Curse of the Witching Hour Read online

  Table of Contents

  NOT-SO-COZY MYSTERIES

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  A SNEAK PREVIEW OF BOOK 3

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Curse of the Witching Hour

  Son of a Succubus Series

  BOOK 2

  SARINA DORIE

  Copyright © 2019 Sarina Dorie

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN-13: 978-1709143304

  NOT-SO-COZY MYSTERIES

  IN THE womby’s school for wayward witches SERIES listed in order

  Tardy Bells and Witches’ Spells

  Hex-Ed

  Witches Gone Wicked

  A Handful of Hexes

  Hexes and Exes

  Reading, Writing and Necromancy

  Budget Cuts for the Dark Arts and Crafts

  My Crazy Hex-Boyfriend

  Spell It Out for Me

  Hex Crimes

  Of Curse You Will

  Cackles and Cauldrons

  Hex and the City

  Wedding Bells and Midnight Spells

  Hex Appeal

  Safe Hex

  The Joy of Hex

  Hedgewitchin’ in the Kitchen

  The Trouble with Hedge witches SERIES

  The Witch of Nightmares

  A Cauldron Full of Curses

  A Pocket Full of Poison

  The Witch’s Familiar

  SON OF A SUCCUBUS SERIES

  A Familiar Magic

  Curse of the Witching Hour

  Magical Maladies for Beginners

  The Physics of Souls

  Incubus Charms

  A Vial Full of Magic

  A Devil of a Time

  SON OF A FAE SERIES

  A Court of Muses

  A Court of Fae

  A Court of Nightmares

  The vega bloodmire cozy witch mystery series

  Ghoulish Charms

  The Hex Files With Felix Thatch series

  Other Titles to Be Announced

  CONTENTS

  Chapter One

  3

  Chapter Two

  6

  Chapter Three

  14

  Chapter Four

  20

  Chapter Five

  24

  Chapter Six

  28

  Chapter Seven

  31

  Chapter Eight

  40

  Chapter Nine

  44

  Chapter Ten

  54

  Chapter Eleven:

  58

  Chapter Twelve:

  60

  Book 2 Preview

  63

  Acknowledgments

  72

  About the Author

  75

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  A special chronology for my fans because you specifically asked for it:

  The Son of a Succubus Series is its own original series and spin-off of the Womby’s School for Wayward Witches Series. The first novel in this series, A Familiar Magic, takes place after The Witch’s Familiar, the last book in the Trouble with Hedge Witches Series Bundle. This also places it around the time of Book 13, Hex and the City from the Womby’s School for Wayward Witches Series. The second book in the Son of a Succubus Series, Curse of the Witching Hour, spans the time between Book 14 and Book 17 in Womby’s School for Wayward Witches Series.

  * * *

  I want to encourage you to sign up for my newsletter if you haven’t already done so. This helps me as an author connect to my readers and lets you know when books are being released. Once a month in my newsletter, I send my readers at least one FREE short story or free novel.

  You can find the newsletter sign-up on my website: sarinadorie.com or you can go to: http://eepurl.com/dEd4oL

  Happy reading!

  CHAPTER ONE

  A Piece of Cake

  The thirty-year punishment Lucifer Thatch had served as a cat amounted to a double life sentence in his current feline body. It was more than a life sentence for a cat. Nor did he think what he’d done in the first place was worthy of such punishment.

  After his fleeting taste of freedom months before, he was done being patient. He was done being a good kitty. It was time for a prison break, and he would soon be getting out of this body he was stuck in.

  He had a plan.

  He’d been saving up his touch magic for months. Every time Abigail brushed his fur, he chomped down on a particularly tasty mouse, or he mated with other cats, he stored the energy of pleasure and touch so that he could use it in the future.

  Lucifer sat beside Abigail Lawrence MacQuillan, his witch, as she unfolded the cardboard alphabet board she’d made from boxes so he could communicate with her. She balanced her pen and notebook on her knee. Lucifer attempted a calm confidence befitting a cat, but his tail swishing back and forth belied his excitement.

  “Now, remember, this plan is only going to work if you don’t do anything rash and run away.” Abigail stroked his back.

  He held himself straighter, staring into her emerald eyes. She wore her auburn hair on top of her head in a messy bun that showed off the freckles on her neck. She might have aged thirty years while they’d been in the Morty Realm, but she was just as lovely as the first day he’d met her when they’d been teenagers.

  His tail brushed against her arm, wanting to curl around her and hold on to her. It was so difficult being with her but not able to be with her. Soon that was going to change.

  Lucifer darted forward and tapped his paw against the alphabet board.

  Abigail copied each letter down, marking pauses between words before she read the sentences he wrote. It was slow work, and Lucifer forgot what he was saying midway through when he became distracted by a dust mote. The longer he remained a cat, the harder it was for him to think like a human.

  Abigail stroked his head. “Come on. Finish your sentence.”

  Her words reminded him of the importance of this task. He’d been mulling over what he needed to say for days this time. He wasn’t going to become distracted by the light of a car flashing across the floor from the street outside.

  He finished patting the letters and sat back.

  She read, “Plan only work if you don’t tell them.” It took all his will to focus his brain to form words. After thirty years in this body, his spelling and reading had suffered.

  If he didn’t get out of this body soon, he feared his soul would be so much like a cat’s he would never truly be a man again. Vega Bloodmire, the witch who had been helping Abigail, had only solidified this fear in his mind when she’d told him he would never change back to being a human if he didn’t figure out his curse soon. Yet he had.

  In a way.

  Abigail bit her lip. “I know that’s your preference, but it just doesn’t seem right. We’re using my daughter and your brother to harness sex magic. It’s unethical. We should tell them. They’re nice people. They’ll agree.”

  Lucifer tapped the letters with more force than necessary. “No.”

  Abigail’s adopted daughter, Clarissa, was one of the rare affinities who used touch magic like Lucifer.
He still couldn’t understand what she saw in his brother, Felix. He had to be almost a hundred years older than her—even if he didn’t look like it due to aging slowly and living in the Faerie Realm. He was stuffy and boring—like an old man.

  Also, Lucifer suspected he was evil.

  He couldn’t prove it, but Felix did seem to still have ties to the Raven Court, even if he claimed he no longer worked for the Raven Queen. The fact that Priscilla, their younger sister, was now Felix’s supposed familiar and trapped in the form of a raven didn’t bode well. They both might be spies, for all Lucifer knew.

  “We don’t have to tell Felix you’re related,” Abigail said. “But we should just tell them this worked before, even if it was only temporarily. They might be more willing to give you magic rather than you stealing it if you would just let me talk to Professor Thatch—I mean—Felix.” She scratched Lucifer behind the ears. “And he’s probably sorry about what happened before. He might try to help you, to make up for the past.”

  Lucifer hissed. The day Felix had taken their sisters with him and abandoned Lucifer in the Faerie Realm with their abusive mother was the last day he had considered Felix his brother.

  He smacked the N and the O again with his paw. It felt unsatisfying to not be able to give voice to that word.

  “Just listen to my idea.” Abigail pushed wisps of auburn hair out of her eyes. “We should tell them why I’m leaving you in the cottage during their honeymoon. If I don’t, they’ll find you and kick you out. Especially if you make your presence known.”

  What she probably meant was that they would kick him out after he raked his claws against their ankles or they discovered their clothes had been shredded.

  He spelled out each word with care. “I will behave.”

  He planned to hide under the bed during their honeymoon. If he was going to get sick from the transformation, he would run into the bathroom and use the litter box. When the electrical magic of Clarissa’s and Felix’s touch affinities had previously set off Lucifer’s magic and burned through the curse, his transformation to his human self had been temporary. Perhaps it would be again, but Lucifer suspected if he didn’t squander his magic like last time, and he instead stored it, he wouldn’t change back into a cat.

  It also meant he wouldn’t be able to work any other spells, but he didn’t care. As long as he could be a man again and be with Abigail, to hold her in his human arms once more, he would be happy. He nuzzled her hand.

  “There’s so much that can go wrong with this plan,” Abigail said. “Your electrical magic might weaken the wards, and the Raven Court might find a way to get in. I don’t want them to hurt Clarissa.”

  He tapped the board. “Raven Court will not know where they are honeymoon. They will not look for way in.” He found it more difficult to keep his words from jumbling together. “Do not worry.”

  She offered him a hopeful smile, but the lines didn’t ease from her forehead.

  “Tell them strengthen wards after honeymoon.” He wrote. “You can bring Clarissa smoothie.” Breathy pants escaped from him, the closest he could manage to a chuckle. Clarissa hated Abigail’s healthy smoothies.

  “That’s right! I can bring her a strawberry-kelp-banana smoothie in the morning so they have energy.” Abigail beamed.

  Now that they were on the topic of food, Abigail was in her element. Lucifer did his best to pay attention while Abigail told him about the menu she was helping plan and the wedding cake she would be baking for the wedding.

  Abigail still hadn’t decided whether she was going to bake the cake at home, and bring it when Felix magically transported her, or use the oven at Womby’s School for Wayward Witches, the magical boarding school where Clarissa and Felix worked as high school teachers. Yet all he could think about was the numerous ways this plan might go wrong.

  Most matrons of honor only had to plan invitations, decorations, and catering. But Abigail also had to worry about uninvited Fae guests who had figured out what Clarissa’s affinity was and wanted to kidnap her for it.

  Touch magic was more than pleasant sensations that could break curses. It could amplify other Witchkin’s and Fae’s powers and be used as a weapon against others. Lucifer was fortunate no one knew about his affinity or his brother’s. He hoped to keep it that way.

  In three days they had a wedding to attend, and he had a honeymoon to crash. Lucifer was so close to freedom he could almost taste all the cake, pizza, and wedding leftovers he was going to eat once he was in his human body again.

  CHAPTER TWO

  A Fairy-Tale Wedding

  Abigail was so busy with preparations in the days to come, she hardly had time for Lucifer. He was left to his own devices once they arrived at Womby’s School for Wayward Witches. He did his best to play his part, behaving as any other sociopathic cat would: killing mice, hissing at teenagers who came too close to Abigail, and watching for any ravens that happened to be flying over the grounds of the school.

  Lucifer only saw one raven, Priscilla, and Abigail had forbidden him from pouncing on his sister.

  On the day of the wedding, magic was thick in the air, mingling with Clarissa’s anxiety. Magic and nerves were never a good mix among the half-breed offspring of Fae and humans known as Witchkin.

  If Clarissa had been his daughter, he would have told her it wasn’t too late for her to change her mind about the wedding. She was still young, in her twenties. She was cute, with freckles, making her appear far younger than she actually was. There were plenty of other men out there who would put up with her hot-pink hair and eccentric art teacher ways.

  But if Lucifer could have spoken, he would have been human. He wouldn’t have needed for her and Felix to release a dose of Red affinity magic that he could snatch up to break his curse. He didn’t want Clarissa to marry a potentially nefarious man like his brother, but he did need them to consummate their marriage.

  Abigail helped Clarissa get ready in the morning, while Lucifer tried to stay out of the way. Clarissa was dressed in Abigail’s wedding dress, a gown from the eighties with puff sleeves and layers of ruffles that invited a cat’s claws to snag against the lace. Lucifer’s reaction seeing it a second time wasn’t any better than the first time he’d seen it. He hunched down, fighting the instinct to shred it into pieces.

  Abigail had worn the dress on her wedding day with Adam. She’d looked like a princess.

  Lucifer had gone into the woods and killed mice to appease his anger that night.

  Preparations the morning of the wedding went smoothly enough despite the tension in the air.

  The moment the Fae burst into the cottage, all that changed.

  CHAPTER THREE

  The Godfather. The Fairy Godfather, That Is

  The moment Lucifer laid eyes on Prince Elric of the Silver Court, he was fairly certain he was the one person he loathed more than his brother. For one thing, the man was a Fae prince—an elite and entitled noble used to getting his way. For another, he was a powerful being who radiated so much magic he could have scooped it into bottles and marketed it as a perfume. The man wore a crystal crown on top of his long silvery hair. Despite the color of his long locks, his face was youthful.

  Elric swept Clarissa into his arms like a rakish former lover—which he probably was.

  The Fae man fussed over Clarissa. “I beg you will forgive this intrusion, but there are some traditions I cannot ignore, and giving a blessing to one of my subjects is one of them.”

  Lucifer snorted. He gathered this princey fellow thought he was her fairy godfather.

  Abigail and Clarissa both tried to deter him from a “blessing.” Lucifer knew all too well how mixed those blessings could be—especially from an uninvited Fae who had just crashed a wedding. The Fae Lucifer had met in the Unseen Realm and Faerie Realm were all tricksters—even the seemingly benign ones. A Fae on a wedding day would result in trouble.

  Abigail sat on edge in her chair, chaperoning th
e visitor. Lucifer stalked back and forth, eager for Abigail’s go-ahead to strike. The moment the man’s advice upset Clarissa, Abigail left her seat and placed a hand on the man’s arm. “Stop right there.”

  Elric gestured toward the door. Abigail’s green eyes clouded over, and she stumbled toward the exit. Lucifer’s attack instincts were set into motion, but instead of launching himself at Elric, he found himself rushing out the door, rolling around in a bush of catnip, more drunk than a sailor. He couldn’t recall what he’d been about to do.

  Eventually he wandered back inside the cottage and plopped himself down on someone’s jacket on a chair. He heard beautiful voices singing eighties love ballads in the distance. The soothing melodies put him to sleep.

  The sound of screaming woke him from his catnap.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Creature of Habit

  The shrieks of harpies and thunder of magic shook Lucifer from happy dreams of a tabby cat with orange fur—that was what Abigail looked like as a cat when Vega had used magic to transform her. Lucifer shook off the clinging wisps of dreams, disoriented. His heart convulsed in his chest at the roar of magic outside the cottage.

  He leapt onto the bed in the corner to see out the window. Light flashed through a garland of flowers. Black feathers drifted through the air. Through the cacophony of noise, Lucifer heard Abigail scream.

  He rushed to the door, but it was closed. He threw himself at it, but it wouldn’t open. He searched for another exit. The windows were closed. He pushed at the frame, but it wouldn’t budge. How he wished he had human hands and a man’s muscle. He clawed at the door, at the windowpane, at the walls, but nothing would work. Eventually the noise died down. Lucifer yowled to be let out of the cottage, but no one came.