Chapter 28.2

Tessa groaned as sunlight crept into her bedroom. She’d been trying to ignore it for the last few hours, but it was finally time to admit that she needed to get up. She slowly crawled out of bed, her tattoos beginning to glow as clothes floated out of her closet. She also grabbed her switchblade from her nightstand; completely black, beat to shit, and reliable. She’d lost her favorite knife in the fight with the cult, and this was her backup. She quickly got dressed, shoving her blade and her phone in her pockets, then unlocked her bedroom door and walked to the bathroom.

She reapplied her makeup, used a shaver to clean up the tattoos on the side of her head, and sighed in resignation. It was time to start thinking about finals.

She’d lucked out, and didn’t have any tests in the morning today. The sleep had felt amazing, especially after how busy the last few weeks had been. As the only one able to read and interact with magic circles, Tessa had run herself ragged trying to find a way to stop the cult. She’d also spent a few days training with Vee and Amara, doing her best to keep up with her two supernaturally powerful friends.

To be fair, they had done most of the fighting. There was a lot of tension between them, and Tessa had found she enjoyed watching them work out their frustration on each other. Still, she had a few painful memories of the occasions where she’d tried to join in to learn more about fighting. That bruise on her hip had taken forever to go away.

They’d successfully stopped the ritual, thankfully, and Tessa was fairly proud of her work from that night. In just a few minutes she’d managed to decipher a centuries old magic circle, and reverse engineer the damage the cult had done.

The week after the ritual had been interesting, to say the least. Ever since that night, after Amara had fed on three guys at once, her sex drive had skyrocketed. Tessa was barely able to keep the demon’s hands off her, and for the first time in her life, had found herself on the other end of an insatiable libido. To be fair, she did love sex, and sex with Amara was the stuff of legends. Sometimes, though, when she was alone, she would see the faces of the men Amara had fucked that night.

Pale, sick, gasping for air. Terrified of Amara, begging for their lives as Amara pinned them to the wall. While Tessa would never admit this aloud, her conversation with Vee from a few weeks back had started creeping into her thoughts.

She hated the thought of Vee being right. She hated everything Vee stood for. She hated the Church, she hated how they hoarded absurd amounts of power only to watch men suffer around them.

At first, the thought of fucking a demon sounded like a dream come true. Tessa had been collecting monster porn for years; terrible creatures doing awful, delightful things to eager young women. She even had a few exotic dildos shaped like monstrous appendages, and they saw a lot of action. Sure, she’d been scared when she realized Amara was a demon, but the fear had faded once she realized Amara was still herself.

She’d started fantasizing about Amara’s tail almost instantly after setting her free; it was thick, powerful, and completely prehensile. Amara had incredible control over it and had been able to give Tessa the most powerful orgasms of her life.

Now, however, it was impossible to deny that Amara was changing, and she didn’t even seem to realize it.

In the kitchen, Tessa was sad to see that her partners were both in classes already. She’d been spending so much time with Amara recently that she hadn’t gotten as much quality time as she wanted with Sydney or Riley. She made a note to try and do something with them soon, then began raiding the pantry for something easy to make.

Her search for food was interrupted, however, when her phone went off.

Nick: How soon can you get to Amara’s?

Tessa: i can head there now maybe liek 15?

Nick: Bring your beanie.

Tessa usually only broke out her beanie when she needed to hide that she was doing magic. Whatever Nick wanted, this meant it couldn’t be good. She grabbed a toaster pastry, shoved it in her mouth, and ran out the front door to try to get to Amara’s as soon as possible.

Campus was fairly slow today. Everyone was either studying for finals, or taking them, and that meant fewer people lingering outside. Thankfully, this meant getting to Amara’s was a fairly quick affair.

When she arrived, she found Nick pacing outside Amara’s apartment. “Thanks for making it so quickly. Can you get us inside?” he asked.

“Yeah, of course. She never gave you a key?” Tessa said, pulling her beanie tight around her head, just in case.

“It never seemed necessary until her transformation started, and after… well, we’ve been pretty busy. I guess we never thought about it.”

“Why are we breaking in, anyways?”

“She’s not responding to texts or calls, I haven’t seen her all day, and she’s not answering the door.”

Engaging her magic, Tessa’s tattoos started glowing, and she reached for the lock with her telekinesis. Lockpicking was one of the first things she’d taught herself, it was just a matter of messing with the tumblers, using the magic to feel how they moved. Soon enough, the door popped open, and they walked inside.

“Amara? You home?” Nick asked.

The first thing Tessa noticed was that everything seemed fine. Amara’s apartment was in the exact shape it had been yesterday. There were no signs of a struggle, everything was as clean as Amara liked it, and there weren’t any indications that Amara had left any unfinished meals or projects. With no sign of Amara in the living room, Nick walked to her bedroom while Tessa yawned and finished her breakfast. As she walked closer, she heard Nick’s voice grow tense.

“Shit. Shit!”

“What is it now?” Tessa asked.

“She’s not here, but all of her stuff is. Phone, wallet, keys, everything. She would never leave home without her phone!”

Entering the room, Tessa saw Nick frantically turning the place over. He was digging under blankets, through her closet, looking for any sign of what might have happened. Tessa couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen him like this, if ever.

“Alright, well, she’s got to be somewhere. People don’t just vanish without a trace,” Tessa said.

“Are you sure? Didn’t you say that the campus is exposed to all the other planes now that the Gate is down? Who’s to say this isn’t weird magic bullshit?” Nick was breathing faster now, his words almost slurring together.

Tessa moved closer, grabbing Nick’s shoulders. “Hey, deep breath. Whatever’s going on here, we’ll figure it out. Plus, Amara’s a fucking beast. Whatever is going on, I promise that if someone is trying to fuck with her, they’re going to regret it.” Tessa’s tattoos flared again, and she started examining the room. Rather than engaging her telekinesis, she was now trying to read the magical leylines that converged over Aurelius University.

“Okay, it’s fine, we’re gonna figure this out,” Nick said, trying to convince himself. “Seeing anything?”

“It’s hard to say. Ever since the Gate fell apart, the magic around campus has changed dramatically. There’s a lot more of it, and it doesn’t move as predictably as it used to. Like I mentioned before, we’re exposed to energies from all sorts of planes, but that doesn’t mean we feel everything equally. Just like with the tides, planar energies have ebbs and flows to them. One day, we might see more energy from the Wilds, but another we might see more from the Depths.”

“So… you don’t know.”

“Hey, I didn’t say that. Magic doesn’t work on instant gratification, it takes time, research, and practice. Remember, it took me weeks to start to understand all the magic circles on campus, and those were manmade. The planar tides of the universe might need a bit longer, alright? Cool your tits.”

Nick continued pacing around the room, digging through Amara’s things to look for hints about her disappearance. It only took a few minutes for Tessa to speak up again.

“Alright, look. Magically, I’m not seeing anything that stands out, but like I said, a lot of this is new for me. If we’re assuming this is weird magic nonsense, which it might not be, I would have to start by charting everything I’m seeing. I left my magic notebook at home, though. Care to walk me back to my place?”

With a heavy sigh, Nick nodded. “Alright, fine. I’m sorry I’m so high strung, I just… Amara’s never done something like this before.” He pocketed Amara’s phone and keys before leaving the apartment with Tessa, locking the door behind them. They started walking across campus again, making their way back to Tessa’s.

“It’s been one day, Nick. Did you check the roof? Maybe she’s just stretching her wings,” Tessa said.

“No, she only does that at night. Plus, again, she doesn’t have her phone. If that’s not proof something is wrong, then I don’t know what is.” Nick was looking at Amara’s phone, furrowing his brow, and it looked like he was trying to remember Amara’s lock screen password. The phone itself looked like shit, and Tessa was shocked it still worked. When Amara had first discovered her fire powers, she’d called Nick in a panic, and the case had been severely warped in the heat. Somehow, the phone had survived, and there had simply been too much happening for Amara to get a replacement case.

Roughly halfway through their journey, shortly after crossing the quad, the two were approached by another student. She had very dark skin, thick curly hair, and a light jacket on to fight off the stiff autumn breeze. Tessa recognized her instantly, smiling and moving in for a hug. “Naomi! What’s up girl? How are finals going?”

“Hey Tess, I’m good! How about yourself?” Naomi said, hugging Tessa tight before stepping away.

“Eh, the usual. Finals week, eager to get this all over with. You finished with your tests for the day?”

“I am, actually. I’m hoping to take the afternoon to work on a school project of mine, so it’s pretty lucky I ran into you! Well, and your friend, of course. Nick, right? How are you?” Naomi held out her hand, clearly looking for a handshake. Nick quickly stuffed Amara’s phone in his pocket, then smiled and returned the introduction.

“Yeah, Nick. Nice to meet you, Naomi. You’re a friend of Tessa’s?” Nick asked.

With a sly smirk, Naomi looked back at Tessa. “We’ve… encountered each other a few times. Very memorable encounters, I’d say.”

Tessa laughed to herself before continuing. “You said you needed our help with something? We’re in a bit of a rush, but I’ll help if I can.”

“Right, of course, I’ll be quick. I’m actually putting together a project about cult mentality, and I wanted to pick your brains real quick. Can I record this?” Naomi said, pulling out her phone. After a brief, confused pause, Tessa nodded. “I’m trying to look into why people would join such an organization, what that process looks like, all that. I understand you were in Mr. Luxnor’s class; did you ever notice anything?”

Tessa hesitated for a moment, unaware that people were still looking into the cult. She’d hoped that, with the media blitz ending, everything would be swept under the rug, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

“Not really, no,” Tessa finally said. “He seemed pretty normal. Occasionally late to class, but otherwise a nice guy.”

Naomi nodded, jotting a couple notes down on her phone. “Mmmhm. And what about Brandon Nowak? Any interactions with him?”

“Yeah, that fucker was stalking me for a while.” Tessa scowled as she remembered that idiot’s face.

“Wait, he stalked you and Amara at the same time?” Naomi asked, her eyes wide with curiosity. Tessa wasn’t entirely sure how she knew about Amara, and was starting to grow suspicious.

“Um, no. He was obsessed with me for a bit, then I scared him off, and he latched onto Amara. The guy’s a freak.”

“Wow, you managed to shake a stalker? How’d you do that?”

“I pinned him to a wall and held a knife to his throat,” Tessa said. She wasn’t lying, of course, just conveniently leaving out everything that happened after.

“Ouch, well I’m glad that worked out for you. Shame you had to push back that hard,” Naomi said, gently squeezing Tessa’s arm. “Now, speaking of your friend Amara, did she know Mr. Luxnor at all? Even just a passing conversation with him?”

Trying to hide her panic, Tessa did her best to make up a convincing lie. “I think she… visited him once on my behalf. I have a bad habit of skipping class, so she swung by his office during open hours and grabbed some homework I missed.”

Naomi made a strange face, then typed a few more notes on her phone. “When did you first learn about the cult?”

After a quick look back at Nick, Tessa spoke up again. “Last week, same as everyone else.”

“That makes sense. It really came out of nowhere, didn’t it? Anyways, that’s everything I needed. I really appreciate all your help!” Naomi moved in for another hug before tucking her phone back in her pocket. “Oh, and Nick? You might want to get a new phone case. That fire damage probably isn’t good for the phone.”

“You mean this?” Nick said, pulling out Amara’s phone. “It’s not mine, it’s Amara’s. She’s… sick, and I offered to get it taken care of for her.”

“Oh no! I just saw her yesterday, and she seemed great. It’s not contagious, is it? Should I be worried?” Naomi asked, concern on her face.

“No, it’s nothing like that, it’s just… well, it’s personal.” Nick looked at Tessa briefly, clearly a little unnerved.

“Well give her my love, okay? No one deserves to be sick during finals week, I can’t imagine trying to make all those tests up… Anyways, you two have a good day, alright?” With a wave and a bounce in her step, Naomi walked away from Nick and Tessa.

Once she was suitably out of earshot, the two of them started walking again, and Tessa spoke up. “That was weird, right?”

“I mean, maybe? I was worried when she started asking about the cult, but she could easily be asking everyone across campus the same things. Plus, it’s not like it’s a secret that you were in Mr. Luxnor’s class. This could easily be nothing. You seemed to be pretty friendly with her, maybe you can use that to your advantage if she keeps pushing?”

“I mean, we’re casual friends, but mostly because we’ve hooked up a few times. Girl really knows how to use her tongue.” Tessa lost her train of thought, remembering the last time she’d slept with Naomi. When she caught herself daydreaming, she shook her head and continued talking. “Anyways, it’s not like we’re besties. If she wants to be a problem, I doubt I could do anything.”

After a few more seconds of silence, and another heavy sigh, Tessa spoke up again. “You know, I hate to say this… but I think Vee and Amara were right. I wanted them to just ignore everything, let nature take its course, but now it seems like having a cover story really was the better call.

“Should we talk with those three again?” Nick asked. “See if Naomi has talked to them?”

“But what if she figures out that we visited them? That’s super suspicious!” Tessa groaned, kicking the ground as she walked. “This is exactly why I hate conspiracies. It’s so hard to keep everyone on the same page.”

Tessa continued grumbling for the rest of the walk. When they finally made it home, she grabbed her magic journal, and started piecing together a plan of attack with Nick.