“It's better if you stop fighting with fear. You’re a fairy princess, the one and only."
I didn't want to say anything but that whole statement sounded tedious. Ella kept glancing at Alex with her huge green eyes, looking like they were just about to pop out of her head. I didn't understand and never asked about what that actually meant for her. Okay, so there was a royal blood in her veins. My best friend believed in a fairy tales, but surely, she wasn’t expecting to be told that she was born into a magic.
"Julia, you have to tell him that he’s mistaken. I’ve seen magic, fangs and those odd eyes.” My life had been normal to a point, so was Ella’s until she went to that networking event and witnessed a murder. Then things became intense and now she was standing face to face with her paranormal father.
"Ella, he’s telling you the truth. Alex has royal blood, but your mother’s life was threatened when people close to him found out he’d chosen a human. Matt’s and your mum’s life was in danger, so he walked away before you were born to protect all of you."
My voice sounded so faint and I didn't understand why I had to be the one explaining everything. Alex only stared with a sad and gloomy expression on his face, like he’d given up.
Ella was taking long pulls of air; she reached for another glass of wine and finished it in one go. Then she collapsed on the sofa and started crying. Tron got up abruptly and Alex stood looking away like he was embarrassed.
"Ella, hon, don’t stress, I know it’s a lot to take in," I said rushing towards her, but she only howled louder, her body was shaking with a spasm of loud sobs. I wanted to say more but I felt that whatever I said wouldn’t make her feel any better. This news crushed her, and my soul felt as if it had been split in two.
When I glanced around looking for Tron, he was no longer in the room and Alex was standing next to me.
"Julia, please leave. I need to speak to my daughter in private," he requested with a smug calm voice. I wanted to protest, desperate to take Ella away from him, but bizarre energy forced me to comply. Panic took over for a moment and I sensed that my best friend was in someone else’s hands.
I stood and started walking across the room without looking back, hearing Ella’s sobs. My mind was spinning.
The human butler closed the door behind me and all of a sudden, the expanding pressure left my skull.
"Leave them, they have a lot to discuss," Tron said, standing by the mirror in the corridor smoothing his silver hair.
"He’s too cold. Ella won’t understand what’s happening," I began but he quickly silenced me placing his finger to my lips.
"Come, Stephen will make you a cup of tea, so you can calm down. Your friend will be fine. It’s necessary for him to take a closer look at her magic. Ella hasn’t been active all her life, something triggered the change and he needs to understand what’s happening, even if he doesn't want to admit it."
I tried to think straight but my brain was filled with what felt like fluffy clouds, unimportant thoughts, as if Ella didn't matter anymore. Tron walked me through his enormous Victorian home, straight to a large white kitchen. The human man was there standing by the kettle.
My legs were moving without conscious thought and when I sat down at the table I tried to relax a little. The butler, which I assumed was called Stephen, prepared a cup of tea and placed it in front of me.
"Thank you," I said staring at the white cup trying to think about my dear friend who was alone with Alex.
"Now, we should talk. We have quite a lot to discuss."
Chapter 25
Nothing is ever easy.
"We have nothing to talk about. What if Alex is right; what if Ella’s in trouble?"
My questions came out before I could even gather my thoughts. Tron looked older than I first anticipated in this light. His hair seemed whiter than before and he had more wrinkles on his forehead.
“It's possible, but no one knows about her. For years Alex stayed away from the magical community. He didn't mean what he said up there, but the fairies who cast him out want him dead."
"I don’t understand, he’s royal. Ella’s twenty-three. Surely, after so many years no one is going to care if he has a daughter or not." I took sip of my tea.
"His bothers aren’t officially in power until someone brings his head along with anyone who is related to him. Royals are always on the watch; they have spies everywhere. As soon as word of Alex’s unofficial daughter spread, they will track her down and kill her."
"I'm not going to apologise for bringing her here. Alex has had more than enough time to explain what was happening. She was confused as to why I didn't want to talk to her. I didn't expect her to show up and when she did I made the decision to stop pretending like I had no idea what was going on. God, she won’t be the same. What about Matt and her mum?"
"You have to calm down. Alex might need to wipe her memory."
"What?" I shouted getting up. "He can't do that. She knows the truth, you can't just decide to wipe her memories. I'm going to talk to him right now—"
When I stood abruptly, I couldn't take another step for some reason. My whole body was rooted to the floor and my muscles felt like they’d been encased in concrete. Everything was turning around; my heart was still beating but my muscles seemed non-existent.
"I'm going to release you, but you need to promise that you won’t do anything irrational.” A claustrophobic feeling embraced me like heavy steel. When he released whatever spell he’d used, I took a deep breath.
"Compulsion, you use that shit on me?"
"Please, watch your language, young lady. I think they will be a while, maybe you should go home."
“I'm not leaving Ella."
"Suit yourself, but you might be here all night."
"All night? I know Ella, she’ll refuse to talk to him. Then she’ll run to her mum and brother trying to warn them."
"Julia, Ella has shown immunity skills. Alex needs to learn the extent of her magical abilities in which she inherited. Parental skills are foreign to him, but he understands the importance of keeping her safe."
"So, what, you’re just going to keep her in this house like some kind of prisoner?" I asked not believing what I was hearing. Tron couldn't be serious.
"Of course not, but Alex needs a couple of hours to analyse her magic, that’s all. When she’s lucid enough he’ll also ensure she doesn’t pose much of a threat to herself."
I tried to argue with him for about a minute or so, but I wasn’t convinced that leaving Ella alone was a good idea. To take my mind off my best friend he asked me to train my thoughts. He believed I could learn how to control what people were thinking around me. He performed a spell to help me relax a little. Indeed, whatever he was doing made a hell of a difference and for a moment he made me forget about Ella. Five minutes later while I was concentrating on Tron’s voice the butler entered the kitchen, and everything came rushing back.
"Sorry sir, but Mr. Dyffryn asked me to bring Miss. Taylor."
Tron muttered something in a language that I didn't understand and waved his hand for me to go. Ella was sitting in the same position where I’d left her. She wasn’t crying anymore but looked taken aback seeing me in the room again.
"Ella, are you all right?"
"This is unreal. I thought all this was behind me, that I didn't have to worry about magic anymore."
I looked at Alex who was standing not too far from us. I couldn't read anything from his gloomy expression.
"Yeah, I didn’t believe what they were saying at first and I'm sorry I didn't say anything and just disappeared. I was scared and thought I might hurt you again."
She didn't respond, instead she looked away with a dreamy smile on her face.
"She has to stay here until tomorrow, the memory spell didn't work and I'm afraid that her magic has been reborn," Alex said, not sounding too happy about that fact.
"This is strange—this man says he’s my father—but I’ve never seen him before. He says
that Mum won’t remember him."
I looked at Tron with desperation, but he wasn’t paying attention to me. I was expecting Ella to start shouting or throwing things at me, but she was calm, not acting like herself.
"What have you done to her? I swear to God, if you’ve spellbound her I’ll call my grandmother and father right this minute."
"Julia, he didn't do anything, we talked, just talked," she explained, but I was reluctant to believe her. What if they were feeding her with magic and she had no idea what was happening.
"Ella, we can leave. I'm the one who brought you here. You don’t have to be scared."
"Julia, she’s my daughter. Do you really think I would do anything to hurt her? Her newly awakened magic could be dangerous, so she needs to stay here until tomorrow."
I placed my hands on my hips eyeing them both with mistrust. My intuition was telling me that Ella looked fine, but I didn't want to leave her alone with two strange paranormals. Okay, one of them might have been her father, but he was still a stranger.
"I’ll come and pick you up first thing after work tomorrow." I shook my head not believing I was actually agreeing to this.
"Fantastic, you can come for a practise session at the same time."
I didn't respond to that. I grabbed my stuff and left, regretting that I’d brought Ella to Tron’s home. She had never handled change well; when she learned the truth about me and Nicky, she cut all the ties. Everything was not going how I’d planned, this sudden change in Ella’s position was worrying me.
The driver outside insisted on taking me home. Mum called while I was out with Ella; she left a voicemail asking when I was planning to come to dinner with Quentin. At home, I went to bed straight away unable to think about my mother and her desire to give me away to the first available guy who came along. Instead, I kept wondering if Ella was all right.
That hollow feeling in my stomach returned, because I knew nothing was ever going to be the same. Now, Ella’s father was back in the picture. She was my best friend—a fairy princess—and her life was in danger, all because of my unsettled magic.
When I opened my eyes the following the morning my head hurt, and I felt as if I hadn’t slept at all. When I glanced at my bedside table, there were no missed calls on my phone. My excess magic was back; I could feel it in my bones and when I moved my muscles. My mind was clouded with various scenarios, but I knew I had work to take care of.
On my way to the office I started reading the morning paper and articles reminding me of the trouble that I’d found myself in. Murders—I was still involved and equally guilty for Jennifer and her friend’s murder. Although I couldn’t remember anything, I was the one who had blood on my hands. On top of that, I still hadn’t dealt with Quentin. My mind was fried, I had no idea how to resolve my relationship. I realised the best way to handle the situation would be to end it and tell my boyfriend the truth, then I’d have one less problem to worry about. I knew it would break his heart, but I had to do what was right for everyone involved and stop sneaking around.
My dear friend, Kate was in the office first. Sara was probably late.
"Rough night?" Kate asked as soon as I walked through the door.
"Couldn't sleep, my magic was driving me insane," I lied. I needed to stop lying to people, but I promised to keep the whole ‘Ella being a fairy princess’ a secret.
"So, when are you moving in with Quentin? That poor giant has been waiting for you to make a decision for weeks now," she was saying while I switched on my computer. I found it hard trying not to talk to Kate. She always knew exactly what to say when I was having problems.
“Don't know yet. I don’t think I'm ready."
"Fair enough."
I felt like an arsehole but at the same time I was too afraid to tell Kate about Nathaniel and my latest adventure in the middle of the night. Gordon had no idea who I was, but the police pinned me down as the main suspect. I must have left traces of magic all around the body, and I wouldn’t be surprised if I saw my father walking through the door to arrest me.
Our morning was hectic, by the time Sara arrived we had a full house. Giants, trolls and elves were queuing to register. Kate managed to win the business with another call centre and the employer needed at least a dozen paranormals. I didn't have much time to think about what kind of shit I’d found myself in, but a few beautiful fairies reminded me of Ella, and every time I looked at them, my heart ached.
We were busy right until lunchtime, and when I finally managed to leave and grab something to eat, I was relieved. I tried to call Ella, but her phone went straight to voicemail. My headache had only gotten worse and the tingling in my body wouldn't stop. I needed to cast a spell fast or an orgasm. I preferred the second option, but I knew that wasn’t going to happen, so I focused on work hoping to get rid of my excess magic later on.
I was still eating my sandwich when I walked into the office.
"Julia, glad you’re here. I need to talk to you," a familiar voice said; the same one who was causing so much trouble in my heart. Nathaniel was sitting on our sofa probably waiting for me. All colour drained from my face when I glanced back at Kate.
"I told Mr. La Caz that you were very busy, and he needed to make an appointment," Kate said through gritted teeth standing up. I was panicking, not sure what to say. She had no idea that Nathaniel and I had been sleeping around for weeks, and I wanted to keep it that way.
"And I told you that it’s urgent. Plus, if I want to talk to Miss. Taylor, I don’t need an appointment." Nathaniel shot Kate an annoyed look. Right now, as far as Kate was concerned, La Caz wasn’t an important client, he was just a guy who didn't have the balls to tell me how he felt and left me heartbroken.
“It's all right, Mr. La Caz. We’ll go to the interview room where we can talk," I said quickly. When I touched his arm, my skin burned. I knew I would be facing a lot of questions from my friend later on, but I had no choice. Nathaniel was persistent, and he always got what he wanted.
I chose the office in the back, and my stomach flipflopped when I thought about the last time we were in this room together.
"You can't just come into the office, no one knows about us and I’d like to keep it that way," I hissed feeling a bead of sweat running down my back. He looked delicious wearing his navy suit pinning me down with his heavy hazel stare. My breath came short, but I dismissed the desire, hoping I could get rid of him quickly.
"I'm going to talk to Meredith today, Julia. I miss you and I know you have a lot on your plate, so let me be here for you," he said moving closer. As usual, his scent only caused more trouble, and I couldn't breathe.
"No, this isn’t a good time. Tell her if you want but we can’t be together right now, Nathaniel. I have to deal with one thing at a time."
"I want you, and you know I always get what I want, stop fighting me," he growled embracing me in his arms, but I pushed him away walking to the other side of the room.
"We talked about this, Nathaniel. I thought you understood. Why are you making this so difficult?” I whisper shouted, folding my arms together. I knew if I didn’t make him see things my way, then it would only cause more pain and destruction. “I have to do this on my own terms.”
"He won’t like that you’ve been fucking me every time you were with me," he snapped, narrowing his eyes.
"I know, but please let me just deal with it. I can’t keep going on like this. Don’t you get it? The guilt alone is killing me."
"Julia, come on, I love you and you love me. That’s how it works. I was a fool before but now I get it.”
"I know, but I'm blacking out Nathaniel and people are getting hurt. My energy only inflames when I'm around you. We can't be together now, my life is too complicated, so please leave and we can talk about everything when I have things sorted!"
He was beside me before I could anticipate his next move. He wrapped his scent all over me, and my head swam causing an eruption of lust.
"Firecracker, please
, we can be happy together. I talked to a friend about the blackouts. He said he can help. Meredith doesn't mean anything to me."
I learned that when I was around him, I had no control, but when he was pinning me with his strong body, I saw flashes of my mother burning alive. So, instead of kissing him and falling into his arms as I normally would, I pushed him away.
"No. This isn't your business, Nathaniel. I’ve already gotten too many people involved. I need you to leave."
I didn't wait for his response, instead I left the room and went back to my desk feeling like my heart was going to split in two. Nathaniel rushed after me. What came next surprised even me. He grabbed me from behind, turning my body around to face him and slammed me firmly against his chest. Then his lips were on mine, kissing me hard, his tongue slid into my mouth. This mind-blowing kiss only lasted for a few seconds, and when I was ready to pull away, he stopped, then left before I could make out what happened.
Kate’s jaw was literally on the floor, my magic was whipping through me fast and a few clients who were sitting by the entrance were staring. I wasn’t sure what to do or say after that. My life had become one big shitstorm and I really needed to pull myself together and do something about it. I was doing the best I could to hold onto what was left of any shred of decency I had left, but I was failing miserably.
Chapter 26
Asking for help.
Kate couldn't bombard me with questions about Nathaniel’s visit because she had clients to take care of. She kept staring at me gripping her magic wand at the same time. I felt like crap, but I knew this was for the best. Now I just had to confess to Quentin.
"If he can kiss like that, I can't even imagine what he’d be like in bed," a witch whispered to another standing at the end of the registration line. I could hear her loud and clear, but I chose to ignore it. Tron led me to believe that someone else disturbed my energy, but every time I was around Nathaniel my magic went crazy.
Elf's Affection: The Witching Hour Series Book 3 Page 20