Witch Wars: The Underlayes, Book One

by T. A. Moorman

  “Go to your father, your real one. He’ll know what to do.”

  I stood up abruptly at that. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “Love, you know exactly what I’m speaking of. Whether you’d like to admit it or not is another question entirely, but you’ve always known those ‘dreams’ you were having were anything but.”

  “Regardless of what I know and don’t know, I’m more interested in what the hell it is you seem to know. And why the fuck it sounds like you know so much more than I do.”

  Rising to his feet, he attempted to stand closer to me, as if to touch me, and I backed away before he could. “I think you need to start talking. Like, right now.”

  “I’m not the one who’s been keeping secrets from you. I was actually kept away from you so I wouldn’t tell you anything, but that time has beyond passed.”

  “That time may have passed, but if you utter one more word, it might well be your last.” Speak of the Devil, and he shall appear.

  “How is it people keep on finding me when I never even had a destination in mind in the first place, and I’m pretty sure I wasn’t followed?”

  There he stood in the flesh, my supposed father. My gums itched at the very thought.

  “It’s all about the blood, my dear one. We are vampires, after all. And blood does indeed call to blood. Though your connection with this young male is something different, and something that will be explained at another time. Now, I need you to come to terms with who and what you are. Your mother and I had originally planned on coming to you as one and slowly bringing you up to speed on the truth of your life, of your creation, but it seems we are shorter on time than we both thought. While the remainder of your witch powers will come on the eve of your birth, certain events have taken place that have sped up when your other transition will occur.”

  Pretty sure I was going to regret my next words. “What transition?”

  “Hmmm…what’s the best way to ease you into this? Have you not noticed the itching in your gums, the pull you feel to suckle at someone’s neck right at their pulse point? Or how the smell of freshly spilled blood has a rather alluring effect on you lately?” He began circling me as he spoke, as though examining me. “Your reflexes—how have they been recently? Quicker? Sharper?”

  “Okay, let’s say I believe any of this bullcrap. How is it that you’re my father? Why would my mother have kept something like that from me all this time? From Dad? She loves him, and it isn’t like I’m their only child—they do have another after me, and they treat us both the same. Well, maybe not completely, but mostly.”

  “She may be in love with her husband now, but he isn’t the only man she’s ever loved. Just the one who would be more acceptable in the eyes of her family and fellow witches.”

  “So you mean to tell me—”

  “That your mother and I were in love once, yes. She may not have been my true mate, my Fated One, but I did love her nonetheless. And that love created you, and your sister.”

  Someone else flashed in, looking just like me and at the same time the complete opposite. “Hey, Sis.”

  That did it. A mind can only take so much, and mine was already leaking as it was. Darkness took over, and I happily let it as, nice and politely, I passed out into bittersweet oblivion.

  11

  It’s A Family Reunion

  At least this time when I woke up I wasn’t in chains. I was in an unfamiliar bed, but thankfully it was one occupied by only me. No surprise guests lurking about that I could tell. But as I sat up, pulling the very nice, plush covers away from my body, there was a knock at the door.

  Before I could so much as think a “come in”, the door was already opening. Good thing I was still dressed. Although, come to think of it, the clothes I had on weren’t even my own. I had also been cleansed of all of the blood, dirt and grime I’d previously been caked with. I didn’t have on any fancy dress right now, thank Goddess for small favors—just a pair of sweatpants, a loose-fitting wife-beater, and a sports bra. So whoever had dressed me must have known at least something about me.

  “You know, it’s not really necessary to knock when you plan on barging in regardless. Usually it goes something like that old, corny-ass joke: ‘Knock, knock. Who’s there?’ Something of that nature. Not, knock, knock, barge right on in.” A concept my little sister Elyssia still hadn’t managed to comprehend either; guessed they both got that trait from our mother.

  The woman tilted her head to the side, as if contemplating what I had just said to her. “Do those rules still apply when it’s your own room you’re ‘barging’ into? Technically that should mean I didn’t have to knock at all, right?”

  There she was, the undeniable proof that Mom had been keeping some major secrets from me. Either the older vampire really was my true father and he and Mom had some twisted understanding going on, or the woman standing before me had been stolen away from my parents. But seeing as when she opened her mouth to speak I caught a glimpse of fang, I thought it was safe to assume the former. Looked like Mom and I were overdue for a much-needed convo. Especially seeing as how this mystery chick didn’t seem at all surprised to see me, not even that first moment in the forest. The only one who seemed to be in shock was me.

  She looked identical to me far as facial features and body structure went, only she was much paler than me, and where my hair was a shocking, bright red, hers was a true white, platinum blonde. Then there were also the teeth—mine sure weren’t as pointed as hers seemed to be.

  “I’m trying to think of the most appropriate first question to ask you, but just can’t seem to form a coherent thought at the moment. My brain kind of feels like it’s looking into some sort of colorblind mirror right now. I mean, a million questions do come to mind, but they just keep ping-ponging off of one another. Who the fuck are you? Why do you know me and not vice versa? Am I even awake, or has everything been some warped and insane dream? Is the old boy truly our dear old dad? Where have you been my whole life? And that’s not even the half of what’s going on inside my head right now. So why don’t you just pick a question and we’ll start from there?”

  She chuckled a little. “First of all, I plan on telling you everything I possibly can. But before we even get started, let’s make one thing perfectly fucking clear; I didn’t ask for any of this any more than you. We both got caught in something far beyond either of our control. Only reason I know anything is because I have always had my visions, and there haven’t been many days I’ve gone without seeing you, without being able to be with you. Which was extremely hard, considering the fact that whenever something truly major happened to you? I felt it too. And I had to just wait to see something, if I did, to find out whether or not you were okay. So before you go into some high-and-mighty victim role, remember you weren’t the only victim in this little scenario.

  “Hmmm…let’s tell it like this. Once upon a time, there was a very established and looked-up-to witch, one who was to wed into the ruling house of witches as its queen. Young and naïve, except when it came to dealing with her mother, was something she was not, and she probably never had been. Wild and carefree were two of the things she was. She was also very much in love with a vampire. And not just any vampire, but the king of all vampires in Underlayes. Their love was not a planned thing, nor was it just some tryst. The two had been friends for nearly five decades, before, during and even after she had been wed. Knowing their love was never meant to be, and that the outcome would be much too overwhelming for either of their people, they never acted on it.”

  “Until one day when she got into her very first quarrel with her husband and ran to her secret friend for an ear and a shoulder to cry on. Blame it on the weather, the moons, the alignment of the stars…whatever or whoever was at fault, the end result was them falling into each other’s arms, and into his bed.

  “When the now queen realized she was pregnant, she at first thought nothing of it. After all, they’d had only one night togeth
er; surely the child couldn’t be his. Until her mother touched her stomach, then drew her hand back, gasping in abject horror. Luckily, they were in her private quarters, and no one else was around to form any suspicions.

  “Her mother was a true seer, seeing things from the past, present and future, her visions only made stronger by touch. She saw then that the children her daughter carried were not merely of witch blood, but far more than that. She saw that the twins inside would carry traits of both their witch blood and their vampire blood. Only one of those twins—me—would be born that way; with the traits of her vampire nature fully online and apparent for all to see. The other—you—would not come into hers until well after birth, puberty and maturity. So the plan was hatched right then and there to have us separated; the itchy witchy one would stay with Mom, and the fangy vampy one would go with dear old Dad. There really wasn’t much choice in the matter, unless she planned on coming clean. Fat chance of that happening.”

  “Oh my Goddess, what about the almighty prophecy and all that jazz?”

  You would think I had just told the biggest joke ever known to the universe. She threw her head back and laughed so loud and hard the room nearly shook with it. She was bawling she was laughing so hard.

  Between guffaws, I could just barely make out snippets of what she was saying. “Book of Knowing. Ha! Grandma was one twisted bitch. I mean witch.”

  When she finally gained some sort of composure, she replied, “That was just some made-up bull so the man you thought of as your father would be paying so much attention to that, he wouldn’t look at you too hard and realize there wasn’t any family resemblance whatsoever. Your yellow ass? Anyone besides a blind person could tell you didn’t come from the two of them. That is, if they were to truly look. They both have flawless, midnight ebony skin. You definitely do not. Something made even more apparent when Mom gave birth to our little sister. You had to have thought about that yourself at least once or twice.”

  “Well, yeah, but every time I said anything Mom shot me down so quickly I damn near got whiplash from her making my head spin so fast. Whenever she did bother to ‘explain’ it, she would chalk it up to me taking after an ancestor or some such. I never really had any reason to look at it past that. Guess I should have.”

  “It wouldn’t have mattered; she wouldn’t have told you a thing anyway.”

  “So why didn’t you or Dad tell me anything before now?”

  My Goddess, my whole life had been nothing more than one lie after another after another. When were people ever going to learn that there are always repercussions for lying, and consequences for every action? And it’s usually the innocents who pay the ultimate price for it. I knew that one all too well.

  “How could we? She had him so convinced that if anyone knew the truth they would kill both of us on sight. You don’t know Dad; to him, family is everything. You should see how much shit he lets Darvyn get away with. By the way, you not only have another sister, you also have a much older, very obnoxious, pain-in-the-ass brother.”

  “Wait, wait, wait. Please tell me you are not talking about—”

  “Yup, that would be the one.”

  “Hel.”

  “That about wraps it up in a nutshell. Ha! The look on your face goes way beyond priceless.” She laughed it up a little bit more before saying, “Don’t get me wrong, though—as egotistical and obnoxious as he is, he really is a great big brother. Never let him know that, though—his head is big enough as it is, if you haven’t noticed.”

  “Oh, trust me, I noticed,” I said on an eye roll.

  “Well, there you have it, for the most part. So you have a much bigger family than you ever could have known. Well, not yet anyway. Dad was supposed to be waiting ‘til your birthday—our birthday—to tell you everything, alongside Mom. But that little game the numbnuts had you play? Well, that sped things up. You and Chandler weren’t supposed to meet up until way after you had already come into the vampire side of things. And the two of you exchanging blood, no matter how small and insignificant-seeming the amount, triggered something inside of you. That part of your blood that calls out to him.”

  “Why would that trigger anything? Just the blood, period, or his blood specifically?”

  “Oh, his blood specifically. But that’s an explanation for him to give you, not me. Though I agree with him on that front—you’ve been kept in the dark about too much for far too long.” She hopped up onto the bed then. “But at least now we’re together. That’s something, right?”

  “For you, maybe. For me, nothing against you, but with everything else going on right now, it’s just all too much for me to grasp, let alone be happy about any of it.”

  The way her face fell made me want to take back those words and choke on them. I knew none of this was her fault. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for that to sound as harsh as it did. But if you knew even half of what I just went through, am still going through, you’d understand.”

  “That’s just it, and that’s the part you don’t understand.” A single, silent tear slid from the corner of her eye. “Anything that’s extremely emotional for you—from happiness to sadness, from pain to just plain, utter confusion—I’ve felt it too. I’ve been connected to you from day one. Connected to someone to whom I’m nothing more than a virtual stranger that happens to look like her. So yeah, I know what you’re going through right now, and I’m sorry for everything that’s happened to you, and for the things that haven’t even happened yet.”

  She got up from the bed. “I’ll let Dad fill you in on the rest. He thinks you’re still sleeping, so just lie back down for a while. Lucky me, I knew the exact second you woke up.”

  I started to get up myself then, knowing I had just come off as some callous, heartless bitch. “Wait, you don’t have to go yet.”

  “Yeah, I sorta think I do. I may not have been there physically, but I was connected to you throughout most of it—the worst of it, anyway. So I need a little time to myself too.”

  With that, she walked back out of her own room, leaving me more informed yet just as confused all the same.

  What was worse? I hadn’t even learned her name.

  12

  Is My Mind Playing Tricks On Me?

  After taking her advice and lying down for a while longer, tossing, turning and dozing off for a few catnaps, I decided I couldn’t just lie there anymore, and got up to do some exploring. No, I had no idea where I was going; I barely even knew where I was. I assumed, since I was in my newfound sister’s room, I had to be in the High Vampire Castle. Especially with how large and plush the room was. Rather logical assumption, right? Wrong. Like they say, when you assume, all you’re really doing is making an ass out of you and me.

  As soon I stepped out of the bedroom, I could see that it was not part of a castle, more like a small cottage that could have been lawn decoration for a castle.

  How they’d designed it was a mystery to me, but when you have wizards and alchemists as interior designers, anything’s possible. While the inside of the bedroom felt as though it were the size of an entire loft, sitting area and all, On entering the hall, the building was just the size of a regular cottage. Another door led to what I assumed was a bathroom, and next to it a staircase led to the upstairs. As I walked down the hall, I spied a small living area with a quaint little fireplace surrounded by a nice size couch and large coffee table, and end tables with lamps on them. They could have been stolen from the pages of an Ikea magazine. Entering the kitchen, though? Much like the bedroom, it was much larger upon entering it, which seemed rather odd to me. Why would vampires need to cook?

  Opening the double doors of the stainless steel fridge, I looked at the opulent abundance of food inside and realized just how hungry I was. I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d actually eaten. But when I went to reach in and grab something, I stopped myself, slightly terrified by the thought of ending up drugged or spelled again.

  “Oh, go ahead and fetch yourself a
snack out of there, child. You could use some more meat on those bones of yours.”

  Startled, I straightened up a little too fast and banged my head on the top of the refrigerator. “Ow, shit.” More choice words came to mind.

  “Watch your mouth, young lady.” Though the words sounded like they should be coming from a little old lady, the voice sure wasn’t. When I turned around, I was staring at a beautiful, buxom platinum blonde no taller than five feet with a face more gorgeous than Marilyn Monroe’s. While she looked no more than thirty-five, I could see her for the vampire she was, so her true age was anyone’s guess.

  She gestured towards the fridge with a wave of her hands. “Go on, grab you something to munch on, drink, whatever. You need some kind of sustenance after what you’ve just been through. And while I’m sure something of the alcoholic variety would be much preferred, you won’t be having any of that on my watch. Least not on an empty stomach, anyhow.”

  When she continued to stare me down, I just gave in. “Okay, okay.”

  “There’s a good girl. I’ll just go on into the sitting room and stoke us up a nice little fire to help you warm your bones and clear your mind. You come on in and join me soon as you get your vittles together.”

  I rolled my eyes while continuing to gather my “vittles”.

  “And don’t be rolling your eyeballs, young lady,” came from down the hall.

  Is it too much to ask to be alone for just a little while? I thought.

  There was a smorgasbord of food for me to choose from, but I kept it simple. Last thing I wanted to do was pull something out that was going to require me to do a lot of work, like cleaning, cooking, washing. So I just grabbed some lunchmeat, mayo, mustard, pickles and cheese, and hoped there was some bread in here somewhere.