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  The Succubus, The Demon, and The Witch

  The Underlayes, Book Two

  T.A. Moorman

  After Glows Publishing

  The Succubus, The Demon, and The Witch

  © Copyright 2018 T.A. Moorman

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  Published by After Glows Publishing

  PO Box 224

  Middleburg, FL 32050

  AfterGlowsPublishing.com

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  Cover by Scott Carpenter

  Formatting by AG Designs & Formatting

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  All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

  AfterGlowsPublishing.com

  Contents

  Introduction

  Prologue

  1. Birthday Wishes

  2. Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda

  3. Stronger Together

  4. Introductions

  5. Missing Pieces

  6. History Lessons

  7. Conflicts of Interest

  8. Pot, Meet Kettle

  9. The Evil Bitch That Did

  10. Last Dance

  11. Dear Old Aunt Hildegard

  12. United We Stand

  13. Divided They Fall

  14. Triple Threat or Train Wreck?

  15. The Plot Thickens

  16. The Circle

  17. Demons At Play

  18. It’s Getting Hot In Here

  19. Battle Plans

  20. Almost There

  21. Did She Do That?

  22. What’s My Name?

  About the Author

  Note From the Publisher

  The Succubus, The Demon, and The Witch

  As Jelissa comes of age, she is about to learn the hard way to what lengths one such being is willing to go.

  Jelissa has been a resident of the Abbey for as long as she has been alive. She has also never known what she is, besides being part witch. At the age of twenty-five, she will learn just what types of blood run through her veins. She will also find out much more—that she is also the long-lost princess almost no one even knew existed.

  Tialanna secreted her only child away for her own protection. Before she can tell Jelissa the truth, Jelissa is kidnapped. All Tialanna’s greatest fears unfold before her very eyes, and her past comes back to haunt her in more ways than one.

  As most do when they come of age, Jelissa will learn the hard way that adult life isn't all it’s cracked up to be. And Tialanna learns the hard way that if you don’t learn from your past, it will come back and bite you on the ass.

  Tialanna and her band of unmerry misfits are in a race against the clock to rescue Jelissa. Will they find her in time? And if they do, will they be able to save her from a danger they hadn’t anticipated: herself?

  Prologue

  Underlayes is another dimension where all sorts of nocturnal creatures reside; witches, vampires, fae, shifters, werewolves… The dimension was created by all these creatures working side by side to escape the scrutiny and danger to their existence that stemmed from the human world. All throughout time humans have been known to fear anything they do not understand and have almost always tried to eliminate what they fear. Even though most of these mystical creatures appeared to be as humanoid as humans, though more enhanced, the powers they possessed struck a fear in humans like nothing else ever could.

  When God created the earth, He had some help along the way. While there is only one true God, He has many underling goddesses and gods who help Him. Let’s think of God as the CEO. Just as God created man in His image, He allowed His goddesses and gods to create certain races in their images as well, though they weren’t allowed to create as many as He. Only their images had nothing to do with color, for their races come in every color, shape, and form there is. No, their images were more so based on…characteristics. Like, for instance, Hekate and her necromancers or Aphrodite and her beautiful sirens. They are more nocturnal than humans since most of these creatures are more powerful and not ruled by the moon. Also, some of these beings have a very deadly reaction to the sun, while others are equally as powerful by night or day.

  Some of these creatures may indeed become quite deadly, although usually only when provoked. And, yes, there are some who tend to be more violent and sadistic, but regular humans can be, too. After all, most serial killers, though not all, are indeed human.

  Originally, the intention was for these nocturnal creatures to have their time at night and keep to themselves, while regular, mundane humans were to rule the day, unawares. Well, as all good plans go…

  For three hundred years, these nocturnal beings have lived peacefully amongst themselves, or have they? Has that peace been nothing more than superficial, a mere illusion? Let’s face it, people do tend to see what they would like to see and ignore what is going on right before their eyes if and when it suits them. See, there has never been anyone, or any group, to truly rule all Underlayes. Though most factions have their own leaders, or kings and queens, no one race rules the entire realm. And with so much power rolling around unchecked and unbalanced, the so-called peace unsurprisingly came to a brutal and bloody bitter end.

  A battle that had been prophesized, the Witch Wars, finally came about, and Queen Tialanna of the House of Sekhmet, an elemental witch/vampire hybrid, rose victorious, and became the Queen of all Underlayes. But nothing comes without a price, and for Queen Tialanna, the price was a great one indeed, one she continues to pay even now.

  Before the beginning of the Wars, during one of the battles meant to break her spirit and shatter her soul, the Queen became pregnant. Not all battles are fought with swords. Some of the deadliest ones involve magick. Though in the end, one of the outcomes worked out in her favor. Queen Tialanna was captured, drugged, and enchanted into doing things she otherwise may have thought more than twice about doing. Giving in to her baser inhibitions, she made love to not only the demon who turned out to be one of her mates, and to the wolf who had stolen her heart, but also to a vampire and an incubus who were also invited to play. The magically enhanced drug did more than that. It also put her into ovulation, and when the demon’s seed impregnated her, it took the essence from each of her lovers as well, creating one of the most powerful hybrids in existence. A hybrid someone had planned to use.

  Synopsis

  In Underlayes, a dimension separate from our own, where all mystical creatures reside, lies an orphanage for seemingly cast-off children, known as the Abbey. There, children who are born from two or more factions learn both who and what they truly are, and what powers they have lying within. What these children do not know is they were put there for their own good, for their protection, not because they were unwanted or unloved. In fact, the very opposite is true. Many would kill to get their hands on these children.

  As Jelissa comes of age, she is about to learn the hard way to what lengths one such being is willing to go.

  For most, turning twenty-five is
the age at which they can finally drink legally. For a hybrid orphan, it's so much more. Jelissa has been a resident of the Abbey for as long as she has been alive. For that same amount of time, she has never known what she is, besides being part witch.

  At the age of twenty-five, she will learn just what types of blood run through her veins, finally discovering what she truly is. She will also find out much more—that she is the long-lost princess no one even knew existed. Well, almost no one. Those who do know of her want to either love, protect, keep, cherish, and smother her, or kill and maim her, or just plain shackle and control her.

  As most do when they come of age, Jelissa will learn the hard way that adult life isn't all it’s cracked up to be.

  1

  Birthday Wishes

  I awoke with a start, gasping for air. Considering the situation, I’m surprised I didn’t come to and start screaming my head off like a banshee. Oh, I also woke up not knowing where the Hel I was, or how I got there. Some birthday this was turning out to be.

  See, I went to bed like any other normal twenty-four-year-old. I was turning twenty-five, would be able to drink, legally anyway, and had finally saved up enough to move out on my own. I even went to bed early because my girls and I were supposed to celebrate all day and all night. The celebration was to include getting rid of my virginity. Growing up in a house full of orphaned witches, vampires, werewolves and other types of shifters did not make a dating life easy, believe me.

  Well, one thing’s for certain, I no longer had to worry about losing my virginity. Oh stuff it! You stuff it. You’re the one who got us into this mess! Well, arguing with you isn’t gonna help us remember jack!

  Great, I was having a mental battle with myself; that’ll really help me figure out what the fuck happened.

  First thing I did was take in my surroundings, eh? I was stark-bootie-butt-naked besides some damn collar on my neck, in a huge bed with three just-as-naked men with collars on their necks. Thankfully they’re still blissfully sleeping. Thank Goddess for small favors. Hopefully, I could figure this out before they woke-up. And from the smell of things, I’d better act fast. I could smell shifter, vampire, and holy shit! A damn demon?

  Hookay, Jelissa, let’s pull it together. The only thing I was missing, as of right now, was any memory of last night. Well, that and my damn clothes. Time to answer the question I’ve been dreading—did I still have any powers? Screwed up as they may be, anything was better than nothing at this point.

  See, I’m a witch. Well actually, I’m more than that, but that’s all the orphanage seers could see clearly when I was brought to them as an infant. That, and the fact I was pretty much a mutt. They ended up having me sniffed out to try and figure out what I was. All that concluded was I have four different bloodlines within me. Talk about multiracial. The orphanage wasn’t an uncommon place for something like that. It was pretty much what made up the whole place, unwanted cross-breeds, misfits, or true orphans whose parents have passed on. Well, okay, there were usually only two things kids were cross-bred with, not four, and the seers usually had no problem figuring out what those were. Guess I was just special. So, I became a great guessing game, and the seers were biding their time waiting to see what powers, if any, I developed. So far, I had the ability to call insects, which came in quite handy in school, and some telekinesis (I say some ’cause if I got too upset, I blew up whatever I was trying to move), which would come in handy right about now.

  I tried to use magick to open the door, not wanting to wake up any of the sleeping-beauties at my side if I didn’t have to, since I didn’t know yet if they were as innocent in all of this as I was just yet. But it must have been locked from the outside. Next, I focused on the lock itself, whether it unlocked or would simply blow up, who the Hel cared, as long as it opened. So, I focused, and focused some more, and the only result I got was a little dizziness, and went cross-eyed and nauseous in the process.

  “Damnit,” I muttered.

  Maybe I could do a past visualization. If I couldn’t get out, maybe I could at the very least figure out how I’d gotten there in the first place. A prayer to my Goddess that nothing else happened while I was in a trance was probably in order first though.

  As above so below, I began chanting, show me the events I need to know. I let go of all and any other thoughts. As above, so below, show me the events I need to know. Taking in deep breaths, letting my physical body go. As above so below, show me the events I need to know. Letting my spirit slide into the black stillness of the astral. AsabovesobelowshowmetheeventsIneedtoknow, as above, so below, as above, so below…

  “Aww, shit,” I gasped, realizing I’d overdone it, like I did so many things. Because instead of seeing what happened last night, I’d ended up in the back of my own mind and would not only watch the events that took place, but get to relive them, without being able to stop a damn thing.

  Well, at least I didn’t go too far backwards. I was back in my bedroom, putting on the black leather and lace corset that Genie, my best-friend/wizard/siren, had gotten me for my big day. I was determined to figure out how to work the damn garter belt. I mean, really, who invented this crap? Oh yeah, a sorceress who could just flash her clothes on with no prob, not thinking about poor lil’ misfits who have had terrible incidents while trying to do so. Yeah, so not going there.

  But, anyway, I was looking pretty damn good. The corset was perfect, hiding my love handles just so, shaping my big-ass boobs quite nicely with just enough cleavage spilling over. The leather of the boy shorts was the soft kind that was smooth as butter and didn’t ride. I even had my odd-colored hair cascading down my back. No, I am not exaggerating. It’s long and wavy and dark brown with some blonde, red, and black highlights. Like an anime style hairdo gone all wrong.

  As I sat on the side of my bed, preparing for the dastardly task of working with the forsaken garter belt, something on the end table next to my bed caught my eye. A tall, skinny, frosty glass with something that looked like smoke coming from the top, and a note underneath from the third of our little triad, best-friend/wolf/sorceress, Deelah.

  Hey Lee,

  Just a little something to calm your hectic nerves and start the night off right. A wolfmist spritzer. Don’t worry, there’s only just enough liquor in it. It won’t knock you on your ass too hard. LOL. Just enough so you can relax through the twelve o’clock mark and not worry so much about what the rest of your bloodlines might have you turning into. LMAO. We love you girl and want you on your WORST behavior tomorrow.

  Love, Deelah

  “Sweetness,” I said to myself.

  I gingerly took a small sip, because you never know what you might end up with when it came to D. Good intentions and all that. She may have been mixing liquor and potions all at the same time, and might have given me the wrong glass. You get the picture. But after a few delicate sips, it went down nice and smooth, with a touch of bite to it, so I decided to throw back the rest. Big mistake.

  I didn’t realize I was feeling anything until I tried standing up and plopped right back down on the bed. All of a sudden, I got a major head rush and my legs couldn’t even hold me up, which was weird. I may be only now turning twenty-five, but this sure as Hel wasn’t my first drink. I chalked it up to drinking too fast. I ran a hand over my face and tried to shake the feeling off. That so did not work. At that point, I just wanted to get some water or something, anything, because this feeling was so not right. Second attempt at getting up was even worse than the first; I went to stand and landed on my knees. Bracing my hands on the floor, I tried to pull myself up, only to end up on my hands and knees, barely able to hold my head up. It was like a boulder on top of my shoulders. I would have fallen flat on my face had I not been grabbed from behind, none too gently, by a pair of rough, strong hands.

  The stranger picked me up, then sat down on my bed with me in his lap. My eyes were rolling to the back of my head, and I fought desperately to keep them open.

  “Who…the
fuck…are you?” I rasped.

  “Never you mind,” answered a deep, gruff voice. “Who I am is unimportant.”

  “The…wards.” It was such a struggle to speak, to stay conscious. But every room in here had wards. No one was allowed in anyone else’s room without permission, except for the headmistresses of course. “How?”

  “Those shabby sigils placed around here? Don’t make me laugh.” He began touching me then, and I was helpless to stop him. “Let’s see what merchandise the master has me picking up now, shall we?”

  “Don’t…please…don’t touch…me.” My words fell upon deaf ears. I tried to open my eyes wider, hoping to see what this man looked like, but it was pointless. He wore a cloak, and there was no way I could try to pull it back. Holding me up by one arm, he took his other hand and roughly grabbed my breast through the corset. Then he slid his hand slide down my abdomen, then lower. I started breathing heavier, and though I should have felt violated, I didn’t. For whatever reason, it was as if his hand belonged there.

  “Mmm…very nice equipment you have here, but that’s just the outside.” Using his thumb to push my underwear aside, he jammed one finger inside me, hard. I wanted to scream out, but I couldn’t find my voice. He took it out and a second later I heard him popping his finger out of his mouth. “Tastes lovely. But sadly, I have to hand you over to the others, for now.” He began laughing then, a sick, sinister chuckle, though the sound was fading in my ears, as if I was falling down a tunnel. Everything dwindled away.