Full Metal Magic: An Urban Fantasy Anthology Read online

  Full Metal Magic

  An urban fantasy anthology of magic, mayhem and the paranormal

  J.A. Cipriano

  Domino Finn

  Sonya Bateman

  Ambrose Ibsen

  Al K. Line

  Rob Cornell

  James Hunter

  Craig Schaefer

  Pippa DaCosta

  Contents

  Foreword

  1. The Bull Demon King - J.A. Cipriano

  About the Author

  2. The Black Door - Domino Finn

  About the Author

  3. Dance Of The Dead - Sonya Bateman

  About the Author

  4. Hard Row - Ambrose Ibsen

  About the Author

  5. Angry Spark - Al K Line

  About the Author

  6. Family Business - Rob Cornell

  About the Author

  7. Valentine Blues - James A. Hunter

  About the Author

  8. A Drive In The Country - Craig Schaefer

  About the Author

  9. Chase The Dark - Pippa Dacosta

  About the Author

  Foreword

  When we first discussed putting this anthology together, our goal was to offer a sampler of the best dark urban fantasy on the market today. Tough protagonists neck-deep in supernatural conspiracies, beholden to dark powers, hunted, on the run, and generally all-around screwed. Whether you're familiar with these authors or not, this collection is a carefully crafted introduction to unique characters and alternate worlds where magic is commonplace and shadows are scary. Follow along from New York to Miami; Las Vegas to Detroit; even Cardiff, Wales and Valentine, Nebraska; each reimagined in mythical splendor.

  Lastly, it's worth noting that Full Metal Magic is no mere compilation. Every story was expressly written for this release. What follows is an all-star gathering of original urban fantasy stories not available anywhere else. Enjoy.

  - Domino Finn and J.A. Cipriano

  THE BULL DEMON KING by J.A. Cipriano - Mac Brennan just wanted to take his girlfriend to the fair, but the Bull Demon King had other plans...

  THE BLACK DOOR by Domino Finn - Cisco Suarez is dragged to the depths of the underground Miami nightlife, where seekers of arcane knowledge may just get their wish.

  DANCE OF THE DEAD by Sonya Bateman - Halloween in Manhattan gets weirder than usual for Gideon Black, who finds himself up against a powerful necromancer looking to raise a lot more than the dead.

  HARD ROW by Ambrose Ibsen - Demon-hearted brawler Lucian Colt prepares to trace a human trafficking operation to its fountainhead. But will he and his teammates prove a match for what awaits them in the seedy stretch of Hard Row?

  ANGRY SPARK by Al K. Line - When an old vampire "buddy" calls you in the middle of the night, and asks for a favor, hang up on the them and stay the hell in bed. I was stupid. I got dressed, and nearly got dead soon after.

  FAMILY BUSINESS by Rob Cornell - Sorcerer Sebastian Light expects his first day as a demon hunter to go off without a hitch, but sometimes family issues are harder to slay than even the surliest of goblins.

  VALENTINE BLUES by James A. Hunter - As violence breaks out and people start dying, only Yancy Lazarus—bluesman, gambler, mage, and former wet-works man—can put things right. Well, he can try …

  A DRIVE IN THE COUNTRY by Craig Schaefer - For Daniel Faust, driving a condemned man to his death dredges up old memories and old ghosts. You can't outrun the past.

  CHASE THE DARK by Pippa DaCosta - New York’s sewers are infested with gators. As Ace Dante investigates, it becomes clear there’s something far worse beneath the streets, and it’s out for revenge.

  The Bull Demon King - J.A. Cipriano

  A Mac Brennan Short Story

  Mac Brennan just wanted to take his girlfriend to the fair, but the Bull Demon King had other plans...

  “If you wanted French fries, you should have gotten your own!” Ricky, my werewolf girlfriend snapped while simultaneously batting my right hand away and pulling the ginormous cube of cheesy fries out of reach. It hardly seemed fair since I’d paid for them.

  “It’s a ten dollar cube of French fries that weighs over a pound,” I said, raising an eyebrow at her as she stuffed a handful of them into her mouth and chewed with methodical efficiency while holding eye contact with me the whole time. It was both creepy and arousing at the same time since she had one of those lithe professional swimmer’s bodies. It wasn’t fair she could eat everything under the sun and never gain a pound. I was a lot less lucky in that regard. If I so much as looked at a Twinkie, I’d gain five pounds.

  “Mac, was what I said unclear in some way?” she asked, shoving the mouthful into her cheek like a chipmunk, her sea-green eyes boring into me like a high intensity laser.

  “Um, no,” I replied, shoving my hand in the pocket of my trench coat. My hand throbbed even though she’d only hit me playfully. Damned werewolf strength. I sighed and took a sip of my nearly flat, overpriced beer. We were at the fair, and while I was sure I’d been to one before, I’d never gone to one with Ricky. Of course, she’d promised me awesome fair food, of which I’d gotten none. Still, watching her eat the foot-long corndog had been interesting. Yes, I do mean in that way.

  She swallowed. “So why are you stealing my French fries?” she asked, spinning on her heel before I could answer and walking off through the crowd, fries tucked protectively to her chest. “Come on, I want to see the animals.” It wasn’t so bad because the way her jeans hugged her ass was simply spectacular. She might have been a werewolf, but when she wasn’t a raging hell beast, she was hot as Hell. “I need to envision what they’ll look like on a plate with an apple stuffed in their mouth.”

  “I don’t think you’re supposed to bring food into the animal enclosures,” I replied, following behind her as best I could. It was hard to keep up with her because the crowds parted around her, probably sensing her inner predator or something. I mean, she was the alpha for the entire fucking state.

  I, unfortunately, didn’t have any such luck, despite my cursed right arm. Yeah, that’s right. My right arm is blacker than the hair on Satan’s ass, and has crimson, demonic tattoos across nearly every inch of it. The arm was a gift from a demonic cat and told anyone in the know, I’d made a deal with a demon in exchange for… something. I wasn’t sure why I’d done it, since making said deal had wiped my memories, but I had a few guesses.

  Most of them were noble and centered around saving my sister and her son from a demon named Baal. I really hoped it was one of those ones. If it wasn’t, the arm, combined with my innate skills at killing the shit out of everyone in my path, made me think I hadn’t been the nicest guy in the world. It was something that kept me up late at night, and not in a good way. Besides, who wants to jerk off with a demonic hand? It would be like getting a hand-job from Lucifer himself.

  Still, now wasn’t the time to think about that. Now was time to spend with my girlfriend, Ricky. We got precious few chances to do so, and if I was being honest with myself, I’d sort of wanted to skip the whole date part and go find a nice hotel somewhere.

  I’d nearly suggested it, but I was a gentleman, and I’d feel bad moving to a more horizontal stage of our relationship when we hadn’t had at least one date, even if we’d gone through our share of supernatural baddies together.

  “What’s taking you so long?” Ricky said, glancing at me over her shoulder. She was waiting for me by the entrance to
the cow exhibit, and what’s more, her cheesy fries were gone. She tapped her fingers against her leg impatiently.

  “I was trying to give you enough time to finish your fries,” I replied, sipping my beer. It was no PBR, but fair beer sort of existed on a whole different scale where price to quality of beer had no bearing on each other. Still, there was no way I was taking my beer inside the cow stables, and it was only half gone. She was going to have to wait. “Besides, I need to finish this before we go in.”

  Ricky looked at me like I’d suddenly sprouted a second head. “Why?”

  “Because it’s gross to bring stuff in there.” I pointed at the entrance. “Just smelling poop means tiny poop particles are going into your nose and mouth. Those particles also go in my beer.” I gestured with the amber liquid, causing it to slosh inside the plastic cup. “You can wait ten seconds.”

  “Oh,” she replied, sauntering toward me in a way that suddenly had me concerned. The look on her face told me she had an idea, and I was sure I wouldn’t like what it was. “How about you remember you’re male and come the fuck inside?”

  “I will not. That’s disgusting,” I said and raised my cup to take another swallow. Before it got to my mouth, she’d snatched it from my hand and drained the entire thing in a single gulp.

  “There, now we can go,” she said, tossing the cup over her shoulder without even a backward glance.

  “What the actual fuck?” I cried, following the arc of my cup as it landed in the metal trash can. It hadn’t even hit the rim. It was impressive, but at the same time, I was pissed she’d drank my beer, especially since she hadn’t shared a single cheesy fry with me.

  “Come on. I’ll buy you some pie afterward.” She grabbed my hand and pulled me forward. The feel of her skin against mine was almost enough to make me forget about the fact she’d stolen my beer because her hand fit perfectly into mine. The warmth of her skin flowed into me as we approached the entrance, and I wondered how it would feel to have more of her pressed against more of me.

  “When you say you’ll buy me some pie, do you actually mean you’ll buy you pie and then not share any with me?” I asked as we stepped in front of a pen containing a large black cow. It stood with its back to us, chewing its hay and ignoring the small child poking its leg while his parents drank their respective beers. Ugh, can you even imagine?

  “You’re learning,” Ricky replied, smacking me on the ass. “But I will actually let you have some pie.”

  “That’s very nice of you.” A smirk crossed my lips as she dragged me toward a more traditionally colored cow. I was glad to move. I didn’t like standing behind an animal that could potentially shatter my skull with a well-placed kick. “I’m very good at eating pie.”

  Ricky blushed, causing the freckles across her nose to standout. “Is that so?”

  Before I could reply, she turned toward me, stood on her tippy toes, and kissed me full on the mouth. Though I had second thoughts because we were in public, I wrapped my arm around her back and pulled her lithe body against mine like we were a couple of teenagers. We’d only actually kissed a few times because every time we had a moment together, something insane happened. If a couple fair-goers got upset about PDAs, well, they could go to Hell.

  “You’re beautiful,” I said, brushing the red hair out of her face after we broke apart. “And not just in the smoking hottie sort of way, but in every way. Being around you makes me want to be a better person.”

  “Mac, you kill people.” She smirked and put her forehead against my chest. “I shudder to think what you’d be like if you were worse.”

  “Well, I’d enjoy it more.” I smiled and buried my nose in her hair. She smelled like strawberries and cream. God, where was the closest hotel? “And I’d probably have more money. I’d be a hell of an investment banker.”

  She laughed, and the sound tugged at me in a way that made me envision the two of us standing before an old farmhouse with a pitchfork in hand.

  “So, how about that pie?” she asked, cheeks flushed. She latched onto my hand as she wiggled free of our embrace and tugged me forward.

  “What kind were you thinking? I’m a huge fan of cherry pie,” I replied, glancing around at the other people milling about next to the cows. Not a one was even paying attention to us, which was good. I’d half-expected one of them to attack us, or for a semi-truck to come barreling through the entrance. You know, the usual. Hell, maybe one of the cows would morph into a minotaur and try to cut out my heart with an axe. It wouldn’t be the first time.

  “If this is where you grow your hair out and start singing like Warrant, I’m going to be very unhappy,” Ricky said, glancing at me over her shoulder. “Besides, I’m more of a blueberry—”

  She was cut off when a tiny Asian teen with hot pink hair zipped through the entrance and crashed into her. Ricky stumbled back into me as the teen latched onto Ricky’s free hand with both of her own hands and practically tugged Ricky into her in an effort to pull her back outside. There was so much strength in her effort, I nearly lost my footing.

  “Please, Alpha! You have to help!” the pink-haired teen squealed in one of those broken English voices that suggested she was fluent but had never lost her accent. Her eyes were wide with horror and she glanced back the way she’d come.

  Ricky had gone perfectly still as the teen continued to tug at her. Then, very slowly, she released my hand and smacked the girl across the face. The sound of it rang out as the teen stumbled backward a few steps, clutching her cheek.

  “Mei, get a hold of yourself,” Ricky said, the barest edge of a growl to her voice. “What’s going on?” Just from the tone, I could tell Ricky was pissed, but what’s more I was guessing she knew the girl because she’d called her by name. I mean, that wasn’t unreasonable, Ricky had been running this city for a while. If this girl was a supernatural, and judging by her strength, it seemed like she might be, chances were good she knew Ricky. Still, it seemed like she was in trouble, and trouble was the absolute last thing I wanted to deal with.

  Mei swallowed hard and cast her eyes at Ricky’s feet like she had suddenly realized she’d offended one of her betters. She seemed to shrink into herself, and she was a tiny thing to begin with. Now she seemed practically non-existent inside her yellow sundress.

  “It has Chun,” Mei said, twisting her hands anxiously. Her fingernails were purple with pink tips. “It took her in the funhouse. I tried to follow, but I couldn’t get inside.”

  “What the hell do you mean it has Chun, and you can’t get inside a funhouse?” Ricky asked, rage tingeing her voice. From the way she said it, I was willing to bet not only did she know Mei, but she knew Chun too. “What has Chun?”

  Mei didn’t raise her eyes as she spoke. “Niu Mo Wang.” She said it like it should mean something, but I’d never heard it before. I looked from her to Ricky, who seemed just as clueless.

  “What’s that?” Ricky asked, voice careful, probing. She wanted to help, but at the same time, she was wary. I could understand why. We’d faced our share of bad asses, and sometimes we’d won only because we’d been lucky. Taking on guys who could throw a tractor without a plan was practically suicide. If this Niu Mo Wang guy had stolen Chun from someone like Mei, chances were good he was strong as fuck.

  “The Bull Demon King,” Mei replied, looking at us like we were the crazy ones, which hardly seemed fair considering the circumstances. “We were watching the Monkey King play, you know, Journey to the West?” she paused, waiting for us to acknowledge her, but when neither of us did, she continued. “Anyway, the actor who played the Monkey King called for a helper from the audience. Chun was so excited when she got picked to help Sun Wukong. When Chun went up, they tried to trick Princess Iron Fan into giving them the magical fan, but before she handed it over, Niu Mo Wang dashed out. His eyes glowed with emerald fire and smoke cascaded off of him in sheets. The actors turned toward him, and as they did, their eyes went glassy and opaque. I started to get up, sensing so
mething was wrong, but before I could reach Chun, Niu Mo Wang grabbed her and leapt off the stage.”

  “Um… okay?” I asked. “So it’s part of the show?” Even as I said it, I knew it wasn’t. Still, I had to hope it was because this sounded bad, especially in a crowded place.

  Mei shook her head. “I don’t think so because as I tried to chase him into the funhouse, Sun Wukong threw me through a popcorn stand while Princess Iron Fan moved to block the entrance.”

  I opened my mouth to say something because this sounded insane, but before I could get out even a single syllable, screaming from outside filled my ears. Ricky and Mei exchanged a look and tore out of the cow stables.

  So much for our date. And my pie.

  I pulled my .45 caliber Glock 37 from the shoulder holster hidden inside my trench and bounded out of the cow pen after Ricky. It was a big caliber gun, meant to put big holes in things that could take a lot of bullets and keep on kicking. It wasn’t as nice as my .50 caliber Desert Eagle had been, but it was a lot easier to come by and quite a bit cheaper.

  Ricky and Mei stood only a few feet away. They faced a six-foot-tall, pimple-faced teen with a monkey tail held up by a string attached to the back of his yellow sweatshirt with a piece of fishing line. The crowd around them had thinned, mostly running away or ducking for cover, which was good because I was betting this guy didn’t give a damn about collateral damage and innocent people.