"I'm pretty sure they believed me? At least, Charles and Helen seemed to believe me." Susan said before she had a sip of her coffee.

Amber looked uptight as she sighed, "Tracey's asked me like twelve times since last night about 'becoming a succubus'. She's already figured out that's what the rest of us are. Or at least, that's what she's guessing. Obviously I haven't confirmed anything."

I shook my head slowly then immediately regretted it. I'd never felt so hung-over before in my life. It was like a double-hangover because I knew Lily was feeling it too.

The two of us woke up in her apartment, she'd passed out on the sofa and I was sprawled across the big leather chair. We both had pounding headaches and nausea and we were both dehydrated. After I was awake I woke her up to check on her and to find out what happened because I had no idea. Lily told me what she could in the space of about two minutes then she rolled over and went back to sleep.

Last thing I remembered was being at Amber's house and having a really tasty drink as I sat quietly and listened to everybody else talk. According to Lily, my tasty drink was loaded with caffein and a lot more alcohol than I thought.

And now I knew what caffein did to demons. It messed with our natural defences.

Normally Lily was unaffected by anything I ate or drank. When we got roofied back at halloween it hit me but not her. But last night, having a huge dose of caffein mixed with a large hit of alcohol meant Lily basically got drunk for the first time in eight thousand years. And being part-demon myself the caffein messed with me too, so the alcohol hit me even harder than usual.

The funny thing was it felt oddly validating in a way. Like yes of course I was affected by the stuff that's toxic to demons, because I was part demon myself. At least that was the one positive thing I could hold onto while the rest of me felt like crap.

So Lily and I were both suffering with alcohol hangovers as well as caffein hangovers. Now I was out in the body, feeling like death and sipping a glass of water. It was Saturday morning and we were all back at our apartment.

Melissa and Susan stuffed me and Lily into a cab at some point last night and got us home, then this morning Amber's dad dropped her off here so she could check on me. I was slumped on the recliner with a blanket wrapped around me and doing my best not to move more than absolutely necessary, while my three girlfriends sat across from me on the sofa.

"I'm so sorry Amber," I said softly. "I screwed up the big family dinner thing and probably messed everything up for you and Susan."

She shook her head, "It's not your fault Mara. You didn't know there was caffein in the drinks. And I should have warned you my dad gets kind of heavy-handed when he mixes them."

Melissa was quiet so far, just watching and listening as she sipped her coffee. Now she gave me a wry smile and said, "Maybe just don't accept mixed drinks from guys ever again? Seems to me you're two-for-two on getting knocked on your ass when you do that Mara."

I pouted, "I don't think Mr. Dubois was trying to roofie me."

"I know," my best friend replied. "Sorry Mara, I couldn't resist. But you definitely need to be more careful. Like if you don't know what you're offered, ask. You're going to have to think of it like a food allergy or something."

"I'm usually careful," I grumbled. "It's just this one time."

I had another sip of water then asked Susan, "So what did you tell them?"

"Melissa told them you weren't allowed to have caffein," Sue replied. "Mrs. Dubois wanted to call an ambulance but I told her it wasn't like a life-threatening allergy, but that you had a sensitivity to it and just needed to sleep it off and get it out of your system."

She continued, "As for the stuff Lily was going on about, like Pompeii and thinking Mr. Dubois was some Roman guy from two thousand years ago? I claimed that was part of a play you'd been working on in drama class. As for the horns and tail, I had to admit that was magic. I told them it was a spell you learned last October, it was a magic-powered costume you did for halloween."

Amber added, "I'm pretty sure they all bought the stuff about the play? Like none of them think you're really two thousand years old. But the horns and tail... I'm not sure they bought Susan's story about that. Mom and dad might be going along with it to avoid thinking too hard about the alternatives? But Lily offered to make Tracey into a succubus last night and I think Tracey knows, or at least suspects, there's something demonic going on."

"I'm sorry," I apologized again.

Amber shook her head, "It's ok Mara, I don't think anyone's blaming you. It's just... It was strange and unfortunate."

Melissa asked her, "How serious do you think Tracey is about wanting to be a succubus? Like can you convince her to drop it or forget about it?"

"I don't know," the cute brunette sighed. "She still goes on about the magic Sue demonstrated that one time? Like she's really interested in it. I'm worried that she's going to decide being a succubus is the way Susan got that magic, and she's going to keep bugging me and Sue and Mara until she gets what she wants. Or at least until she gets answers."

Sue grimaced, "Maybe when Mara and Lily are feeling better we can have a private conversation with Tracey and sort of steer her away from that idea somehow."

I had some more water then pointed out, "Letting Tracey meet Lily might just result in her becoming part-succubus you know? I'm not saying Lily would, just saying that's a possible outcome."

Amber grimaced, "I'd rather not have Lily do anything to scare Tracey away? I mean, apart from being nosy and occasionally annoying she's still my sister. I might have to tell her the truth though. Maybe I could try and make it sound bad though? Like downplay the positives and exaggerate the downsides."

"There's downsides?" Melissa asked. "Really?"

We all knew she was teasing but none of us took the bait. I was still feeling way too fragile and both Susan and Amber knew the subject was too serious.

"Ok you're not allowed to talk to Tracey anymore," Sue told Melissa. Then she looked to Amber and added, "If you need help talking with your sister let me know. I'll do what I can."

"Thanks Susan," Amber smiled. Then she sighed, "Now I have to get going, or I'll be late for work. Call or text or something, let me know how Mara's doing."

Amber gave me a gentle hug and said bye to Melissa and Susan, then she headed out.

After the cute brunette was gone Sue turned her attention back to me and asked, "How are you feeling Mara? Any better?"

I made a face and slowly shook my head, "Not really. The only reason I'm not still in bed is the spinning was making me nauseous."

That earned me some sympathetic looks. Melissa asked, "Do you know if Lily's feeling any better?"

"She's still asleep," I replied.

"Keep drinking the water," Susan suggested. "I think the best thing you can do is try and flush the stuff out of your system. If you could manage it, I'd even suggest you eat something. You didn't have dinner last night, and some food might help get your metabolism going so it can break down any remaining caffein that's still floating around in there."

I really didn't feel like it, but I let Susan make me some plain toast while I kept sipping the water. And it seemed to help, after another hour or two it felt like I was starting to come back to life again. By dinner time I felt well enough to go back to bed which wasn't exactly a monumental achievement. Melissa and Susan tucked me in though which was nice.

When I woke up Sunday morning I felt a hundred times better. I was the first one up, Susan and Melissa were both still asleep as I slipped out of bed and snuck out of the bedroom.

In a way it reminded me of those mornings when I woke up after Lily fed, except I didn't have that bouncy giddy energy and I wasn't inclined to start dancing naked around the apartment this time. Mostly I just felt alive again, which was a welcome change after the previous twenty-four hours.

As I got myself some juice I asked softly, "Lily? Are you awake? Are you feeling ok?"

"Yes Mara," she replied. She sounded sleepy but she sounded good. A lot better than she did yesterday anyways. "I'm much better now thank you, and I'm glad you're feeling well again too."

After a gulp of juice I asked, "Did it just wear off on its own? Or did you use magic to help fix us up?"

Lily hesitated before answering, "I went out and fed last night. I found something especially wholesome, to help drive the last of the toxins from our body and restore our health."

That left me quiet for a few moments as I thought about it. Considering she preferred the souls of nasty people, I had a feeling 'wholesome' for Lily probably meant somebody especially vile. I knew she'd tell me if I asked for details, but I decided that I really didn't need to know.

Instead I responded, "Well I'm glad it worked, and I'm glad you're feeling better today."

"Thank you Mara," Lily replied.

She and I talked for a few more minutes about what happened on Friday night, before she finally said "I'm still a bit tired Mara, I think I shall have a nap now."

"Ok Lily have a good rest," I said with a smile. It was like after thanksgiving with her, she had a big meal now she was sleepy and needed a nap.

I felt her presence fade slightly as she returned to sleep, while I got the coffee machine started. Then I sat down on the sofa with the rest of my juice and waited for my girlfriends to wake up.

Less than fifteen minutes later the two of them were up and fixing their morning beverages, before they joined me on the sofa.

"I'm glad you're feeling better now," Susan said as she and Melissa sat on either side of me on the sofa sipping coffee.

I had a gulp of juice then grimaced, "Me too. Getting caffein poisoning and alcohol overdosed was not the way I wanted to start our spring break!"

Melissa asked, "Lily's ok now too right?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "We're both feeling a lot better today. She asked me to apologize on her behalf for her behaviour Friday night. I'll pass that on to Amber too next time I see her."

"No more vodka and Red Bull from now on, right?" Melissa asked with a smirk.

I groaned, "Never again! Lily said she didn't know caffein came in 'clear' drinks? I think because she was used to seeing it in cola and coffee and stuff, she thought it only came in brown drinks. Otherwise she'd have realized a lot quicker what was happening."

"Aw," Susan smiled. "Poor Lily. I'm sure that wasn't a fun experience for her."

"It wasn't fun for me either," I grumbled, and I was immediately rewarded by both of them hugging me between them.

After the hugs I finished my juice, then asked Sue "Did you and Amber get stuff sorted out with her little sister?"

The curvaceous redhead grimaced, "Yeah. I ended up borrowing Melissa's car last night, I picked up Amber when she was done work then we picked up Tracey and went out to a coffee shop. We ended up having a long conversation in the car. We had to tell her more than I'd have liked, but in the end I think we persuaded her to drop the subject."

"How?" I asked. "What did you tell her?"

"Some of it was the truth," Sue replied. "Tracey knows we're part-succubus. Like Amber suggested yesterday, we downplayed advantages and exaggerated downsides. And we told her a few blatant lies, like we said you had to be at least twenty to be involved in this stuff due to ancient demonic rules. It was enough to convince her to let it go, for now at least. And she promised to keep everything secret."

I frowned, "I don't turn twenty till May. And Melissa's not twenty till next November."

Sue shrugged, "Like I said, there were some blatant lies. Hopefully Tracey won't catch on about that part."

"I'm still not sure what these downsides are you keep going on about," Melissa commented with a grin.

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