The cafe in question was a little independent place. Unlike the big chain coffee joints, this place was quiet and cosy. And they had a liquor license, so it was a slightly different sort of atmosphere than the big chains. It was already dark outside when I arrived, and the cafe was kind of dark inside too.

Still, it only took a second to spot Susan sitting by herself at the back corner. The seating here was kind of random, but she'd snagged one of the best tables. There were three large cosy armchairs positioned around a small low table.

She saw me and waved as I stood just inside the door. I waved back, then went over to the counter to get something to drink.

A minute or two later I had a bottle of overpriced spring water in hand as I finally made my way to the back. I took off my coat and set it over the back of one of the big comfy chairs, then I sat down and looked at her.

"Hi Susan," I said quietly. "I wasn't expecting to hear from you. What's up?"

Sue was cradling a big mug of Irish coffee in her hands, though it was about half empty now. She looked a little anxious or uneasy, and maybe a bit embarrassed too.

She sighed, "Mara I owe you an apology."

"You do?" I asked as I opened my water. "Why?"

"Because of how I acted," she replied softly. "I know you weren't trying to break up with me, I know you were trying your best to navigate a difficult situation. And you warned me up-front that you're not very good at that sort of thing. And I still over-reacted."

She paused for a deep sip of her drink, and I had some water.

Susan continued speaking in a quiet voice as she explained, "I have abandonment issues. And as soon as it seemed like you were having doubts or second thoughts I just sort of panicked and preemptively dumped you, before you could do it to me. I know that wasn't even what you were doing? It's..."

She sighed. "I'm not trying to make excuses. It's a problem and I know I do it and I still can't help myself. Anyways, I'm trying to apologize, ok? I'm sorry Mara."

I sat quietly through it all, and had another sip of water. I really had no idea what I was supposed to say to all of that. Like she didn't say anything about us getting back together. So far it just sounded like she wanted to apologize and get that off her chest.

I finally nodded, "Ok. Thanks for explaining Susan. I understand, and uh, no hard feelings I guess?"

Whatever she was hoping to hear, I got the feeling from her expression I said the wrong thing. Or didn't say the right thing. She looked a little disappointed, and had another deep sip of her coffee.

After a few moments she asked, "So uh, how are things going with your roommate?"

"She's ok I guess," I replied. "I've been spending time with her, trying to help her through some issues. We were about to start a little living-room movie-night when you texted."

Susan sighed, "Crap. I'm sorry I interrupted that. You didn't have to dump her and come running to see me you know? You could have just texted to say you were busy."

I shrugged, "That's what I was going to do actually. She's the one who told me to come see you."

Sue blushed, "Oh..."

We both had some more to drink, then she finally asked "You were trying to tell me before what was going on with her and you? You said there was some magical supernatural stuff. And uh, demons? Is that still happening?"

"Yeah," I nodded, "But I can't really discuss it here."

I hesitated, then asked "Look if you really want to know more, how about you come back to my place? We can talk about it there. I just have to text Melissa and make sure it's ok with her."

Susan smiled, "Ok Mara. Thank you."

I exchanged a couple quick texts with my best friend, then let Sue know "She says it's fine."

A half hour later we were back at the apartment. Susan and Melissa had never met before, so I did the introductions. It was kind of funny watching them both check each other out. Like me, Sue was in jeans and a t-shirt, while my best friend was just wearing leggings and an oversized top. Still, Melissa looked amazing no matter what she had on. And I thought Sue was pretty hot too.

I got drinks for everyone, Melissa and Sue had vodka coolers while I just got another bottle of water for myself. Then the three of us sat together on the sofa. I wound up in the middle, with Melissa on my left and Susan on my right.

"So ok," I said to Susan, "I'm going to give you the short condensed version of my part of the story. As usual it's secret, so please don't tell anyone."

Sue had a sip of her drink and nodded, "Ok, I'm listening."

I took a deep breath then gave her the info-dump.

"Back in June I was run over by an SUV and killed. I was reincarnated by a friendly demon and made a pact with her, now the two of us share this body. It's usually me here while she's like a voice in my head, but sometimes she takes over and I'm like a voice in her head. She's powerful, she has magic, and me and her are bound together for life."

Susan blinked a few times as that sort of sank in. She had a deep gulp of her drink then said "Ok... So you're bound to a demon. That explains the horns and the tail. And I guess it sort of explains how your 'magical friend' can do stuff to you wherever you are, since she's always with you."

"Yeah," I nodded. "She's always connected, but she's not always watching or listening. I think. There's times she hides or naps or whatever."

"So you made a deal with her so she'd bring you back to life?" she asked. "That's what you got out of it? And what's she get? Your soul?"

"No," I replied. "She doesn't get my soul, and the deal wasn't just about bringing me back to life. She didn't just pop me back to life in my old body. She created this new body for me, and I had to convince my mom and Melissa it was really me and everything? That wasn't easy since I was uh... I'm trans, everyone thought I was a guy up till that point, even me. So like, I was a guy, I got killed, reincarnated, brought back to life as a girl, instant-transition, that sort of thing?"

Susan's eyes widened as that sank in. She stayed quiet for now as she considered all that.

I turned and looked at Melissa, "You don't have to say anything if you don't want. We came back here so I could tell Susan the stuff I couldn't say out in public, but I'm not going to tell her any secrets that involve you."

Melissa was sitting at an angle so she could watch both me and Sue. She had a thoughtful look on her face, then had a few gulps of her drink. Finally she shrugged, "It's ok Mara. I'll tell her about me."

She addressed Susan and added, "Same deal though, this is secret and please don't go telling people ok?"

Sue nodded "Of course."

Melissa then gave her own short-form story. "So I believed Mara was a guy when she died, then she came back as this hot little brunette? I found out about the demon and the pact and all that. It freaked me out of course, but the thing is I'm trans too? And the whole instant-transition thing was too good a deal to pass up. So I made my own deal with her demon friend, and got my own miracle. There was a price though. She made me part-succubus... So I uh, gather energy from people I sleep with, and transfer it back to our demon friend."

Susan was staring at both of us now with wide eyes. She drained the rest of her cooler in a couple deep gulps, then slowly said "Ok so you're bonded with a demon who shares your body... And you're part-succubus..."

She looked back at me again, "And what's the part where you two have to be in a relationship or something? The reason you wanted me and you to slow down?"

Melissa and I looked at each other, then she answered. "Because of how I 'function', if I had one regular partner I'd wind up killing them. If I sleep with the same person all the time I'll drain them completely. Except Mara. Since she and our demon friend share her body, I can't drain Mara. It's the opposite actually. I have to sleep with her to transfer what I've collected from other people back to the demon."

She sighed as she explained, "Mara didn't know any of this at first. And I kept telling her I didn't want to be girlfriends with her, because I knew I'd have to keep cheating on her? But it was getting to me, I thought I'd have to be alone forever. Like I had to have meaningless sex all the time but I could never have a real relationship. Then Mara found out about all this, and of course she wanted to help and look after me."

I added, "Me and Melissa have been best friends for like six years? She's been with me through life and death. She helped me figure out I was trans and everything. And now we're basically bound to each other for life, through our demon friend. We have to be together forever regardless, so I figured it just made sense for us to be closer. Like the whole romantic and emotional bond or whatever? That stuff."

Susan was still quiet, and I couldn't decipher her expression as she looked back and forth between me and Melissa. She didn't look shocked or horrified or disgusted. She looked surprised, and curious, and there was something else in her expression I couldn't really place.

Melissa was quiet too, she finished her drink then got up and went to the kitchen. She returned a few moments later with two more vodka coolers, and handed one to Susan then sat back down next to me.

As the silence continued I started to get anxious again. I couldn't help wonder what Susan thought of the two of us, like if she thought we were crazy, or if she was going to freak out about us doing deals with a demon or whatever. Though she actually didn't seem to mind when I had the horns and tail. If anything she seemed kind of into that, so maybe she wasn't that worried about demons in general.

Sue finally thanked Melissa for the second drink, and had a deep sip of it. Then she asked "So you two are basically family? You're bound to each other for life? Like no matter what happens, you're together."

I nodded, "Uh, yeah? It's not like we're married or whatever, but as far as I know we'll be together forever. Like, I'm bound to our demon friend for life. If we got separated I'd die, so however you look at it me and Lily are permanently together. And Melissa's permanently bound to Lily as well, sleeping with people and gathering energy for her. Which she delivers to Lily, by sleeping with me."

Susan still had that strange look on her face, as she asked "So what kinds of things can your demon friend do? I mean, with her magic?"

I glanced at Melissa then looked back at Susan. "Why? What are you thinking about, Susan?"

She didn't answer right away, but I suddenly got a worrying thought and asked, "You're not thinking of making some kind of deal with Lily are you? After everything we just said?"

Sue remained quiet, but she still had that look I couldn't quite place. Then it struck me. It was almost like longing, or it might have been envy.

Lily suddenly spoke up, "Mara, I think Susan would like to speak with me. I'm going to take over for a moment, ok?"

I frowned but sighed, "Susan don't be alarmed ok? Lily is going to take over so you can speak with her directly."

The redhead's eyes widened again but she nodded "Ok?"

She was watching me closely, and I expected to be pulled into the back seat while Lily took over. I didn't expect the whole 'falling backwards into deep sleep' thing that actually happened.

As everything went dark and quiet my last thought was that Lily obviously wanted it to be a private conversation.

PurpleCatGirl

Can't wait to find out what happens next? Join our Patreon and get immediate access to the next chapter and more! Patrons have already read up to chapter 28 and you could too!
https://www.patreon.com/purplecatgirl