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

by Margo Bond Collins

  “’I am unlovely and I am despised,’ she said. ‘To be bound to me would be to be bound to my loathesomeness, and you do not deserve that.’

  “’You are beautiful,’ the man said. ‘Sincerely and wholeheartedly I say that and I mean it. And I care not what anyone else could think or say.’

  “’You would,’ Celia told him. ‘No one could possibly want the life that I lead.’

  “’And yet I do,’ the man told her. ‘Never leave me.’

  “And she lay down next to him and put her hand to his face and she was very sad, because she knew she could not simply allow him to waste his life on her.

  “The next morning, she brought him back to the camp and as she was mixing herbs to steep in water to help his body finish recovering, the townspeople came in an angry mob, as though to save the man.

  “The Makkai began their preparations to flee, and the protector came to the man to send him back to his home, but the man would not go.

  “’I love your sister and I will not leave her,’ the man said. ‘I will ask for her hand every day until I die, but it would be worse to leave without her.’

  “And the protector took mercy on him and let him stow away in one of the wagons and they fled the village, who for the rest of their memory believed that the Makkai had taken the man against his will.

  “As for the man and Celia, he did ask her every day, and for many years she denied him, but her own love for him grew as she saw his devotion and his budding love for the Makkai family, and finally she did become his wife. And she asked him once, at great age, why he stayed for so long when she had offered him no hope at all. And he smiled at her and took her hands in his own.

  “’My dear,’ he told her. ‘A man simply does not, can not forget healers hands like these, or the woman who was so driven to use them, disregarding the cost.’

  “And so they found happiness until they died.”

  They drifted across the country at an easy pace, camping at campsites where Becca took advantage of the opportunity to shower. They washed everything, they stopped in St. Louis to buy more supplies.

  “One of the most expensive jobs we’ve ever done, for one we didn’t get paid,” Billy remarked at one point, and it was true, considering the number of crystals they’d used fighting the witch, not to mention the princess quartz. Princess or not, Becca knew a quality quartz of that size was expensive. She’d heard quiet conversations a few times about how they needed to find some real work, paying work, soon. Everyone’s purses were empty and they worried that the tribe would run out of money, soon, too.

  Tribe finance was one of the things Becca didn’t worry about, as a rule, but she knew it was something all of the tribes struggled with routinely. What they did was expensive, and even though they lived cheaply, feeding and transporting that many people cost money, and they didn’t have anything like a consistent income.

  Outside of Baltimore, about two weeks later, Bella announced that they had a haunting to fix, and that Becca would be going to New York, in the meantime. This caused something of a stir.

  “What’s in New York?” Billy asked. “And why should she go on her own?”

  Bella sat down near the fire and folded her hands across her lap. There was a sense of importance that brought silence down across the Makkai. Jackson came to stand at her shoulder.

  “Our visit to my mother’s home, Argo’s box of crystals, these have a common cause. A little under six weeks ago, my dog died.”

  There was a long quiet as the fire popped and sputtered. Bella nodded slowly, as if listening to something in her own mind.

  “Argo gave us a bounty of rare crystals to help us as he could. My mother captured the magic that caused my dog to die and we analyzed it. And Becca took that information to New York, looking for aid from Carter to find the person who cast it.”

  Becca looked over at Grant, who might have been a little slow to figure out what was going on, compared to most of the rest of the tribe.

  “Why did you keep it from us?” Quinn asked.

  “Because there was no need for you to know,” Bella said. “And until we had a path forward, there was no reason to trouble you with it.”

  “Bull,” Billy said. “This is our tribe just as much as it is yours, and you should have come to us. We take care of our own.”

  “There was nothing for you to do,” Bella said. “We just would have cause panic and fear.”

  “You have a plan now?” Robbie asked.

  “We are closer,” Bella said. “And I would have yet waited, except that Carter has been slow in sending information back to us, and it’s time for Becca to go pressure him again.”

  “Why her?” Quinn asked.

  “She has an alliance of sorts with Lange, who has been helping her to get access to Carter,” Bella said. Quinn snorted.

  “Alliance,” she said. “The boy mooned after her once long ago.”

  “Still does,” Dawn said, catching several sharp looks. “Sorry.”

  “So Becca will go, and she will bring us back the knowledge we need to make a better plan,” Bella said.

  “What is the plan, now?” Robbie asked. “What are you doing to stay safe?”

  “I have a variety of warded magics that are protecting me,” Bella said. “And until we know more, we continue to work.”

  “Just the way every queen before you did,” Robbie said.

  “What magics?” Quinn asked.

  “The right ones,” Bella answered.

  “You think it’s one of us,” Quinn said. There was muttering around the circle, some in agreement and indignation, and some indignation that Quinn could make such an accusation. Bella looked unperturbed.

  “Can you provide evidence that isn’t?” she asked.

  “Who knows exactly what’s going on?” Quinn asked.

  “That doesn’t matter,” Bella said. Becca felt the heat on her as people came to the obvious conclusion. She looked up and away, not making eye contact with anyone.

  “All right, all right,” Billy said. “We’re a tribe, and she’s the queen. We aren’t going to go down this road again. Not if I can help it.”

  “It’s happening again,” someone murmured.

  “I can’t do this again,” someone else said.

  “Thought we were done with it when we got rid of Aaron,” someone else said. Becca waited a whole second before looking at Grant to see if he heard it. He clearly had. He was sitting, staring woodenly at the fire. His head came up and he looked at Becca, and she twisted her mouth to the side. If she could have told him she was sorry, she would have, but more attention pointed at him wasn’t going to help anything.

  “Anyone thought about the timing?” Robbie asked. “With him?”

  He jerked his chin at Grant and Becca glowered at him. Becca hadn’t looked at it like that. She’d believed Bella when she’d said she was sheltering Grant, but it wasn’t un-obvious that things had gone wrong literally the day after he’d joined the tribe.

  “Are we going to have a problem?” Bella asked Robbie pointedly. Robbie shrugged.

  “I’m just asking.”

  “When we need to consult with any of you, we will,” Bella said. “This is an issue we are handling with a small group within the tribe and involving consultants outside of the tribe, and that’s all I need to say about it.”

  “Don’t like tribe business going out before it goes around, inside,” Billy said.

  “Fortunately, this has never been a democracy,” Bella said. “None of my predecessors died because of neglect on the part of the tribe. There’s no evidence that anything you could do would help.”

  Billy’s chin jutted out with a sort of stubborn pride as he considered arguing, then he nodded.

  “You aren’t wrong.”

  Bella nodded.

  “I know that this brings back very unpleasant memories for many of you. But I am not those women, and we know much more than they did.”

  “What?” Quinn asked. “W
hat do you know that they don’t?”

  Bella didn’t even look at her.

  “We continue on. We do our job. We celebrate life. And I can’t order you to be loyal to me, but right now, tonight, you need to decide, each and every one of you, if you are loyal to me or not. If you aren’t, you are free to leave. If you wish, I will help you find a new tribe. There are always tribes out there looking for skills like the ones we have, here, and I believe we can find one for anyone who asks. If you would rather retire, no one anywhere is going to ask why. You know that as well as I do. If your loyalty is anywhere but to me, I’d ask you to leave, though. As soon as possible.”

  This caused another stir of quiet conversation. Becca hadn’t thought about it in those terms; what Bella was suggesting was not how Makkai normally worked. They were loyal to the tribe, and the tribe had a queen. She could see, though, how the fear that the queen would not survive very long would create a bad situation in the tribe.

  Billy stood.

  “I’m going to bed,” he said. “If I’m going to drive Becca up to New York in the morning, I want to get some sleep first.”

  More muttering, and one by one, the Makkai went back to their trailers. Billy grabbed Becca’s shirt and tugged her to her feet, and she followed him. They didn’t often talk after they went to bed, and Becca appreciated that, but tonight Billy sat on the edge of his bed and worked his hands over his knees.

  “Bad times, girl,” he said. “Bad times.”

  “I know,” Becca said. “Jackson told us the story.”

  He shook his head.

  “That man knows how to tell a story, but it can’t do it justice, what we went through. We all thought it was over. People are going to do things you might not expect, in the light of this.”

  Becca sat.

  “I think she can beat it,” she said.

  “We thought that of Jasmine, too,” Billy said. “And every one that came after her.”

  Becca shrugged.

  “No point believing anything else.”

  He gave her a wan smile and nodded.

  “There’s truth to that.”

  “I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you,” Becca said.

  “No, she was right to keep it close,” Billy said. “As much as no one wants to hear it, she has to suspect us. Would be wrong not to. No telling who is after her, or why. We never did figure it out. Never sat right with us, either, the not knowing. If you don’t know how you beat the thing, there’s no telling if you can do it next time.”

  Becca nodded.

  “Yeah.”

  He rubbed his knees again.

  “Get some sleep. If you’re going in with the crazies tomorrow, you’re going to need it.”

  Becca smiled.

  “They really are crazy,” she said. He nodded.

  “I’ve stayed away pretty well, up to now, but if they know how to keep the curse from taking another queen, I’m willing to try anything.”

  She sighed, frowning out the window for a moment, then turning to lay on her side and pulling her quilt up over her shoulders to sleep.

  It was a long time coming, tonight.

  It was different, going into the city by truck than it was by plane. You saw it coming from a long way away, crowding its way across the horizon like a giant spider of metal and glass. And the traffic was insane.

  Bella had said that Billy could leave his trailer where it was, that they would wait to break camp until he came back, so at least he didn’t have that to deal with, but as they got closer and closer to the city, the cars grew thicker and more aggressive.

  She called Lange.

  “Becca,” he answered. “How is everything?”

  “The same,” she answered. “I’m driving into the city now.”

  “Bella?” Lange asked.

  “Was fine when I left this morning,” Becca said. “I need to talk to Carter.”

  “Now might not be the best time,” Lange said.

  “Don’t really care,” Becca said, glancing at Billy. “I’m here until he answers my questions.”

  Billy nodded and she gave him half a smile. Lange whistled.

  “All right,” he said. “Where are you staying?”

  “With Bella,” Becca said. Lange asked the neighborhood and she checked with Billy then nodded at the phone.

  “That’s right,” she said.

  “That might be three hours by subway, during bad times,” he said. “You should stay at the hotel where I put you last time.”

  Becca didn’t like being alone like that, really, but she wasn’t about to tell him that.

  “That place was stupid expensive,” she told him. He laughed.

  “There will be a key waiting for you,” he said. “I’ll pick you up for lunch in thirty… make it an hour. You might be a while, yet.”

  She frowned and was preparing a new argument when he hung up. She sighed.

  “I’m staying at a hotel downtown,” she said.

  “Why?” Billy asked.

  “He says Bella’s is too far away,” she told him and he shrugged.

  “Wouldn’t know. Up to you.”

  She nodded.

  “I’ll do the hotel, I guess. If I get a window to see Carter and I miss it because I’m too far away…”

  Billy nodded.

  “Probably best.”

  She sighed and settled deeper into her seat. She’d make the trek to see Gramma Bella if she was here for any appreciable amount of time, at least, and see what the fuss was about. Could be Lange was lying to keep her away from the Makkai because the Makkai were difficult.

  Actually, that seemed more than a little likely, when she thought about it.

  Billy drove her to the hotel, where a spindly man in a uniform offered to do something with the truck, but Billy waved him off.

  “Just dropping her off,” he said, then looked over at Becca.

  “Don’t like just leaving you like this,” he said. “Don’t like you being stranded and don’t like you being alone.”

  She shook her head.

  “Not the first time here,” she said. “And Lange will be here soon. Say what you will about him, he took good care of me, last time.”

  “You watch that boy,” Billy said and Becca laughed.

  “Promise.”

  She slammed the door and went into the hotel, giving the fancy lady at the desk her name and retrieving her key.

  Spent way too much on make up and hair, that one.

  The elevator went up and up, letting her out on the twenty-third floor, where she found the room the woman had told her and let herself in. It was cold and it was sterile. She went into the bathroom and washed her hands and her face, looking at the bath tub with appreciation. At least there was a hot shower with no bugs in it.

  She looked out the window for a minute, then her phone rang.

  “You ready?” Lange asked. “I’m in the lobby.”

  She rested her forehead against the glass.

  “Yeah,” she said. “I’m ready.”

  He ordered everything on the menu again. He took her to a Chinese restaurant within walking distance of the hotel, and she picked a few things at random that had words in them that she didn’t object to. She suspected that ordering here was a bit of an art form, and that he was showing off, but she didn’t even know enough to be impressed.

  “So what has he told you?” she pressed Lange when he finally slowed down eating long enough to take a breath.

  “Told me?” he laughed. “I haven’t talked to him about you or Bella since you left.”

  “Is he working on it?” Becca asked. Lange gave her a big shrug.

  “He’s Carter,” he said. “You get what you get.”

  “Maybe his psychic friend could tell me more,” she said. He shook his head.

  “No, Abby’s really, really busy right now. I haven’t seen her in maybe two weeks.”

  “Busy with what?” Becca asked. He laughed, taking a drink of his tea and setting it back
down.

  “I don’t ask and they don’t tell me.” He spread his hands. “Look, this is a good life. And I show up when they need me, no questions asked. But I’m not going digging for work, you know?”

  “Where do you get all of your money?” Becca asked. “If you never work.”

  He snorted.

  “You think the money comes from clients or something? No. Some of it’s Argo’s. I buy stuff from merchants and stick him with the bill, and he pays it because I’m his eyes on Carter. After that, it’s from demons.”

  “You’re complicit with demons?” Becca asked, nearly standing. “How could you do that?”

  “You saw them last time,” Lange said, clearly confused. “They’re just like us.”

  “They’re nothing like us,” Becca said. He gave her a wistful smile and went back to eating.

  “You do sound like her.”

  She shook her head.

  “And what kind of whoring do you do for the demons?”

  He shook his head, his dark bangs flopping back and forth across his forehead.

  “It’s not like that,” he said. “Everyone wants eyes on Carter. They want to know what he’s doing and what he’s thinking. They want to have a conversation with him. With Sam gone, they’re willing to pay an awful lot for access and information, and I’m willing to take it.”

  “Why?” Becca asked. “They’re… demons.”

  “Because they’ve got money and I’d rather it come to me than go to someone else.”

  Becca thought of the charged exchange between Argo and Bella about the box of crystals. Rather you have them than someone else.

  “But… you have to talk with them and work with them…” Becca said. He chuckled, wiping the corner of his mouth with his thumb.

  “Are you going to eat?” he asked. She looked at her lunch, but she had no appetite.

  “I need to talk to him,” she said. “I don’t have time for this game.”

  He spread his hands, grabbing his drink and taking several more swallows before he spoke again.

  “It isn’t a game, Becca. It’s just how things work here. Carter doesn’t keep a regular calendar, and you don’t just go see him. He doesn’t put up with people acting familiar.”

  “He said he would help me,” Becca said and Lange shrugged again.