Chapter 185 - Off-screen Threat Dealt With Off-screen

It was to Prom Queen's great disappointment that before she could rope me into shooting promotional videos, Elena had to pull me out for—hopefully—the last round of helping in the hospital. As a result, Prom Queen had to settle herself with only one video with JJ, too, the one she made already, because he insisted on coming with me.

She didn't even protest too hard. I could only wonder why… Maybe because she and her cohorts were still pretty scared of him. You could just see it in their eyes.

As for me, being joined with JJ at the hip did wonders for my sanity. After everything that happened, having him as my shadows was just what I needed to not look over my shoulder for any other, unwelcome shadows. And instead of thinking about when the demon will finally be gone, or when the last afflicted person will be healed, or what's happening between vampires and shapeshifters in the city, I could think happy thoughts.

Like, when I would finally have time to finish what we started that morning when I shamefully knocked myself out with an orgasm? A single thought of that made me blush. I wished we could just go back to the privacy of my home and stop being bothered by people who wanted something from me, or people in general.

Nevertheless, I kept checking the news, official and supernatural, as the time went, hoping to hear something good. Avarice, when I pestered her, told that Anon was already on his way to Canary Islands, while Alexey was bound to marinate around her place for a while longer. I wondered if she used that opportunity to leech some blood out of him, but didn't ask.

The news that everyone waited to impatiently for came late that day, when I just came back to Nightingale headquarters after a long shift of assisting Ghost. Just like the time Elena announced the demon's arrival, she gathered everyone in the main hall. This time, though, the general mood was much more jovial, and Elena herself was smiling despite her visible exhaustion.

These days I don't remember ever seeing her sleeping. But she was supposed to, wasn't she? Was there magic that could let you not sleep?

If there was, it was not without consequences, as I could see in the bags under Elena's eyes. She didn't even bother to put make-up on them.

"I'm glad to finally tell you, my brothers and sisters in magic, that the demon Malakbel that has been plaguing our city and world by its mere existence for days now had been dealt with! Princess Sofia Palaiolog, venerable arch-witch and an honorary ancestor of Goldenrose Coven, together with her coven-mates who travelled here from Moscow, as well as some assisting members of local covens, had imprisoned Malakbel in a sub-dimensional prison."

I didn't know what a sub-dimensional prison was, and I already saw posts about all that, but I cheered with everyone else just the same—as much as my own exhaustion let me. The roar of voices had stopped Elena from proceeding with her speech for a while, but she waited patiently while they cleared.

"For those of you who aren't familiar with the term, a sub-dimensional prison is a sub-space that was created without a way out. In other words, things could get in, but couldn't get out. Thanks to the investigation in Eternalroot Coven, we found Malakbel could break through locked portals, but even he was unable to create a new door where none existed to begin with. As of now, Princess Sofia keeps the prison under her personal watch. She did all this without asking for a reward, and deserves our deepest gratitudes, but already expressed lack of desire to present for any thanking ceremony."

I could only imagine why. Still, in my heart, I sent her my best thanks. From what little I knew of her, Sofia was a decent person, and what she just did raised her another step up in my opinions ladder. But this wasn't all that Elena wanted to say, either.

"We still didn't find a trace of the witches responsible for summoning the demon in the first place," as Elena spoke, three photos and names appeared on the screen behind her. Tatiana, Sonya and Vera Vechnokorennevs. The familiar resemblance was visible. Sonya and Vera were Tatiana's, Eternalroot's previous Elder, daughters from what I already learnt from gossip. "If you see these people, immediately notify me. Do not try to talk to them or to apprehend them. It's unclear yet if and how they were affected by the demon, and what was their motivation in summoning him."

Elena let the faces stay on the screen as she continued with news that I was sure many people wanted to hear by now, including myself. "With the threat of the demon gone, I thereby find it unnecessary to keep you all cooped inside the headquarters. Still, I have to warn you to be careful. It came to my knowledge that shapeshifters made a series of attack on vampires of our city." She looked through the crowd. Searching for JJ, no doubt, but I and him were staying at the very back of the hall, hidden by many other people, most of which cared more for the scene than for us.

Elena gave up before the pause grew too long. "As you know by now, we host one of them as a guest in our headquarters. Despite that, Nightingale Coven doesn't take sides in this conflict, and neither should you. Despite the demon's imprisonment, the turbulent times had only begun, and our priority must be the wellbeing of our coven and its members, then the wellbeing our all witches, and only then this of shapeshifters and vampires. Their wars are not ours! So stay in the light and keep safe. And yes, this means continuing to hide your powers from the general populace. Because doing otherwise would draw us into another war, and we can't afford it."