Chapter 47.3

Amara sat alone in the cafeteria, hunched over a small table while pretending to scroll through news sites. From her current vantage point, she had a perfect view of the serving counter, as well as all the students that passed by, dinner trays in hand. Behind it, smiling as she greeted students and faculty alike, stood Ruby. The shaved sides of her head accentuated her bright, artificially red hair that evoked images of a noble robin. She was dressed for work, which meant respectable long sleeves instead of her usual sleeveless tanks, but even from this far away her defined muscles clearly protested the restrictive fabric.Thankfully, no one approached Amara, which was by design. After all, she wasn’t quite herself right now. She’d completely overhauled her appearance and currently looked like an old friend from high school that was attending college somewhere on the east coast.

She slowly picked at the sandwich in front of her, keeping up appearances to prevent anyone from questioning her presence. The cafeteria was closing soon, after all, which meant she needed to be ready for the next phase of the plan. Over the course of the next half hour, she watched as Ruby started hauling dishes towards the back of the kitchen, gradually cleaning everything up so it would be ready for her return in the morning.

Careful not to overstay her welcome, Amara left a few minutes before closing. She posted up on a bench in front of the cafeteria, pretending to be on a call, and soon enough Ruby left the building before locking it behind her.

When she was nearly out of sight, Amara jumped to her feet and began to follow. Her enhanced senses, which she kept fully engaged, made tracking Ruby easy. Her hearing was sensitive enough that she didn’t even need to keep Ruby within her line of sight; she was able to follow purely by focusing on the slight jingle of her keys as they bounced around inside her gym bag.

They walked east, to a series of dorms Amara had little experience with, though she quickly recognized Windsor Hall as Ruby’s destination. From several hundred feet back, Amara watched as the redhead fished her keys from her bag, swiped her ID card, and opened the door. Just before it closed, Amara’s eyes flared, and she summoned an illusory brick that prevented the door from shutting. Once she was sure that Ruby hadn’t noticed, Amara quickened her pace and slipped inside the dorm, dispelling the illusory brick to hide her trail.

The sound of Ruby’s keys stopped being helpful. Amara needed to identify Ruby’s exact room, and faint jingling noises weren’t precise enough. Instead, she shifted her focus to her sense of smell, quickly picking up traces of Ruby’s deodorant. It smelled wonderful—Amara identified traces of sandalwood with floral undertones—but more importantly, it gave her a trail.

Ruby hadn’t taken the elevators. Her scent traveled into the staircase, and Amara slowly followed it up to the fourth floor. From there, it led her to a series of hallways that connected all the dormitories, and eventually Amara found Ruby’s room.

Walking around the nearest corner, Amara made sure she was alone before shapeshifting back to herself. Her clothes returned to normal, a combination of simple jeans and a tee shirt, complete with her favorite deep red jacket. The next step proved more difficult, as it required pushing her shapeshifting to new limits. Imagining what her body might have looked like after being attacked by a reaper, she manually recreated the damage to the back of her shoulder. She grimaced as her body warped and twisted in strange, uncomfortable ways, but eventually she’d gotten her wish. Next, she tweaked her illusory clothing, making it appear ripped and tattered as if she’d just been in a fight, and she completed the visual with a thick coat of illusory blood.

With her costume complete, Amara followed the scent of sandalwood back to Ruby’s.

A deep breath, a moment to get into character, then Amara knocked on the door.

As she heard Ruby walk towards the entrance, Amara began panting heavily as she leaned against the door frame. At the last second, she smeared a bit of illusory blood across her face and through her hair, then the door opened.

“Oh! Amara, I—FUCK! Shit, are you okay?” Ruby asked, holding the door open while gesturing for Amara to enter.

Pretending to force a smile, Amara chuckled and stepped inside. “I’m fine. You should see the other girl! I really… really showed…” She fell to the floor, gasping as she crumpled over.

“Fuck!” Ruby slammed the door, then ran to Amara’s side. “Hey! Speak to me!”

“It’s nothing, really,” Amara whispered.

“Alright, you’re talking, good. Let’s keep that up. Tell me what happened, walk me through everything while I grab my shit.” Standing up, Ruby ran to the kitchen and dug through her cabinets.

“It’s Tessa’s fucking Coven,” Amara grunted. “They’re lying about why they’re here; I tried to call them on their bullshit, one thing led to another…”

Ruby ran back, first aid kit in hand as she slid to her knees beside Amara. “They what? Those fuckers!”

“I managed to get away, but they know where I live, and everyone else… well, let’s just say they’re not in a position to help me right now. Lucky I know a nurse, right?” Amara said with a smirk.

“Okay, we need to get this jacket off. Can you raise your arm?” Ruby asked, unpacking all her equipment.

“Don’t need to, all my clothing is illusory.”

“Illusory? What do you mean?”

Once she was sure that Ruby wasn’t currently touching her, Amara flared her eyes and dispelled not just her coat, but everything except for the blood. She was now completely naked on Ruby’s floor. “That’s what I mean. I’m lucky I managed to hold it together long enough to get here.”

Ruby’s face turned as red as her hair, the sweet smell of her arousal filling Amara’s senses. “Oh, uh, I, um… wow. I didn’t know you could… um, summon clothing like that.”

“Saves me a ton of money, which is nice,” Amara muttered. As she finished, she summoned a few drops of blood in her mouth, then coughed them up.

Ruby swallowed nervously, then slid closer with a handful of bandages. “You should probably, um, turn over so I can bandage up your back.” Amara slowly rolled over, smirking as she tested her connection to Ruby’s aura.

The next few minutes passed quietly, with Ruby slowly bandaging up Amara’s self-inflicted injuries while trying to avert her eyes from the demon’s perfectly sculpted body. Based on the ebbs and flows of Ruby’s aura, she was failing spectacularly. Once everything had been wrapped up, and Amara had artificially stopped the appearance of more blood, she took a deep breath and leaned forward.

“Alright, I’ve got some witches to fuck up,” she said, pretending as if standing up were a far more laborious effort than it was. Attempting to stand, her foot buckled underneath the weight of her body, and she fell back to the floor. She slapped the floor in mock anger, grunting as she yelled “Fuck!”

“Look, I know you’re freakishly strong, but even you have limits, Amara,” Ruby said, her aura as strong as ever.

“I need to… to get back out there…” Amara said, gasping in mock pain.

Ruby paused for a moment, her aura swelling to even greater heights, then she spoke up. “Look, if it’s that urgent… what if I helped you out? You, um, recover faster after having sex, right?”

Amara turned her head to look at Ruby, pretending as if she were shocked by the suggestion. “Ruby, I… I don’t want to put that on you.”

Reaching out, Ruby gently placed a hand on Amara’s shoulder. “No, I want to. Not only do you need to get better, but someone has to go stop Tessa’s Coven, right? I never liked them anyways.”

Hesitating for a moment longer, Amara finally nodded, turning her naked body towards Ruby. “You’re not worried about, y’know… that I’m a demon?

“It won’t hurt, will it?”

“Not even a little. Although, I can’t promise I won’t ruin sex for you a little bit,” Amara said with a laugh.

Ruby grabbed Amara’s waist and pulled her closer. Facing each other, they were now only inches apart, and Amara could feel Ruby’s breath on her lips. “Show me.”