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

by Margo Bond Collins

  I stood. Harps shifted on my shoulder but made no objection.

  “Go? Go wh—? Oh, you mean leave the mage team.”

  “We aren’t doing the right thing here. And there’s nothing Gabriel can say to change my mind.” Once I’d said it, I felt a lot lighter. So much uncertainty washed away. If I’d known what was before me, I’d never have turned up on this doorstep, and it still wasn’t too late to undo my mistake. Admitting to Dagger I had failed was going to be difficult, but no more difficult than explaining I had worked with a vampire. He had been deceived as much as I had been by whoever had sent me on this mission.

  “It’s probably for the best,” Lionel said.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” I demanded.

  “No reason to get mad.” He took a handful of cornflakes and chewed through most of them. Then he wiped the loose flakes off his bare legs. “You know yourself you’d never be able to work with Alessa.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Plus…” He shook his head. “Never mind. This is for the best.”

  I nodded, then looked around the apartment. There was nothing else of mine to take. Harps was on my shoulder, and everything I had brought with me was still inside my hunting coat. “Sorry I broke your couch.”

  Lionel shrugged.

  I walked to the door, then turned back. “What else were you going to say?”

  “Nothing important.”

  “It’s not because I’m afraid of Grimstar,” I said.

  “I never thought you were.”

  “What, then?”

  “It’s like you said yourself in the van ride to Dulane Building. You’re a lone wolf. Trained to work best on your own. Not into teamwork.”

  “That’s true.” Harps gave me a tug on my hair, and I clarified, “Excepting, of course, that I need Harps by my side at all times.”

  “And you just met us, so no reason for you to particularly care about the rest of the team.”

  “It’s barely been half a day since I met Danielle out on the street outside.”

  “So, understandable that you’d let Danielle get injured by the zombie. Or that you left Alessa behind in the mindtrap and Danielle behind at Cress House. Not try to save either.”

  “None of those were my fault.”

  “Agreed.” Lionel munched on more cornflakes.

  “And you told me to leave Danielle behind in Cress House.” I opened the door, then paused. I leaned forward squeezing my eyes, all ready to go. But I couldn’t take that first step. The memory of Danielle’s frightened face as she stood beside Christian Cressington rose in my mind. I’d just met her and it wasn’t my fight, but I couldn’t walk away until I knew what was going to happen to her. I shut the door and turned back.

  “Are you using reverse psychology on me?”

  He scratched his head. “I don’t think so.”

  Sitting in his underwear with a cornflake box on his lap, he didn’t look much like a master manipulator. “What’s going to happen to Danielle? You mentioned something about her being adopted into your family.”

  “The only ways to join a mage family is to be born into one or to marry into one.”

  “That’s kind of what I figured.” The meaning had been clear when Ann Cressington had looked at both Danielle and Lionel and said how it was a shock, yet wonderful. “You were implying you’d marry her.”

  “Unfortunately, I don’t want to marry Danielle. Danielle doesn’t want me to marry Danielle. And Alessa certainly doesn’t want me to marry Danielle.”

  “So why did you say what you did to your parents?”

  “Anyone who performs magic and doesn’t belong in a mage family is a hood mage. The first time they are caught, they are given a bus ticket out of the city and a warning.”

  “And the second time?”

  “Let’s just say there is no third time,” Lionel said.

  “Shit!” I sat down in the armchair opposite him. “And Danielle’s been caught using magic before?”

  “She was given that bus ticket and warning in Buffalo, her hometown. A year ago, I was security chief of the Cressingtons—the job Hadrian has now—and caught her performing magic. She helped me get out of a jam, so I was inclined to let her go. Father discovered what I was doing, and I ended up quitting.”

  “Hence the pendant-flinging episode?”

  Lionel nodded.

  “So if you aren’t going to marry her, and there are no third warnings, Danielle doesn’t have many options.”

  Lionel tilted his head. “Aren’t you going?”

  “I want to make sure you figure out something about Danielle first.”

  Lionel considered. “Okay, I guess.”

  “Tell me something. You really think the device your father has can create a portal through the swirl? That it can allow demons to cross into our world?”

  “So Gabriel told us. And seeming to confirm what he said, a powerful necromancer is willing to kill and destroy to get his hands on it.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t believe it. I would have heard of such a device if it existed.”

  “The fewer people who know about it, the easier it is to keep out of the wrong hands.”

  “That doesn’t apply to us. It’s the job of helsing warriors to protect the world.”

  Lionel shrugged. “Maybe you aren’t the protectors you think you are.”

  “The Ancient created one time, two worlds, three dragongods, four pillars of creation, and five colors of the swirl,” I recited. “That doesn’t mention any keys to drill through the swirl and connect our world with the underworld.”

  “What are you talking about?” Lionel asked. “An Ancient?”

  “Surely you know.” Most non-helsings preferred to believe in made-up religions, but I’d thought that mages would have been taught the truth.

  Harps, bored, jumped off my shoulder and went exploring the living room.

  “Why would I know the details of your gypsy religion?” Lionel asked.

  “It’s not a religion, it’s the way things are. Before time existed, there was the Ancient. The Ancient created one time, two worlds, three dragongods, four pillars of creation, and five colors of the swirl, then left existence. The two worlds are the Earth and the underworld. One dragongod resides in the sky, one in the underworld, one on Earth. The four pillars are magical elements used as focus points to hold creation together. The swirl is a barrier between the underworld and the earth, and all magic derives from it.”

  “Dragongods?” Lionel asked. “What in the name of Christ is a dragongod?”

  “You never learned how the world was created?” I frowned. I’d never talked about this stuff with a non-helsing. “You know about the swirl, though.” That was where the power of the mages came from.

  “Of course. If we are talking theology, the swirl was created by God to seal the devil and his demons away. To allow us to protect ourselves, God gifted the language of power to Merlin, the first mage. Those who learn to read and write Merlin’s language can summon magic. The descendants of Merlin are responsible for teaching the language to following generations, and also for protecting knowledge of it.”

  “Keeping that knowledge out of the grubby hands of hood mages?” I asked.

  “I might not agree with the policy, but mage families didn’t become powerful by accident,” Lionel said.

  “Of course mages can access only the white power of the swirl,” I said. “You know about the red, green, blue, and black power?”

  “I know that demons are creatures of underworld and users of black magic, and that necromancers gain power from communing with demons. Helsings and vampires have speed, strength, and toughness, but I never associated them with a color or with magic and the swirl.”

  “Black power is on the other side of the swirl, close to the underworld,” I explained. “So only demons can access it. Next to black is red, the power of the vampires. In the center of the swirl is the blue power of the dragongods. Then, our green power
, and finally the white power, which mages use. I’m amazed that I have to explain all this.”

  Lionel shrugged. “You’re a young guy—I’m surprised that you still believe in dragongods and tarot cards. We live in an era of knowledge and science. Most of the mages my age don’t believe in God or Merlin; we see them as stories made up to explain the nature of creation. Science shows the secrets of the universe without needing to resort to God, and, as we learn more about magic, that too will be understood.”

  I shook my head. “Whatever about your Christian God. The dragongods certainly are real.”

  “Every race on Earth thinks their religion is true.”

  “We are helsings. Our ancestors interacted with the dragongods.”

  “And Moses talked to God through a burning bush. You know the difference between theology and history, surely.”

  “This is different.”

  “How?”

  Our ability to see auras allowed us to see what was hidden from others. Stories from the era before our family left the old world for America spoke of a dragongod in human form traveling with a helsing caravan. “Perhaps you are right and it’s not—”

  At a sudden crash, I sprang to my feet and swiveled around. Harps was crouching on a counter with a sheepish look on his face, shards of glass scattered across the tiles of the kitchenette.

  I didn’t do it, Harps thought.

  Little rascal, I thought back. “Is there a brush somewhere?” I asked Lionel. I could tidy up the broken couch after I cleared the glass.

  He shrugged. “Probably.”

  The floor around Lionel’s feet also needed to be fumigated of fragmented cereal flakes, but someone who had grown up in a mansion undoubtedly expected servants to take care of such things. I went in search of a closet. I found one, and a brush inside, then returned to clean up the glass.

  “Is your monkey useful?” Lionel asked. “I heard that gypsies had animal familiars but never saw the point. Must be awkward having to carry around a monkey all the time.”

  Harps stood tall on top of the counter, puffed out his chest, and gave Lionel a long hiss.

  “Harps is great,” I said loyally. “He’s saved my ass many a time.”

  Once I had the glass cleaned up, I leaned the brush against the wall and decided to broach a subject that was nagging at me. Something I was struggling to understand. “So, you and Alessa, huh?” I was warming to Lionel, but I couldn’t ignore that he was with a vampire. “What do you see in her?”

  “See? You have eyes. She’s gorgeous.”

  “She is?” I hadn’t looked beyond the red aura. “Even so, there are other pretty girls in the world. You know, ones that haven’t died and come back as monstrous, evil killers.”

  Lionel’s voice became sharp. “You don’t know her.”

  “You saw her when she was in the mindtrap. Inhuman. That is who, no, that is what you are dating. How she looks is just window dressing.”

  “Just means I’ve seen her at her worst.” He gave a goofy smile.

  “Most people’s worst is when they wake up grumpy with a hangover, bad hair, and smeared makeup. It doesn’t compare to someone being an evil creature one moment, then pretending to be a human woman the rest.”

  “I thought like you once. I changed. Maybe you will too.”

  “I seriously doubt that. How does it happen that the son of the most prominent mage family could end up with a vampire?”

  “Love works in mysterious ways.” Lionel wiggled his eyebrows, then his expression turned serious. “By the way, Alessa got away safely last night after she left. I rang to check. Not that you wondered.”

  “She should have been able to escape the mindtrap. Vampires have a resistance to mage powers like helsings do.”

  “A mindtrap is much worse for her than for most.”

  “Why?”

  “Because…” He hesitated. “I can’t go into it. Certainly not with you. She’d kill me.”

  Or worse, I thought, wondering how often the lovers of vampires were turned. With or without their permission.

  Lionel stood, walked to the window, and looked out. “I’m getting antsy doing nothing. I wish Gabriel would get here so we can come up with a plan.”

  “Come up with something without him. Why do you rely on Gabriel so much?”

  The front door opened, and a man’s voice spoke. “Do I hear my name taken in vain?”

  I turned around as a tall, black-haired man entered the apartment, a wide grin on his face. But it wasn’t the face that commanded my attention, it was the aura. Gabriel wasn’t a mage like I had been told. I didn’t think I’d ever see an aura of that color.

  It was blue—the aura of a dragongod.

  I fell to my knees before him.

  Chapter 12

  The dragongod rushed to my side. “Did you fall? Are you okay?”

  I allowed myself to be guided to my feet, but I didn’t know which way to look.

  “What happened?” Lionel asked.

  “He just needs some air,” the dragongod said. “Let me take him outside.”

  I allowed myself to be guided out of the apartment, and the door was shut behind me.

  In the corridor, two fingers touched my chin, shifting my gaze upward. His eyes were piercing, his face framed by a brilliant blue aura. I am looking a god in the face. The thought sent a shiver through me, and my eyes slammed shut.

  The dragongod didn’t release my chin. “Look at me,” he ordered.

  I opened my eyes and forced myself to keep them open. His aura was no brighter than Alessa’s or my own, but the blueness of it was dazzling.

  “I’m sorry to shock you like that,” the dragongod said. “Even after all these years, I haven’t found a good way to introduce myself to those who must know me. Sometimes a short, sharp shock is best. Having recently experienced such a shock, what do you think?”

  “Yes, my Lord.” The words struggled their way out of my dry throat.

  “We’ll have none of that, for a start,” the dragongod said. “No kneeling or bowing or honorifics. Gabriel. Call me Gabriel.”

  “Yes, my Gabriel.”

  Gabriel sighed. “I see we’ve some work to do to get you acting normally around me. Let’s get out of here for a while.” He walked down the corridor to the elevator and pressed the button, and turned back to find that I hadn’t moved. “Well, come on.”

  I lurched forward, almost falling over with the first step I took. My mind had blanked to the degree that successfully putting one foot in front of the other had become a chore. I sleepwalked forward, watching each footfall with intense concentration.

  Where do you think you are going? You can’t leave me with him. I looked back to see Harps pushing out through the door and scrambling to catch up with me. What’s happening? Why are your thoughts all fuzzy?

  Gabriel isn’t a mage. I paused to allow Harps to climb up my pants leg. He’s a dragongod.

  Harps scrambled up to my thigh, then swung up the outside of my hunting coat before settling on my shoulder. Just as long as he isn’t as mean as Lionel. He’s the worst.

  With a rusty whine, the elevator doors opened. I joined Gabriel inside the elevator, my gaze falling immediately to the floor before the dazzling blue aura.

  “You’ve just arrived in the city, I understand. Have you been in Philadelphia before?” Gabriel asked.

  I shook my head.

  “Don’t tell me you haven’t tried a Philly cheesesteak yet?”

  I nodded, then shook my head, unable to work out the exact question. “I haven’t,” I croaked.

  “That is just wrong. Don’t worry, I know just the place. The best in the city. Which makes it the best in the world.”

  The elevator whirred as it descended, clicking as it passed each floor. I counted six clicks, then the doors whined open. Gabriel’s shoes were black leather, polished to a shine. I watched the shoes walk out of the elevator, and I followed.

  “We’ll have to get you talking,”
Gabriel said. “I’m sure you have questions. Come on, shoot. Ask. How often do people get to ask questions of an actual god?”

  I couldn’t marshal my thoughts enough to form a coherent question. Gabriel exited the apartment block, and I caught the door before it swung shut. He then ran down the steps, jumping the bottom three. As he landed on the sidewalk, he did a spin, spreading his arms wide. “It’s magnificent, isn’t it?” Passersby streamed around Gabriel, giving him a wide berth and queer looks.

  “What is?” I looked around trying to figure out what he was talking about.

  “The city. What you humans have been able to create.” He gestured upward. “The skyscrapers soar thousands of times taller than man, millions of times bigger. And you humans have built so many of them. Like it’s nothing.”

  A tall young man in a baseball cap did a double take upon hearing the phrase you humans and gave Gabriel a long stare as he stumbled away.

  I hurried to Gabriel’s side so he didn’t have to raise his voice. The dragongod wore a black suit with a velvety sheen, and I remembered Christian’s disparaging mentions of Gabriel’s shiny suit. He wore no tie, and his white shirt had wide lapels that flared outward. His skin was tanned, his features handsome, his black hair brushed back from his forehead.

  Harps and I started to get strange looks and Harps, sensing hostility and wariness, swung across the back of my neck from one shoulder to the other. Better stay out of sight for a time, I thought to Harps. You and crowds don’t get along together well.

  Gabriel watched Harps disappear inside my coat. “I never expected helsing warriors to form in the first place,” he said. “Given that you did, the ability to bond with a familiar is the most strange to me.”

  I didn’t know what to say, so I averted my gaze. He seemed to be referring to the creation of the vampires, and the way that helsing warriors had started to be born in the aftermath. I had never understood why the dragongods created vampires in the first place. And he had given me permission to ask questions.

  I glanced up at Gabriel, opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. One of the dragongods was walking down a street with me. I still found the whole situation impossible to comprehend the situation. Taking me to get something to eat. How was that possible?