Chapter 7
Problematic love.
“Oh, don’t be silly. He would be perfect for you." She beamed. The waiter approached to take our order. After going through what we wanted to eat, I asked him to bring us a bottle of wine as soon as possible. Then Ella added, "I need to tell you something."
"You’ve got a date with a guy you met at the club." I didn’t have to use my gift to know what my best friend was going to say. She had been searching for the right guy since she broke up with her long-term boyfriend, Bryan. She was signed up on most dating sites and had been going on dates all the time. I was amazed how she could switch subjects so quickly, forgetting about the life-threatening situation with Jasper.
"Oh, my God! How did you know?"
"It’s magic." I chuckled.
"I think he might be the one," she sighed loudly, and I forced myself not to roll my eyes. "He works as a solicitor and we’re seeing each other tomorrow."
"Ella, you know how much I love you, but you say that about every guy you meet. Can you take a break for a few weeks? If there is someone out there for you, then let him come to you."
She waved her hand. “I’m tired of dating. All this work will pay off soon." "I like your enthusiasm."
Ella giggled. "Tell me; what’s new with you?"
The usual; people kidnapping my cousin, a vampire wants to have sex with me, and my ex-boyfriend nearly killed someone again.
I drank a bit of my wine and smiled, thinking that if I told Ella about my paranormal life, she’d probably want to have me committed. She worked as a beautician in a posh salon in central London.
"Nothing spectacular, just an ordinary day at the office," I explained. "Although, I went to a meeting the other day and—”
"And what?" she cut me off.
"Well, the managing director of this huge corporation was hitting on me."
She set down her glass of wine. "What? Did he ask you out?"
"He did, but I said no. Besides, he was just playing with me," I replied, dismissing her comment. I glanced at my phone again, but there were no missed calls or text messages. Maybe I got away, and Jasper didn’t give my name, but I still needed to stay on alert, just in case.
"Why not? You need to go on a date,” she said. “Imagine if you went out with him. That would so much fun."
"No, I don’t think so. He’s just a stuck-up rich guy," I countered, trying to ease off the memories about La Caz. I didn’t need another alpha male to boss me around, so I quickly shifted this uncomfortable conversation to something else. "How is your mum, by the way?"
"She doesn’t want me to do this diet…"
Ella was talking, and I couldn’t focus, thinking about Jasper and my father. What happened in the pub threw me off balance for a bit. While Ella was talking about her mum, about her diet and dating, I was trying to keep my thoughts away from the handsome vampire who’d caused havoc inside my heart. I had to admit, there was a strong connection between us, but he just wasn’t the right man for me. My grandmother would have a heart attack if she knew that I had to deal with vampires on a daily basis.
An hour later, I told my best friend that I wasn’t feeling well. For some reason, I had a mounting headache. After we paid the bill, we called a taxi to get us home. After all, Ella’s car was still at the pub and I didn’t want to run the risk of seeing anyone from the Paranormal Unit there.
I lived in a block of apartments in a quiet neighbourhood. The area wasn’t great, but I couldn’t afford anything else in this economy. Rufus paid me decently, but it wasn’t always enough. It was close to nine when I relaxed in the bath and thought about Jasper and my poor cousin. I wouldn’t normally think about my ex, but I was pissed that he still refused to leave me alone. I wanted him out of my life and regretted that I’d been so blind. When I was just about to go to bed, my mother called. She asked if I would come over for dinner this Sunday. She mentioned that Dad was still at work, which meant that I wouldn’t get anything out of him anyway.
The next day was Thursday, and the day in the office passed without any surprises. I filled a couple of vacancies, talked to Jennifer, and made a few mistakes with the payroll. At lunchtime, I tried to call my dad again, but he just wasn’t picking up the phone. I couldn’t sit still, wondering if he’d questioned La Caz already. While I was eating lunch, my phone rang, and Ella persuaded me to go out to dinner with her on Saturday night. For Ella, this was the only day of the week where she got drunk and I always ended up carrying her home. Alcohol and Ella—well, they didn’t go well together. We arranged a dinner in our usual place.
“Has anyone been in?” I asked Kate when I returned to the office. She shook her head while filing some paperwork with yet more magic, quickly waving her wand around.
Once I went through all the CVs, I made a list of names that I needed to contact. I was hoping by Monday that I would have a few more to choose from. Half of them were vampires; the rest were a mix of giants, trolls, werewolves, and witches. Then I saw another email flashing through and froze instantly, seeing his name at the top of the screen.
Julia,
As I said earlier, I’m persistent and you won’t get rid of me until you say yes.
Nathaniel La Caz
Managing Director of La Caz Pharmaceutical
My heart started racing again and I deleted the email. I wasn’t going to reply, but then I thought about the werewolf who’d called the office the other day. Nathaniel’s company was somehow linked to Claudia’s disappearance.
He didn’t send another email and surprisingly, I was disappointed. My mind kept whispering that I wanted him, that my body was drawn to his as if I’d known him for centuries. I was so confused inside; my mind and body were warring with itself.
I managed to get through the day without any more drama. When I got home, I made a quick dinner and tried to watch TV. I couldn’t sit in one place—I was restless—and I knew that my dad must have already talked to Nathaniel about the Lucrative Shot.
It was late when I called a cab and went to the police station. Mum confirmed that my father was still at work, so he couldn’t dodge me anymore.
Of course, he wasn’t too happy when I showed up.
“What are you doing here, Julia? I told you that you shouldn’t be out so late,” he growled when he spotted me sitting on one of the benches.
“I need to know if you’ve found anything more on Claudia’s kidnapping. Besides, I’m the one who told you about the Lucrative Shot.” I folded my arms over my chest. He narrowed his crystal blue eyes and barked at me to follow him to his office.
“How did you get here in the first place?”
"I took a cab, so don’t worry. Just tell me already; did you speak to that managing director, Nathaniel La Caz?”
“Yes, I have spoken to him. I also looked through CCTV’s around the city, but we didn’t find much. Someone must have known that I would be checking the cameras because all the CCTV from around that area have been damaged with dark magic." I was suddenly disappointed; this was a dead end. "Your aunt wants to go to the media, but I’m advising her against it. We all know that we have to work quietly."
"That guy, La Caz, came to the office earlier," I said. “I’ve got a feeling that he knows a lot more than he’s prepared to say."
Maybe I was getting ahead of myself, but my dad needed to know that I had seen Nathaniel, plus, knowing Claudia, she wouldn’t stay calm while being kept in some dark basement, or wherever she was.
Dad sighed and brushed a hand through his hair.
"Why would he come to your office?" he asked "Besides, I told you not to get involved. I don’t want you to get in any trouble."
"Because Paranormal Personnel signed a contract with La Caz Pharmaceutical to supply people. I’m the main point of contact, and somehow, I’m already involved with this."
"Then you shouldn’t talk about this matter with anyone. I gave you strictly confidential information. Now, I want you to go home and stay there. Don’t do anything stupid. I’ve got enough on my plate hiding this from your mother."
"Tell me what he said. Do you think he’s a suspect?" I was annoyed that he didn’t want to reveal anything.
“Dear Lord. You’re worse than your mother. The production of that shot only just started, but he told me that one of his vans containing the first unofficial batch of the product was highjacked about a week ago. We found some evidence of fairies’ blood in the shot, but he said that he didn’t use paranormal blood for production. Apparently, he uses human donors and wizards. I made him show me the production. I don’t think that vampire is a liar, hon.”
"Highjacked in London?" I repeated, feeling like a complete idiot for questioning him before my dad.
"Yeah, and I verified this, so he was right; the robbery was also reported. The van was found a hundred miles east, completely empty," Dad said. "At the moment, he isn’t a suspect, but I’ll keep an eye on him."
"Are you sure that he doesn’t use paranormal blood for that shot?" I asked, but Dad got angry.
"Julia, that’s enough questions for today! I don’t want to see you at this station at all. Understood?"
"Fine, fine, but I only want to help."
"Then stay out of this, and let me do my job."
My dad was terrible. He never wanted me to get involved with anything. I always thought that I would end up in police work like him when I was younger. The only reason that I didn’t join the force was because of my crazy magic. Besides, my Dad wanted me to stay out of any danger, so I went on to study journalism, but there weren’t any jobs in that field, and I ended up in recruitment.
My father had always been fond of Ella, but he wanted me to embrace being an elf. Although he had nothing against humans, he preferred when I was surrounded by elves and fairies. I asked him once whether he was ever going to tell Mum about his true nature. He said my mother wouldn’t be able to handle it. I didn’t know if this was his decision or if he was more influenced by my grandma. When I found out I was an elf, I didn’t understand why he married Mum. After all, she was ordinary—not magical—and she hated anything abnormal.
I had a feeling that he was uncomfortable about the lies, but Dad was too scared to share this kind of secret with Mum, especially after so many years.
I didn’t doubt that my parents loved each other very much, maybe even more than they loved me. He had chosen her because he wasn’t going to live without her, even if he had to go against his better judgement.
"Hey, Jen, I got a CV for that tooth fairy," I said on Friday afternoon, ready to end my long day shift. We had been looking for a tooth fairy for about a week and I finally found the right candidate. There was still no news about Claudia and I hated being so inactive in the investigation. Dad made me promise that I wouldn’t do anything silly, and now I regretted that I went to speak to him about Nathaniel.
"That was pretty quick," Jennifer said, narrowing her green eyes.
I was just about to hit the reply button, when I heard someone entering the office. A large, well-built man stormed through the door holding a chainsaw.
For a second, I thought that maybe there was something wrong with my eyesight, but then Jen screamed. I was definitely seeing a man with a chainsaw.
I jumped back on my feet and my chair swirled. In my head, I was still trying to process what was happening.
If I had stayed in bed today, then my day would have been so much easier.
"Where the hell is he?" the man roared, waving the chainsaw in his arms like a maniac. "Where the hell is that bastard?"
I swallowed a giant lump in my throat and stared at the lunatic who was storming towards my desk. Chainsaw. I couldn’t seem to move from the spot where I was standing—I was paralysed from head to toe. First, the strange phone call, then Claudia was snatched from the street right in front of my eyes, and now this?
I really needed to catch a break at some point.
"Where the hell is that fucking vampire?" the stranger growled again. His chest heaved and his whole face turned scarlet.
"What vampire?" Jennifer mumbled, glancing nervously at his weapon.
"Mathew," the man growled with rage. He obviously didn’t like Jennifer’s response because he switched on the saw.
I wanted to cover my ears when the scampering sound filled the office. I couldn’t even hear my own thoughts.
My heart was jackhammering in my chest, seeing in my head as body parts scattered around. Great, yeah, that wasn’t even necessary; I knew that I needed to pull myself together.