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

by Margo Bond Collins

  “That’s not yours!” I screamed.

  Traer looked helplessly at me before he reached into his jacket pocket and took out a napkin. He had the Irizat Luna wrapped in a fucking napkin? Then, he handed it to the vampire witch. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. He held his arm out and she laced hers through it. Together they walked by me. A thin cord was tied around her back and neck. Another cord went up the center of her ass and around her waist, apparently the backside of her bathing suit. Her wedged heels clacked on the stone as they walked into the house, as though they were a couple.

  She looked over her shoulder one last time. “Mason, you know what to do with the girl, the so-called Protector who failed to do her ultimate duty.” Shame boiled up in me. “She let the Irizat Luna be stolen right out from under her. She’ll be looked down upon forever.” A wicked smile crossed over her full red lips. “I’ll beckon for her later. My sister and I have much to talk about.”

  I refused to flinch or cower at her painful words. As true as they were, I vowed to redeem myself and destroy her. Lajaria and Traer’s chatter faded as the two men dragged me down the hall past dozens of doors until we came upon one. The one called Mason opened it. I saw only darkness as he threw me inside. I scrambled to the door as he shut it in my face.

  Ruthless

  It was a given the door would be locked, but I had to try. As soon as I touched the handle, I was thrown back against the wall. An electric current bolted through me. My nerves were on fire. I should’ve known Lajaria would have put some sort of magic on the room. When the singeing in my body ceased, I slowly stood up, not knowing if the room had a low or high ceiling. I was able to stand to my full height. I walked toward the door but didn’t dare touch it again. I didn’t want another electrocution. I began groping the walls. Hesitantly sliding my hands up and down, inch by inch, around the room. I felt for anything worth using as a weapon. High and low I searched. I waved my hands in the air above me for a dangling string or cord to turn on a light. But, there was nothing.

  I moved around the room and counted my steps. I came upon the molding around the door. Seven by seven. It was a small room full of infinite darkness. Giving up wasn’t an option. I continued to search for something, anything. Disoriented in the dark, I felt the same scars and jagged marks on the walls. Finally, higher than I’d searched before, my fingers felt a small object protruding from the wall, a light switch. I flipped it up.

  I wished I hadn’t.

  The entire room was a mural of Hell. Every demon that every gypsy was petrified of was painted on the wall. Werewolves, fairies, vampires like Lajaria, rising from their graves, horrid devil-looking shifters surrounded me. Their fangs, feral eyes, blood stained mouths, wicked sneers and vile intentions were painted in vivid detail and color. As my eyes traveled up the walls to the ceiling, I gasped. Above my head was a giant black owl, the death bird. Its midnight wings spread to their full span, its yellowed eyes seeking its next victim. I heard its screeches loud in my skull; the ones permanently burned there.

  The painting alone was warning enough I would die a gruesome death. It was shameful, knowing my death wasn’t caused by protecting the Irizat Luna, but trying to steal it back. Traer was somewhere out there with that bitch. He would pay for this. I wasn’t sure how yet; I wasn’t even sure how I was going to get out of this fucking room; but he would pay. All the money in the world couldn’t save his life, or what I had planned for him. There had been a time when I would have taken the word of somebody like him, rolled it around between my fingers, enjoying the way it felt, and then discarding it. But, I truly thought he would believe me. That he would take my word and stories, and the truth, and turn this all around. He had had the power to do so, and he had chosen not to.

  I turned off the light. Turned off the horror. I sat in the center of the room so I wouldn’t touch any of the evil creatures surrounding me. I don’t know how long I sat there before I saw a faint glow in the darkness. My eyes were closed as the glow grew larger and brighter. The room came to life. The weight of every demon, every fairy, and every vampire fell upon me in a massive pile of death and red, and everything evil. I was being buried alive by the weight of every wrong and evil deed these creatures had done. The abomination of their existence crushed me. Rising from the center of all of them was Lajaria. She commanded and controlled them. They snapped their jaws and sharp claws as they backed off of me. Her body glowed with the iridescent liquid flowing through it. Her veins pulsed with magic and energy.

  It was her gift commanding them. Making them believe and see exactly what she wanted them to. Just as she had done when she was alive. Although then, I thought she did it mostly for good, to protect the relic. Now, she used it for evil, power, and revenge. I watched as she sent them recklessly out into the world, searching for the one who had done her wrong. It had been a long time ago and—

  My vision faded and revamped, shifted into another time. I watched as a spectator from afar. It was the past. I saw my mother and a man. Even through the vision I felt how strongly they cared for one another. Was he my father? I wondered. I didn’t know—I had never met him. Beyond the bright hanging silks, I saw another young beautiful woman. She watched as the man cradled my mother in his arms. The woman’s face reddened and filled with rage. I realized the woman was Lajaria. I had seen pictures of her when I visited the elders.

  The past slowly made the present make sense. Lajaria and my mother had loved the same man. Lajaria raised her hand and spoke silent words. Nothing happened. The man and my mother hadn’t noticed. The vision shifted to other times and places displaying the same people in the same positions. One scene, my mother held a child. The man smiled as he held them both in his arms.

  Suddenly, my mother looked up to see Lajaria. The woman wasn’t shamed or shocked. She stood defiantly in the name of love for the man. Angry words I couldn’t hear were exchanged. Then, I saw the man, my father, lying dead on his side. The scene turned to night. Lajaria stumbled down an alleyway. Her mouth sputtered unheard things. She fell, unable to get up.

  My head spun as it tried to put the pieces of the visions together. “My God,” I muttered. Lajaria had loved my father. She had tried to use her magic, her gift, to make him fall in love with her. But, it seemed, his love for my mother was too strong. Had her magic somehow killed my father; had she accidentally killed the man who did not love her? As I recalled my mother’s furious face, had she been the one to kill Lajaria? I didn’t know. But, if that were the case, then I knew exactly why Lajaria had come back to get revenge.

  The most dreadful thought I could imagine festered in my head. Since my mother was dead, I was the one she would have revenge on. The child of the woman she hated. She would let her vengeance loose on me, and anyone who got in her way.

  Lajaria had planned for this, manufactured every move until I was exactly where she wanted me. And, here I was at the mercy of a vampire. I heard footsteps down the hall before the door opened. Mason stood in the doorway. I sat on the floor cross-legged, like I didn’t give a shit. I refused to let him or Lajaria see the fear stewing inside me. I wouldn’t let them see me as anything other than a Protector.

  Alive

  “Let’s go,” Mason said.

  “Are we going to have lunch?” I asked.

  “I think you’ve already eaten your last meal,” he said dryly.

  I tried to act as smug and nonchalant as Traer had mastered. “As sad as that is, I’m glad it was my favorite, a cheeseburger and fries.”

  Mason didn’t crack the smallest of grins. He nudged me forward. The other, larger man who had accompanied me to the small room before, flanked me now. I wasn’t sure where they were taking me, and I didn’t care, as long I was never brought back to the Hell closet. I needed a shower after seeing all those disgusting beasts.

  “Where are you taking me?” I asked.

  I was answered by silence, just as expected. We passed the foyer and the pool area. We walked through an unlived-in livin
g room. Nothing looked like it had been picked out to actually use or sit on. What a bunch of wasted space. Mason stopped at a set of double doors across from the impeccable living room. He opened both of the French doors at the same time. Mason stood aside to let me pass. I halted in mid-stride, nearly falling over my feet. Lajaria sat on a chaise lounge, a long cigarette between her fingers. She was as I envisioned her. It was as if she had read my mind, which scared the shit out of me. If she could, then she knew all the thoughts racing through my head. I couldn’t decide if I was in flight or fight mode, until I saw the Irizat Luna dangling on a gold chain around her neck. I wanted to rush her, grab the relic, and slice her throat before I made my escape.

  Traer stood off to the side. Lajaria’s eye candy looked like he done the most noble deed possible. The lines on his face deepened when Lajaria stood and suggested we all take a walk. She hadn’t even acknowledged I was part of the party as she walked past me and out of the room. Mason and his pal stayed close to me as we followed Lajaria.

  “Where are we going?” I asked. The silent treatment was getting old. I touched my hip, wishing my knives had somehow magically appeared. “Hey, Lajaria, what was that horrid room you had me locked in? Was it everything you saw on the other side in Hell?”

  She turned around and glared at me. Her black eyes bore into me as if they were daggers. I refused to back down or flinch. “Don’t you dare question where I’ve been. You have no idea what it’s like to die the way I did, and then suffer as I fought my way back to the surface; only to come back as a haggard looking whore.”

  I didn’t blink. “You’re right, I wouldn’t and I don’t plan to.”

  She lowered her voice to a threatening growl. “Don't count on it little gypsy girl. After how you failed the entire coven, I wouldn’t be so sure.” She shrugged and her shirt slid off her shoulder. “I’m sure there’re already headhunters out for you. And, they won’t be as kind as I’m going to be.”

  I didn’t think any of what she said was true. Traer watched our exchange, his gaze lingering on each of us just for a second too long. Lajaria was once very powerful. Powerful enough to come back from the dead, that, I knew. But, I also knew it took a lot of energy. I didn’t know how much time she’d to build it back up, while she’d been on this side with the living. By the tone of her voice, it had been longer than I thought, and hoped.

  She continued walking. The house was decorated with more of the same: flowers, chandeliers made of gaudy gold shit, ugly art, and statues. Then, we came to a room that didn’t look like anything else in the house, except for the small prison they had held me in. When she opened the door, I prayed she wouldn’t make me step over the threshold. Every cell of my being told me not to go into the room.

  Lajaria turned around, and smiled like a superstar with lips the color of blood. “Come on little gypsy girl, you can do it, just one more baby step,” she cooed, as if calling a puppy.

  I shook my head. “No—No—No—No.”

  Traer stood beside me. I was shocked he hadn’t followed the vampire in. The room was filled with a hundred candles. Incense burned around the room. It was the perfect setting for a séance, or mediumship... a perfect room to be taken over by the dead.

  “Come on now, conjure my sister for me.” It wasn’t a request. She would suck the life from me to get to her sister. Lajaria’s plan was forming in my head. She had planned to bring Inerique back from the dead and force her to be a vampire like herself. I had no control over what I did next. There was no fucking way I’d let her tap into Inerique’s realm. I leapt into the room and grabbed a handful of Lajaria’s hair. I pulled as hard as I could, dragging her down to the ground with me. “No!” I screamed. “I won’t let you near her.”

  Her bodyguards were on me in less than a second, pulling me off her. I reeled back my arm, still flailing, trying to reach out and grab for her again. She laughed. Mason held me against his chest. Traer stood stunned in the corner, just on the other side of the threshold. He still hadn’t come into the room. Coward. He was going to get a chance to see exactly what Lajaria had planned.

  I glared at Traer. “All this could have been avoided if you had listened to me,” I said through clenched teeth.

  “I was hoping you wouldn’t have to hold her,” Lajaria said. Mason caught her meaning and grabbed hold of my upper arms. I fought against every urge I had not to let him turn me into the trapped animal I felt like.

  “Traer, love, why don’t you come in and have a seat? You’ll see firsthand what you’ve brought me.”

  “I think I’ll stand right here, if it’s okay,” he said.

  “It’s not.” Her tone was harsh and stern. She wasn’t taking no for an answer.

  Traer reluctantly stepped into the room. The candles cast an eerie glow on his face. Lajaria smiled, pleased with herself. “Relax kids, this is only the beginning of the show. There is so much more.” She rubbed her hands together.

  “You’re a sick fuck,” I spat.

  “Foul language does not suit you, gypsy girl,” said Lajaria.

  “The Irizat Luna on your neck, doesn’t suit you.”

  She backhanded me across the cheek. The room exploded into a thousand bursting colors. She turned on her heel and smiled at Traer. “I’m sorry about that, dear.” She clapped her hands together. “What shall we do first?” she asked.

  “Send you back to Hell,” I suggested.

  Lajaria whirled around. Her hand less was than an inch from my face. I smirked as she glared at me with a smile so cold it could cut diamonds. “Don’t tempt me to send you to the other side, gypsy girl. Not that I haven’t thought about it, but I didn’t think we’d reached that level yet.” The vampire lowered her hand and walked over to one of the candles and extinguished it with the tips of her fingers. It singed in the quiet room and smoke rose in a thin stream up to the ceiling. She walked over to another one and extinguished it, and then, another and another, until there were only a few white ones left, along with the three black ones. The darkened room was eerily silent and haunting. The incense filled the air with scents of clovers and sage. She pinched the wick of the white candle next to me. I saw the burnt tips of her fingers. They were scorched and black. As the smoke rose she inhaled deeply.

  “Now I think we’re ready.” Lajaria slid her eyes to me. “You know a little something about the Echo Ritual, don’t you, gypsy girl?”

  I ignored her question. Instead I asked, “Why do you keep calling me gypsy girl when you’re one yourself?”

  She didn’t bother to answer. The vampire strolled over to Traer, cupped his chin, and kissed him lightly on the lips. There was no delight or pleasure shown on his face. His expression remained stoic and apprehensive. Finally, I think he knew what he’d done, and how it was too late to change the outcome.

  The room billowed with smoke from the discarded candles like the remnants of a small fire. Lajaria removed the necklace from her neck, sliding the gold chain from around her neck and cradling the Irizat Luna in her hand. Gently, and with more respect than I would’ve expected, she twisted the lid off the relic. The spiraling knife glistened in the candle’s light. An iridescent drop of pure magic hung from the needle-pointed tip. I strained against the asshole that held me. But it was no use. I was strong, but I wasn’t nearly as strong as Mason. Even if I’d had my knives, there wasn’t much I could do. The situation was hopeless. The helpless feeling washed through me as I was forced to watch my vision come to life.

  Lajaria set the vial in a small glass dish with the eye of the protector painted on the bottom. Ironic, considering we weren’t being protected from anything right now. The vampire held her hand over the black candle and stabbed her palm. There was nothing to prepare us for what came next. The iridescent liquid spiraled out from the center of her palm into her fingertips. It rode in her veins throughout her entire body. It was like nothing I’d ever seen before. The magic always stayed contained in the palm and spread discretely and quietly throughout the body. Th
is magic had come alive, writhing inside her, thriving and spreading like a disease. Her power was greater than I ever imagined. One drop of the liquid had always been enough to ignite any gift of magic. Apparently Lajaria hadn’t agreed with that. With glowing hands and fingers she picked up the vial once more. She dipped the tip of the knife into the vial once more. Another drop of the iridescent liquid clung to the tip of the relic. She traced the spiraling image with a star in the center on her wrist. The image came to life. It was like the stars in heaven were living inside her body. The Black Moon itself had come alive and awakened inside her. The vampire roared with pain, or laughter, I didn’t know. No, it wasn’t either of those. As the smile on her lips fell into place, I realized it was triumph. I could only imagine the power she felt surging through her at that moment. The way her soul ignited with the power and the gift of the magic from the Irizat Luna.

  Her veins began to slowly fade from the iridescent glow they had been ignited with. She looked around the room as if she was seeing everything for the first time. She walked towards Traer. Every candle in the room ignited as she walked by them. “My little pet, you made this possible.”

  Her power was fierce and devastatingly painful to watch. All of this could have been avoided. Traer gave me a sideways glance. Everything in his expression told me he was as scared as he’d ever been. And, he knew he’d fucked up.

  “Now, let’s see some real magic,” Lajaria said.

  Love

  Lajaria stood in the middle of the room. I knew what was coming next and I had to find a way to stop her. The flames of the black candles rose high into the air. Her tone was commanding and foreboding as she voiced foreign words I didn’t know the meaning of. I knew some Romanian, and even some of the spells. But what Lajaria was trying to do now was way out of my league. Lajaria’s knowledge of magic, especially old magic, made her virtually unstoppable.