By Mara’s choice, we all temporarily pulled back attempting to take her home. Connie’s words had been sobering to all of us, not to mention the fact that I was still making sense of the new pseudo-magic I found in my possession. Jumping right into another dangerous endeavor felt like a little much for the day after finally getting Mara out of hell, as sad as we all knew the waiting made her. I did what I could to be her cheerleader, always reminding her that I hadn’t forgotten about finding a way to get her the reunion I had promised her. It helped, I think, even if only a little.

For the next few days, all of us tried to focus on enjoying what we’d found in each other. My blossoming relationship with Marcus and Connie had opened up new levels of honesty between the three of us, and I felt more confident than ever that I wanted to be by their side as long as they’d have me. That prospect was only made brighter by the fact that Mara had endeared herself to everyone by doing exactly what she did best; being herself. My brazen, tactless, selfless, beautiful familiar brought new life to every room she was in, and it made me happy beyond words. The apartment was filled with the sounds of Connie and Mara playfully snipping back and forth at each other, of Marcus and Connie planning how to retrofit the space to make room for us all, and Mara and Marcus bouncing the most inane jokes off each other.

Was this what home was supposed to feel like?

The home that I had known growing up had been a place of tension and unease. When I opened my front door, there was no telling what kind of confrontation might be on the other side. My ears pricked up at every dish in the sink, every footfall in the hallway, always anticipating something more behind each noise and motion. Letting my guard down wasn’t a luxury I could ever afford myself, at least not with what I knew I had to hide. God was inside me observing everything I thought and felt, knowing my heart and mind. My family was around me, commenting on everything I did and reminding me who it was I had a responsibility to be. How was I supposed to know how much stress I was constantly under until somebody took it away from me?

Sinking into the comfort of living with my partners made time feel kind of immaterial. I think all of us were surprised when we realized two weeks had come and gone with shockingly little fanfare. Even as I indulged myself in the peace and warmth of my new life, I never let the puzzle of Mara’s trip home fully leave my mind. I turned the shapes over in my head as I lay tangled in a mass of bodies on the couch, hoping for some new angle I hadn’t pictured before. I was supposed to be good at this stuff. My familiar was counting on me. What I had now was incredible, but how was I supposed to enjoy it while Mara was still waiting to go home?

I could feel the pressure slowly starting to get to me, and I had a sneaking suspicion Marcus felt it too. I could sense it in the way I kept catching him looking at me out of the corner of my eye, or how he seemed to check on me way more than he usually did. When he finally piled us all into the car to head for breakfast at Mills’ Diner, there was too much build-up for it to come as any sort of surprise. The boy was as predictable as he was unfailingly sweet.

Mills’ was one of my handful of comfort spots, but it was one I usually went to alone. Sure, every time I went I came back all smiles and glowing reviews, but it was still a spot I was used to being mine. I think that probably would have mattered to me a lot more before the events of the last few weeks. As I sat in the front seat next to Marcus watching the winding back-roads roll endlessly underneath me, all I could think of now was how excited I was to share the place with my people.

The weather was nice enough that I was able to roll down my window and let the brisk fall air remind me of where I was. The leaves were beginning to turn colors, painting my familiar route in ruddy orange hues and filling the world with the sensation of change. I smiled to myself even as my hair twisted and tangled in the wind, more of it lodging itself in my mouth with every passing second. I giggled and snagged a scrunchie out of the dash, messily pulling my hair into my best impression of a bun; it wasn’t pretty, but at least I wasn’t eating it. If what Marcus wanted was to get my mind off of things, it was working. A couple of weeks ago, I believed I’d never see the town like this again.

I had never been so happy to be proven wrong.

My tail bumped against Mara’s leg with excitement as we approached the parking lot. Watching the diner’s sign come into view felt like greeting an old friend I hadn’t seen in ages, even if it had only been a couple of weeks. My little booth in this place had been my safe haven while I was collecting the pieces of my master plan, and it felt good to visit without an ulterior motive. I was here for the food, the coffee and for the people in this car, and for once I didn’t have to worry about anything else. I was already unbuckling my seatbelt when I heard Mara’s voice from behind me.

“So, how are we playing this?” Mara leaned her head forward through the gap between me and Marcus for a better view. “Are we just rolling up with one dude and three demons?”

“How are we…” My grip loosened on the door handle. I was a demon. How could I have forgotten that, among everything else, I was a demon now? Unlike Connie, I was pretty sure Mara and I couldn’t disguise ourselves as human. No innate magic meant no constant, low level energy to exert to keep Constance’s glamour spell running. One way or another, my familiar and I were most likely walking in there with our tails and wings out. It wasn’t like demons were a particularly uncommon sight so long as they were with their summoners, but we stood out like a sore thumb. As it was, we were staring down the barrel of a single human guy and three demons of various flavors.

“Connie’s got the human thing down, so don’t sweat it.” Marcus threw the e-brake on and unclicked his own belt, flashing a smile at Mara. “I count two humans and two demons.”

“It’ll be fine.” Connie grabbed her bag from beneath the seat and laced the strap around the collar of her jacket. “Trust me, I’ve mastered the art of giving off the ‘do not fuck with me’ vibes.”

If I said I wasn’t hesitant, I would’ve been a liar, but I really wanted to go into that diner. If Connie and Marcus thought we could pull it off, who was I to argue? They knew way more about this stuff than I did, and I was going to have to get used to living my life in public eventually. Even more than that, there was no way in hell I was about to let them all beat me into my favorite diner when it was so obviously my  job to show them around.

I clumsily stumbled out of the car and scrambled towards the door, grabbing it just in time to hold it for the others. “After you, sir and madams.”

“It’s a diner, Chrissy.” Constance placed a quick kiss on my forehead as she walked past, her human disguise now back in place. It was a little weird seeing her like this again after seeing nothing but her demon form since my escapade at the school, but she was just as drop dead gorgeous as a human as she was as a demon.

“Why thank you, my good summoner.”  Mara made a show of bowing as she made her way past me in the waiting area, sticking her tongue out at me once she was past the front door.

Marcus, for his part, grabbed my hand on his way through and dragged me along behind him. “Come on, ya goof. Let’s get you some waffles or something.”

“Pancakes,” I pouted.

“French toast, whatever.”

My typical booth was open, not that it was particularly stiff competition. I could count on one hand the times I’d ever seen Mill’s Diner anything close to packed; it was here for the people coming and going, however brief their stays were. We settled into the well-worn cushions, making sure to split our ‘humans’ and demons up with one of each on each side. I sat with Connie, and Marcus and Mara slid into the other side with cheeky grins on their faces.

“The Mar Squad rides again! Hell yeah.” Marcus held a hand out, waiting patiently for a high five that never came.

“Didn’t we agree on Team Mars?” Mara slid a menu over to her seatmate.

I snickered as I took my own menu from Constance. Marcus and Mara had been totally normal about coming to the realization that both their names started with the same three letters, and it looked to me like they’d fumbled their reveal. “You have a ship name?” I raised an eyebrow, gleefully awaiting their responses.

“No! I mean, it’s supposed to be like-” Mara choked on her words, scanning Marcus’ face for help.

“It’s just like a team name thing, for when we get up to shenanigans.” Marcus fiddled with his silverware, totally unfazed.

“Right! It’s for our various chaotic activities!” Mara’s words hung in the air, the sound of ambient diner noise filling the void that begged for a response.

“Like baking together,” Connie added flatly, her gaze firmly fixed on the menu.

“Or seeing how high you can stack the stuffed animals?” I couldn’t even manage a smirk, as fun as it was to feel like I was on the attack for once. They were too cute to stop the big, stupid smile that was spreading across my face.

“Exactly like that, Holly dearest.” Mara nodded, seemingly satisfied with our responses. “I wouldn’t expect a fledgling demon like yourself to understand the truly fiendish revelry I get up to. Oh shit, they have chicken and waffles!” Two weeks had absolutely not been enough for the wonder of getting to taste real food again to wear off on Mara. We were lucky that she wasn’t drooling as she eyed the faded picture on the menu with ravenous intent. I was just about to be such an amazing girlfriend and inform her that the diner had a sriracha honey she should try, when I noticed the familiar waiter trotting up behind her.

“Hey y’all, how we doin’ today? My name’s Cole, and I’m gonna be takin’ care of you guys this morning.” Cole. Cole from last time, Cole. Cole that got me the last components I needed to open a portal to hell and rip out a demon from the underworld that I asked to transmogrify my body into a form more fitting of my person, Cole. “Specials this morning are our fried apple biscuits and our country fried steak. Throwing my money on the biscuits, just ‘cause Meredith’s grandma’s recipe is absurd. Take your time with your menus, folks. Can I start anybody with some coffee or…”

He was looking at me. Why was was he looking at me? To be totally and completely fair, I’d done a lot of looking at me since my demonic makeover, too. The changes had been dramatically kind to me, and frankly I looked adorable in the big sweater and ruffled skirt combo that Mara had helped me pair together. My body was fundamentally different than it had been the last time he’d seen me, but now all I could wonder was whether or not I looked enough like my old self for him to recognize me or not.

“...I’m sorry, we don’t get too many demons in here, but you strike me as familiar?” Yep, there it was. “Have we met before?