to work together with us, I sidelined you because I was more interested in pursuing my own selfish desires.”

Finally, Amara turned to Nick. “Nick. You’ve been here since the beginning, and I was so wrapped up in my anger that I completely blew you off. Somewhere along the line, I stopped seeing you as an equal, and I let myself think that no one, not even you, could understand what I was going through. You’re my oldest friend, yet we’ve barely even talked these last few weeks. You deserve better; you all do. Whatever you think is best, I agree. If you want me to sit this out, I will. As much as I want to help fix things, I’m not the person who should make that call.”

Tears slid down her cheeks as she finished talking, and she looked at all her friends again to indicate she was done. Her words lingered as everyone processed her apology in their own ways, and she hoped desperately that she could continue being everyone’s friend after this.

Tessa’s magic faded, her tattoos dimming as she grabbed her knife out of the air. Folding it up, she slipped it into her back pocket as she stood up, then started walking towards Amara. Her pace quickened, and just before she closed the distance, she clenched her fist and punched Amara, her knuckles digging deep into Amara’s jaw as a deep thud reverberated through the apartment. Amara’s weakened state meant the punch hurt much more than it should have, and she gasped in pain as she stumbled backwards.

“You’re a FUCKING idiot, Amara!” Tessa yelled. She didn’t attack a second time, as Nick stepped closer to hold her back. “Do you know what happened while you were off on your stupid rampage? Coven Head Gautier cornered me and tried to kill me! She pinned me down, sawed the edge off a rusty pipe, and tried to ram it through my heart. If Chloé hadn’t been there with me, and if she hadn’t manifested some fucking incredible new abilities, I would be dead, Amara! Not mysteriously scattered into light, not just injured, dead. And it would have been your fault. You left us alone, you forced us to put together a plan without Vee, because she needed to run after your sorry ass and try to slap some sense into you!”

Tessa was crying now, and she kept going. “You were the first real friend I told about my magic, about being a witch. I’d gotten so used to hiding that part of me, but suddenly, I had a friend who got it. You also had weird magic shit you were hiding, and we got to team up and try to stop idiots from ruining our campus! Yes, it was scary. Yes, we almost died, but we were in it together, Amara! And then… then we lost Chloé. I was devastated, I’d never seen something so horrible, but I didn’t just lose her that day, Amara. I lost you too. You never once consoled me, you never bothered to ask if there was anything you could do to help. I was trying desperately to wrangle all those students, to keep them from freaking out, and you constantly made my life harder. You snapped at them, you blew up at our meetings, you were actively terrorizing the very people we’ve been trying to protect this whole time. When my coven showed up, sure, it was terrifying, but do you know what they did? Miss Bishop comforted me, she asked how I was holding up after losing a friend. She encouraged me to keep fighting, that it wasn’t pointless. So yes, I told them about you because I thought it would help, and I’m not sorry about it.”

“I-I didn’t… Gautier tried to kill you?” Amara gasped, horrified that her rampage had nearly cost her Tessa as well. Her body shook involuntarily, images flashed through her mind of what horrible fate Tessa had nearly succumbed to, and her breath caught in her throat.

She was pulled back from the edge of her panic attack when Tessa stepped forward, burying her face in Amara’s shoulder and wrapping her arms around her waist. “Y-you’re supposed to be my hot, slutty bodyguard, stupid. It’s because of you that I started seeing how much more tolerable this life is when I’ve got other people living it with me.”

“I’m so happy you’re still with us, Tess.” Amara hugged Tessa back. They stood together, quietly embracing for a few minutes as they both silently worked through their feelings. Amara wasn’t used to Tessa being so open, but given how much time she’d been spending with Nick, it made sense. “Hey, when this is all over, want to go flying? I’ll take you anywhere you want to go.”

“Shit, you can fly?” Tessa asked, pulling away from Amara. Her makeup was smeared and distorted from all the tears, but she seemed genuinely excited about the idea.

Amara nodded. “I’ll even let you make every possible joke you want about riding me.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep. I’m gonna show up with a saddle and harness just to get back at you for all this shit.” Tessa managed to laugh at her own joke, and Amara did the same, overjoyed that things seemed to be on a better path already.

With the moment over, Amara looked around to see if she could spot her invisible friend. “Chloé? I understand if you’re not feeling great at the moment, but if you want to say anything, I’d love to hear you out. Or, I don’t know, if you want to punch me, go for it. Preferably the other side of my face, though, I’m still a little sore.”

An invisible hand lightly slapped Amara’s other cheek, and she jumped in surprise. Chloé appeared a second later, floating sideways a few feet off the ground. Her body and clothes were faint, almost transparent, and her hair was stark white. “H-hey, Amara,” Chloé whispered, her voice fuzzy.

“It’s good to see you, Chloé. Don’t push yourself too hard, okay?” Amara asked.

Chloé nodded, then went quiet for a moment as her eyes briefly lost focus. She lost herself in thought briefly, then looked back at Amara and started talking. “I’ve always felt safe around you, Amara. Even when I didn’t have my memories, when I didn’t understand that I was alive-ish, that feeling persisted. When I finally pieced everything together, and realized that I’d be able to help you all stop the coven, I got so excited! We were all gonna be a team! But when I told you about their plans… you changed. For the first time in my life, I didn’t feel safe anymore; I was scared. I wanted so badly to help, and I started panicking that maybe I’d messed up by telling you about the coven, and that if you hurt someone it would all be my fault, and I—”

“Hey,” Amara said sternly, “this was never your fault, Chloé. Getting you back was a miracle, and if you hadn’t spied on Davenport, we wouldn’t have this chance to try and stop her. I’m the one that fucked this up. I can never apologize enough for ruining your return, Chloé, and… quite honestly, I think you deserve to be mad at me.”

“I don’t know, being mad isn’t really my thing…” Chloé said with a quiet chuckle.

“Bullshit!” Tessa said. Everyone looked over at her, so she continued talking. “Chloé, you didn’t see yourself when you fought Gautier, but you were a fucking badass! You were flying all over the place, kicking ass, throwing her across the basement, it was awesome!”

“W-well, I was just trying to protect you, and that’s a unique situation, and I—”

“Wait, you threw her across the basement?” Vee asked.

“Um, yeah, I guess I got a little angry… She was about to stab Tessa, and I kinda screamed at her? And it turns out that, whatever happened to me, it gave me cool banshee screaming powers!” Chloé said, blushing with excitement.

“You also made me invisible! And you were able to make me phase through objects!” Tessa said, continuing to shower Chloé with praise.

“Chloé!” Vee shouted, jumping up and down excitedly. “That’s so cool!”

Vee and Tessa both crowded Chloé, who happily recounted the story of how she figured out she could extend her own strange powers to other people. Amara, who briefly let herself get caught up in the excitement, realized there was one person she still hadn’t apologized to. Looking around, she found Nick leaning against the back of a couch, watching everything with a smile on his face. Walking up to him, Amara forced a smile, one that hinted at what she wanted to say.

“Hey, Amara,” Nick said, gently placing a hand on her shoulder.

“Hey, Nick,” she whispered back.

“Feeling better?”

“…Yeah.” Amara nodded, and the two kept looking at each other, their years of friendship communicating more than words ever could. He pulled her into a hug, his large frame nearly eclipsing her own as she hugged him back.

“Good to have you back.”

“I’m sorry I’ve been ignoring you,” Amara whispered into his shoulder.

“It’s alright,” he whispered back. “I’ve been spending a lot of time with Tessa. She’s actually really sweet once you crack through the sour exterior.”

“Nicolas,” Amara whispered, her voice hinting at a scandal, “are you just slowly working your way through all my friends?”

“Vee and I went on one date, and it went terribly! This isn’t like that at all!” Nick said, blushing in frustration as he countered Amara’s innuendo. “And you don’t count, because everything that happened with us was due to latent demon blood.”

“I’m just giving you shit, Nick,” Amara said, smiling as she stepped back. “I’m happy you’re here. I’m happy you’re with us.”

“I’m just glad you’re all safe. I’ll admit, sometimes it’s a little frustrating that I don’t have more to offer, but I’m happy to admit when the situation has escalated beyond me.”

“You’re not jealous that you don’t have cool powers like everyone else?” Amara asked, playfully poking Nick with her tail.

“Fuck no!” he said with a laugh. “I’m happier on the sidelines, Amara. I don’t have the temperament to do what you do. Magic? Glowing swords? Fire powers? That’s too much for me. I’ll still never understand how you took so easily to growing a tail.”

Amara grabbed Nick’s hand, then pulled him closer so they could rejoin everyone else. Together at last, all five of them happily listened to the remainder of Chloé’s story. She talked about messing around with her own intangibility, how she was pretty sure she could see magic, and what other ideas she wanted to test with her new abilities.

Eventually, the time came to turn their attention to more serious matters. Everyone present moved to Tessa’s couches, where they hoped to piece together a plan to defeat Davenport and Gautier.

“Tessa?” Amara started. “This is your coven, so you should call the shots.”

“We already asked Miss Bishop and Miss Tsopnang to get somewhere safe. Palesa was pretty drained after…” Tessa quickly threw an awkward glance at Amara, “um, after last night, and we told them to lay low until Vee could provide some healing. Nick already texted all the students still on campus, asking them to stay indoors. Actually, have you heard from Imani yet?”

Nick pulled his phone out. “I have, but I’m not entirely sure what to tell her. For now, I just asked her to be ready in case something happens, and that something big is lurking on the horizon.”

“That’s better than nothing,” Vee said. “We should also prepare for the inevitable fight. This is too big an opportunity for Davenport to pass up, and I’ll imagine she won’t react kindly to us backing her into a corner.”

“That’s going to be tough,” Tessa said. “Miss Gautier is one of the most powerful witches in the country. Every single one of her tattoos exists to amplify her telekinetic abilities, which gives her an incredible amount of power. As for Headmistress Davenport, I don’t actually know what she’s capable of. In all my years with the Coven, I’ve never seen her do anything more than basic telekinesis.”

“She makes portals,” Amara added, finally speaking up. “She can connect two areas of space, and she’s an expert at using them to move around and redirect attacks. She also had some magically reinforced swords, but I melted most of them. No idea if she has more, but I wouldn’t be surprised.”

“Portals?” Tessa groaned. “Fuck. That’s ridiculously high-level shit. Ugh, I always heard she was top tier, but I never imagined that her understanding of planar mechanics ran so deep.”

“How exactly do all those tattoos work?” Chloé asked. She didn’t bother manifesting, but seemed to be floating somewhere next to Tessa.

“It’s… not really a simple process. The tattoos themselves are made from incredibly rare materials, and have to be applied perfectly or they might backfire. Once someone has tattoos, however, they don’t instantly have access to the magic. They need to have a deep understanding of how the runes work, how they interact with other planes of existence, and only then will a witch know which symbols to activate to achieve the desired effects. If I activated all my runes every time I used magic, I’d burn myself out in seconds. The fact that Davenport is able to reliably open portals is astounding.”

“If we ruin the tattoos, does that cut off their ability to channel magic?” Chloé asked.

“Oh, absolutely,” Tessa said. “The tattoos are the linchpin holding everything together. Getting close enough to damage them is another thought entirely, however. Smart witches keep their distance, do everything in their power to stay out of range from knives, swords, anything that might risk damaging their tattoos. Their outfits are also magically reinforced, so even if we can close the distance, there’s no guarantee we’ll be able to disrupt their magic.”

“What about your knife?” Nick asked. “The one you enchanted to take down Brandon?”

Tessa shook her head. “Wouldn’t work. It’s specifically designed to disrupt energy from Purgatory, and I used his blood to make it. If I had enough time, I might be able to puzzle out something that works against witches, but that would take a lot of trial and error. That’s time we simply don’t have.”

“So, unless I’m mistaken,” Vee said, “our next step should probably be meeting up with Miss Bishop and Miss Tsopnang. They can help us put together a plan, and might even be willing to fight with us. If they agree, we’ll have two Coven Heads on our side, and the odds swing dramatically in our favor. The trick will be convincing them to help after…”

“After I attacked them both,” Amara said quietly. “I know, I may have fucked us on this one. Still, it’s worth a shot.”

“No time like the present, right?” Chloé said.

Everyone present looked around at each other, quickly nodding in agreement. With nothing else to do, Tessa texted Elizabeth to ask where she and Palesa were resting. While waiting for an answer, she disappeared into the bathroom to touch up her eyeliner, something that brought a smile to Amara’s face. It was genuinely refreshing to feel like part of the group again, even down to such small, insignificant moments.

Once Miss Bishop texted Tessa back, everyone began donning their winter gear in preparation for the trek across campus. Amara refreshed her illusory clothes, which previously had large tear stains and eyeliner smears covering it, then added a warm-looking jacket to complete the look.

With everyone ready, they left the apartment and locked the door behind them.