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

by Margo Bond Collins

  Everyone freezes, gawking at me.

  A surge of energy enters me from above, followed by the brightest light. I narrow my sight on Kyle’s father and lightning bolts from my hands and into his chest.

  Vadoma’s next. I set my sight and her. She trembles.

  “Elysia! Don’t! She’s your sister!” Dad blocks her. I couldn’t have heard him right. A fogginess numbs me as I try to process his words, but the howling of wind scrambles their meaning.

  Listen to your father. A beautiful glowing woman whispers on the wind. Save them Elysia.

  The whirling gust feels my emotions and builds a sand wall around my family.

  The wolves stop their pursuit of the others. A large black wolf growls. The others follow his lead. They move closer toward me.

  “They’re going after Elysia!” Fonso yells through the roaring squall.

  “Get back!” My father herds my family and friends off the shore.

  Fonso struggles against him, but my father pushes him away.

  Riley and Brayden change into their human form and move Colin off the sand.

  Waterspouts encircle several wolves, pulling them through the air. The angry water swoops in around me on both sides, crashing against the pack. It sucks most of them into the dark depths of the ocean. The few remaining wolves scatter from the shore, away from us.

  The wind lowers me onto the sand and the surge releases me. I feel the separation as I part from the elements. A sadness sweeps in, replacing the amity I shared with the forces of nature.

  Dad catches me before I hit the sand.

  “Why did the wolves go after her?” I hear Nadya ask through my haze.

  “Because she alone can break the Roaming Curse,” Bo says.

  Chapter 26

  Several people surround me, but their faces are a blur. Colin passes in and out of consciousness. Rain starts and stops periodically. Every time he wakes, he squeezes my hand. I refuse to let

  it go.

  On arrival, the paramedics put Colin on a gurney and I’m forced to let go of his hand as they rush him to the ambulance.

  Silence is deafening when riding to the hospital in the hopes of saving a life.

  Someone leads me inside to a chair in a waiting area. Big arms cradle me. I sink into his chest. “Dad.” My voice cracks.

  “I’m here. Shhh.” He rocks me.

  Rain pounds the building, curving sideways hitting the clear windows. It calls to me... whispering its need to fall.

  “I’m sorry.” A rough voice breaks the silence. Bo, my grandfather, sits across from us. “I didn’t intend for any of this to happen.”

  “What exactly did you think would happen?” Aunt Mirela asks. “You kidnapped my children.”

  “That wasn’t supposed to happen.” He glances at Vadoma standing at the window. “I just wanted to find Elysia.”

  “How is she my sister?” My throat aches. I’m parched.

  “A few years before you were born, Lyuba was pregnant. It was before she met Harman. She was nineteen.” Aunt Simza says and takes my right hand. “Tom, the father, ran off before she gave birth. He wasn’t Rom. He worked for Bo, helping with security for the shows he put on featuring your mother.”

  Vadoma turns away from the windows and studies me.

  “I didn’t tell her about this,” Bo says, watching Vadoma.

  Aunt Mirela glares at him. “I’m sure there’s a lot of things you neglected to tell her.”

  “She gave birth to a stillborn girl at home. I was there. The baby came out blue.” Aunt Simza cries. “How is it possible she’s standing here now?”

  Everyone’s attention turns to Bo.

  He clears his throat. “She was dead. I brought Vadoma out of the room so you could console your sister. I kissed her cheek and she started coughing. I almost brought her back into the room, but I couldn’t. Lyuba was too young. The child wasn’t full Rom. I thought she’d be better off in the hands of other caring parents.”

  “That wasn’t your decision to make.” Aunt Simza clenches her teeth. “That almost destroyed her.”

  A tear runs down Vadoma’s cheek. She catches me staring and faces away from me.

  “She saved me,” Bo says. “When you all left, she was there. Your cousins raised her, until werewolves killed them. She was away at school. It’s been us for the last fifteen years.”

  “You used her to find us?” Aunt Simza asks.

  “No. I found you all years ago. I hired a private detective,” Bo says. “I left you at peace and helped you from afar when you needed it.”

  “Helped us?” Aunt Mirela asks. “You made Nadya try to find Harman every year since she was five.”

  “That’s regrettable.” Bo creases his brows. “I was curious to see why he fled. I learned of Lyuba’s pregnancy and her death. The earthquake. When I arrived to see for myself, I found her, but no baby. Harman had fled.”

  Dad repositions himself in the chair. “Lyuba asked me to. She knew Elysia was special. She named her in her last breath...it means lightning struck.”

  A silence falls over the room. I clench my fists, thinking how my mother knew me so well from the moment I was born.

  Bo clears his throat. “When I found you guys working in one of those nasty carnivals, the detective said you pretended to talk to the dead, tell past lives and find things. I knew what Mirela and Simza did, but the finding things was new. That’s when I hired Brian. He used you to locate Harman, but he was always out of reach, thanks to his gift...until now.”

  “Brian...Kyle’s dad,” I say. “Where’s Kyle?”

  Riley, Brayden, and Kayla sit on the far side of the waiting room. Fonso and Nadya sit on the other side of Aunt Mirela and Aunt Simza. Kyle’s nowhere to be seen.

  “He stayed behind,” Dad says.

  “You killed his father,” Vadoma says from across the room. “Do you blame him?” She scrutinizes me. “You almost killed me.”

  “He shot Colin,” Kayla says.

  “Because he killed Brian’s wife,” Vadoma replies. “Damn werewolf.”

  Kayla growls.

  “Enough,” Aunt Mirela says. “Hasn’t there been enough fighting and killing for the day?”

  “She’s right,” Aunt Simza says. “It’s time to stop fighting amongst ourselves. There’s a bigger threat coming and if we don’t unite, it’ll be the end of all of us.”

  “What do you mean?” Dad asks. “What’s coming?”

  Aunt Simza stares at me. “Lyuba says now that the packs know what you can do, they’ll be coming for you...for all of us. They won’t stop until you’re dead or until you break the curse.”

  “What curse?” I ask.

  “The Roaming Curse. It’s the reason we are never able to stay in one place for very long. It’s also what the wolves are sworn to protect,” Bo says. “You’re the only one who can break it, which means you’re the one the Hunters will be after.”

  A storm swells in my chest. The overwhelming feeling to protect the ones I love comes over me. The only way to keep them safe is if I leave...alone. A sadness grips me. I just found them, and I wasn’t ready to let them go. But, it’s the only way.

  A doctor walks down the hall toward us. I stand and stare at his expression, trying to figure out the news he has to share before he reaches us.

  He stops a few feet away from me. “He’s going to be fine,” he says and offers a smile. I want to hug him. Tears of joy fall down my face. Bright, glowing, yellow rays stream into the room as a light rain falls.

  Epilogue

  Six Months Later

  “Every time they go to the mainland for supplies, I get nervous,” I say.

  Colin wraps his arms around me. “I know. Every time you get nervous, the clouds roll in. They’ll be fine. Fonso and Harman will be back in less than an hour.”

  “It feels surreal, all of us being here together, doesn’t it?”

  Vadoma spars with Kayla at the water’s edge on the south side of the island, the o
nly side with a beach. Riley, Brayden, Emilian, and Nadya fish from the dingy. Nadya’s crushing hard on Riley. To say that Aunt Mirela isn’t happy about it is an understatment. Aunt Simza’s working past her anger at Bo. Bo spends most of his time researching, trying to find some solution for breaking this curse.

  Colin laughs. “It’s utterly bizarre.”

  “It’s so quiet here.” I breathe in the salty air.

  The orange-reddish sky breaks through the gray clouds as the sun sets. The water beats against the rocks 30 feet below. A fish jumps.

  “Hard to believe there’s a war raging.” Colin kisses me on the cheek.

  “I don’t want to leave.”

  “Me neither.”

  “We have to go soon.” I face him. His dark eyes sparkle in the twilight hour. “We are, after all, cursed to roam.”

  The End of Book One

  Read the conclusion of The Roaming Curse series by ordering The Hunters’ Fate.

  www.mirandahardy.com

  Miranda Hardy’s Newsletter

  About the Author

  Miranda Hardy writes literature to keep the voices in her head appeased. When she’s not in her fantasy world, she’s canoeing in alligator infested waters, or rescuing homeless animals. She goes to coffee shops to do most of her writing while drinking tea. Unable to reveal too much, she has the most boring superpower ever (hint: you have to be a close relative for it to work). She resides in south Florida with her two wonderful children, and too many animals to mention.

  Read more from Miranda Hardy

  www.mirandahardy.com

  Fire At Crossroad

  Shadow Hunter Trilogy – Prequel

  D.N. Leo

  Fire of Crossroad – Shadow Hunter Trilogy - Prequel © copyright 2017 D.N. Leo

  Copyright notice: 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.

  Fire at Crossroad

  When dark magic descends, and super technology fails, power rises from the heart.

  As the commander in charge of the Super Artificial Intelligence program in Eudaiz, a universe far from Earth, Lyla has it all. Beauty. Intelligence. Power. She has never failed a mission, until she detects a shadow in the main frame system.

  The shadow is built on elusive magical power and human emotions—neither of which she has training for or first-hand experience with.

  Combining with the force of dark energy, the shadow is on a mission to not only destroy the legacy her father has built but also kill millions of citizens across the multiverse. It will invade and enslave universes—Earth included.

  Time is not on her side. But if she fights now, she will be on her own.

  Fire at Crossroad is the prequel of Shadow Hunter Trilogy.

  Prologue

  This was the third time he had died.

  His name was Michael Fraser. He was thirty years old—Earth age. When the fire swallowed him and burned his body and his mind, that had been the end of him.

  He had traveled the multiverse so much he had lost track of time. But he vividly remembered how many times he had died. Or come close to it.

  When he was eight, he had been ready to let his stepfather cut his throat. It was much easier for a street kid like him to die than survive the brutal New York winter without food and warm clothes. But Ciaran LeBlanc, a total stranger back then, hadn’t let him die.

  He’d given Michael hope, but then he’d made him wait a long seven years until their paths crossed again. That was when he died for the second time. No human could survive being dragged across dimensions without protection. Again, Ciaran had helped him to stay alive, although not as a human.

  And now, fifteen years later, he had died for the third time. This time, Ciaran wasn’t around.

  He heard Ciaran’s voice echoing in his mind, “If you die, there’s nothing else you can do. You cannot help anyone any longer, and you will be forever in debt to me and those who love you.”

  But he if he died this time, he’d save a lot of people. Wouldn’t that be worth the cost? How many people could one person save? Was that what Ciaran wanted him to do? Act in the interest of a greater cause?

  The incredible heat crept closer.

  He was too young to die, and he knew it.

  Michael scrambled up from the ground and grabbed his gun, and cursed himself. Going into a brooding mode in the middle of life and death action wasn’t a good idea.

  He looked at the giant fireball rolling toward him and muttered, “Oh shit!”

  Chapter 1

  Lyla glared at the giant typo she had made on the computer screen. She glanced around, making sure none of her staff was still lurking around working at this hour. The station was quiet. The ground glass wall was still and calm, opening wide to the outside view of the magnificent Eudaizian landscape.

  She was in the Sciphil center, an exclusive area for royals and those in authority. There were no citizens here. No crowds. She liked it that way. If she wanted that kind of atmosphere, she could go down to the districts where billions of beautiful Eudaizians lived. But for now, tranquility was what she needed. It suited her mood.

  She returned her attention to the monitor where she was learning to type in English. She really didn’t have to be doing it. Her English was perfect, her Eudaizian was excellent, and she also spoke several languages of different universes. But she liked learning.

  This was the age of technology when all she had to do was to press a button and a robot communicated for her in any language. She had helped design the system, and she was proud of it. But she dictated all the time, so when it came to manual typing, she was somewhat clumsy.

  She felt the burning sensation in her hands and her fingertips again. It had been happening over the last two weeks. She looked at her hands and found them a bit shaky. It couldn’t be caused by such a simple task as typing, she thought. She shook her head, pushed the thought away, and grabbed a joystick. She planned to do a quick check of the back end of one of her newly developed hologame used for combat training, and then she would call it a day.

  She heard the squeaky sound of plastic rubbing on the polished concrete floor behind her and turned around.

  “Zin, why in the universe do you look like that?” she exclaimed when she saw her personal robot, one that had a rectangular core metal frame. Zin, at the moment, looked something like a mermaid, a mythical creature she had read about in literature.

  “Based on my estimate, there is a fifty percent chance you will be pleased with this outfit.”

  “Well, you’ve fallen on the wrong side of the fifty percent. Mermaids aren’t square!”

  “That is why I need your help. This plastic costume is thin and needs some padding to create curves.”

  “I will not do that for you. Your metal frame is just fine as it is.”

  “Lyla, would you prefer me in werewolf form?”

  “No.”

  “How about a shifting rabbit?”

  “Zin, have you been spying in my research files?”

  “Observing data I have access to does not constitute spying. You are researching magical Earth creatures. Their paranormal activities. Their supernatural power. Their—”

  “I know what I’m researching, Zin. What’s your point?”
<
br />   “I know you are developing a new program. But I wonder why you left out humans as a major input. Why did you start with the paranormal?”

  “I haven’t gotten to the human part yet. That’s the most complicated part.”

  “Scientific evidence suggests otherwise. I am speculating that you avoid researching it because your parents were humans.”

  She grabbed the joystick. “Hang on.” She gazed at the monitor, which was showing the back end of her program—the engine of the entire robotic system.

  “Anything unusual, Lyla? I detected nothing abnormal.”

  “I thought I saw something.”

  “Please define something.”

  “Shut up, Zin.”

  “That expression violates the courtesy codes, Lyla.”

  “I designed your codes. I can violate them if I wish.” She inched up closer to the screen. She could have sworn she saw a shadow, a dark flying cloud moving across the screen as if a ghost had infiltrated the central computing facilities and physically worked its way into the mechanics of the robotic brain.

  She shuddered. She must have been researching the paranormal for too long. She couldn’t scientifically explain a ghost, and even if such entities existed, they didn’t have the tangible form necessary to have an effect on anything—and they certainly couldn’t live in a computer.

  She felt the odd sensation in her hands again, and then a sharp pain stabbed in her head. She yelped and let go of the joystick. Maybe it was time to go home for dinner. As soon as the thought of dinner crossed her mind, her stomach let out a small growl and did a somersault.

  Good food was her weakness.