Magic After Dark: A Collection of Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance Novels

by Margo Bond Collins

“I command you to tell me where the Hood is hiding.” His words boomed, and a wave of the earlier warmth trickled through me, taunting me, promising happiness. Except I saw more clearly now and kept my hand in my pocket, holding the marbles.

  “What the fuck are you?” I stood my ground. “How did you control me?”

  Lash’s cheeks flared red, his shoulders drawing toward his ears. “Listen to me. Where is the Hood?”

  But I held on to the marbles, using them as a barrier against the mayor and his magic tricks. His voice must be persuading people to do his bidding, and my thoughts returned to yesterday, the cops manhandling the Traveler community. Ryker! My legs weakened.

  Two figures burst into the office covered in black from head to toe, holding fighting staffs. The bojutsu fighters from the other night at my place. “Fuck, no!”

  “Apprehend her and tie her up. Now!” The mayor yelled. He left and shut the door behind him.

  The ninjas advanced. I retreated and hit the glass window overlooking the city. “Look, you don’t have to do this. You’re under a spell.”

  Neither said a word, simply staring at me from behind their masks.

  Options. Think… Negotiation was a no go. I scanned the room and paused on the weapons decorating the wall above the mayor’s desk. I scrambled sideways, darting that direction, when a ninja leaped forward and cracked his staffs across my shins.

  A scream fell from my mouth as a piercing agony rocked through me, shaking me to the core. Another whack to my knees. I slapped the ground hard. More hits to my back. I cried, curled up. Terror leeched to my insides. I scooped up the first marble from my pocket and concentrated, drawing on its energy. A spark jolted through me. My body and clothes took on a dark brown look, threaded with lines like timber. The next smack to my head resonated, but I felt no pain.

  I staggered up and shook myself. “M-My turn, boys.”

  A ninja flew toward me, his leg aiming for my chest. He collided into me. I bounced backward from the impact and laughed. “Try harder.” I rushed for the wall of weapons and grabbed a longsword. He tackled me and we both slid to the ground. I wrestled with the hilt, the weapon so heavy, it had to have come straight out of ancient times.

  With my knee to his groin, the attacker moaned and crumpled onto his side. I rushed to my feet and careened around the desk, plucking several ninja stars from the wall. When a ninja hopped onto the table, I gripped my blade with both hands and swung against his attacking staff, blocking him.

  The second guy came at me. I spun and blocked his oncoming staff. Both were in front of me, driving me backward with swing after swing, fast and ferocious. Backed against the mirror, I pushed forward, not feeling the pain.

  Both tossed their sticks away. One dashed to the wall and claimed two eleven-inch daggers. He threw one to his friend.

  I darted for the door, but they blocked my path and one sliced me across the bicep, his steel blade cutting through my wooden exterior. The sting registered, biting deep, and blood seeped down my arm. I retreated, because I should have used the metal ball, should have paid more attention, should have beat their asses harder when I’d had the upper hand.

  A ninja charged. I banded a hand around the bottle of rum on the counter nearby and smashed it across his head. He fell like a sack of flour and was out cold. But, the second guy lunged over him and slammed into me. I tripped over my own feet and tumbled.

  A knife swung for my face.

  I rolled away, inches from being skewered in the eye. The world flashed before me. As soon as I got up on my feet, he slashed his blade across my collarbone, another over my thighs. I hopped sideways, blood dripping down my legs and chest, pain burrowing through me. I gritted my teeth, riding the agony.

  The door wasn’t far. I reached into my pocket and took out two ninja stars. In haste, I launched one at the advancing attacker, but he dodged it, so I sent the second. It struck with a thump to the side of his neck. He yelled and crashed to his knees, gripping his injury. I kicked him in his chest, and he keeled over. I grabbed his mask and ripped it off his face.

  Fuck… Jacob, one of the teachers at Little J’s who had a family with five kids. What was he doing here? Guilt chewed at me. The mayor was using these guys as his minions. I had to leave before more came. There was no reasoning with them while they remained under a spell.

  Outside the office, the hallway remained empty. I clutched my collarbone… so much blood. Stitches were a must. My thighs stung with each movement, but I pushed toward the fire escape to my left. If I was quick, I might get out before the mayor found his fighters bleeding and injured.

  Chapter 14

  The moment I pushed open the fire escape door, an alarm wailed overhead. I shuddered and threw myself into the dimly-lit stairwell, rushing down the stairs. Nothing mattered but escaping and getting away. By the time I reached the lower floor, I gasped for air. The slap of a door sounded several flights above me. Hell! My thighs burned, the deep cut across my collarbone stung, and blood dripped down my arm.

  I burst outside into an alley at the rear of the council building with several cars parked along the curb. I bolted down the street, putting as much distance between the mayor and me as I could. Wind ripped through my hair, my boots hitting the asphalt. My recent discovery rocked through me. How in the world did Lash have such persuasion ability? His voice put people into a hypnotic trance and made them do his bidding. It explained so many things, how he’d risen to power so fast, why the ninjas fought on his behalf, why the police had attacked the Traveler community.

  After all, Lash wanted the location demolished for some new, son-of-a-bitch shopping center. And Ryker… He’d been under the influence when he’d hit me, so would he remember what he’d done? I didn’t remember anything I’d done while I’d been under Lash’s influence until after I’d touched the marbles.

  Fuck! And I’d kissed Dante, enjoyed it, craved more. The guilt burrowed in my chest, my life more complicated by the second, tearing me from the inside out. I couldn’t deny that I had feelings for both men, and now I’d opened myself up to Dante again. Great job, Robyn!

  I angled around a corner deli and sprinted—despite gasping for air, despite the wail of sirens in the distance, despite my world crumbling.

  Going home was out of the question. Would Ryker turn up and arrest me? Thank the gods, I hadn’t told Lash where the Hood hid, but I’d outed myself. He had connections in the police precinct and would no doubt demand they hunt me down. I’d lose my apartment, the few friends I’d made, the clients I helped. But worst of all, it meant walking away from Ryker… and that broke me.

  I darted down a sidewalk, past storefronts, a grocery chain, and the bakery I visited on weekends. Luckily, the early morning roads weren’t filled with people or cars.

  Where to now? The Hood? I’d never make it in time on foot, so I careened between two buildings, following the narrow path, deciding I would return home after all.

  By the time I reached my place, my chest ached, and stopping had been a mistake. Descending all those steps in the Town Hall had cramped my leg muscles and my calves screamed with tightness. No time to waste; the mayor knew where I lived and would send someone here. But I had to change clothes, so I raced upstairs to my apartment. Within ten minutes, I cleaned, disinfected, and taped up my wounds. Once dressed geared in jeans, T-shirt, and leather jacket, I heading to my bike at the rear of the building.

  I glided down a barren road, swaying all over the place from my injured arm. The morning chill bit into my flesh as locals sat at cafes, others waiting for the buses, cars joining the rat race. Normality. But considering the danger I’d uncovered, everyone should run and hide. I’d listened to the mayor dozens of times on television and had never gotten hypnotized. Did that mean his ability only worked when face-to-face?

  Was that why he’d visited the precinct and Little J’s in person? With Jack being deaf, Lash’s words would have laid wasted.

  I truly believed in his innocence and couldn�
��t ignore that Lash might frame him to gain his property. The billion-dollar question was why? And what the hell did any of this have to do with the dead kids and Dash’s death? I wanted to believe they weren’t related, but then I might as well have said the mayor had only good intentions for the city.

  Ha, as if.

  I zoomed through the Lower Corner, where dilapidated buildings lined the streets, and store windows remained boarded up. And people still lived there. The council injected no funds into maintaining the poor sector of Amber City.

  Slowing down near the road that entered the Traveler community section, I found that the location seemed abandoned. Without waiting, I pulled left and descended toward my childhood home. Part of me felt a sense of homecoming, like I’d hang out with neighboring kids. Even after moving to the Hood, I’d always felt I belonged here. I longed for that feeling.

  I parked near a trailer and out of sight from the main road, climbing off and setting my helmet on the seat. A deep pulse thrummed through my collarbone, stinging to high hell, and I staggered on my feet. Okay, maybe taking a break wasn’t such a great idea. I patted down the bandages that had come undone from the bike ride. The ground beneath me seemed to revolve, and I bumped into a camper. I needed to get patched up before I passed out from blood loss.

  Lurching, I emerged into the main street, which snaked through the district. No one wandered around or played music too loud—where were the kids? But who could blame them after yesterday’s attacks? I spotted the quick flicker of curtains in the windows of several kit-homes. Empty spots with yellowing grass sat like hollowed cavities from where campers had vacated. I approached a tiny home with white walls and blinds shut, complete with a veranda and a rocking chair out front. The wooden steps groaned beneath my boots, and I knocked on the door.

  A community elder resided here, and I wanted to check in to see how everyone was doing after the riots. She’d always welcomed me into her house, and right now I had so many questions about the power of persuasion. She’d helped after my brother had died, when I’d moved into the city, when I’d felt life wasn’t worth living.

  I banged my fist again when the crunch of footfalls sounded behind me. When I turned, three men in their forties watched me from the front lawn. Their gazes fell to my bloody shoulder.

  “She ain’t here. Yesterday, the mayor visited us, and afterward, about fifty locals relocated for no reason. Gutless weasels, if you ask me,” Rick said. The same guy who’d thrown a rock at me after I’d left the Hood. His friends sneered. Well, fuck them all.

  Did the mayor intend to return and persuade each person to move? Before anyone worked out the truth, construction would begin. Hell, why was he so determined to build the complex in this section of the city? The Lower Corner was a rundown section with poor people. His decision for some fancy shops weren’t adding up.

  “You don’t belong here,” another cried. “You’re injured and bringing danger to our families.”

  I wouldn’t let them intimidate me, not when everyone was in peril. What if the mayor persuaded someone to come and slit their throats to ensure they get out of his way?

  I swallowed back my angry response. “I’m here to help. Where’s—”

  Rick scoffed, his beard overgrown and scraggly. “Nobody wants to see you. Now get the fuck off our property.”

  Stepping closer, I said, “The real problem is the mayor. If you see him coming, run, don’t engage him.”

  “We don’t run. We protect our own.” Rick squared his shoulders. Of course, the guys would, but they would lose and get trampled over.

  In that moment, the world swayed, and I stumbled into the chair.

  “I’m not the enemy.” My vision blurred, and I pushed myself upright. Too much blood loss. “The mayor’s a threat to all Travelers.” Were my words slurring? The next thing I knew, my feet buckled out from under me and the floor was rushing up toward my face.

  Heaviness clung to my insides, and a delicious aroma of baking bread filled my senses. And calmness… except that couldn’t be right. Not with the recent events; then I remembered facing guys before I’d passed out. I snapped open my eyes to a dimly-lit area. I lay on a bed inside a tiny room where the bed touched three walls…No. I was in a trailer. The window to my right had the blinds shut, and I reached over and pushed them aside. Night. Shit, how long had I been out?

  Getting up proved a mistake. My head swam. My shoulder and collarbone had been taped up, and I sat there in my bra and jeans.

  With my legs swinging over the mattress’s edge, I stared down the narrow passage, past the cushioned bench and toward the kitchen at the other end, where a brunette stood with her back to me stirring food over a stove.

  “Smells divine.” I got to my feet as she turned around, revealing her enormous pregnant belly. And at once, I remembered her. She’d been trying to escape with her husband when the cops had attacked.

  With a hand to her lower back, she approached. “How are you feeling?” She opened a drawer and pulled out a black T-shirt. “Sorry. I had to cut your shirt off you. I’m Sari.”

  “Robyn. Thank you so much for helping.” I wrestled with the top, threading my half-bandaged arm in first, then the other, and tugged it over my head. It was tight across the bust, but it was better than wearing just a sports bra.

  “I know who you are. Everyone does. The other day, you helped my husband and me. So when he brought you home, saying he’d found you lying on a veranda, I had to help.” She smiled. “Come, you need to eat.”

  I slid into the curved booth, surrounding a table.

  She nodded and served me a large bowl of meaty stew and two slices of baked bread smothered in butter. My stomach growled, and I salivated.

  “You were lucky you didn’t get a concussion.” Sari lowered herself in slow motion, gripping the table and the seat. She had to be due any day now.

  I dug into the meal, savoring the paprika taste and taking large bites of the fresh bread. This was what I’d missed about living here, the friendliness, how anyone would feed you if needed. No one was alone—ever.

  Sari set a hot cup of coffee in front of me. “I’m sorry about your brother dying in that accident. That was horrific, and I don’t blame you for leaving us.”

  I swallowed a mouthful and looked up at Sari as she kept her hands on her belly, her brown eyes softening. “I never really left; I just chose to be on my own. Didn’t know how else to deal with the situation. Maybe I was wrong to leave. Sometimes we do things that feel right, and then hindsight shows us our mistakes.”

  She nodded. “Oh, I know.” She patted her bump. “My husband isn’t even a Traveler and the only reason we’re allowed to stay here is because the trailer is my grandmother’s. I fought for weeks against the elders, convincing them to accept him. I often wonder what it would have been like if we’d decided to live where he grew up, in the northern part of the city. Especially now with our first child.”

  With the crap the mayor was dishing out on the Travelers, the Lower Corner wasn’t a safe haven to raise a baby. “It’s not too late.” I took another bite of the buttery goodness.

  “His parents disowned him, and he lost his inheritance. So we’re making it work here.”

  Hardship was at every turn, and I admired that Sari stood for what she loved. She let no one drive her from her family. I’d chosen to move out, but my true home would always be the Lower Corner. It was where I’d made my first friend, experienced my first kiss, and where I’d first joined the Hood. And right then, I was more determined than ever to make sure friends like Sari didn’t lose their safety and roof because where would they live afterward?

  By the time I finished, my stomach was ready to explode. “Incredible food. You’ve been a blessing.” I picked up the coffee, figuring I couldn’t leave it untouched after Sari’s generosity.

  She reached across the table and took my hand. “I often thought of you, Robyn, and your loss whenever I feared we’d get thrown out of the community. It gave m
e the strength to keep fighting.”

  I lost my words, unsure how to respond, because no one had ever said anything remotely close to that to me before.

  My pocket buzzed, and I grabbed my phone, noting it was Clive, my client. I cringed on the inside as I’d still made no progress on his case thanks to other crap inundating me. “Do you mind if I answer this?”

  Sari nodded and collected my plate before getting up from the table.

  “Hi, Clive.”

  “Robyn, I won’t keep you long. Another kid has just gone missing. His parents told the police and called me, asking for any help. Please, you’ve got to come over to my place.”

  My mouth parched, and I’d already jumped up from my seat. I couldn’t say no, not when his trembling voice dug into my soul. “Okay, I’m coming over now.”

  He hung up.

  Then I noticed seven missed calls, all from Ryker. Shit! Was he after me because he was worried, or was he on a mission to track me down for the mayor?

  “Sari, you’re an angel. Thank you, but I have to go.”

  She was on her feet. “Of course. Just be safe.”

  I gave her a side hug, missing the community spirit she’d shared with me tonight. And I made myself a promise that if my life ever calmed down, I would make an effort to rejoin the community and stop running away from who I was. Dante accepted me, but would Ryker once he knew the truth? Did I want him to?

  Chapter 15

  Deciding where to go next would have to wait… at least until I checked on the new missing kid. That took priority if there was a chance Sunny, the new missing kid, might still be alive. Adrenaline drove me faster through the city drenched in night. There’d been too many deaths as of late, and I needed to stop more children from losing their lives.

  With my shoulder bandaged, I swayed across the road. My injury stung, so my right arm did most of the hard work in steadying the motorbike. By the time I arrived in the suburban sector with cookie-cutter houses, trees swaying in the wind along the curbs, streetlights flickering overhead, I’d sweated a bucket. Sharp zaps shot down my arm, and I bit my lip to ride out the pain. I swore after tonight, I was staying in bed for a week straight eating chocolate chip ice cream.