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

by Margo Bond Collins

  Not a sound.

  The knife in my hand grew too hot to touch and I had to let go when it started to burn my palm.

  One person speaking is a whisper, but a thousand whispers all at once—make for a roar—and that’s when the amulet exploded into a million shards of glass.

  Chapter 19

  I could have never prepared for what happened next. To this day, it all seems a bit unreal. It was magical and transformational. I released the dragons from the amulet and from their tortured existence of feeding Hulbetto’s immortality for centuries.

  All around the room and everywhere that my eye could see was the blue iridescence of the dragon’s essence—hundreds, maybe even a thousand. Too many to count and to see. I searched for Mia, I wanted to find her and I bet she wanted to find me too. She had to here somewhere.

  I looked over at Dreah, she was searching the room for her parents.

  As I looked about the room searching for Mia, each of the swirling essence would transform into their human forms, like stretching and expanding to what they had been before life had been stolen from them. So many eras represented with the clothes they chose to wear.

  After their shift to human form, if they were able to they would shift to their dragons. At first to full-sized dragon and then down to a more manageable size to accommodate the size of the room.

  Dreah grabbed my hand and we watched in wonder, as they flew around the immense room and frolicked like children at play—happy to be free and literally spreading their wings.

  It was so beautiful to watch. The emotions felt golden and bubbly, like champagne. It was such a happy feeling that I actually laughed out loud and shocking myself. After allowing their dragons free for a bit, they shifted again and back into their basic essence—the core of who they were.

  The room glowed with a thousand dragons and thrummed with the contented peace they had found at long last. The luminous collection of souls turned and focused their attention on me and shifted yet again to human form.

  I watched in stunned silence as the entire room knelt before me—right fist pressed to their hearts. I didn’t deserve their honor and acknowledgment.

  “Thank you,” I told them nonetheless, “you’ve been with me for years. I beg for your forgiveness—all these years you’ve needed my help and I didn’t understand.”

  They stood as one and moved to the side. When they did, I saw that a lone dragon remained unchanged. They had not taken advantage of the freedom to shift. They hovered near the remnants of the shattered amulet.

  As I walked forward, the collective shifted back. I could feel their gratitude, acceptance and understanding. They didn’t know what I had been through these past fifteen years and I wouldn’t tell them—ever. They only needed to know that I was here now.

  “I don’t know what happens next, now that you’ve been released,” I addressed everyone, but specifically the one before me, “but won’t you take advantage of the ability to shift before you no longer have the chance?” I asked.

  I stopped just before reaching her and waited to see what she would decide. She shifted and just like me, she wasn’t very big. Barely a hatchling, but her beautiful coloring was very similar to mine.

  She didn’t fly around like I thought she would. Instead she stayed right in front of me and looked me over, as if cataloguing my every feature with her crystalline blue eyes before she shifted into her human form. Once fully transitioned, she kept her dark head down.

  Everyone was attuned to us. I could feel their curiosity, as well as a palpable tension that I didn’t comprehend. On top of that, there was a sense of expectation hanging in the air, as if the collective were holding their breath.

  Once she shifted I could see that she was just a little girl and not the only child in the room to have been reaped for their dragon essence. My heart hurt for their suffering and for what had been stolen from them at such a tender age.

  Like the others, she had chosen her own clothes and she wore a tea-length powder blue dress with a white satin sash, white socks and black patent Mary Jane’s.

  My breath caught when she looked up to me. Wet lashes framed her crystal blue eyes that shimmered with unshed tears. It was if I were looking into a mirror and seeing the reflection of my eight-year-old self.

  Chapter 20

  I dropped to my knees before her. My heart was beating rapidly in my chest. I looked her over, just as she had done me. Who was she? Why did she look so much like me? I looked around for help and possibly answers, only to see numerous expressions of empathy and understanding.

  But I didn’t understand—not at all.

  “You look just like I did as a child,” I said to her and then asked, “Why? Please…won’t you tell me your name?” I begged her, my voice raspy and clogged with an emotion I couldn’t name.

  “Names have power, as you know,” she told me, her voice weighted with sorrow.

  “I do. My given name had been stripped of its power and so I chose another for myself—one more suitable. One that I could identify with.”

  “Yes, you go by Charani now—Phoenix in our Gypsy language.”

  I had to laugh, “Yes, though, like you little one, I’m barely larger than a hatchling,” I said while shaking my head at my inability to shift to a full-sized Phoenix Dragon.

  “I’m the reason you cannot shift to your potential,” she quietly confessed.

  “I don’t understand how you could possibly be responsible for my own failings.”

  “Have you remembered your reaping?” she asked, making my head spin with the change in subject.

  “Only recently, when Dr. Hanley took over as the administrator of the asylum,” I told her, the anger evident in my voice. At least he was dead now and could no longer kill my dragon brethren.

  “He attempted to reap you for your essence when you were eight, but he failed in completing the ritual.”

  I nodded, emotions having stolen my voice.

  “You named me, Mia…”

  I nodded my head. I knew this had to be Mia, but I had more questions than answers now.

  “…But, my name is Sarah.”

  I looked at her and tried to figure out how that could be possible.

  “He never finished the reaping, Charani.”

  “No,” I whispered.

  “Hanley didn’t finish your reaping, but what he did complete was enough to imprison a portion of your soul within the Amulet of the Dead.”

  The answer I had sought the whole of my life was standing before me and waiting.

  Me!

  “I’m Sarah, as well as you! We can finally be as one soul again, instead of divided.”

  “Not if I can help it!” Hulbetto said ominously from behind me.

  Chapter 21

  I tried to turn, surprised that he wasn’t dead, but before I could, he shoved his reaping knife deep into my back. Centuries of experience with reaping and killing dragons had allowed him to expertly slip the blade between my ribs and twist it with enough force to inflict maximal damage. He yanked it out with another turn of his wrist.

  A coughed as my lung collapsed and blood bubbled up and out of my mouth. I spit a mouthful on the ground at his feet and glared at him while I still had the strength to do so!

  I attempted to shift hoping to repair the damage, but couldn’t and that could only mean one thing—the wound was mortal and he knew it.

  “Now I will finish the reaping Hanley screwed up all those years ago.”

  My vision started to dim and I could feel myself swaying where I’d fallen. The neck wound I’d given Hulbetto was mostly closed due to the healing properties of the soil. I hadn’t thought about that.

  So much knowledge to acquire and to learn, but far too late to implement.

  I could feel the collective vibrating with fury, but impotent to do anything about it. Hulbetto couldn’t feel them now that they were no longer contained within the amulet fueling his immortality.

  Nor could he see the collec
tive. They swirled around him unnoticed as he prepared to sacrifice me to his greater good—reaping my essence as he carved dark magical glyphs into my flesh and tortured me unto death!

  I pushed hard with my mind for Dreah to sneak out. Now! I would protect her from my imminent torture and prevent her from becoming his next sacrifice. She’d been through enough.

  I looked out of the corner of my eye and saw her parents were urging her to leave. She was shaking her head no—again! I loved that little girl with her massive courage and resilience.

  I brought Cipriano into my mind so that he could see Dreah.

  “Bring her home, Cipriano. I choose her as my family, so you must care for her in my place. Lord, I would have loved her!”

  I couldn’t stand to know another person would be taken from her, even though we had just met—we had bonded! Cipriano would take care of her and make her family. I knew he would stop at nothing to make it happen.

  I allowed him to feel my mortal injury and I felt his pain and remorse through our connection. The burdens he carried were massive and I had just added to them because I couldn’t ask for help.

  I was running out of time and quickly shared Aiden’s message for Cipriano. I withheld the part where Aiden was used by Hulbetto as the instrument to cause me harm—I’m sure he realized that without having to live though it.

  Cipriano’s shock and helplessness resonated through me and almost knocked me the rest of the way over. His mission through the centuries had been to save Aiden and it was that goal, that had pulled him through each day.

  Sarah, it felt awkward to call her by my name, as if I were talking about someone else, someone separate. Though technically we were separate and would remain so.

  “No, Charani, we won’t. Will you take me back? Will you accept all that you are? All that you could have been? And all that you shall coalesce to be?” she asked with her mind.

  Sarah was a part of me, yet not. She had a profound wisdom that I lacked. An insightfulness that came from years of being imprisoned in the Amulet of the Dead and surrounded by centuries-old dragons and their collective wisdom.

  “Yes, Sarah! Come back to me. Let us be as one before I die and we must join the others.”

  “I will, but first will you accept the collective, as you like to call them?” She asked.

  “I’ve already accepted them. I deeply regret it took me so long to understand what they had tried to tell me all these years.”

  “Then prepare, Charani to be Phoenix,” she said prophetically just before the room exploded in a kaleidoscope of light and color!

  Chapter 22

  The collective rushed towards me, as did Hulbetto. Both were attempting to reach me first. But Hulbetto had the weight of his body to retard his movements and the dragons were in their essential form—fast and fluid, reaching me first.

  I was levitated off the floor in a thermal of buoyant energy as I absorbed what remained of their essence—en mass.

  Their energy and emotions were like an infusion and I was beyond anemic and dying. I felt renewed and my mortal injuries were healed.

  The need for retribution had been the impetus for the collective’s decision to enter me and become one. I would do right by them. I would find a way for justice to be served.

  Sarah floated up so that we were eight-year-old face to twenty-three-year-old face. She turned to look at Hulbetto one last time and I noticed he had stopped moving—eyes transfixed to where I levitated above him.

  She looked back to me, before moving forward so that my dragon essence could finally be whole and complete.

  A concussive force rocked the building strong enough to throw Hulbetto backwards like a limp doll into the blood-soaked cairn. I thought I heard a crack before I was lost in a swirling vortex of fire and ice as all the dragons and I coalesced into the Phoenix Dragon I was destined to be.

  Like the very first time I had shifted, I was immersed within a kaleidoscope of colors—all the dragons and I blending and coalescing into one.

  My Phoenix had finally been realized.

  I landed on the ground next to where Hulbetto lay unmoving. The cairn had broken his back when he’d been thrown against it and no amount of magic soil would be able to fix that.

  The dragons and I were now one and I could no longer feel their individuality. I knew what needed to be done.

  Vengeance was mine, so sayeth my Phoenix.

  Hulbetto watched as I approached, knowing his time was up. There would be no stay of execution, especially not for him. He was still benefitting from the dark magic infused soil, as well as residual immortality stolen from my brethren. It was working to my benefit in this case.

  He continued to exude evil—scowling at me from where he lay broken and dying. Without a word, I reached out with my claws and shoved them deep into Hulbetto’s chest. I wrapped my talons around his beating heart and held his hateful gaze as I waited for the pain to register.

  Before his sight could be taken by death, I ripped out his heart—hard and fast—and crushed it before his evil eyes!

  Dropping it to the ground below me, I used my dragon fire to incinerate both him and his evil heart.

  In honor of the collective, vengeance had been swiftly delivered and justice served—atonement for my soul.

  A wave of gratitude and peace washed over me. I could still sense and feel the collective. They were still with me, just not commanding me. We were in harmony.

  “Charani!” I heard Cipriano yell out.

  Chapter 23

  Turning I saw Cipriano running towards me with Ian, Isabella, and the twins hot on his heels. I remained Phoenix, which felt massive and magnificent, I must say. I was finally whole and complete and they needed to see that.

  I felt Dreah come to stand next to my side, her hand resting on hip—petting me. I understood that need. I had wanted to pet Cipriano the first time I’d seen his dragon. We were connected—one orphan to another, though she didn’t know that yet, but she would. Eventually she would understand, but more importantly feel, that she wasn’t alone.

  Her grief and sadness at the loss of her parents were palpable, as was her confusion as to what would happen next. Her known world had ended this night and her fear of the unknown was wholly unacceptable.

  I sent my calming essence to surround her in love and comfort. I set her mind at ease by letting her know that she would remain with me as my daughter. I let her know that I was in the process of choosing my family. I had chosen her and hoped that she would have me in return.

  Our bond as family was solidified with the nod of her head and the swaying of her beautiful auburn curls. She was mine and I was hers. She raised her head to watch the others approach—resolute and unswerving in her courage to stand strong in the face of adversity.

  We would face that adversity together, as I was still learning what it meant to be Phoenix. It was assured that I’d screw up—a lot—especially if my most recent track record was anything to go by. Dreah patted my hip.

  I looked at her and realized that sharing my essence with her had connected us on a much deeper level. She was offering me comfort in return. My heart swelled with emotion and I cleared my throat.

  Dragon fire exploded out of my mouth and my dragon eyes widened in alarm. Luckily, Cipriano and the others were far enough away and out of harm’s way.

  We all started laughing. I stayed within my mind, so that I didn’t light anyone on fire. But the others, including Dreah, laughed out loud. It was pretty comical.

  Once we subsided, Cipriano stepped up to my Phoenix and knelt before me. He placed his right fist over his warrior heart and bowed his head. Ian and Isabella followed Cipriano and mimicked his actions, as did the twins, Tarrin and Tauric.

  “Stand up,” I begged them, “Please, don’t do that. I’m no one’s hero.”

  Thankfully, they stood up almost immediately.

  I shifted effortlessly for the first time and Cipriano walked forward to pull me to him. It was so comfo
rting to be in his arms. He was my mentor, my brethren and my brother.

  Demonstrative affection was not my thing, but he was family, as were the others. Plus, I needed to set an example for Dreah, to show her that affection was okay.

  Though, I guess she and I had already started that process.

  “Look at you all grown up and a full-fledged Phoenix in truth,” he said after stepping back—both of his hands remained on my shoulders.

  I smiled, “Well, it wasn’t an easy transition, but I managed to make it to this side, despite Hulbetto’s attempts to kill me,” I told them, then added soberly, “he almost succeeded.”

  “I’m thankful he didn’t succeed in stealing yet another one of my family members. I think I’ve lost more than enough,” he said before stepping away.

  He knelt down to be at Dreah’s level and addressed her directly, “I’m Cipriano, Charani’s brother. Who are you little one?” He asked her.

  “I’m Dreah Xavier. And you’re a Phoenix, just like Charani,” she said, then continued, “I know you’re not her real brother. And I’m not her real daughter, but that’s okay, we can still be family.”

  The bald honesty of children, they didn’t know deception; and I would always give her the truth, no matter how painful it was.

  “Charani, Ian and I are the only Phoenix Dragons left in existence,” Cipriano told her just as forthright.

  “Wasn’t she beautiful?” Dreah asked Cipriano, her amber eyes wide in wonder.

  “Exceptional, just like you, Dreah.”

  “I have lots to tell you. But I think we should leave here now. Hulbetto had an apprentice and he could be anywhere lurking around. He’s fairly proficient with a crossbow,” I added, as both a warning and an acknowledgment of his skill.