Chapter 66.5

In time, everything returned to normal. Nick changed into a spare set of clothes, Amara returned to her normal size, cleaned herself up with a splash of hellfire, and the two had a slightly embarrassing phone call with Vee. With her magic, the mess in the Gymnastics Building vanished within seconds, and she was also able to fix other small spots of damage resulting from the frenetic training session between a demon and a werewolf.

The three of them fell into their usual rhythm, talking about their day and sharing the results of Nick’s long overdue lycanthropic practice. When they parted ways to return home, they did so in high spirits.

Walking back into her apartment, Amara looked around with a smile. She was incredibly pleased with how much progress Nick had made, but after such an intensive training session, she was looking forward to a quiet night at home. Vee’s favorite blanket lay crumpled in a corner of the couch, taunting her with thoughts of sleepy cuddles and network television. Her own backpack was slumped next to the closet, a frustrating reminder of all the homework left to finish before Monday. Hoping to avoid thinking about classes, her gaze briefly lingered on the fireproof floor mat in front of the door, and she remembered what tonight was.

Bursting with anticipation, Amara started dinner. She chatted with Vee about her day, asked how Chloé was, and shared her own thoughts about Nick’s progress. As they talked, Amara put on a pot of rice, chopped a handful of vegetables, and slowly preheated two frying pans. While each pan was for the same combination of chicken and vegetables, the different portions would be receiving dramatically different amounts of spice.

Minutes before dinner was ready, at seven o’clock on the dot, a small pulse of planar magic washed over the apartment. In the past only Amara had been able to sense these disturbances, but Vee’s magic was now strong enough to detect them as well. They both turned to the entryway, their eyes locked on the space above the fireproof mat, and watched as a ball of fire materialized from thin air. It billowed out in excitement, repeatedly doubling in size until it was roughly six feet tall. With a final pulse of infernal heat, the flames parted to reveal the presence of a single person. She appeared to be a slightly older woman, though her appearance held no indication of her true age. Deep, amber eyes complimented her rich sienna skin, and her long auburn hair showed streaks of gray. A kind smile appeared on her face as the fires receded entirely, at which point a long, crimson tail snaked into view. It flicked back and forth in excitement as Amara ran closer without a single trace of hesitation.

“Hi Mom!” Amara shouted with glee, pulling her mother into a massive hug. Their tails twisted together, and they sank into each other’s embraces with all the love of a family that hadn’t seen each other in years.

Of course, it had only been a few months since Evelyn Lamour had last seen her daughter. With her status as a demon now an open secret, she no longer had to pretend that visiting Aurelius required many hours of driving. Instead, the two made plans to eat dinner together roughly once every week or two. This had been briefly disrupted over the last month as Amara and Vee had taken an impromptu trip to another plane, but thankfully things were now back to normal.

“There’s my plane-hopping little girl!” Evelyn said, humming with delight. “How was The Wilds? I’ve never spent more than a few hours there, but I’ve always held a soft spot for it.”

“It was nuts, Mom!” Amara said excitedly. “We saw a bunch of crazy plants and I had to become human for a bit and then we got attacked by A DRAGON and then I briefly lost my name to a fae but don’t worry I got it back and now everything is mostly okay again!”

“That’s… goodness, a lot to take in,” Evelyn muttered. Before digging into the details, she turned her attention to Vee and raised her hands as an invitation for a hug.

“Hi Miss Lamour,” Vee said, happily stepping closer and accepting the invite. “I sadly got separated from Amara for most of the return trip, but I did happen to run into a mutual friend of ours in the process. I’m sure he and his daughter would want me to extend a fond hello on their behalf.”

“You met them?!” Evelyn gasped. “Oh, there’s so much to catch up on!”

“Okay, but first! Dinner!” Amara ran back to the kitchen and quickly dished out three bowls of food. She then summoned a small, elegant dining room table in the middle of the living room, followed by a series of illusory chairs for them all. “Tonight I made spicy rice bowls with peppers, chicken, onion, all sorts of stuff really. Vee, I made sure to give you a reasonable amount of spices. For you and me, Mom, I quadrupled the serving so that we can actually taste it!”

With dinner served, the three of them happily dug in. They spent hours recounting their adventure in The Wilds, sharing stories of all the strange things they witnessed while trekking through the otherworldly jungle. They talked about Nick’s lycanthropy, about the magic required to fuel the cure, and how it had been lost at the last second. Vee recounted her time with Zadkiel the Archangel and his daughter Hope—making sure not to use their names directly—before eventually showing off the true majesty of her new wings. By the time they finished most of their exciting stories, the sun had long ago set and all three of them were relaxing on the couch together.

“—and I always thought that my powers came from a constant connection to my Patron, but he explained that’s not the case in the slightest. I have my own Miracle, but because it’s partially walled off, I still get to experience life the way other mortals do,” Vee said, hugging Amara’s arm close as they cuddled next to each other.

“Didn’t you see a bunch of visions or something?” Amara asked, recalling conversations they’d had earlier in the week.

“Well, yeah, but they were incredibly vague. Maybe they’re important, maybe not, it’s hard to say.”

Evelyn chuckled quietly. “I must say, for all the downsides of being a demon, I’m certainly glad I don’t perceive time the way archangels do. I can’t imagine it’s fun to live suspended outside of the past, present, and future.” A brief silence fell between them before Evelyn spoke up again. “What happened afterwards? Did you have to welcome more people into that AV Club of yours? I can’t imagine it was easy to hide an angel manifesting her wings for the first time.”

Vee groaned, rolling her eyes before resting her head on Amara’s shoulder. “Ugh, I still can’t believe her…”

“Did something happen?” Evelyn asked. “I don’t mean to pry if it’s uncomfortable.”

“It’s nothing like that,” Amara said, kissing Vee’s forehead. “We worked together with the Dean to come up with a cover story, and he released a statement to clarify what happened. The official story is that an anonymous wealthy benefactor donated a crazy amount of money to restore the D’Ambray Bell Tower. It was supposed to be a surprise, but there was an equipment malfunction that night. A series of work lights overloaded, which explains the flash of light, and the same malfunction also set the bell off.”

“I still wish we had a better explanation,” Vee muttered.

“Anyways,” Amara started, “one of the students in the AV Club works at the school newspaper. She hates covering up the truth, but knows it’s better than, like, the government finding us out or whatever. That didn’t stop her from writing an article about the whole incident and titling it ‘Miracle at D’Ambray Chapel.’”

“She was supposed to use the headline we all agreed on, but she swapped it out at the last second!”

Evelyn tried and failed to stifle a laugh. “I’ve had many close calls with journalists myself. I’m sorry you have to put up with her, but at least you have someone on the inside.”

“Do you know what the worst part is?” Vee said, raising her voice. “That title is amazing!”

Amara hugged Vee closer, also unable to hold back an affectionate laugh. “Do you want to print out a copy of the article and frame it?”

“No!” Vee protested. “...maybe. Shut up.”

“At the end of the day, there are infinitely more damaging things she could have written,” Evelyn said. “I’m just happy that everything turned out okay. Well, mostly okay. My heart breaks for poor Nicholas, I can’t imagine this is easy for him. I still remember when you two were kids; he was always the most mild-mannered boy in your class.”

“I don’t think he’ll ever fall in love with his new form the way I did, but… I dunno, I’m hopeful he’ll at least find parts of it to enjoy.” Amara paused for a moment, thinking back to conversations she’d had with Tessa about their month away. “Apparently the lycanthropy took a pretty nasty toll on his mood. I don’t blame him for not instantly bouncing back.”

“I think he’ll be alright. He’s got amazing friends, after all.” Evelyn smiled, briefly squeezing her tail around Amara’s. “I can’t say I miss all the excitement of that life. My week was positively comatose in comparison.”

Vee chipped in next. “If it’s alright, I was actually hoping to ask about your job, Miss La—Sorry, Evelyn. You’re a defense attorney, right?”

“In so many words, yes.”

After hesitating for a moment, Vee continued. “Now, if you don’t want to elaborate, that’s okay, but I’m curious. To my knowledge, you use your position to find, um… people to feed on.”

Evelyn briefly diverted her eyes as she clasped her hands across her lap. “That is correct. Unlike Amara, I can’t sustain myself on arousal alone. Without souls to sustain myself, I slowly wither away. Much like my daughter, that hunger can eventually force my hand if I’m not careful. It’s not fun, but I’m constantly threading the needle between feeding enough to stay myself, yet not waiting too long that I revert to my more aggressive instincts.”

Tense silence filled the room. Amara, sitting next to Vee on the couch, gently squeezed her love’s hand as gentle encouragement. Vee looked at Amara, a soft smile serving as a silent thank you, then continued. “How do you choose? How do you know when it’s right to intervene?”

A flash of recognition appeared in Evelyn’s ancient eyes. “My top priority is staying hidden, Vee. I’m not choosing the worst of the worst; such people often hold positions of power, and targeting them would draw too much attention. I only feed off people that have already been condemned to life in prison. People who I know, in my heart, hold no sorrow for their actions and have no chance for redemption. Removing their souls often has little to no effect on their personalities, as they were already rotten to the core.”

Vee nodded slowly, partially lost in her own thoughts. “No one notices if someone in prison suddenly gets a little bit worse.”

“I’m not doing it to make the world a better place, Vee,” Evelyn said, her voice soft with compassion. “Yes, some part of me recognizes that these people deserve punishment, but that’s secondary to the point. Above all else, secrecy is what keeps me alive. It’s what protects us, and our families, from all manner of bad actors.”

“You sound just like our friend from The Wilds,” Vee said. “Stressing how important it was to stay hidden so that the forces of Heaven could not enact their divine wrath.”

“Man, I wish I could’ve met them,” Amara muttered, hoping to steer the topic away from Vee’s existential concerns. “Like, I’m sure he’s a blast, but his daughter? She sounds so cool!” Amara looked at her mother. “Are you sure there’s nothing we can do to visit at some point?”

Evelyn shook her head. “That’s not my call to make, dear. You know that.”

“Ugh, I know, I know…” Amara griped, resting her head against Vee’s. “I just get where she’s coming from. Only having herself and her dad, no family or friends to speak of outside of that. I’ll bet it gets really lonely.”

“You have both of those, love!” Evelyn protested, a hint of mockery and playfulness in her voice. “You’re surrounded by friends who love you, and your mother is sitting right here!”

Amara’s face flushed with embarrassment. “Shit, that’s not what I— I didn’t mean it like that! I have all these wonderful friends, and I have the best mom in the world, but… c’mon, you know what I mean. It’s always just been the two of us. I love you more than anything, Mom, but I don’t have any family outside of that. No cousins, no aunts or uncles, no grandparents to spend weekends and holidays with, nothing like that. Sometimes, when I was younger, I would see Nick’s giant family and get kinda jealous.”

She hadn’t expected distant memories of her childhood to resurface, but thinking of Hope and Zadkiel alone in that cabin brought out countless memories from her youth. How many holidays had she spent alone with her mother? How many birthdays, Thanksgivings, and Christmases had she gone to bed wishing for more people to share her life with?

“In hindsight, it all makes sense,” she muttered. “But I didn’t know anything when I was a kid. All I saw was the empty house, the quiet holidays, and I’d spend hours awake at night pretending I had a sister or something.”

It took longer than expected for Amara to bounce back from her trip down memory lane. When she finally did so, she looked up and saw an unusual look on Evelyn's face. She was sad, but there were complicated layers beneath her expression that Amara couldn’t entirely make out. Tears threatened to form in the corners of her eyes, and she seemed to be holding something back.

“Shit, I’m sorry, Mom. I didn’t mean to upset you,” Amara said, shifting to the loveseat beside her mom before pulling her into a hug.

Quickly wiping her eyes on her shirt, Evelyn masked her expression incredibly quickly. “No, it’s perfectly alright, love. I always knew the life I built for you wasn’t perfect.”

Vee, ever the mediator, stepped up to try and resolve the situation. “Well, if we’ve learned anything from the last few months, it’s how important it is to stay connected, right? We’re together now, and I couldn’t be happier about that.”

Nodding in agreement, Amara happily switched to lighter topics of conversation for the rest of the night. It wasn’t long before the late hour beckoned Amara and Vee to turn in for the night, and the two of them bid fond farewell to Evelyn. Once the elder demon vanished in her usual pillar of flames, the exhaustion of Amara’s chaotic day finally caught up to her. Between the incredible morning flight with Vee, the intense training session with Nick, and the unexpectedly bittersweet conversations about family, she was eager for a good night’s rest.