Debbi gave chase, leaning further and further into the edge of her broomstick as she flew over central Boston. Westering, she reached a hand out for Lyle as he sprinted across a flat cement rooftop, but he leapt into the air and propelled himself out of reach at the last moment and put another few dozen yards between himself and Debbi as he landed on another rooftop. His long legs sprawled over the concrete as he weaved around a roof access door and ran faster and faster. His long knife flew towards Debbi in a rotating arc, but it halted just before it collided with her. 

Cass caught up and held the knife in place with an extended hand and a fresh application of telekinesis. She skidded to a halt, her forehead creasing as she struggled to keep it in place. 

Debbi balked- an object this small shouldn’t be such a struggle for Cass. Must’ve been the damn demon magic in the knife pushing against her powers. 

On the back of Cass broomstick, Matt readied his chainsaw, revving it as the blade spun and glowed white. 

“Like we practiced?” Matt said. 

“Like we practiced, pendejo!” Cass grinned. 

She lifted a hand, and Matt was raised up from the broom and launched at the long knife. He was carried through the air by Cass’ telekinesis and engaged in a blade battle with the flying knife, his Holy Chainsaw chipping away at it as it made contact, until finally he sliced it in half. 

Debbi grinned. Step one had gone off well. 

Hopefully Nicole would be here in time for step two. 

Matt safely placed back on Cass’ broom, the four of them shot after Belial as he bound westward in massive leaps. Cass flew neck and neck with Debbi and Heather. 

“What do you want me to do?” Heather asked as they skimmed the surface of another rooftop. 

That was when a dozen Hellhounds burst out of the roof access door and ran towards them, fangs bared and acidic drool spilling out and burning holes in the roof as they sparked with black flames.

“Take care of that!” Debbi said. “Matt, same to you!”

“On it!” Matt said, leaping from the broom once again and jumping into the fray alongside Heather. They fought the Hellhounds with fist and chainsaw as Debbi and Cass continued to give chase. 

“Cass,” Debbi said. “Do the thing.”

“Now?” Cass asked as they cleared the rooftop. Lyle had already plunged forward another block. 

“NOW!” Debbi said. 

Cass flew in close to Debbi and grabbed by the hand, then extended another hand backwards and gave a massive telekinetic push. They rocketed forward, wind curling and curving around them as they formed an air current unto themselves. Cass’ broom burned red and Debbi’s violet as they pushed and pushed and pushed their broomsticks forward, all of their will going in furthering the momentum they’d already acquired. 

They began to catch up with Lyle…

Only for him to turn around and breath out a massive ball of Hellfire, only inches away. 

That was when a pink rocket cut them off, a massive flare of pastel light shining around them as Nicole formed a shield and nullified the Hellfire.

“Sorry I’m late!” Nicole said as they all three resumed flying forward. 

“I’d say you’re right on time!” Debbi beamed.

“Where’s Amy?” Cass asked.

“With Heather and Matt, finishing off those Hellhounds!” Nicole answered. 

“Gotcha!” Debbi said. “You got my text about the plan?”

“Yup! Let’s do this!”

They barreled forward, chasing Lyle and spreading out: Cass to the left, Nicole to the right, and Debbi down the middle. Nicole pushed with maximum speed and flanked Lyle, tilting further and further left as she pushed him towards the west end, towards the military base that had been set up since Halloween. 

Cass, meanwhile, flanked him from the other side, keeping him down a specific direction as he kept jumping. 

Debbi simply pushed forward. Always forward. She could do this- they all could. So long as her team was all together, there was nothing they couldn’t accomplish. 

The city sped to a blur beneath them, and ahead, the military encampment came into view. Magin Correctional Facility was a plain gray building, thirty stories tall, made of cement and devoid of windows. An American flag was draped off the side, and a half-dozen tanks were gathered around the facility. 

Lyle skidded to a halt atop a building and started to turn around, conjuring up Hellfire. Debbi chucked a bale of light at him, and he hissed as his eyes burned out. 

Cass rammed him with her broom and lifted him with telekinesis until he landed directly in front of the military prison. 

Lyle grinded his teeth and glared with milky blind eyes as he conjured more and more Hellfire… Only for a dozen guns to be pointed at him by as many uniformed soldiers. 

Debbi lowered herself to the ground and punched Lyle in the face with Holy Light, knocking him over. Then she turned to a soldier, a shear-scalped Asian man of middling year with a name tag that read ‘Kwan.’

“I have a deposit to make,” Debbi said. “Where do I sign?”

“Funny,” Kwan said. “You the leader of your little team then?”

“I am she,” Debbi replied. 

“And this is a demon?”

“He is indeed.”

“I see,” Kwan said. “Well, I suppose we can take from here. This time. You and I need to have a little talk soon about how we’re going to coexist in this city, though.” 

Debbi looked up and saw the rest of the team floating overhead, looking down at the scene. “I suppose that’s fair.”

“I mean, you do get that vigilante justice is illegal, right?” Kwan said. 

“I do,” Debbi nodded, getting back on her broomstick. “You do get that you wouldn’t have caught this guy, or the other three, without us, right?”

“I do,” Kwan nodded. “Go. Get out of here. But next time we see each other, we’re having that conversation.”

Debbi raised her eyebrows and smiled mildly. Then she and her team took off. 

***

“See, I know she hates me, and I know Winona hates her, but I just can’t get her out of my head,” Aidan said, grinding his teeth. “I feel like shit, putting both of them in this awkward position, but still… She’s amazing.”

“But does your infatuation with this Pink Witch actively interfere with your recovery?” Dr. Schriver asked. 

“See, that’s the thing- it’s motivating me to get better.”

“Hm, well I’d be wary of that,” Dr. Schriver said, jotting something down on her clipboard. “You can’t make someone else the motive for your recovery-it has to be for yourself, first and foremost. And you shouldn’t compromise the relationship you have for a hypothetical one with someone who, by all accounts, isn’t interested.”

Aidan gave Winona’s shoulder a squeeze and said, “Yeah. You’re right. Thanks, Doc!” 

Winona sat in a circle, surrounded by Aramaic runes. They didn’t actually work on her the way they did Aidan, but they gave the people working here a sense of security. She wore an orange jumpsuit, Aidan in a matching to her left, Sin-Eater in a wheelchair to her right. Winona smiled at her boyfriend- even if his obsession with Nicole hadn’t abated, at least he was learning to keep it somewhat in check.

The group therapist sat on the other side of the circle. She was an older woman in a tweed skirt suit with short, natural hair and big brown eyes. Dr. Schriver said, “Alright, Winona, would you like to go next?”

“Yeppers!” Winona chirped. “I really think I came to a realization yesterday.”

“Oh? And what’s that?”

“That it doesn’t really matter if I fulfill my father’s dream of universal conquest or not,” Winona said. “He didn’t want me to blindly follow someone else, even if it was him! He loved me, and he wanted me to be the Nephilim that I want to be, on my terms.”

“That’s good!” Dr. Schriver said. “Excellent progress. Your father seems like an… Interesting man. Er. Angel. And what is it that you want, Winona?”

“I’m not sure, to be completely honest,” Winona said, shuffling her feet and drumming her fingers. “I mean, taking over Hell would be nice. I think I would do a good job. But it’s more something I feel a responsibility to do, not something I necessarily want to do.”

“A sense of responsibility is not a bad thing. But I have to ask: do you really think you’re ready for that kind of responsibility?”

“I… I don’t think I am,” Winona said. “Maybe one day, but not today.”

Dr. Schriver smiled. “You’ve made excellent progress these past few weeks, Winona. We’re all very proud of you.”

“Thank you. I-”

She cut herself off when she saw someone being led down the hall in manacles carved with anti-demon wards: Belial. 

She blinked rapidly. Now how on earth did one of Astaroth’s inner circle manage to get caught? He was a force of nature. The only way he could get caught is… 

… If he’d wanted to get caught. 

Winona turned to face Dr. Schriver. “Could I possibly arrange to make a phone call? It’s an emergency.”

***

Nicole wiped a layer of sweat off her brow as they finished painting the wards on all the doors to their apartment. Amy had the front door and the bathroom door, while Nicole had the bedroom doors. She put an additional one by her bedroom window to be on the safe side. After that, she took off her gloves and unfastened her overalls and went out into the living room. 

Amy sat on the balcony nursing a glass of whiskey on the rocks. It was freezing cold out, with a damp fog clinging to the air, and yet Amy sat there in a pair of jean shorts and a sports bra. Nicole shook her head as she tried not to stare at her cleavage or her excellent, amazing, tantalizing midriff… With limited success. 

She shivered, but then sat next to Amy and cuddled up to her for warmth. Truly, her girlfriend was HOT in multiple senses of the word. 

“How are you holding up?” Nicole asked as she nuzzled Amy’s neck. 

“Surviving,” Amy said. “Is it all done?”

“Yup!” Nicole said. “Our apartment is now 100% Astra-proof. You’re sure it won’t affect you?” 

“If it did, then I’d have been smote by now,” Amy said with a grim chuckle. “Probably won’t be able to use Hellfire inside the apartment, but that’s for the best. And I just got the text from Cass- they’re finished putting the wards up all over my family’s house. Debbi and Heather just finished with Heather’s brownstone as well. All that leaves is Debbi and Cass’ dorms.”

“Gonna have a tough time getting a green light on that one,” Nicole said. 

“Yeah, probably.”

“Where’s Matt staying right now, anyway?”

“Heather’s couch.”

“Ah, that’s nice of her.”

“Indeed,” Amy said. “How about you? How have you been feeling?”

“I… I don’t know,” Nicole said. “I guess I feel… Overwhelmed. My emotions… They’re all over the place right now. Putting Belial away felt good- almost too good. Am I too proud of myself? I didn’t even do much.”

“Hey, we both pulled off a big damn heroes’ moment, I’d say that’s worthy of praise,” Amy said. She poked Nicole on the nose and said, “So give yourself some credit, girly girl.”

Nicole giggled. “Yes Ma’am.”

“Hm. Gonna call me that from now on?”

“Maybe when we’re alone,” Nicole purred.

“Mmm I like this new side of you,” Amy said. “This part can definitely stay.”

A fresh jolt of shame shocked her as The Box cried out for her to fill it back up and seal it away. Nicole winced and pulled away. 

“Hey, hey, what’s wrong?” Amy asked, leaning forward. 

“It’s stupid,” Nicole said. 

“No, it isn’t. Whatever it is, it isn’t,” Amy said. 

“I feel… I feel like a slut.”

Amy laughed. 

Nicole glared. 

“Sorry,” Amy said. “It’s just… I feel like a slut all the time. I’m ashamed of myself all the time- and that was before I knew I was a sex-monster. But you, you’re… You’re pure. You have no reason to feel bad. You’re in a committed relationship that happens to have become sexual. That’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

“I… I guess I’m just so used to not feeling anything, or having it be this distant echo locked up inside my brain,” Nicole said. “I was really, genuinely convinced I was asexual before I started to change. And now… I’m attracted to EVERYONE and it’s overwhelming. And I guess it just feels… Dirty, somehow?”

“Well then we’ll just have to be dirty sluts together,” Amy said, grabbing Nicole’s hands and squeezing them tight. 

Nicole looked into her girlfriend’s eyes and felt a calm wash over her. It was okay. She was okay. They were both okay. 

Amy pressed her lips to Nicole, and all the warm emotions for The Box filled her up. It was a good thing. The eggshell had to break, The Box had to open, the Shield had to be put down. That wasn’t a bad thing. She was finding out who she’d always been. 

And Amy was there to find out with her. 

She just wished she could put away the part of her that worried Amy might not like who that person turned out to be. 

Their make-out session was interrupted by Amy’s phone ringing. Amy sighed as she took the call and pressed the phone to her ear. She listened to it for about five seconds before ending the call.

“Who was that?” Nicole asked. 

“Winona calling me from jail,” Amy replied. “She got a few words out before I recognized her voice. Probably just wanted to know why I haven’t been answering her letters, the psycho.”

“Lovely,” Nicole said, rolling her eyes. “I’m surprised Aidan hasn’t been writing me letters, honestly.”

“Ugh, you’re lucky on that front,” Amy said. “But seriously- enough about angels and demons and the end of the world- tonight is for you and I.”

She scrolled through her phone and played ‘The Only Exception’ by Paramore on the speakers. She offered Nicole a hand and said, “May I have this dance, lovely lady?”

Nicole giggled and gave a mock-curtsey. “You may, beautiful. You absolutely may.”

And together, they danced the night away. 

***

By afternoon’s end, Iris, Monica, and Mark had put together a full list of the potentially possessed at their school. Monica dubbed it their ‘murder board’, a whiteboard in Mark’s basement with a list divided into three columns: definitely not possessed, possibly possessed, probably possessed. People who were particularly bad, particularly hateful- Iris knew full well that was how a demon got you. Exploiting what was already wrong with you. The hate you bore around your neck like an albatross, clutching it to your heart like a shield. 

Top of the list of the probably possessed were Evan, Jacob, Cameron, and Ben- ex friends and ex boyfriends. People who would logically have an issue with Iris or Monica already, who had an easy in via Morgan. 

Evan was the most logical starting point- he lived only a block away from Mark. Together, the three of them walked through the cool night air and knocked on the door of Evan’s family’s townhouse, a three-story house made of marble. The sun had set, and a light drizzle escaped the clouds above.  

“You are sure about this?” Mark asked, hands in his pockets. 

“Nope,” Iris said, squirming slightly inside her now too-baggy button down and khakis. She would need a belt soon if she wanted to keep going stealth. 

Or… Maybe she could… 

The door opened, revealing Evan’s punchable face on the other side. “What the fuck do you assholes want?” were the first words out his mouth.

“I wanted to apologize,” Iris said. “I’m sorry for how things went down between us, and I wanted to see if there was any chance we could bury the hatchet.”

She extended a hand. 

Evan slammed the door in her face. 

The three of them stood there for a moment, before finally turning around and walking away. “I’ll text Mom to come pick us up,” Monica said as they walked back to Mark’s house. 

“Sounds good,” Iris said, shoulders slumped, voice forlorn. 

Mark rubbed her back again as they walked. “You okay, beautiful?”

Iris blushed. He wasn’t joking. He really meant it. He thought she was… But she wasn’t. “I’ll be better once we deal with this,” Iris said. “I still think we should tell Nicole.”

“We… We’ll tell her this weekend, okay?” Monica said. 

Iris grimaced. A lot could happen in two days. But at the same time… The last thing she wanted was for Nicole to have to uproot her perfect life in Boston to come take care of a problem Iris was too ashamed and too cowardly to handle on her own. And telling Mom might be to their benefit… But she would try to fight all the demons personally and either get fired or killed in the process. “Fine. But we are telling her. No take-backsies.”

“Okay.”

“You sure you want me to come with you?” Mark asked, shoulders gyrating as he walked. 

Iris gave his hand a squeezed. “Yes. If you’re gonna be a part of this… I want you to see the real me.” 

He squeezed her hand back. “I already do. But I will come. My father will not mind.”

“Awww,” Monica cooed. 

Iris shot her a dirty look. 

Monica just giggled. 

Mom was there within a few minutes of them getting back, the minivan parked outside Mark’s house. Iris came within inches of hugging Mark good-bye, but decided against it. 

She opened the shotgun side door of minivan, only to gape in shock at finding her father occupying the seat. “Dad!” Iris and Monica both squealed at once. 

“Hey there, kids,” Dad said. “Got home early because of the weather. Hope you don’t mind seeing me the next few weeks.”

Dad was there. That meant Mom was in a better mood than usual. 

That meant… 

That meant there was no time like the present to tell them her real name.

As Iris climbed into the backseat with Monica, she gulped. She wasn’t ready. But she was never going to be. She opened her mouth, but Monica beat her to the punch and fired a million questions at their father about what his trip had been like. 

Iris chuckled. It could wait another day or two. After this weekend. After she next saw Nicole, told her everything. After she… After she kissed Mark. A shamefully girlish fantasy ran through her: the boy she liked would kiss her, and she’d wake up as her true self like Sleeping Beauty. 

For now though… For now, this was okay. 

***

Debbi sat on the roof of her parents’ beach house, fingers laced together. She waited, and waited, and waited, until finally, Astra arrived in a burst of purple smoke. 

“Was wondering when you’d show up,” Debbi said. 

“I tried to go inside but found it was warded,” Astra said, taking a seat on the opposite end of the roof’s slant. “Your doing?”

“Father Gonzalez suggested it,” Debbi said. “As team leader, I wholeheartedly endorsed the decision.”

“Smart girl,” Astra said. “Same with that ploy of yours with Lyle- aiming him at the military prison was good thinking- like tricking a gazelle into going into the lion’s den.”

“Your approval fills me with shame,” Debbi glared. 

“Ah c’mon- I helped you out today,” Astra smirked. “You can’t deny that.”

“You came to my family’s house and threatened them,” Debbi said. 

“I did no such thing,” Astra said. “I simply wanted to reconnect with the father of my child-”

“That’s not better. If you try to steal my dad away from my mom-”

“I’m not going to! For God’s sake- I have no designs on Patrick,” Astra insisted. “But what I would like is to be a part of Amy’s life. And yours, if possible.”

“Why me? I get it with Amy, but seriously, why me?”

“You interest me,” Astra said simply. “You have potential, as a leader and as a warrior. I’m a big fan of when people like you live up to that potential. And besides- we’re both going to need allies in the wars to come.”

“You’ve still yet to make a compelling argument about why we should back you,” Debbi said. 

“Well then all I shall ask of you is the time to prove myself,” Astra said. 

“And all I’ll ask of you is that you leave my family alone,” Debbi said. 

Astra was silent for a moment, before finally saying, “Fine then. But I’m not going anywhere. I’m here if you need me, my child.”

“I’m not your-”

Debbi turned around and saw Astra had already vanished. 

A raindrop careened from the sky and shattered on Debbi’s head. Then another, another, another, a dozen more. 

The storm had resumed, in full force. 

Debbi buried her face in her hands, as she wondered for the hundredth time if they would all make it through this intact.