"Rufus said you nearly died in that club. What were you thinking?"
"Jen, please spare me the lecture. I already had it from my dad." I glanced at her, then took off my coat. Fortunately, we didn’t have any clients yet, so I still had time for a small cup of coffee.
She frowned, and then smiled. "All right, sorry, but you know, I was worried about you. What about La Caz? I bet he was furious when he saw your wound," she added, playing with her dark hair.
"Nathaniel is away, so I haven’t seen him." I sighed, then stood, heading for the kitchen. "Do you want coffee?"
"Yes, please. I think this is my fifth one today," Jennifer replied. “I’m sure he will be livid when he comes back."
I took a few deep breaths, trying to push away memories about Nathaniel. I had to prepare myself for a long night with Jennifer. She would rant about my attack with that vampire all night, plus she would ask me questions about Mr. Bastard. When I heard the main door shut, I stayed in our so-called kitchen for a bit longer.
"Just take a seat. I will bring the paperwork," I heard Jennifer saying. I exhaled. She was with a client—a werewolf. She rolled her eyes, picking up the paperwork and soon she was busy, so I had five minutes to myself. I tried not to check my phone so often, but it was hard. Even after four days of not hearing back from Nathaniel, I couldn’t accept that it was over.
I had a few emails from Lucinda, asking me whether I could arrange for a few more people to start next week. I skipped through CVs and other unimportant emails. I tried to stay busy, but my brain wasn’t working as well as it should. From twelve o’clock on, we had a lot of clients walk through the door. While Jennifer was busy answering phones, I had to interview an old hag who was desperate to take anything.
"How long have you been out of work?" I asked, trying to sound interested. I needed to pull myself together.
"Around three months. Previously, I was cleaning a restaurant that was owned by bloodsuckers." It was obvious she disliked them. I nodded, wondering whether she would be suitable working with other vampires at Colourful Lane. The hag was just an old witch who’d lost most of her powers due to some kind of emotional shock. I never understood the transformation into a hag, but the woman sounded genuine and we needed more people.
"So, you wouldn’t want to work with vampires?" She frowned and looked at my neck.
"Times are tough, so I can’t be choosy. I know that many factories employ bloodsuckers." She cocked her head to the side, still looking at my neck. "I can smell the blood of the vampire who bit you."
"Let’s move on, Miss Clarke. I don’t want to get into a conversation about my wounds." I sighed, writing down some of her skills.
She looked at me gloomily. "You should be more careful. Your aura is odd. I can feel that you are still in danger."
"Miss Clarke, please, I’m not interested in your theories. Can you tell me more about your duties when you worked as a spell caster?"
She had to answer, even if she didn’t like my question. I didn’t want anyone to know why I was bitten by a vampire. I didn’t care about the danger she was talking about. I finished that interview as quickly as I could and went back to my desk, trying to stay calm for the rest of the night. Somehow, my magic wasn’t bothering me as much as before, which was strange because my emotions were driving me up the wall. Then the phone rang and since Jennifer was still busy with a client, I had to answer it.
"Paranormal Personnel, Julia speaking. How can I help you?" I asked, chewing my nails. There was a long silence on the other end of the phone.
"Hello, Paranormal Personnel," I repeated myself, yet there was more silence. I hung up, wondering whether someone was just having fun today, making immature prank phone calls.
Jennifer glanced at me, raising her left eyebrow. I shook my head, letting her know that it was nothing important. When Jennifer sent her client away, I was hoping the rest of the shift would move quickly.
"God, he was hard work," Jennifer said, flopping back on her chair. "Who was that on the phone?"
"No one. I think someone was just checking whether we were in the office. I don’t know when this is going to stop," I replied. "But I wouldn’t be surprised if it was Caleb McGregor."
"Caleb McGregor?" Jennifer stared at me like I said something that I shouldn’t and went pale.
"I accidentally found out that he was the one behind all the kidnappings in the city. He was trying to replicate the Lucrative Shot, using elf and fairy blood."
"And do you think he was the one calling just now?" Jennifer asked in a squeaky voice. I didn’t understand why she was panicking. She didn’t even know the guy.
Chapter thirty
I’m done with him.
"I don’t know, Jen, and I don’t care. He will be caught sooner or later."
I didn’t want to discuss this anymore. Jen looked as if she couldn’t handle any more news. The rest of the night passed peacefully and around three o’clock in the morning, I was certain that we wouldn’t have any more clients.
Then someone came in. He looked around for a few seconds. He was tall and broad—probably a giant. He glanced at both of us.
"How can I—"
Then he was gone before I could even finish my sentence.
"So many weirdoes in the middle of the night!" Jennifer exclaimed.
I was just about to go back to my emails when we heard a noise outside the office. Then someone threw a burning bottle through our door; it rolled over the floor toward us. I smelled petrol. It burst into flames. Jennifer started screaming, and soon, a few more bottles started flying through the windows, spreading fire throughout the office. I hid under the desk while Jennifer was screaming in panic. The bottles stopped flying and then I was able to get up.
I raced to the entrance, but someone was behind the door barricading it so we couldn’t get out. Panic shot through me and my heart stopped in my chest. I realised this was a deliberate attack. The fire increased in a matter of seconds, consuming the furniture like a burning tower of destruction.
Jennifer ran towards the door, but the fire separated us from our only way out. “I’m on your side, you bastards! Open up! I’m still inside!"
I was struck speechless and I rushed towards her, trying to push her away, but she was going mental, screaming and shouting. "Jennifer, move away! This is too dangerous."
"Leave me alone, you idiot! This was supposed to be you, not me! They were supposed to do it next week."
"What are you talking about?" I shouted, feeling blood rush to my ears. I started coughing. We were losing oxygen, and the flames were spreading quickly.
She looked at me, angry and frustrated.
"You work for whoever is doing this, don’t you?" I asked her, breathless. I couldn’t believe that she would do this to me, that she could betray me like that.
She threw her hands in the air. "You’re a fool! Did you think I was going to work here forever and earn crap money? Caleb McGregor approached me and wanted information about the agency, and about you." She ran towards the windows in the back, but there was no way out. The other windows were sealed with metal bars on the other side. I felt as if a giant block of ice had just cascaded into my stomach. We were trapped inside the office.
"You sold me out to Caleb. How could you?"
"Don’t be so dramatic, Julia. Caleb was paying me a fortune and he wanted to finish La Caz. He has been planning to burn this place for weeks," she cried. "But I’m not going to die here with you!"
I should have known not to trust her. The fire was spreading, but she was still screaming, searching for a way out, but there was none. I rushed to her and scooped her head in my hands. "Listen to me! No one’s going to save us; they cut the phone lines. We’re trapped here; stop flipping out so I can try to concentrate and come up with some kind of spell, or we’re not getting out of here in one piece!"
She wouldn’t listen to what I had to say. She pushed me away and started checking the phones. The lines were dead, and it was
impossible for us to breathe. The fire was consuming our desks, and it was getting hotter by the second.
I looked around in desperation, but the magnificent, yet terrifying flames were surrounding the office, burning everything around us. My eyes were streaming; my skin itched with magic. I didn’t know any spell that would help me with this. We were on the first floor and all the doors were blocked. I was losing hope. Jennifer was screaming at the top of her lungs, her face flushed. I pushed her towards the interview room and locked the door, but the smoke was still flowing inside. The colours were melting into each other, forming a dreadful inferno.
"We’re going to die here!" she howled, huddling next to the wall. I tried to concentrate, but I couldn’t breathe. The smoke was thick; I had to stay calm and stop fighting because there was no way out. The fire was like an ocean of red, orange, and yellow colours, and I felt like I was staring at the flickering eyes of hell.
I lay on the floor. Jennifer wasn’t screaming anymore; she had lost consciousness, smoke filling her lungs. I could smell death approaching, this time for real. All my limbs were numb. The fire was scattering throughout the room; the heat was agonising. My heart thundered with adrenaline. The small window in the back cracked and splintered all over the place as the devilish flames avariciously overwhelmed everything in sight. We weren’t going to be spared.
It’s made from a unicorn antler. It’s supposed to protect the person it’s given to. It was your grandmother’s idea; she recently had some dark visions.
I heard my grandpa’s voice in my head and remembered his gift. I still had it in my bag; I didn’t know why I’d kept it. I got up, covered my mouth and nose with my jacket, and stormed into the office. The heat was unbearable, but I was desperate to live, so I didn’t care that the flames were burning my skin. My heartbeat slowed down through the waves of blazing heat. The bright hot flames produced a crackling sound as they busily licked every inch of my skin. I grabbed my bag that was on the floor near my desk and rushed back to the interview room, where Jennifer was lying on the ground, still unconscious. I was dizzy and felt like I didn’t have any more energy to fight through this nightmare, but I dug through my bag until I found what I was looking for. I took out the shiny magical object and concentrated.
I didn’t know what kind of power I was holding in my hand, but I knew that I wasn’t ready to die just then. Sometime later, I heard a large bang somewhere by the door and streaming light appeared on both sides, showing me the way out. I felt my skin burning, creating a large open wound. With the last bit of strength I had in me, I lifted Jennifer and started walking towards the bright light.
The glow was protecting me from the fire, but I was exhausted, my breathing laboured. Jennifer was heavy, but I couldn’t let her die here. The ceiling started to collapse. The light was directing me through the entrance with the missing door. I crawled backwards toward the door, pulling Jennifer with me. The smoke was swallowing me back inside.
Finally, I took a deep breath of oxygen. Someone began shouting, and right before I blacked out, I saw a fireman rushing towards me.
When I opened my eyes again, I was sitting by the ambulance. Someone was cleaning my face. My entire body ached, and my skin was on fire. I smelled blood, smoke, and thick, smutty ash. The police and firefighters were everywhere. I glanced at our building and gasped. The fire was still blazing, spreading towards the higher floors. I tried to get up, but the paramedics pushed me down. They were humans.
"Now, now, stay where you are. You are badly burnt," one of them said.
"Where’s Jennifer?" I asked in a panic.
"We had to take your friend to the hospital. Her burns were more severe," the other dark-haired man said.
"Julia!"
I saw my dad running towards me. He was with Rufus. They both looked pale.
“I’m all right, Dad," I said as he embraced me.
"Julia, what happened here?" he asked.
"Someone threw bottles filled with petrol into the office and barricaded the doors and windows. We couldn’t get out." My voice broke. I felt tears streaming down my face. Dad was beside me. Rufus was white as chalk, marching up and down.
"I thought that was the end and we were going to die there. We didn’t have any way out," I continued, sobbing. Dad waved off the paramedics. More police pushed away people who had gathered around.
"If the doors were blocked, then how—"
"I used the unicorn antler. Grandpa gave it to me when I visited during Christmas and I think that saved my life," I said, then looked at Rufus. "Jennifer was working for Caleb McGregor; she was the one who sold the information to him about the agency. I couldn’t just leave her there. She was taken to the hospital."
"Jennifer? But how did you...?"
"She told me everything when they were blocking the door." I choked, hiding my face in my hands.
"And you saved her life, even after she confessed that it was all her fault?" Dad asked in disbelief.
I nodded. Rufus looked livid, breathing hard. The office couldn’t be saved; the firefighters were trying to gain control, but I believed this wasn’t an ordinary fire. Someone used magic. For a second, I thought about Nathaniel and wondered if I even meant anything to him. Dad shouted at the paramedics to take me to the hospital. My vampire bite wound had opened. Blood was pouring from my neck and my legs and arms were badly burned. I passed out once again.
I woke up the next day in the same room where I had been a few days ago. The same witch doctor was looking after me, but this time I had my mother and father in there with me. My legs and arms were covered in some kind of cream. My burns were severe, and I was still in pain.
"Miss Taylor, welcome back, I wasn’t expecting to see you here so quickly," Martha murmured, leaning over me and checking my wounds.
"I missed this place." I chuckled.
"Oh, my dear, Julia, I’m so glad you’re all right," Mum said, taking my hand. She looked worried. She’d been beside my bed all night. Dad looked angry and he just shut his phone off.
“I’m just burned. I will heal quickly," I said, wondering whether Jennifer was conscious yet.
"I told you she shouldn’t work at that place with all those long shifts. It’s dangerous, and then this fire?" Mum muttered, looking at Dad.
"Mum, chill out. I’m fine, plus I like working there," I argued, staring at Dad. I wanted to ask him so many questions, but I couldn’t because Mum was there.
"Are you even listening to yourself, Julia? You were nearly killed!" Mum continued.
There was no point explaining anything to her right now, because she had made up her mind. We argued for a few more minutes and in the end, Martha came in and told my parents to leave because I needed to rest. She came back later to check on my legs. She used a rare spell, so my skin didn’t look that bad at all. Dad managed to stay calm and told me he would personally find Caleb and kill him with his bare hands.
I had to stay in the hospital for one more day where my healer applied the pads made from snakeskin to help me recover. I let Mum believe my neck was burnt and why I had to have the bandage on. Rufus came when I was packing to leave. He went to see Jennifer—who was now conscious—and fired her. She admitted to everything. She had been working with Caleb ever since we first made the deal with La Caz Pharmaceutical.
Caleb’s intentions were clear: aside from wanting to hurt me, he wanted to burn the agency down, so we’d have to stop supplying staff to Nathaniel’s company. Rufus said he was going to find a new office. Most of the files had burned but all the names were still in the system, so it was just a matter of time until we would be able to recreate our client files. We always backed up a copy off-site, just to be safe.
I left the hospital on Friday evening. Somehow, I managed to convince Mum and Dad that I was fine, and that I would be over on Sunday. Caleb was still on the run, but now I wasn’t afraid. I wasn’t angry that I nearly died twice in the past week. I wasn’t pissed off that I was jobless for a while, or th
at Jennifer had been helping the enemy. I was pissed because I still hadn’t heard anything from Nathaniel.
My legs and neck were still in bandages, but that didn’t stop me from taking a taxi to La Caz Pharmaceutical to face him. I was certain that he was back from Scotland. His phone was still ringing, and he was ignoring me.
"Thank you," I said to the taxi driver, giving him a twenty-pound note. My mind was racing, and my heart was pounding, but I was ready to confront my former lover.
La Caz Pharmaceutical looked just as I remembered. When I entered the lobby, Todd greeted me warmly.
"Miss Taylor, what a pleasure seeing you here again."
"Is Mr. La Caz in the building?" He nodded. "Then I have to see him. Please just do me a favour and don’t tell anyone that I’m on the way up."
Todd nodded again, but I could see he wasn’t happy about this turn of events. I had butterflies in my stomach, but I was determined to smash Nathaniel’s beautiful face. I pressed his floor and in the lift, I was going through everything I wanted to tell him. When the lift opened, I entered the reception area. Emily was sitting at her desk, looking her best.
"I presume that he’s in?" I asked, walking towards her. She stood.
"Yes, he’s in, but you can’t—”
I wasn’t listening to her anymore because I barged into his office without knocking.
"Mr. La Caz, Miss Taylor—she just—"
"Shut up, Emily." I glanced at her, then shut the door firmly behind me. He was inside, looking at me surprised and confused, as if he were seeing me for the first time in his life.
Chapter thirty-one
Memory spell.
He wasn’t alone; he had Carter and Porter with him. My heart gave me a giant smack in the chest and energy stirred inside me when our eyes met.
He was wearing a black suit with a navy tie and he looked good. The memory of our night together flashed through my mind, but this wasn’t what this meeting was about. I swallowed hard, trying to find my voice.
Love with Fangs (The Witching Hour Series Book 1) Page 23