‘Let’s talk in my car. I can see you are shivering,’ he said in a husky tone. I looked around and saw an elf on the other side of the street who was staring at me.
Damn! I know him and he knows me, which means my grandmother will know about this kiss before I even have a chance to explain.
I nodded only because I didn’t want to be seen by anyone else. As it turned out, Nathaniel’s Aston Martin was parked a few metres away. He’d obviously gotten it fixed because it looked like new. He opened the door for me and I got inside. My hands were sparkling with electricity, and once he was sitting inside, I looked at him.
‘What are you doing here, Nathaniel?’ I pressed, biting the bottom of my lip. The flakes of snow were still on his hair, and his rosy cheeks only made him look more human.
‘I wanted to see you again, so here I'm.’ He grinned.
‘How did you even know I would be here? Have you been stalking me again with black magic?’
‘You told me you were going to Kent, but I didn’t know when, so I had to ask my wizard friend to give me some directions,’ he said, reaching for my hand. But I wasn’t going to be charmed by him, no matter how much my body wanted it. ‘I stood here for at least two hours and finally I decided to ask about where your grandmother lived. I was ready to knock on her door.’
‘My grandmother wouldn’t even let you in the house. She would cast a spell on you, and I would be in a lot of trouble,’ I said, feeling warmer. ‘Besides, she came to the same conclusion as me about the Magic Shot.’
He laughed. ‘She is worried; that’s understandable that she would make the same assumptions. Your grandmother has a reputation here. When I asked about the Taylor family, the wizard looked shocked.’ His eyes shimmered.
‘I don’t get it, Nathaniel. Why did you come here? After our last date, you gave me the impression I shouldn’t expect anything.’
‘You don’t know me well, Julia. I don’t give up so easily. I still want to fuck you, but I'm a gentleman, so I’ll play this dating game you want.’ He cocked his head to the side. I felt claustrophobic, locked in this brand-new car with the hottest vampire I ever knew.
I'm not going to sleep with you! Don’t you understand that I want a relationship?
‘I need to get back and I still need to get sweets,’ I said, ready to leave him. This wasn’t the life I wanted, and for this half vampire, sex was a priority. Maybe it was stupid, but I was romantic, wanting to have love and a family. As I placed my hand on the door handle, Nathaniel moved towards me too fast for me to react. His face pressed on my cheek and I stopped breathing, feeling desire wash over me like a shooting star. The warmth of his skin was driving me crazy. He cupped my face in his hands and kissed me again, this time with such passion that I melted away under his touch. When he let me go, he didn’t move away but continued to stare into my eyes.
‘I want you, Julia Taylor, and you want me. Don’t deny it,’ he whispered with a delicious grin.
‘We both want different things, Nathaniel. I don’t sleep with men just because they want me to. I'm looking for love, not a one-night stand and I can’t imagine finding this in you.’
I chose my words carefully and I didn’t move my gaze, even though his scent and the way his body was riddled with confidence made me want to agree to a one-night with him.
‘Oh, Julia, I’m not going to leave you alone after just one night, but I don’t do well in relationships. Come with me for this official dinner at the end of January and we’ll see where this is going to take us. Besides, I’m still doing my own little investigation that involves finding your cousin,’ Nathaniel, said, sinking back to his seat. He licked his upper lip, drawing a long breath.
‘A dinner?’
‘I have a few international guests from Romania. The main director is an elf, so you would fit well with your intelligence and odd sense of humour,’ remarked La Caz. ‘I’ll pick you up from work and then drop you home. I will be on my best behaviour.’
Say no. You have to say no. Otherwise, you’ll be in this too deep.
‘Fine, one dinner.’ I gasped, wanting to bite my tongue. He looked innocent when he gazed at me like that.
He is a vampire, Julia! And he will want to use your blood. Don’t be a fool!
‘You’re saying yes because it’s another date or have you been enjoying my company so much that you can’t wait to see me again? I can smell your excitement. Your blood gets warmer,’ he murmured, smiling and stroking my lips with his thumb. I shivered and he groaned with pleasure. ‘See—even my touch drives you insane. Can you imagine how you would feel if I had you in my bed?’
‘Be careful or I’m going to change my mind,’ I said, but my voice was too high. ‘I need to get back.’
‘Let me drive you home. Your shoes are soaked and it’s too cold for walking.’
‘I told you before, I’m fine. I can take care of myself. Plus my grandmother already knows about our kiss so I need to make up some kind of story.’
He raised his left eyebrow. ‘Why don’t you just tell her the truth? I thought you weren’t afraid of commitment.’
‘My dad is an operations lieutenant of the Paranormal Unit for the British Police and my grandmother is the head of the Elves Association. If they find out that I’m associating with a vampire, they would be shocked, and I love them too much to even think about upsetting them,’ I explained.
‘I don’t care what your family will think. I’m dropping you home,’ he snapped and started the engine. I wasn’t sure whether I should start crying or laughing, when he took a sharp right. The atmosphere in the car was charged with my flowing magic. I stared out the window, trying to calm down.
I told him to stop a few metres from the house. My mind was still pounding as I walked back. When his car pulled away, I sighed with relief.
Chapter twenty-eight
God, we’re busy here and she wants me to get to the other side of town just to pick up this stupid paperwork? She has no idea!
Fortunately, my dad’s car was parked in the driveway, and when I walked in, my mum was busy in the kitchen with Grandpa. No one questioned me when I sat in the living room.
In the evening, my parents decided we would leave early morning the next day. I talked a little to Aunt Dorothy, and she didn’t sound good. She cried most of the time, still hoping that her daughter would be found soon.
When I went to bed, I had a text message from an unknown number.
Sleep well and think about our first night together.
I smiled and my heartbeat quickened. Somehow the alpha male got hold of my number. I thought about the way I reacted when I was around him. He set fire to my magic, sometimes too much. Even when I was with Jasper, I’d always been calm and my magical abilities were in control. Everything changed as soon I met Nathaniel. I knew that I didn’t have a future with him, but I wanted to dream about what if. Maybe it was time to call Nicky, ask her whether what I was doing was sane. But a tiny voice in my head kept saying this had nothing to do with my friend and I had to make a decision. Today I agreed to go out with him again.
***
By the time I got back to London, I regretted that I didn’t talk to Dad about Ella and her bites. I spoke to her on Boxing Day, but she mentioned her date was cancelled. It was the third of January when I stepped into the office at half past ten in the morning. Luckily, the elf who’d seen me kissing Nathaniel hadn’t mentioned anything to my grandmother, so for now I was saved.
I thought that my ten days off went way too fast, because right from half past ten in the morning, the phones started ringing off the hook. Jennifer, Alexandra, and I were working together during this glorious sunny morning.
‘Good time off?’ Alexandra asked me, pulling some files out of the drawer. I was drinking my coffee and sorting through millions of emails.
‘After looking at what I have to go through today, I wish I could extend it.’ I sighed.
‘You need to wake up, Senior, because Lucinda wan
ts another fifty assembly workers to start tomorrow, plus we need a Wand Maker,’ Jennifer said, looking paler than usual. I scrolled through the most recent emails. My colleague was right: Lucinda needed people as soon as possible and Paranormal Personnel, as usual, had to deliver.
Alexandra soon placed adverts on all the possible sites and whoever came in that morning had been registered immediately.
‘Are you sure you can work around vampires?’ I asked in the mid-afternoon to a fairy that wasn’t going to say no to anything.
He put his hands together and shifted on his chair. Jennifer was talking to a werewolf, and Alexandra was answering the phones. Three more candidates were waiting to be seen. My stomach was growling and I thought if I didn’t get lunch soon, I was going to faint.
‘I’ll take anything right now. I will use a cover charm on every break. How long is the work for?’
‘It’s until Easter, but then it might be extended as the company is always expanding,’ I said and glanced at my watch.
‘All right, I’ll attend the induction tomorrow,’ he said and drew a deep breath. It took me another half an hour to explain to him what would happen tomorrow. By the time I was able to get back to my desk, I had only a minute to glance at a new job spec that came through an organisation called Marvelous Witches, which produced most of the wands in the United Kingdom. It was a new client so we had to find the right candidate for this position. I focused on the advert that I produced to post on the Jobcentre website.
Wand Maker
Experienced Wand Maker required for busy magical wands manufacturer. The ability to set up and operate different kinds of magical objects is required for this role. We are looking for a supernatural human being who has an exceptional eye for detail, can understand and create an original piece, and who can work competently and to a high standard supervised/unsupervised.
Duties to include setting up and operating a variety of spells, assembling magical objects, and other related tasks as required. Advantage if you have experience with spell casting and working with fairy dust. Working as part of a team, you will be working to deadlines.
My client is a growing manufacturing company with great opportunity for career development for the right candidate. Please email your CV to
[email protected] I ran the spellcheck, and within ten minutes the ad was live. Around two o’clock, the office was clear and I had a chance to grab a quick dinner at the local bakery. Jennifer was speaking to someone on the phone when I walked back in.
‘Hold on, she just came back,’ she said and threw the phone on hold. ‘Lucinda needs to speak to you. Apparently this is very important.’
I dropped everything I bought on my desk and waved to Jennifer to transfer the call. I was glad I had another coffee, otherwise my brain wouldn’t work right today.
‘Hello, Lucinda, how are you?’ I asked, putting on my business voice.
‘Oh, Julia, I’m so glad I got you today.’ She giggled and I rolled my eyes. I only met Lucinda once, and she was the most annoying mermaid I ever came across.
‘How can I help you, Lucinda? I hope everything is going smoothly there and everyone is turning up for work?’ I asked with a hint of anxiety. After going through a series of hysterical giggles, she was able to continue.
‘Not to worry. I’m not calling because I want to complain. We have a crisis here. Would you be able to pick up some induction paperwork today? I just want to make sure all your candidates understand the rules.’
God, we’re busy here and she wants me to get to the other side of town just to pick up this stupid paperwork? She has no idea!
‘We discuss the terms and conditions during the registration process, Lucinda—’
She cut me off. ‘I just had a few complaints, that’s all, and if you give them the paperwork before the induction, then it will be easier for me to do my job.’ Before I went on holiday, Lucinda gave me the impression she was demanding and she only wanted to deal with me.
‘Okay, I shall be there in an hour or so.’
‘Fantastic, Julia. I’m going to be in my office, so please inform the security downstairs,’ she said and then hung up.
‘What does she want now? When you weren’t here, she asked for your private number. She was pretty pissed when we refused to give it to her,’ said Jennifer, tucking her hair behind her ear.
‘I’m glad she couldn’t get ahold of me. She is a nightmare. She wants me to go and pick up induction packs, so we can distribute them to the new starters.’
‘But you don’t drive. How are you going to get there?’ she asked, staring at me, confused. I bit my lip, knowing I couldn’t ask Jennifer to go and Alexandra was too busy with interviews.
‘I just placed an advert for a Wand Maker so we should start getting some CVs soon. I will take a taxi and try to be back as soon as possible,’ I said, checking my schedule. No one was due to see me, but we were expecting more people to turn up. I had to be quick.
‘Not to worry. Everything is under control here, so just tell her she’ll have these fifty workers by tomorrow,’ said Jennifer. I picked up my bag and left the office.
Five minutes later, I managed to get a taxi. It was rush hour and the traffic was terrible. I felt bad I had to leave the girls, but La Caz Corporation was an important client and I had to keep Lucinda happy. I took my notepad with me, so I managed to make some phone calls in the cab. I couldn’t believe it was only Monday and I was already stressed and exhausted.
Around half past three in the afternoon, I stepped into the reception of Nathaniel’s company. I wasn’t anxious about seeing him, as he worked most of the time in the night, and I didn’t expect him to be here. Since his text message at Christmas, there’d been only silence. I still couldn’t figure out what we were doing; he came all the way to Canterbury to see me. He was confusing.
‘Miss Taylor, how can I help you?’ asked Todd as I walked in.
‘I need to see the HR director. She is expecting me.’
‘Yes, Mrs. Grabovsky mentioned you would be arriving,’ he replied, smiling.
Lucinda was a large mermaid, and I noticed a pack of Crispy Creme doughnuts on her desk, so she obviously liked to indulge herself. She didn’t have a neck and her short curly hair was untidy. She probably didn’t even swim that often, because her skin looked unhealthy. As I expected, Lucinda made me stay in her office for over half an hour before she went through the paperwork.
By the time I was out, it was after five and my shift was due to finish. I called Jennifer and asked her whether everything was fine in the office.
‘Just take it easy, girl. Monica and Adele will take over soon, so you don’t have to rush.’
After I hung up, I exhaled. Jennifer was right; the two vampires had to take care of the rest. I left Lucinda’s office and marched down to the lift, scanning my phone to see whether I had a number for any taxi company. I still needed to get back to the office to drop the induction packs to my two vampire colleagues.
‘Miss Taylor, Miss Taylor—please!’ someone shouted as I was just about to step into the elevator.
‘Yes?’ I asked, turning around to face a pretty blond vampire who once didn’t want to let me into La Caz’s office. She looked flushed.
‘Mr. La Caz would like to see you; he sent me here for you,’ she gasped. It looked like she wasn’t too happy with the fact that she was asked to fetch me.
If he was in the office, he could no doubt see me on the security cameras.
‘Mr. La Caz?’ I repeated. ‘Well, I’m afraid I'm busy. You can tell him I need to get back to the office.’
She looked shocked and angry, staring at me as if I lost my mind. ‘Mr. La Caz is insisting, and he told me I’ll lose my job if I let you go.’
Bastard. He is playing on my good nature.
‘All right, I’ll come,’ I snapped. She looked relieved and told me to come to the lift. She should be glad that I agreed to come with her. She pressed t
he last floor and off I went to see the impatient vampire.
Chapter twenty-nine
Did I have a choice?
What is he even doing here at this time of the day? He works with vampires.
Emily took me to the stylish reception room with a large desk in the middle. Yet again, everything was set in white colours, but we weren’t in the same office as when I arrived for the first meeting.
‘Please go through, Miss Taylor; Mr. La Caz is expecting you,’ said Emily, heading back to her desk. I took a deep breath, nodded to her, and pressed the door handle to enter. He was sitting at a wide desk by the window. His office smelled of leather and mint leaves. All the walls were white with minimalistic decor.
I decided to stay near the door. I felt I had more control over my body when I wasn’t close to him. He swiveled his chair to look at me. He was wearing a navy suit with a black shirt and he looked good for a half vampire.
‘Julia, I’m glad you decided to come,’ he said, smiling.
Did I have a choice?
‘Nathaniel, I have to get back to work. I haven’t got the time for your games,’ I said, realising I missed him.
‘Come to me, Julia. I’m partly your boss and I’m telling you there is no rush,’ he said and his voice was thick, intimidating. I was still annoyed, but my fingertips tingled and my feet started moving before my brain registered what I was doing. I saw a mad gleam dancing in his eyes as I approached his desk.
‘Do you always tell people what to do, Mr. La Caz?’ I whispered as he stood in front of me. He lifted my chin so I couldn’t avoid looking at him.
‘Most of the time, but beautiful creatures like you have to be treated with extreme gentleness,’ he said, looking into my eyes.
You can fight this desire. You can still go. Come on, what are you waiting for? Leave.
He wrapped his other hand around my waist and pulled me closer, inhaling my scent.
‘I...I need—’