“I can’t believe you just did that.” Marie was sipping her glass of almond liquor, ice cubes clinking as she moved it around.

“What did I do, exactly?” I asked.

“You gave my friend a free show, after she tried to kill us.”

“Just you, she knew I was part of the U.”

“Comforting. I can’t believe I didn’t realize she wasn’t human sooner.”

“Yeah, I can’t believe it either. I felt it immediately.”

“That’s not fair, you’ve got wolfy powers…I felt she was weird at first, but I just didn’t mind it that much, then it just never came to my mind again.”

I had a slight issue with the wolfy part, but answered seriously, nonetheless.

“The more you know about someone, the harder it is to change your opinion of him or her.”

“One of the reasons why psychologists should work with strangers only.” She wasn’t saying that to me, just repeating it to herself like it was a lesson.

“I guess. Are you alright?”

“I don’t know…I’ve known her for two years, she was going out with Jay for a while, that’s when we met.”

“Oh? And you met Jay during your first year, right?”

“Yes. They stayed friends, but Natasha’s night life is rather incompatible with stable relationships. I thought I knew her pretty well…”

“Did you and her…?”

She stared at me. “That’s a dumb question. We have never gone out together.”

“But did you…”

“I had sex with her, on multiple occasions, yes.”

I couldn’t repress a pained expression.

“You know how many girls I’ve slept with. I’d even guess you remember them better than I do. And you can’t be friends with Nat if you don’t sleep with her at least once or twice.”

I stayed silent.

“See? That question was just to hurt yourself; you shouldn’t have asked. Though it feels nice not to be the jealous one, for once.”

“I’m not jealous. Just pissed you didn’t say anything beforehand.”

She scratched the back of her head. “I should have, shouldn’t I? Sorry, it was hard to bring up. ‘Hey, Gray, I want you to meet my friends, I’ve fucked one of them, but it doesn’t mean anything'.”

I sighed. “I can’t get my head around this world of yours.”

“It can be quite normal, but this bar is one of the more underground places. The regulars are pretty wild, and well, we’re the regulars.”

“Is this revenge for how I showed you the wolf?”

“No!” She was not lying.

“It would have been fair.”

“I wouldn’t have done that to you or anyone else… I just…”

I stared deeply into her eyes. “You wanted me to see all of you, even the darker spots… We’re really getting serious here, aren’t we?”

The words got stuck in her throat for an instant. She understood the meaning behind them.

“…Yes. I guess that’s what I wanted to do. I didn’t really think about it, to be honest.”

“No worries, I had guessed already, and I agreed to it.”

“You can say that, but I forcefully dragged you in.”

“I didn’t stop you. I could have, easily.”

“Pfrr, cocky much?”

She was staring me right in the eyes, mockingly.

A CHALLENGE.

Her eyes flickered in fear a few seconds, but I gripped her by the waist and crushed her against my own body. She let her glass slip, the chair under her fell, and she gasped quite loudly.

“Gray. Your eyes?”

“Golden.” I almost growled the word. I was getting accustomed to the influence of the Beast, but I couldn’t control it.

She didn’t move. She had understood it would be pointless.

“You’re mine.” I stated.

Her expression went from fearful to one I liked much better.

A cough interrupted us.

“I just finished my shower. And as much as I’d like to let this scene go its merry way, I won’t resist joining in. I promised Marie I wouldn’t get involved with her girlfriend. Yet.” Natasha commented, dressed in the same clothes as before.

A rumble of annoyance pierced my throat, but I let my best friend go. She hurriedly put her chair back on its feet.

“That’s the second time now! In front of my friend!” She whispered angrily towards me; her face completely flushed.

“I’m still your friend?” Asked Natasha, hearing everything.

“Sure. On probation, if you promise not to try and kill me again.” Marie pouted.

“If you’re in the census, that’s an easy answer. I don’t want to hurt you Marie, and now, you’re protected even if I did.”

“Mhph.” Marie grunted back.

“I don’t expect you to forgive me that fast, and I’m happy you still consider me your friend.” Natasha continued.

“Fine.” Marie finished. “I’ll let your attempted murder slide. Because I’m exceptionally good-hearted.”

“That you are.”

“Don’t flatter me.”

“So.” I interjected. “What are you, exactly?”

“Well, that usually something you don’t ask in the U, but considering we’re still friends, and that I owe Marie, I’ll confess.” Natasha answered.

I remembered what she had told me on the dancefloor, but Marie couldn’t have heard.

“I’m a witch.” Announced Natasha with no deceit.

“What? Really?” Asked Marie, suddenly interested.

“No, no. That’s not what you told me before!” I said at the same time.

“It’s true, it’s the first thing I am.” Natasha still wasn’t lying.

“But…”

She sighed. “How am I supposed to explain two millennia of history in an evening… I need a glass.”

“I’ve got the bottle of Amaretto here.” Marie had sparkles in her eyes.

Natasha looked at her in disgust and went to take another bottle, some brand of Japanese whiskey I didn’t know about, in her gigantic cupboard full of alcohol, and served herself a glass.

“Marie, come on, she tried to kill you.” I felt the need to make her remember that, even though I didn’t care before. Wait, I was being jealous.

“She’s a witch! I’ve always loved witches!”

“Yes. I know. You always wanted to be one.” I was displeased for multiple reasons now. If she found a way to become a witch, how was I going to tease her about it?

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Natasha’s left eyebrow perked up. “Really? How have I not been aware of that fact before?”

“Well, I don’t tell you everything.” Marie countered.

“That’s not nice.”

“How can you…? You’re being sarcastic.” Marie’s expression went from furious to exasperated.

“Slightly.”

“You’re a witch and a demon?” I asked. It was the only possibility; Natasha had not lied either times.

“Yes. No. Over the centuries, myths, magic, monsters, have had many names. Witches have control over forces exterior to this world. Those powers have often been anthropomorphized as a creature, the demon.”

“Wait, so demons don’t exist?” Marie was almost looking sad while saying that.

“No, not that I’m aware of. Witches invoke demonic power and merge with it so that they can use it outside of rituals. Technically, we’re getting ‘possessed’ by ‘demonic energy’, which makes us demons.”

“What’s the difference with demonologists?” Asked Marie.

“How do you know about…forget it.” Natasha pinched the upper bridge of her nose. The question seemed rude in view of her reaction, but Marie didn’t care, overly excited by the witch thing. “Witches only take energy occasionally; the rituals are quite distant in time from one another. Demonologist forcefully open a pathway between them and the power. They are basked in it continuously.”

“That doesn’t seem healthy.” I noted.

“You're wrong, it is quite the opposite, actually. Their body becomes nearly immortal, and they can use spells that would need dozens of witches by themselves.”

“What’s the catch?” Marie pushed further.

“Well, all that energy usually short-circuits the brain, most die in the process, and those who don’t…”

“Charming.”

“Yes. Worst of it is, that’s the good outcome. When someone actually survives the process with minimal side effects, they become either power-hungry tyrants, or maniacal madmen. Really, witches are way better. Don’t you want to know more about those?”

“What can you tell us?” Marie asked excitedly.

“Well… pretty much everything except the advanced stuff. If you want to know the names of all the witches in the city, for example, you would need to be part of the coven.”

“Is that the boss you can’t lie to? The coven?” I wanted to know about what she had said before. Not able to lie to her boss, it seemed important.

“No, no. The coven is just a group of friends and family, all witches. They are really nice.”

“Why are you saying that like you’re not part of them?” Marie must have felt something because I hadn’t noticed Natasha saying it like that.

The tattooed girl seemed shameful, all of a sudden. “Well, it’s a long story, began twenty years ago. To cut it short, I’m basically the dedicated magic expert of the North American vampire Elder. He’s not a good guy per se, so my relationship with the other witches is strained…”

Oh no. I felt it was important but was not prepared for such bad news. I really hoped Natasha wasn’t involved with the Elders. Things clearly went in motion towards another future.

Marie and I fell silent.

“Erm. He’s not a bad guy either you know? And I’m just working for him. I can’t lie to him because he’s really careful about witches revealing their craft. He’s scared we could build an army by teaching ‘normal’ humans. He asks me regularly if my coven or I have broken the First Law.”

“You’re older than you look.” I said coldly.

“Not by that much, Witches have a long lifespan, because of the effect of the demonic energy, but I’m only forty-three…Why are you both looking at me like that? Do you have a vendetta with Alik?”

I guessed it was the Elder’s name.

“Not exactly.”

“Shit.” Marie swore.

“Marie, I know that like me, you understand what this situation means, but please, language.”

“Sorry Gray.”

“Gray?” Natasha was looking quite young all of a sudden, confused about what kind of bad news she had dropped on us.

“Well. I suppose we’ll just kill her then.” Marie blankly stated.

“Wait. What?” An increasingly surprised but not threatened Natasha said. “Why?”

I laughed loudly. “You had to get your revenge, didn’t you?”

“It is the easiest way.” Marie continued.

“As if you were going take the easy route.”

“Ok. I feel like I’m missing some important pieces. Why is me working under an Elder such a problem.” Questioned Natasha, defensive.

“You’re going to have to tell him what happened today, right?” I asked her, even though I was pretty much certain what she would answer already.

“Yes, but the First Law was not breached, people downstairs won’t think anything magical happened, oracles are often not even part of the U.”

“That’s not the problem. The problem is who I’m linked with.”

“Who you’re…because you’re Gray’s cousin? Why the hell is she calling you Gray too by the way? Oh wait, is this all related to that serial killer?”

“You weren’t informed?”

“What Marie told me, and what I saw on the news. I’m a magic consultant, it’s just a job. I don’t want to get in the U politics. I just want to have fun.”

“Why does everything have to be so complicated.” Marie groaned.

I scratched the back of my head. “You’re going to have to tell this Alik about this incident, right.” It wasn’t a question.

“Well yes, I can’t resist his power of compulsion without a spell, and he’ll know it if I’m using magic.” Natasha replied, nonetheless.

“Is it possible you could be vague about who was involved?”

“Erm… how so?”

“Just tell him it was your friend’s girlfriend. Avoid names.”

She gave me a smile. “Of course! He won’t be interested anyway, so I don’t think he’ll ask. Why though? You don’t seem the type to have problems with the Elders, honestly.”

Marie filled her glass again.

“We don’t have problems with them, nor want to, but let’s say this serial killer had links with the Elders, and that we’d like it if they forgot me and Marie were ever involved with her.”

“Wait. The killer on the loose was a vamp?”

“Yup.” Marie answered while drinking her sugary liquor.

“Shit. And that’s why you know about the U now…” Natasha fell silent for a few seconds. “You didn’t answer me about the Gray part, but I guess it’s better I don’t know.”

“Yup.” Repeated Marie.

“I’ll try my best to be as vague as possible, but I can’t promise anything. I understand why it would be better just to get rid of me, now, getting investigated by the vampires can be…”

“We can only guess, but yeah, we didn’t hear good things.” I informed.

“You’re not going to kill me, then?”

“Of course not.” Marie faked shock. “We’re friends.”

Natasha smirked. “I’ve learned my lesson, I swear. Not like you could do anything, anyway, a human and an oracle don’t stand a chance against a witch.”

Marie smiled menacingly.

“What does that mean?” Slight worry was filling Natasha’s voice.

“Nothing. So. You can teach me about witchcraft?” Marie asked with renewed envy.

“Here we go…” I groaned. Even vampire Elder distraction had been ineffective.

“Erm…sure? I don’t think you’d like it if I were the one to teach you though.”

“Why not?”

“My demonic energy is obtained through pleasure. I’d need to share some with you and…” She let the words hang in the air.

“Are you seriously telling me I’d need to get into your pants to learn?”

“Yes.”

A growl pierced my lips.

Natasha looked at me funny. “What the hell.”

I bared my teeth at her. She looked hurriedly towards Marie.

“…So you don’t want that, and obviously your girlfriend doesn’t want that either. Wait, I know! I could let you meet other witches. I know one who works with nature, she’s young but quite capable. Super nice too.”

“That would be so cool.” Marie had already forgotten about everything else and was smiling like a little kid. “Gray…urgh…Igris I mean. I’m going to learn magic!”

“Good for you.” My favorite teasing, her summoning Satan, was ruined.

“Don’t you want to try too? I’d need to ask first, of course, but she’s always helpful, so I don’t think she’ll refuse, even if it's two students.” Natasha asked me.

UNWISE.

Even though I wanted to accept now, just to piss off the Beast, I had a very distinct feeling that bad things would happen if I tried to use magic.

“No, though I’d like to accompany her, if I may.”

“’If I may.’ Your girlfriend speaks funny. I don’t see a problem with it, if Gen won’t mind.”

“I thought it would be problematic.” I noted.

“What would?”

“Well, aren’t you just giving away secrets of magic like that?”

Natasha looked serious for a few seconds.

“Well, only humans can use magic. Vampires can’t, Hunters are forbidden to. Teaching magic, or demonic control, is an effective way to gain more people on our side.”

“Your side?”

“Yes. The U has two very distinct sides, Hunter and Vampires, they are the big players. The witches are neutral, we want peace. It’s always us who get killed first when there is a war.”

“If I’m reading behind the lines correctly here…you’re not just teaching me magic because I asked and because I’m your bestest of friend you would never try to kill?” Marie asked with an exaggerated high voice.

Natasha did not react to the childish act and answered very seriously. “No. It doesn’t force you into anything, I promise. But having new people in the U is rare, and potentially recruiting you in our coven would make us stronger. And well, right now, we need all the help we can get. If you like the lessons and want to join, it would be great, I’ll admit.”

For someone who had declared herself a demon, which supposedly had the right to deny the truth, Natasha had been honest with us from beginning through end. I saw why Marie liked her. That and the sexual energy part. But I didn’t want to think about it.

“Seems like a ‘free trial’ where you have to encode your credit card information beforehand.” Marie noted.

“Oddly specific. Quite accurate.” I said for the second time of the night.

“Stop it!” She answered, annoyed.

“By the way, what are you?” Natasha asked me. “You’re definitely something like an oracle, but the word doesn’t mean much nowadays.”

“I’m a Conscient. I can’t tell you more than that.” I answered honestly.

“What the hell is a Conscient? Why can’t you tell me more? Because you don’t want to or because of the elders?”

“Both.” I only answered her last question.

“Oh. Fine, we don’t know each other well enough, I guess. And my contract with Alik is only for five more years, so I hope you’ll tell me then.” She extended her hand towards me.

“I hope we’ll be friends.”

“Sure. Marie’s friends are mine as well.” I said as I grasped her hand for the second time of the night.

“Still, if you want to try a threes…” She began.

“NATASHA.” Marie slammed her glass on the table.

I smiled. “Not interested. Thank you.”

“A shame. Well, let’s go back downstairs, poor Lily must feel so lonely.”

“I think she’ll be fine.” Countered Marie. “I saw her making out with someone on the second floor.”

“Really? How could I miss that!” Natasha was looking sincerely displeased.

The ceiling of the second floor was really dark. I knew because I was staring at it intensely. Unfortunately, I could still smell and hear.

“What. The. hell.”

“Yeah, I know.” Marie admitted shamefully. “I didn’t want to bring you here, if it helps.”

“Oh! I see Jay. JAY!” Natasha shouted in the moaning mess that this floor was.

“Get me out of here.” I demanded.

“Yup, yup, don’t worry about her, she’s a crazy witch.”

“Very funny.”

We descended towards the dancefloor, but Natasha quickly caught up to us.

“She gave me the middle finger. How rude.” She explained, looking falsely hurt.

Later, Marie almost fell face-first on the dance floor, but I caught her before she could hurt herself. That was the only other notable thing that had happened, and it was the deciding factor to us leaving.

I got us a taxi, expensive, but without the smells of the subway.

“We’ll share the bill.” Marie said over the Christmas song on the taxi driver’s radio.

“Nope.”

“Come on Gray.” She mumbled.

“Thank you for the evening.”

“T’was shit.”

“Well some of it went unexpected, sure, but we had some fun.”

“What are the chances we aren’t investigated after tonight?”

“Close to zero, I guess.”

“They’re going to see that my girlfriend called Igris doesn’t exist.”

“Yes.” I squeezed her hand.

“We’ll be fine though.”

I looked at her, she was looking tired, fighting the urge to sleep on the taxi’s back seat.

“You believe that, don’t you.” I felt her faith.

“Yes. I’m going to learn magic; I’ll be able to defend myself. And you’re…well you’ve got your wolfy powers.”

“Don’t call them that.”

“My little wolfy wolf. Scaredy wolfy.” She was definitely drunk.

“The scaredy wolf is going to eat you, if you pursue this line of conversation.”

“Mmmhhh, yeeeeshh.”