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

by Margo Bond Collins

Much like the furnishings, Rumpel was bathed in gold, his skin glowing in the limited light the apartment offered. His dark brown was perfectly slicked back, not even one stray hair sticking out. That was how he always appeared. Immaculate with no blemish or imperfection to “taint” his visage. It made Serafina sick knowing that the sight of him still affected her.

  “Ah! Serafina,” he purred, “I… have… missed you.”

  The sound of her name on his tongue only made her sicker and she narrowed her eyes at him, lifting her hands and willing the magic to occupy them.

  “Where is my child?” she demanded.

  “Would you like to know their gender first?” he grinned, ignoring her question. “Or what I’ve been calling them?”

  “You are sick!” she glared. “What do you want with all of these kids, anyway?”

  “You don’t get to ask questions,” he smirked, repeating the same words he had said to her when he left her to die.

  “I agree,” she growled. “Enough talking!”

  Rumpel rolled his eyes. “Are we really going to do this?” he asked passively, sounding more inconvenienced than threatened.

  “You bet your ass we are!” Ixion glared.

  “And you are…?” Rumpel narrowed his eyes, confused, at Ixion before smirking and nsapping his fingers. “Ah, yes! That’s right! The chatty mercenary with bark than bite,” he laughed. “Didn’t you learn your lesson the first time?”

  “Guess I don’t learn too good,” Ixion glared, removing the two revolvers from their holster at his hips.

  “Obviously not,” Rumpel scoffed before looking at Bailey. “And you are?”

  “I’m with them,” she said simply, already wielding her own guns.

  “Fine,” Rumpel sighed. “If you really want to do this.”

  “Yeah, we want to do this!” Serafina stepped forward, pulling one of Bailey’s grenades from the belt at her hip. “Fall back!”

  Yanking the pin, she threw the explosive towards Rumpel before turning away and wrapping the three of them in a magic bubble as the explosive went off, filling the room with a cloud of smoke. The three waited, each holding their own weapon in case of an attack. As the smoke began to dissipate, the three were surprised to find Rumpelstiltskin standing exactly where they left him.

  Looking just as perfect as before.

  “Well shit,” Bailey whispered.

  “Just like before…” Ixion growled.

  Serafina watched as both Bailey and Ixion began to unload their bullets at Rumpel. He continued to stand there, a bored expression on his face as their bullets bounced off of him. Seeing that their guns wouldn’t serve them any purpose, the two unsheathed their weapons. Ixion having chosen a kukri and Bailey a bowie knife. Serafina joined, using the pair of sais she had brought with her from her home.

  “You think your blades will fare any better against me?” Rumpel yawned, reaching out and melting their blades.

  Bailey hissed, dropping the blade as it pooled into a silver puddle at her feet, “What the fuck!”

  “Shit!” Ixion narrowed his eyes. “Sera, what now?”

  Serafina glared, throwing the sais to the floor and lifted her hand, throwing out a bolt of magic. Rumpel jumped from the attack, his eyes lighting up as if a real threat had finally presented itself. Even still, Serafina watched—horrified—as he easily dodged every attack she threw at him.

  “Enough of this!” Rumpel grinned, shaking his head. “You’ve lost, Serafina! I was willing to consider you a loose end, but if you insist on this tiresome display I’m going to be forced to stop being so hospitable.”

  Narrowing her eyes at him, she shook her head, calling upon the strength she needed to stop him. To put an end to her nightmares and start over. But she wasn’t the only one eager to see an end to this. Hearing a rage-fueled cry, she turned and watched in horror as Bailey charged the demon, burying her bowie knife into his side.

  “I’ve had just about enough of your mocking, you gold-tinted son of a bitch!” Bailey glared, twisting the knife at Rumpel’s side.

  Rumpel looked down, shock and amazement plastered on his face before melting away into a twisted sneer. Reaching down, he grabbed Bailey by her throat, beginning to squeeze. Serafina tried to move to help, looking down to see that Rumpel had cast a spell to keep her frozen where she was. Turning to Ixion, she watched as he also struggled to get to Bailey.

  “No! Please! She’s innocent in all this,” Serafina pleaded, even knowing it’d do no good.

  “Innocent?” Rumpel cackled. “She lost any innocence she might’ve had by agreeing to join your foolish tirade against me. Now, how long will she be able to live, I wonder…”

  Serafina watched as Bailey stopped struggling against his grip. Twisting with the last of the strength she had, she turned to face her and gave her a sad smile.

  “It’s better to die like this then die in some hospital bed alone,” she whispered.

  “BAILEY! No!” Serafina whimpered, continuing to struggle against Rumpel’s binds.

  “Dammit! Let her go!” Ixion growled, his face growing pale.

  As the two continued to struggle, Bailey’s body had gone still, her head falling forward as Rumpel dropped her. Serafina gasped as her body was released and she rushed to Bailey, lifting her up. Her body had gone cold and her eyes sightless. She began to shake her shoulders, knowing but not wanting to accept her death.

  “Bailey! Please! Don’t…don’t die…!” she cried.

  “Do you see now, Serafina?” Rumpelstiltskin grinned,. “You will never win against me. You lost your husband, your child, and now your friend to me. When will you stop?”

  “Never!” she glared, moving from Bailey to strike once more.

  Only to be stopped halfway.

  She watched in horror as Rumpelstiltskin offered one last bow, beginning to laugh once more as he disappeared. Turning, she watched as Ixion began to pull her away. She began to struggle against his pull. What was he doing? Why would he take her from Bailey? Take her from putting an end to her nightmare?

  “Let. Me. GO!” she cried.

  “Sera, please…” Ixion struggled to speak as he lifted her, rushing away.

  The sounds of Rumpelstiltskin’s fading laughter was just another addition to the horrible memories the demon had already left her with. Ixion continued to hold her as they made their way back to Bailey’s place.

  When they reached Bailey’s house, Ixion carefully set her on the couch and moved to sit on the chair beside the bed. Serafina still couldn’t comprehend what had happened. Finally, she turned to glare at Ixion.

  “You had no right to take me from there,” she whimpered. “It wasn’t your choice to make!”

  “And what, Sera?” Ixion glared back. “Should I have just let you get yourself killed? We already were losing!”

  “You let him get away!” she glared. “I knew I shouldn’t have accepted your help! What good are you anyway? You let all of your friends get killed and just –what?—been sitting around a cheap motel drinking and moping!”

  “Fuck you for that, Sera,” Ixion shook his head, turning away.

  “Oh? What? You’re just gonna run away again? That’s all you’re good at! Running away!” Serafina called after him. “Well, you know what! I don’t need you! No one needs you!”

  Ixion looked back at her once more before leaving. She whimpered, falling to her knees as she clenched her crescent moon charm. Even the pendant couldn’t offer her any peace.

  Chapter 9

  By the time Serafina had found enough strength to make it back to the motel, it was the middle of the night. Walking towards her room, she frowned as she saw that Ixion’s door was open. Heading towards the room, she frowned, noticing that the room was being cleaned by a few of the cleaning staff. She watched as they picked up several empty bottles, hearing them mutter about the mess.

  Turning from the sight, she frowned as she realized just how cruel she had been to him. He hadn’t deserved what she said
to him, didn’t deserve any of what she’d done. The worst part was that he had been right, if they had stayed, they wouldn’t have survived. Wrapping her arms around herself, she made her way to her bed, feeling lonelier than usual without Ixion’s presence. He had already made such an impact in her life.

  She knew that going to try and find him would do them no good. She could only hope that he was still close enough to be found in the morning. She would talk to him and try to work things out. She needed to apologize, to tell him that she hadn’t meant any of what she had said to him. Finally, settled by those thoughts, she clenched her crescent moon charm once more as she closed her eyes, allowing sleep to finally take her.

  Rumpelstiltskin stood over Ixion, wielding the kukri that Ixion had chosen to fight against him. Serafina cried, struggling to reach them as every step she took only drove them further away. She had already lost so much, her husband, her child, Bailey… she couldn’t lose Ixion too. Crying out, she tripped on something, falling to her knees.

  Looking over to see what she tripped on, she froze at the sight.

  Her baby.

  Her daughter.

  Dead.

  Her daughter’s skin had gone blue, her body frozen like a dolls.

  Reaching out, she cried to feel just how cold her daughter’s skin felt. Lifting her child, she clutched her to her chest, begging for her to come back. As she struggled to bring her child back to her, she looked up, seeing Bailey and Damon’s bodies surrounding her. Their dead gazes seeming to cast blame even still. She whimpered, struggling to crawl away as she continued to clutch her dead baby to her chest.

  “Pl-please… I didn’t mean for your deaths! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!”

  “SERA!” Ixion’s voice echoed in her mind.

  Looking up towards where Rumpelstiltskin still had Ixion, she watched as the demon buried the kukri in Ixion’s sternum. Blood poured past his lips, as his arm reached out towards Serafina. She stood, struggling to once again try to reach Ixion in time. She moved her arm out, watching as she dropped her daughter in the process. As the body crashed to floor, it broke into shards across the flood. Looking down at the shards of her daughter’s body, she fell to her knees, feeling the warmth of her own blood pool around her as she cut herself on the fragments. Looking back up, Ixion’s hand pointed at her and his eyes held the same accusation as Bailey and Damon’s eyes had.

  “I… I didn’t mean…” Serafina whimpered, looking around. “I didn’t mean for any of this…”

  “The devil always collects his dues, dearie.”

  “The devil always collects his dues, dearie.”

  Serafina shot up in bed, the last words from her dream still ringing through her ears. Turning to look up, she cried out as Rumpelstiltskin stood over her. The last words hadn’t been ringing through her ears, he was there! Repeating the same words that had haunted her near nightly.

  “You,” she seethed.

  “Yes, me!” Rumpel grinned. “Nighty-night!”

  Confused about his words, she watched as he reared back and slammed his fist in her face.

  Then everything went black.

  Chapter 10

  Serafina woke tied to a massive bed. Looking around the furnishings, she nearly rolled her eyes at the decorations. Everything was either made of or accentuated with gold. Looking down at the bed, she saw that even the covers were made of gold. While she remembered that her grandmother had told her that their ancestors had developed an obsession with gold. Travelers even then, they had wound up in Anatolia and learned of the curse of King Midas. When they learned of the curse, they had chosen to steer away from their obsession, even working to help cure the king of his curse. Serafina wondered if Rumpelstiltskin would’ve envied King Midas.

  “Even Midas would’ve hated this much gold,” she whispered to herself.

  “Midas? That fool didn’t know what he had,” Rumpel sneered as he stepped in. “Do you know the amount of magical properties that gold has? How do you think I’ve stayed so young for as long as I have?”

  “You… you knew King Midas?” she blinked.

  “Knew him? I was the reason he ended up with the curse,” Rumpel barked.

  “You…?” she narrowed her eyes.

  “Well, I needed gold,” Rumpel shrugged. “What better way to get it than to have some fool turn everything he touches into my own personal treasure?”

  “Why wouldn’t you have just..?” Serafina frowned, shaking her head.

  She didn’t need a history lesson. She needed to figure out how to get out of there.

  “Why did you take me?” she frowned. “You could’ve just killed me.”

  “Because, dear, I realized something our last encounter,” Rumpelstiltskin grinned down at her. “Something that will make my life a lot easier.”

  “What do you mean?” she glared. “How is your life at all hard?”

  “You were always my best student, Sara,” he sighed. “No matter who else I trained, they never were able to even come close to the level of magic you were able to. It was disappointing, really. And due to their lack of…well, everything, I couldn’t very well choose one of them to help me.”

  “Help you how?” she frowned, looking down at the shackles, hoping to find a flaw in them somewhere.

  “Children, dear, are you that daft?” Rumpel tsked at her. “In this new era of technology and ridiculous parenting standards, taking children is much more of a challenge. So, I decided to make them myself. With you.”

  “Make…” Serafina froze and glared. “And you think I’d just—what?—accept you and allow you to impregnate me.”

  Pointing to the shackles around her wrist, he snickered. “I don’t need you to accept or allow me to do anything. Last I checked, a woman doesn’t need to consent to become pregnant.”

  “You’re disgusting,” she glared.

  “I’ll take that as a compliment,” he grinned. “Would you like to meet your daughter now?”

  “Where…you didn’t kill her?” she frowned.

  “What? I don’t kill any of the children I take,” he shrugged. “Some die, yes, but not by my hand. I use them, you see. I need gold for power, so I use them to create more of it. I wring the innocence from them and, through that, refine the product into what we all know and love. So, no, I don’t kill any of them—wouldn’t do me much good to do that, would it?—but, admittedly, some can’t handle the strain.”

  “All this for gold? Really?” Serafina said with a glare.

  “It keeps me alive,” Rumpel glared down at her. “Is it any more ridiculous than the lengths your own people have gone for a few extra years? In either case, you have about an hour to dwell on your new role as my own personal incubator. I have some loose ends to deal with,” he said, already starting out of the room.

  Serafina snarled, “You are a monster.”

  “Never denied it,” Rumpel laughed as he left.

  Alone once more, she looked down at the shackles, realizing how difficult it’d be to break them. She clenched her eyes, wishing that she hadn’t said what she had to Ixion. If he had been there, maybe then she’d be able to escape.

  “Miss me that much, huh?”

  Serafina’s eyes flew open and found Ixion smirking down at her.

  “How’d you…?” she blinked.

  He shrugged and went to work on the binds. “The sick asshole was so distracted with you, he didn’t even notice me tailing him.”

  “But you left…” she looked down sadly. “I saw the maids cleaning your room.”

  Scoffing, he looked over at her, “I just forgot to pay for that night. By the time I had gotten back, they’d thrown all my stuff out. No notice even. Assholes.”

  “You… you weren’t just going to leave?” she whimpered.

  He shrugged, “I thought about it, yeah, but then I went about thinking how I might react under your circumstances and realized I’d probably have said and done all the same things.”

  “Ixion, I’m so
sorry,” she shook her head. “I didn’t mean any of what I said.”

  “I know you didn’t,” he smirked. “Now, come on. We might actually get a surprise attack in. Which, we could really use.”

  “What about the shackles?” she lifted her arms.

  “Please,” he smirked. “I picked harder locks in training.”

  Even as he said this, she saw him working a small metal pick through the setting for a moment before hearing the soft click. An instant later, the pressure at her wrist was gone and he was already fast at work on the other. Before long, she was free.

  “You wanna get out of here?” he offered.

  She shook her head. “No. We’re going to stop him. For good this time!”

  He nodded, smiling. “I was sort of hoping you’d say that.”

  The two made their way down the hall, stopping as they saw Rumpel leaving a small room. Serafina realized that must’ve been the room he kept the children. Glancing over at Ixion, she waited for his signal. As Rumpel turned to head into a small opening that served as the living room of wherever they were, Ixion gave her the signal.

  “Now,” he whispered.

  Serafina reached out, drawing on the gold around them to act as an energy source. Knowing now what gold could be used for, she hoped that it could be used to help strengthen attacking magic as well. She watched as the spell she cast slammed into Rumpelstiltskin and he fell back, crying in pain.

  It had worked!

  Grinning at the results, she began to throw more and more magic-laced attacks at him, using his gold to double the attacks. Rumpel growled, standing up after the last attack and held his hand out, freezing Serafina again.

  “Tricky little bitch, aren’t you?” he grinned. “Think you’re the only one who’s thought to use gold this way? I’ve done it all!”

  Holding his hand out, he threw out a spell that hit both Serafina and Ixion. The two cried out as they fell back against the wall. Rumpelstiltskin began to step forward, his eyes glowing as his hands were surrounded in golden energy.