Chapter 48.4

Amara’s eyes flared with rage as she looked back, locking eyes with Elizabeth Bishop. “I’ll make you regret that.” Reverting to her true form in a burst of hellfire, Amara took advantage of the process to knock Elizabeth back and push the knife out of her back. She spun to face her attacker, briefly seeing a flash of her real form. With a flourish of her hands, she recast the illusion and Vee’s face returned.“When did you figure out it was me?” Elizabeth asked. “When did you decide to fill my head with lies about Davenport’s plans for this campus?”

Rather than justifying her with an answer, Amara snarled with rage and leapt forward, her claws lengthening as she sharpened the edge of her tail. Elizabeth stood her ground, raising her hands to prepare another illusion, but Amara reached her before she had time to finish it. She grabbed Elizabeth’s neck, her claws effortlessly breaking skin and piercing deep into her throat. Blood poured from the wounds, dripping from the witch’s mouth as she struggled to keep breathing, and Amara closed her hand entirely.

The body in her grasp, rather than falling limp, vanished in a puff of illusory smoke.

Amara laughed. “You want to play hide and seek? Alright, let’s play.”

Flaring her eyes, Amara fully engaged all her demonic senses. She looked around for hints of magic, and suddenly found it everywhere. Doors that had previously been open were now closed, large walls now appeared to have strange new entryways in them, and arches Amara had seen earlier had vanished entirely. Thankfully, she’d already torn down an illusion once before, and she knew exactly how to handle this.

She began retracing her steps from earlier, heading towards the dining room. The elegant arch that had previously led there no longer existed, and when Amara reached the wall, she placed her hand on it and connected to her own illusory abilities. Within seconds, she’d torn down the wall.

The dining room was in complete disarray. The large table was on its side, cracked into three large pieces, and the chairs had been broken into pieces.

Amara struck out with her tail and, just as expected, it collided with an invisible table still standing proud in the center of the room. Engaging her hellfire again, she channeled her illusory powers through her tail and brought the table back into view, where it now appeared to share space with the broken second table and several pieces of chairs.

Inspired by Elizabeth’s deception, Amara summoned a small flame into her palm and began to condense it. She forced it smaller and smaller, channeling that potent energy into the intangible muscles she used to control her illusions, then tried to supercharge them. She raised her hand, directed that energy outward, and released it with a warm pulse. As the energy washed over the room, the scattered chairs and table vanished completely, then the fake doors on the walls did the same. Closing her fist, Amara smirked and made her way to the kitchen.

Amara called out, using her illusions to cast her voice across the entire manor. By doing this, she was able to obfuscate her exact location.

Her opponent seemed to know the same tricks. “What hold do you have over Tessa?” Miss Bishop asked in Vee's voice.

Amara stopped walking for a second, listening intently to the illusory echo of Vee's voice in hopes of pinpointing a location. Predictably, she failed. She was able to project her voice without speaking herself, so it made sense that the Coven Head could do the same. “What do you care? You've been letting Davenport abuse her since she was a child.”

“I’ve been her since she was a child!” Bishop shouted. “Demons don’t have to play by the rules, you’re strong enough to break everything you want in pursuit of your own selfish goals, but the rest of us can’t do that. We have to keep our heads down, work within the system to try and piece together some tiny sliver of happiness. No one chooses to be a witch, Demon, it’s forced upon us when we learn about magic. At that point, if we’re not in a Coven, we die. Davenport may be cruel, but at least we’re alive!”

The kitchen had been filled with thick, putrid smoke, as if someone had burnt a thousand dinners and then kept the fire going for another hour. A horrible mix of spices assaulted her senses, and with an angry snarl, Amara released another burst of infernal energy to disperse the illusion. As she did, she caught something running towards the first-floor bedrooms and gave chase.

Crashing through the closed door, Amara held up a wing to shield herself from the splintered wood. Another glimpse of Vee caught her eyes, running into the second bedroom, and Amara continued charging. She didn’t have to burst through another door, and this time she was able to catch up with Vee. After digging her talons deep into the floorboards, Amara sprang forward and tackled Vee to the bed. She gasped in pain, struggling to free herself, and Amara released another pulse of illusory energy just to be safe.

The body underneath her vanished in a puff of smoke, and at the same moment, she gasped in pain as someone drove another dagger into her back. Amara’s tail wrapped around the figure behind her, then she turned around to glare into the eyes of her attacker. She saw Vee again, but this time didn’t bother dispelling the illusions. She dug her claws into Vee’s side, drawing blood for a brief instant before the illusion vanished.

Amara growled in frustration before bursting out into the foyer to continue the hunt.

“How does it feel, Demon?” Bishop taunted, using Vee’s voice. “Do you enjoy killing your sweetheart over and over?”

“I’m doing this FOR Vee!” Amara shouted. Another pulse of dispelling energy, then Amara turned her sights to the second floor. As she slowly marched up the steps, her clawed feet sinking into the plush carpet, she began to chuckle. “You’re showing your hand, Bishop. So desperate to manipulate me that you’re inventing fantasies about my friends and I.”

“Ha. I can smell your bluff, Demon. I see the way you look at each other,” Bishop returned Amara’s laugh. “An angel and a demon? If you hadn’t shown your true colors, I’d almost think it was romantic.”

Infernal energy washed over the second-story railing, and Amara saw a flash of movement on the other side of the house. Bending down, she launched herself into the air with a powerful thrust of her wings, and crossed the distance in less than a second. The figure in front of her gasped in surprise at Amara’s speed, and couldn’t escape in time. Amara’s tail wrapped around Vee’s leg, its bladed edge digging deep into her ankle before this illusion vanished as well.

“Romantic? Like the jungle clearing you created for Palesa in her dreams?” Amara chuckled again, powerful demonic tremors echoing through the manor. “You should have seen her face when she realized she was trapped with me.”

Amara conjured an illusory copy of Palesa’s voice, then cast it out to every room in the manor. “No! Please!” Palesa shouted.

“Trying to use my own tricks against me? The Dreamscape may be your second home, but I’ve been practicing my craft for decades. You are but a child compared to me, Demon. The cultists you stopped before? The idiot who grabbed for power in the depths of Purgatory? None of them can compare to the might of a real witch.”

The first bedroom was empty, as was the second. Amara was growing more frustrated by the minute, and it was hard to fight the urge to burn the entire house to the ground. She was about to rip the door to Davenport’s bedroom when she heard a familiar, dull creak coming from the foyer underneath her. Spinning around, Amara instantly leapt over the railing, her wings carrying her to the front door as she prepared to stop Bishop from fleeing.

As the front door closed, Amara saw Vee turn to lock eyes with her. She seemed surprised to see Amara, but at this point it was easy to see through Bishop’s tricks. Brandishing her claws, she pooled a burst of infernal energy as she slammed to the floor in front of Vee.

“Amara?” Vee asked, her voice shaking. “Are you okay?”

Not bothering to justify Bishop’s cheap trick with a response, Amara carried her momentum forward and shoved Vee against the massive doors behind her. She dug her claws into Vee’s arms, warm blood pooling around her claws, and released the dispelling energy so she could look into Bishop’s face before ending things.

Except nothing changed.

The magic washed over Vee, revealing that this was no illusion.

Vee gasped in pain as Amara froze, her claws embedded deep in the sides of her arms. With a pained gasp, tears pooled in Vee’s eyes, and she whispered, “A-Amara? Why?”

Aghast at what she’d just done, Amara retracted her claws and fell backwards. “Vee?! No, NO! I didn’t mean to hurt you! Bishop, she’s an illusionist, and she… she kept… Please, Vee, you have to believe me!”

Vee fell to her knees, wincing in pain as she brought her hands to her sides. Warm, angelic pulses of energy washed over her, healing the wounds Amara had inflicted. “Amara, I… you’re right. The Coven needs to be stopped, and if we don’t act quickly, we risk losing our chance. I know you just want to keep us safe, and all I’m asking is that you let me help. I want to be… to do this together, Amara.” Her wounds slowly healed as she talked, but Amara couldn’t shake the smell of Vee’s blood from her senses. Each pulse of angelic magic that washed over Vee’s body bristled against Amara, agitating her even further.

Pain, anguish, fear, horror, rage, and thousands more conflicting emotions drove Amara into a frenzy. She needed to run. To run from what she’d nearly done to Vee, to run away from the guilt gnawing away at her insides. She needed to prove she was right, that this was all worth it. If she didn’t kill Davenport, no one would believe her, and everything would have been for nothing.

Trying to shut out the voices, Amara ran past Vee and charged through the manor’s front door. It splintered easily under her might, and without a second thought, she crouched low to the ground before jumping. She cleared the rooftops in seconds, her flight mirage keeping her hidden, as she set her sights back towards the Aurelius Campus. Davenport hadn’t been in the manor, which meant she had to be enacting her plan. She had to be on campus, finalizing her siphoning plans, and all Amara had to do was find her.