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Chapter 3

The prophecy.

I tried to remind myself that Nathaniel was rich, powerful, and he wanted to drink from me—there was nothing more to it. I took a few deep breaths, attempting to calm down. My magical abilities were still out of control; I needed to cast some kind of spell soon.

It was one of those moments when my excess magic needed to be released, otherwise I might become unpredictable. Nathaniel was waiting for me by the entrance to the lou. I told myself that I wasn’t attracted to him, that it was only my energy messing with my head. I needed to know what he was planning, what he wanted from me.

“Do you really want to work with us?” I asked, putting on my best business face, looking directly into his eyes.

He brushed his lips with his thumb and smiled. “Of course, I had a few other offers, but no one was as persistent as you. I believe we will make an excellent team.”

“That’s great. Shall we go back to the room? I need to check whether Jennifer negotiated the right margin,” I said, then started walking away from him. My colleague looked satisfied when I walked inside, and I felt a bit better.

“Mr. Porter, Mr. Carter, is it all wrapped up?” Nathaniel asked. “Have we agreed on the margin?”

“Yes, Miss Griffiths has agreed to twenty percent on top of the hourly rate for temporary workers. We will negotiate the rest at a later time,” Mr. Porter explained, and Jennifer nodded with a smile.

“Fantastic. I think the ladies should to head over to the HR department and sort out all the paperwork,” Nathaniel said. “You both need to be introduced to our HR director. Miss Taylor, please tell the receptionist to take you to her."

I was avoiding La Caz, focusing on Jennifer and the other two vampires. “I sincerely apologise that I had to leave in such a rush," I said, attempting to control my breathing, looking at Mr. Porter and Mr. Carter.

"Not to worry, Julia. I’m sure everything will go smoothly next time," La Caz said. I could have sworn that I heard a hint of laughter in his tone. Jennifer was moving her eyes from me to La Caz in confusion, no doubt wondering how we were already on a first name basis. I had to look at him; this time his gaze was even more intense, and I felt myself blushing, yet again. It was time to end this meeting.

"We’re looking forward to working with you," Jennifer said, obviously feeling my tension. She stood, then began shaking their hands.

"It was nice meeting you, Miss Taylor," Nathaniel chimed in, then he lifted his hand to shake mine. I hesitated for a split second, but I had no other choice than to touch him. His musky, very manly scent, was overwhelming. Our eyes locked for several seconds and I was sure he felt buzzing electricity when our hands touched. His skin was warm, not cold, as I was expecting. My suspicions that he wasn’t a real vampire began to grow. They didn’t smell like he did, and weren’t warm-blooded.

I pulled away from him, avoiding every attempt to glance into his eyes, then shook hands with the others, and left the room with Jennifer as fast as I could. Carter gave the receptionist orders to take us directly to the HR director. Once we were in the lift, I wanted to bury myself underground and die. I couldn’t get out of there fast enough. No man—let alone, a vampire—had ever affected me in such a manner. I didn’t know what to think about it, or what to do, for that matter.

I knew Jennifer wanted to ask me what the hell was going on, but the receptionist was in the lift with us, so we had to wait. The meeting with the HR director went well. She was a mermaid like Jennifer. She talked a lot and gave me the impression she would be tough to work with. We signed the contract and discussed her expectations of us. An hour later, I left her office feeling worn out.

“Right,” Jennifer began, placing her hands on her hips and stopping in the middle of the underground car park. “What just happened up there?”

“To be honest with you, I have no idea,” I told her, suddenly feeling exhausted.

“Don’t give me that crap, Julia. You went all pale and I thought you were going to pass out,” she said. “I told you he was hot, but you didn’t listen, then you couldn’t hold it together.”

“It wasn’t about him. I don’t know; I think I had a panic attack,” I lied, checking my bag for some painkillers to ease the oncoming headache. My mind still wasn’t working right, but we were finally out of there and hopefully, I wouldn’t have to see Nathaniel La Caz ever again. At least my body had stopped buzzing with magic for the most part, on the outside anyway.

“He was into you, Julia. He ran right after you, and I could see the way he was stripping you with his eyes in that meeting room. God, I was getting all excited there myself. No wonder you had to leave.”

“No, La Caz has no interest in me at all. He just wanted to see if I was all right,” I stuttered in embarrassment, then stopped to look at her. “I’m so sorry I left you there by yourself. I fucked up and you saved our arses. You deserve to get promoted, not me.”

“Come on, don’t fool me. I didn’t do anything. He was going to sign with us even if we started singing, “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.” He didn’t care what we could offer him. He wanted you and that’s why he went ahead with the agreement," she said, smiling widely.

I sighed, knowing that I was too tried to argue with her right now.

“All right, all right… maybe he felt attracted to me, but it’s all because of my blood. You know that all the vamps love elves and fairies.”

“Whatever. You have to tell me what happened in the ladies’ room,” she demanded.

I rolled my eyes and smiled.

“He just wanted to make sure that I wasn’t going to pass out,” I explained. “He’s so prestigious and arrogant—so way out of my league. Besides, elves aren’t supposed to date vampires.”

Ten minutes later, we were finally driving away from Brunel Industrial Park and I could breathe normally. My phone vibrated; it was a text message from my cousin.

Let’s meet up at Bellinis. I need a drink after having a day from hell.

I read it and smiled, knowing that this was exactly what I needed too. Darkness covered the streets and the cars in front of us were moving slowly. I still had goosebumps and my magic had been whipping throughout my body since we left the meeting. I needed to cast a spell, knowing that if I didn’t, I wouldn’t get any peace in the restaurant.

"Listen, just drop me off here,” I said, then pointed at the alley on the corner. “The restaurant isn’t far, and I need to get some fresh air. My magic is really bothering me right now. I don’t want to blow up your engine if I can help it.”

"Are you sure? You would have to walk several blocks in heels.”

"It’s fine, my cousin is probably walking too,” I said, as electric current charged over my body.

“La Caz has that kind of effect on women, darling,” she sang, but I only rolled my eyes, then got out of the car.

I crossed the street, feeling light-headed. The streets were still busy, and humans were rushing around. I started walking, dreaming about a hot bath and a glass of wine. It took me another ten minutes to reach the corner of a busy alley. The restaurant was just across the road and I wondered if Claudia was already inside.

Moments later, I heard someone shouting my name. My cousin was waving at me and I wondered if she had been waiting very long.

The traffic was atrocious, and I had to walk another several meters to find the zebra crossing.

“Just wait for me inside!” I shouted at her, but she indicated that she couldn’t hear me. I was just about to walk across the street, when an odd sensation moved over my body. Seconds later, a black van pulled in front of Claudia. Time slowed down when I saw two large men jump from the van and onto the pavement. They seized my cousin from both sides, grabbing her arms. Moments later, they dragged her inside the van. I started screaming, waving my hands and wanting to run towards my cousin, but there were so many cars on the road. No one was willing to stop to let me pass to the other side.

People were staring at me—everything was happening so fast. My cousin was pulled inside the van and no one even noticed. She didn’t stand a chance. I saw sparks flying around, but then the doors slid back, and I lost sight of her. The driver of the van nearly collided with another car, forcing its way back into traffic. The wheels spun out and a moment later, the van disappeared around the corner.

Blood pounded in my ears while I glanced around, knowing that someone must have witnessed something—anything. Claudia, my poor cousin, was taken—she was kidnapped. I didn’t recognise these men. I had no idea who they were.

"Claudia, oh, my God, Claudia!" I screamed, not knowing what to do. The pedestrians were staring at me like I was crazy. I reached the spot where Claudia had waved at me just a few moments ago. My hands were shaking when I dialled my dad’s number and spoke to him.

I had no idea if he understood anything that I said, but half an hour later, I was sitting in the police station trying to describe for the fourth time, what I’d seen. My dad was pacing up and down, shouting at his subordinates. My memories were hazy, and I didn’t even fully realise when I was picked up by a police car and driven away from the place where Claudia had been taken. I believed I must have been in shock.

"I told you, I couldn’t see their faces,” I said, shaking my head. “This all happened so quickly. The two men were definitely paranormals; they were dark haired, yes. And they may have been giants or trolls. Claudia must have been so scared.”

The shock was slowly wearing off when I suddenly remembered the strange phone call I’d received earlier on. I gasped.

“What? What’s going on, hon? Are you all right?” my father asked.

“This morning, someone called the agency. We’ve been getting dead phone calls for weeks now, but earlier on, a werewolf warned me to watch out for a black van. He said that female elves had been going missing around London and that I might be next,” I explained, swallowing hard.

Dad dragged his hand through his hair, and stared at me like I had lost my mind. A few other policemen exchanged sharp looks with each other.

“Dannika, check to see if there are other missing girls in that area. Find out if they were all elves,” Dad told one of his subordinates. “Julia, just try to stay calm. What happened to Claudia wasn’t your fault. I need to call your aunt and tell her what’s happened. This won’t be an easy conversation.”

Then someone called him out for a minute or two and he rushed out, leaving me alone. I clenched my fists, wondering if it was a possible to trace the earlier phone call. That werewolf must have known more about who was behind Claudia’s kidnapping. A cold shiver crawled over my spine when I remembered that I was supposed to be next.

Around five minutes later, my father returned to the office, but I couldn’t read anything from his expression.

"We found a syringe with blood on the pavement. We don’t know yet if it’s evidence, but it was in the exact spot where Claudia was kidnapped. I need to get it into the lab as soon as possible," he explained, looking deeply confused.

“Yes, that werewolf on the phone said something about kidnappers wanting blood,” I told him. “I thought that maybe he was crazy or something, but what if this whole thing is somehow connected?”

I knew that I was supposed to let him take care of this, but the tiny voice in my head kept telling me that whoever was behind Claudia’s kidnapping had carefully planned this out. Was it possible that I was supposed to witness Claudia being taken?

“Maybe, but right now, Julia, this isn’t your concern. We will find Claudia,” he added more firmly.

He was worried about my cousin just as much as I was. She was a straight-A student and full-blooded elf. She never got herself into any trouble, but I suspected that her kidnapper was after her blood. Now, everything was slowly beginning to make sense. I couldn’t imagine how my Aunt Dorothy would feel once she found out that her only daughter had been kidnapped.

“Lucrative Shot!" I half shouted, springing to my feet, suddenly remembering my conversation with La Caz earlier on.

"A lucrative… what?"

“I’ve just been at a meeting with that huge manufacturing company in Brunel Industrial Park, and apparently they’re starting production of an injection that will allow vampires to avoid drinking from humans. What if they’re linked to the paranormals in the van?” I knew I was probably thinking way ahead of myself, but there was still the possibility of a connection and it needed to be looked into.

“That’s a hell of an accusation, Julia. I will investigate this, but we need evidence.”

“Yeah, I heard about that,” Stewart, Dad’s right-hand man, said, “but that La Caz has plenty of money and the shot is synthetic. I don’t think they would have anything to do with your cousin’s kidnapping.” I honestly didn’t care about his opinion right then.

"Get that syringe to the lab and ask them to find whatever they can," my dad ordered. "And you, young lady, are going home with one of my guys. From now on, I want you to be more careful. Maybe I should send someone with you at all times, just in case.”

“No, I’ll be fine. I can take care of myself and I want to help,” I insisted, but he had already made up his mind.

“Just leave this to me and to the rest of the Unit. Go home and don’t mention anything to your mother. We can’t allow her let her worry.”

In the end, Dad sent me home with Dannika who was patrolling the neighbourhood. My mother was human, and she didn’t know about my father’s true nature. I hated that we couldn’t tell her the truth, but apparently Grandma insisted that it was too risky for her to know that she’d fallen in love with an elf.

Sometimes, I thought that my grandmother interfered with our lives way too much. I was still pissed off when Dannika dropped me home. Claudia was on my mind and I had a bad feeling that the syringe that was found on the crime scene might have been produced by La Caz Pharmaceutical.

It was nearly eleven p.m. when I sat down to have my dinner. I couldn’t stop thinking about that vampire, Nathaniel La Caz. If the shot was his, then I knew that I had to talk to him again. My father wanted me to stay away from the investigation, but Claudia was family and I felt it was my duty to help find her. If I hadn’t agreed to have dinner with her, maybe this wouldn’t have happened.

As I lay in bed, Nathaniel filled my thoughts. I’d broken up with my psycho ex-boyfriend a year ago and hadn’t been out with anyone since then, but… Nathaniel La Caz? He was an immortal bloodsucker. He was nothing like what I had expected. All these new emotions were silly and surprising. I shook my head; what a mismatch.

He and my cousin were still on my mind when I drifted off to sleep.

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