Suddenly A Succubus
Chapter 34.4

“Tess? Hey, Tess, wake up.”

“No… you wake up…” Tessa grumbled, turning over as she grabbed her pillow tight.

“I did, Tess. C’mon, we should get back to work, shouldn’t we? Amara and Vee can’t make it back without you.”

As her peaceful slumber continued to drift further away, Tessa began to return to her senses. She had fallen asleep in her clothes, apparently, and her bed was cold and hard. Her pillow felt strange, too; it was far too fluffy for her liking. And was that Nick speaking?

After a defeated sigh, Tessa opened her eyes. She was greeted by a large, blank wall, and she immediately remembered that she’d never left Lysander Hall.

Why the fuck is there a blanket over me? Whose pillow is this?

Tessa sat up, rubbing her eyes as she tried to avoid looking at the bright fluorescent lights above her. She appeared to be in a corner of the secret room, and if nothing else, the illusory wall was still up. Nick was kneeling next to her and had just pulled a hand away from her shoulder. “Nick? What’s going on?”

“You could barely keep your eyes open, and you fell asleep a few hours ago. Thankfully, I had a feeling this would happen, and the last time I got food, I also grabbed a spare blanket and pillow for you.”

“You let me fucking sleep?!” Tessa shouted. “Nick, I need to get this circle up and running! How am I supposed to get them back if I waste all my time sleeping?”

When Nick responded, he did so with unusual assertiveness. “Tess, you were literally falling asleep while hunched over the circle. Yes, you weren’t able to get as much work done, but if you’d stayed up, your work would have been sloppy and second-rate. I may not understand all these magic runes, but I’m an athlete and I know how to study. Without proper rest, you’re not going to be able to do shit, alright?”

Surprised at Nick’s sudden assertiveness, Tessa wasn’t entirely sure what to say. “Yeah, well… shut up.”

Ugh, fuck. Nick didn’t deserve that, he wants them home just as much as I do.

“Besides, I set some alarms, so we should be fine. I have no idea when Amara and Vee are going to be at the circle, but I’m hoping it’s around the same time. If you take down the wall, I should have plenty of time to get us some breakfast.” Nick paused briefly, then cut Tessa off just before she could speak up. “And some coffee. Don’t worry.”

Tessa wanted to hate how smug Nick was being, but the more she thought about it, he wasn’t even being smug. He was just putting his foot down to make sure that she ate food and got some sleep, which was hardly something to get upset about.

“Alright, fine. Let’s get this wall down, and then you’ve got half an hour. Just like normal.”

While Nick was busy getting breakfast, Tessa took advantage of his absence and re-checked all her work from last night. Loathe as she was to admit it, she found a few small errors that needed correcting. Thankfully, even while exhausted, her work was much cleaner than everything the cult had done, and she was able to correct everything quickly.

Why am I snapping at Nick? He’s just trying to help, and he’s been nothing but supportive this whole time. Ugh, I hate apologies. He’s probably going to want to hug or shit.

Once her previous work had been corrected, and Nick had returned with the food, Tessa ate as quickly as she could. The coffee was something to savor, as she needed the energy, but she wanted the food to get to work as soon as possible. After finishing, once she’d crumbled up her wrapper and thrown it in the corner, she reluctantly turned to Nick. “Hey, um… look, I’m sorry about earlier, okay? I just hate the thought of them being stuck there for even longer.”

With a soft smile, Nick placed a hand on her shoulder. “I get it. We’re in this together, remember, and for better or worse, I know you. You can’t work yourself to death, otherwise we’re never getting them back.”

Alright, well, that’s better than a hug.

Tessa didn’t bother responding, and instead crawled back to the edge of the circle. “Okay, I think I’m ready for another crack at this. It’s not perfect, but it’s definitely better. Even if they can’t cross over, we should at least have more time. You ready?”

Nick nodded, and Tessa began her work.

Her hands flat on the ground, her tattoos flaring, she started to focus on the circle. She watched her magic flow through all the different runes, observing how each one interacted with the circle as a whole, and she was happy with what she saw. Her alterations seemed to be taking, and after a minute of focus, she felt the circle stir to life.

This time, the process was much quicker. The flow of magic seemed healthier and more efficient, and she had a feeling that holding the connection wouldn’t be as strenuous as last time.

When Amara appeared in the middle of the circle, she came into focus almost immediately. She was sprawled out in the middle, her tail lazily flicking back and forth in the air. Vee was sitting next to her, leaning back on her hands, and the two girls seemed to be in the middle of a conversation. Whatever they’d been saying must not have been too important, however, as they stopped the instant the magic settled.

“Tess? That you again?” Amara asked.

Tessa pulled her hands off the ground, sighed in satisfaction and walked on the circle. “Yup!”

Vee spoke up next. “Oh, thank goodness. I feel like we’ve been waiting here for hours, there’s really no way to tell time in Purgatory.”

Looking around, Tessa couldn’t help but notice how calm Vee and Amara looked. Yesterday, when they’d briefly managed to talk, they had both seemed pretty exhausted and panicked. That had also been the first time they’d made contact since disappearing, so it might have simply been nerves.

“So, Tess, how does this work?” Nick asked, stepping closer.

“Yeah, like, do we have to do anything? I didn’t see Nick until he stepped onto the circle, which has me a little worried.” Amara was now on her feet, and even offered a hand to Vee to help her up as well.

“Okay, so, interplanar travel is weird. To make this bridge, I’m essentially merging the space on Earth and in Purgatory. As long as we’re in this circle, we’re in both planes at once, yet also neither. It’s not a traditional portal like the one the cult made; those have a habit of being unstable, and when they’re especially poorly made, they can even damage the fabric of reality itself. Unfortunately, while my option is less dangerous, it can be harder to figure out exactly how to choose which plane you want to end up in when the connection closes.”

“So… you don’t know,” Vee said.

“I don’t see you doing anything to get us home!” Tessa said, staring daggers at Vee.

Amara stepped forward, putting herself between Vee and Tessa. “Hey, Vee doesn’t deserve that. Her magic is what’s letting us survive over here, we all have a part to play, alright? Just let us know what our next step is, and we’ll take it from there.”

Okay, odd. Now Amara’s defending Vee? What on Earth happened over in Purgatory?

After awkwardly clearing her throat, Tessa looked around at everyone, then continued. “Right, um, well, first we need to see how strong the connection is.” Tessa stepped closer to Amara, then reached out for her shoulder. Thankfully, when she made contact, she met an appropriate amount of resistance. Amara’s body felt incredibly solid, and she was giving off just as much heat as Tessa normally expected.

After seeing this, Tessa swore the entire group sighed in relief. Nick was the first to move, jumping at Amara and hugging her tight, all with a goofy smile on his face. “Fuck, Amara, I’m so glad you’re okay. You too, Vee. We had no idea what to think when you both vanished. You don’t know why it happened, do you?”

Vee shook her head. “Nothing yet. Like I mentioned last time, there are some weird monsters skulking around campus, but we haven’t seen anything actually suspicious. Amara thinks we just got pulled in because we’re not human.”

“Yeah, what’s up with that? Ever since you mentioned those things yesterday, I’ve been trying to figure out what the hell would be living in Purgatory.”

“We don’t really know. They’re kinda like these big, vulturic, wyvern things that look like ghosts. Stark white, a little see through, with bits of wet flesh constantly falling off of them. Our current theory is that they’re some kind of native species that enforces the balance between life and death in Purgatory, so we’ve been calling them reapers. I don’t think the reason they’re around matters much, though. They were pretty aggressive for a day or two, and now they’re mostly just circling the quad. We saw a weird circle there, too, but with all the reapers, we haven’t been able to get in close and see what’s up.”

“Uuughh I hate magic sometimes,” Tessa groaned. “Alright, look, there’s a million things going on, but I can’t hold this connection forever. Amara, can you walk out of the circle? I want to see which plane you end up in.”

“Can do!”

After moving aside, Tessa watched as Amara moved to the edge of the circle. She took a nervous breath, then stepped forward and disappeared.

“Hm. Shit.” Tessa moved to the edge of the circle, examining the ground where Amara had just left.

“We’re still stuck here, aren’t we?” Vee asked.

“As much as I hate to say it… yeah, I think so. I was trying to align the circle so that it would— No, the specifics don’t matter. Look, I think I know how I can fix this, but I’m gonna need a bit more time. Do you think you two can make it through one more day?”

Vee and Amara looked at each other, and eventually the blonde girl spoke up. “Well, I still have more food, and my wards seem to be holding up pretty well. But, Amara…”

“No need to beat around the bush, Vee,” Amara said. “If I’m going to make it another day, I’m gonna need to feed. But, with the circle working like it is, that means it has to happen here and now. I don’t give a fuck about being watched, and Tess, I know you don’t either.”

“Sorry, I’ll have to sit this one out,” Tessa said. “The circle is pretty stable, but I still need to concentrate to keep it running smoothly. I can’t afford the distraction.”

One by one, all three girls looked over at Nick, whose eyes went wide. “Wait, me?”

Amara walked closer, wrapping her arms around Nick’s shoulders. “Sorry Nick, but our hands are tied. It can’t be Tessa, and it’s obviously not going to be Vee. C’mon, you’ve never been curious about exhibitionism? What about that time at the library when I—”

“O-okay, no need to share everything we’ve ever done, I get it.” Nick was blushing furiously, his eyes darting between Tessa and Vee. “I just, y’know, it’s a little weird. Can you all at least look away?”

Vee nodded quickly, pushing some of her hair behind an ear. “Not a problem for me.”

Amara looked at Tessa next, a pleading look on her face. Tessa rolled her eyes, sighed, then said, “Ugh, fine. I promise I won’t look.”

Nick swallowed nervously. “Thanks, both of you. I really appreciate it.” He barely had time to finish talking before Amara had grabbed his face and pushed her lips against his. Her tail wrapped around his leg, squeezing him tight before traveling higher. Her hands reached under his shirt, and she clearly wasn’t trying to hide her own moans of excitement.

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