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

by Margo Bond Collins

  “I don’t know how often you’ve been outside the city, Dracula scum, but not much of the American countryside qualifies as jungle,” I said.

  “In the prairie, the backwoods, whatever,” Alessa said.

  “Just because we haven’t decided to live in people and pollution infested cubes of concrete and steel doesn’t mean that TV, computers, and the internet have passed us by.” My voice was tight with anger. How long was I going to have to put up with being insulted by a vampire? “We live in the country, not in the past.”

  The engine growled, and noticing that Danielle was speeding up as we headed for a T-junction, I reached for the dash to steady myself. She cornered hard, and the van drove wide into the other lane. I needed my second hand on the dash to stop from being thrown to the side. The van briefly hopped onto two wheels. She swerved back into her lane, just about dodging the oncoming cars. Loud beeps followed us down the street.

  “Should someone capable of finding the brake be put in charge of driving?” I asked.

  “Ha ha,” Danielle said in a droll voice. She jerked the van to the left, overtaking three cars, then returned to her lane. She had rediscovered her urgency.

  “After the van gets totaled, you guys should consider a more stable vehicle for Danielle to drive,” I said. “Might I suggest a tricycle?”

  “Scared, helsing?” Alessa asked. “For a tough warrior, a lot of things make you nervous.”

  “Fear isn’t a problem.” My jaw clenched. If she had been sitting beside me instead of behind me, I would have grabbed her by the throat. “But I don’t see how crashing helps.”

  “Stop bickering, everyone.” Danielle eased up slightly on the gas. “We should be ready when we get to Dulane Building. Let’s figure out what we are going to do.”

  “Most likely, the alarm will already have sounded and we’ll just be there for the fallout,” Lionel said.

  “And if it hasn’t?” Danielle asked.

  “Perhaps we should set it off ourselves,” Lionel said. “Dozens of mages will arrive within minutes.”

  “We’ll have lost our chance to break in and take what we need,” Alessa said. “Either the security will be beefed up, or everything valuable will be removed after tonight.”

  “I’ve been thinking about the timing,” Danielle said. “It’s possible we could get to the central chamber before the necro and steal the magtroller out from under his nose. How long since we found that zombie, Slate? Well under an hour, right?”

  I considered. “Yes, about forty, fifty minutes,” I said. So much had happened, it seemed much longer. Periods of urgent rushing had been broken up by delays. I still had no idea what a magtroller was, but was ready to trust it was important for the present.

  Danielle slammed down on the brakes at a red light. The van fishtailed before coming to a shuddering stop. Unfazed, Danielle waited for a car to pass, then broke the lights, speeding through the junction. “Based on how far the zombie was from the labs, he may have been killed an hour earlier. That means the necro has maybe two hours’ head start on us. But he went in the front, which requires drilling through those thick metal plates with electronic locks at their core.”

  “How do you know he went in the front?” Alessa asked.

  “Remember Gabriel went through the two possible routes,” Danielle said. “If we went through the front entrance, we’d have to force one of the security guards against the retina scanner, cloud the magical wards, then drill through the locks. Likely the reason that security guard was zombified was so the necro could easily control him, and after the retina scan, the zombie was no longer needed and was allowed wander off.”

  “Why wouldn’t he go through the back?” Lionel asked. “We decided that was easier.”

  “Easier for us, maybe not for him. The necro has different strengths and resources,” Danielle said. “Nothing is sure. Be much better if Gabriel was here. He is the one who came up with plan. He’d know what to do.”

  A hand grazed my left shoulder, and my hand snapped back, and I grabbed a wrist. I pulled the hand toward me, turning my body and getting one knee on the seat. I wrenched the arm downward, immobilizing the attacker against the seat. To my surprise, it was Lionel rather than the vampire who I had caught.

  Lionel gasped in pain. “What are you doing?”

  “Release him, helsing.” Alessa’s hand grabbed my forearm, and the pressure of her tightening fingers forced me to lessen the pressure on Lionel’s arm.

  “What were you about to do to me?” I asked Lionel.

  “I was just giving you an earpiece,” Lionel said. “Look what’s in my hand.”

  When I looked closer, I could see a small flesh-colored device in Lionel’s hand. I took it and examined it.

  “Let him go.” Alessa increased the strength of her grip, and the bones in my arm creaked.

  I stared straight at her. In the darkness of the van, the aura was all that lit up her face, giving her the aspect of a glowing red skull. The revulsion I felt was physical, but I didn’t shudder or otherwise show my reaction; I was unwilling to show any weakness. The pain in my forearm made me want to resist her even more. But much as I hated to do what she said, I was in the wrong. I’d made a mistake in thinking I was being attacked. So I opened my hand, freeing Lionel. He sighed in relief, leaning back and massaging his wrist.

  “Now you let me go,” I said to Alessa.

  She didn’t move, and we continued to stare at each other.

  Danielle turned to address us. “Children, please!” Alessa opened her mouth to object, and Danielle spoke over her. “And don’t say he started it or anything similar.”

  Alessa reluctantly let go of my hand, and she settled back in her seat.

  Freed, I turned to face forward again, and I realized that Danielle had let go of the steering wheel and we were careening across a junction. I grabbed hold of the wheel and held the van steady until Danielle retook control.

  “I don’t see why you were frightened during the zombie fight,” I told her. “Every time you decide to drive, you are in much more danger.”

  “I wasn’t frightened,” she said with a glare.

  I shrugged and examined the earpiece Lionel had given me. “What do I need this for?” I asked. It consisted of an elastic loop attached to a small nub.

  “We each have one,” Lionel said. “It allows us all to communicate during the mission.”

  “Like a radio? Shouldn’t it be bigger?”

  “Cressington patented,” Lionel said. “We combine magic and technology to create devices that exceed the best anyone else can do.”

  I had heard of the Cressingtons, the premier mage family of the city. “We?” I asked. “You are a Cressington?”

  “He’s the son of Christian Cressington, in fact, the head of the family,” Danielle said.

  “Disavowed son,” Lionel said. “I no longer take credit or accept blame for anything they do.”

  “Lionel used to be head of security for the family,” Danielle said. “If things had happened slightly differently, it would have been he who was in charge of keeping us out of Dulane Building rather than his cousin, Hadrian.”

  “So Lionel is effectively robbing himself?” I asked.

  “Father won’t listen to reason, so I’m doing what needs to be done.”

  I wasn’t sure if having the son of the leader of the Cressington family on this team made the whole thing more or less crazy. “If your cousin, this Hadrian, is in charge, perhaps you could talk him into just letting us in.”

  “I don’t think so.” Lionel snorted. “Hadrian would love nothing better than capturing me and humiliating me.”

  I held up the earpiece. “So this will allow you to hear everything I say,” I said. “Why would I wear such a thing?”

  “You’ve taken part in missions before, right?” Lionel asked.

  “Of course. Killing undesirables. Zombies, trolls, and most importantly, vampires.”

  “You had to work with othe
rs, right?” Lionel asked. “Coordinate your attacks?”

  I shook my head. “Not really. We took care of our own kills.”

  “He’s a lost cause,” Alessa said. “He’s further behind the times than we realized. Even cavemen worked together when hunting.”

  “Cavemen didn’t have my abilities,” I said. “I could take down a woolly mammoth solo if I needed to.”

  “Times change, caveman,” Alessa said. “Mages and necros have much more power these days. You won’t be able to just charge into a building secured by magic like you are attacking a bloody woolly mammoth.”

  The van lurched to the side once more, bouncing upward as two wheels hopped the sidewalk. Danielle slammed on the brakes, then switched off the engine.

  “I guess that’s one way to park,” I said. “Most crashes are less violent.”

  Without waiting for Danielle’s glare, I decided I needed some air and immediately opened the door and stepped out. On the opposite side of the street, beyond a row of shadowy trees, hunched a squat, windowless warehouse. It was clearly the Dulane Building, because a thin coating of white shielding surrounded it, a magical protection of some type.

  “What are you doing?” Danielle asked me.

  I ignored her, shutting the door behind me and walking in the opposite direction to the Dulane Building. Harps popped out from my coat, climbing up onto my shoulder once more.

  Were you hiding from Danielle’s driving? I asked. Or avoiding the vampire?

  I don’t like conflict, he thought. So I stayed snuggled up inside your coat.

  I walked through the grass, heading toward the smell of wet, rotting vegetation until I arrived at a riverbank. The river was over a hundred paces wide, and opposite it—my sense of direction informed me—was the same Fairmount Park where I had met Rosehip Hawke only hours earlier. A silvery moon crescent rippled in the river, resisting the current’s attempts to drag it downstream. Further away were the shadowed iron girders of a rectangular bridge cutting over the river.

  If you decide to swim across, don’t expect me to go with you, Harps thought.

  I smiled. There’s a bridge. We wouldn’t need to swim. Not that I’d be returning to the Hawkes, whatever happened. Not after what Rosehip had done. That wouldn’t be forgotten. Do you want to return to Dagger and the rest? You were excited to leave.

  Still, it was home, Harps thought. The concept of home was imbued with feelings of safety and familiarity, and I could relate to how Harps felt. But if we leave, what about Danielle and the others?

  That thought surprised me. Harps had only just met Danielle. We don’t have to risk ourselves for them. I reached up to rub Harps’s foot, thinking. They don’t even want my help. I was forced on them by this Gabriel person.

  Maybe they need you.

  I snorted. No doubt. Lionel had seemed vaguely competent, but Danielle hadn’t been able to kill a zombie. And Alessa—well, who knew when the vampire would turn around and kill everyone? She certainly couldn’t be trusted.

  Did I even want them to succeed, though? Danielle had said that a necromancer wanted to open a portal to the underworld, but I had no idea how true that was. And even if it was true, was this planned raid the best way? Clearly the leader of the Cressington family was protecting the magtroller—whatever it was—in his own way. I didn’t have time to learn the full ins and out of the situation; I had only blind trust to go on, one way or the other.

  However, despite knowing she fraternized with a vampire, I instinctively trusted Danielle. And I had been sent to help this mage team. I had to assume that my orders had come—via Dagger and Rosehip—from the helsing kings themselves. If the kings thought that stopping this necromancer was worth an unholy alliance between helsing and vampire, then it had to be important.

  On the other hand, I was certain Dagger hadn’t known working with a vampire would be involved. And no one except Rosehip and I knew that this mage team had a traitor in its ranks. I would be happy to learn that Alessa was the traitor, but I doubted things would work out that simply. I hardly needed a warning from tarot cards to make me watch out for her.

  Would anyone blame me if I refused to go into battle with a vampire and a traitor by my side? In the distance, a police siren whined. I took a long, deep breath of the cool night air. When Dagger had given me this mission, a thrill had run through my body such as I’d never felt before. The chance to prove myself had arrived. All the hardship and struggle that had gone into Dagger’s training had led up to this moment. And I had known with every spark of my being that I would succeed. I didn’t know anything about what I was expected to do, but that hadn’t mattered.

  Or so I had thought.

  But from the moment I’d found out that the helsing caravan was a Hawke one, nothing had gone right. And Dagger had no interest in excuses. Even trying to get in contact with him about what to do would be a failure in his eyes. The only contact he’d accept from me was the one telling him the mission was complete. I had to figure it out for myself.

  What do you say, Harps? I thought. Will we become part of the mage team? For one night, at least. We’d be choosing a dangerous path.

  Okay. Harps tugged lightly on my hair. You’re lucky you have such a brave familiar.

  I know I am, Harps. I know I am.

  Chapter 6

  I turned away from the river and the distant view of Fairmount Park at night and returned to the van, opening the door and sitting back inside.

  Danielle was speaking. “I don’t care what Gabriel said—”

  “Where did you disappear to?” Lionel asked, interrupting Danielle.

  “Just getting a quick breath of air,” I said.

  “We were just talking about you,” Danielle said.

  “Maybe we don’t need to get into that now,” Lionel said.

  “Yes, we do,” Danielle said.

  “Where’s the vampire?” I asked.

  “She’s doing a loop of the building, trying to figure out what’s going on out there,” Lionel said. “The outer wards are still in place and everything seems quiet. Maybe this is all a false alarm, and we are out here for no reason.”

  “I think you, Slate, are out here for no reason,” Danielle said. “Gabriel was wrong. We don’t need you.”

  “Fine.” I snorted a laugh. Just when I had decided to help, it was shoved in my face. I opened the door, then immediately slammed it shut. “No. Not fine. I’m staying.”

  “It’s not working,” Danielle said. “If you and Alessa can’t sit together in a car together for ten minutes without almost ripping each other’s heads off, what hope is there you can work together when needed?”

  “Sorry I didn’t protect you better from the zombie, but you did tell me to let you take care of it yourself,” I said.

  She glared. “That’s got nothing to do with why—”

  Lionel reached forward and grabbed Danielle’s shoulder. “There’s already enough fighting.”

  Danielle nodded. “You’re right. Sorry.”

  “Let’s get on with this,” Lionel said. “I need to prepare the spell to breach the outer wards without setting off the alarm.”

  “Maybe I should do that part,” Danielle said. “And let you operate the seeing eye to get through the internal wards.”

  “That wasn’t how we planned it,” Lionel said.

  “Good,” I said. “Change the plan. I never liked the old one.” If things changed, perhaps I’d find out what was supposed to happen.

  They both ignored me.

  “Why?” Lionel asked. “You are much better at disabling magical locks.”

  “That was practice. In the heat of the battle, you’ll probably do a better job.” Danielle unzipped her pocket and took out her spellbook. It was still slightly damp from when it had fallen earlier, and I had no doubt Danielle was remembering how magic had failed her in the fight with the zombie.

  “This isn’t the time to question yourself,” Lionel said. “You’ll do great.” He slid open
the door of the van and stepped outside. “I’m going to look out for Alessa and concentrate on what I need to do for this spell.”

  When Lionel left, a heavy silence fell between myself and Danielle. I was the first to break it. “So, tell me. If we… If this raid goes ahead, what awaits us?”

  “I think we’re too late. Going in now isn’t worth it.”

  “I can work with…” I swallowed.

  “You can’t even say it. You are choking on the words.”

  “I can work with the vampire if need be.”

  “She’s not here, but once she comes back…”

  In my head, I had accepted I would temporarily work with Alessa, but the fact of it would be difficult. With the red aura swirling around her, my revulsion was physical. It wasn’t easy to overcome a lifetime of training. “I’m here to be a part of the mage team and stop this necromancer. I’ll do what needs doing. You may have had a plan that doesn’t include me, but from what I can tell, everything is changing rapidly. Now tell me what we are facing.”

  Danielle stared at me for a long moment before nodding. She pointed out her window toward the Dulane Building, and then she raised her forefinger. “First, we have to pass through the outer wards without setting them off.” She held up a second finger. “The electronic and magical locks on the doors will have to be broken through, two sets, one on the exterior door, then another on the doors to the central chambers.”

  Danielle held up a third finger. “Between the first and second set of doors, Alessa will have to pass through a corridor that’s protected by floating alarm strands.” She held up a fourth finger. “If the alarm is triggered when she’s inside, not only will a general alert go up that’ll have the area flooded by Cressington mages, but a mind trap will activate.”

  I’d never heard of floating alarm strands, but they seemed self-explanatory. I had heard of a mind trap, though, a spell which used the fears of a person’s own mind to incapacitate them. “What’s in the central chamber?”

  “Two humanoid robots, both controlled by magtrollers,” Danielle said, opening up her hand to show the four fingers and thumb. “Five.”