‘That’s understandable,’ she agreed. ‘Something is up; it’s not easy to kill a troll. They’re pretty much immortal.’
‘What? No one, apart from vampires, is immortal,’ I said, remembering Jasper and the way he nearly killed that troll who was trying to chat me up in the bar.
She shook her head. ‘Well, maybe immortal is the wrong word, but they’re strong and they heal quickly... that’s why I’m surprised.’
We discussed the case until Sara came back. If Kate was worried, then that meant I was in serious trouble.
The day dragged until two o’clock. I managed to post an advert for a Curse Breaker for the Bank of England; I also managed to persuade Lucinda to take on another person for a quality control team. She complained that the last two vampires I sent her were useless and slow. I apologized, as usual, and got on with my work; we were quite busy until four o’clock. Then I got an email that boiled my blood. The email was from—him.
Dear Julia,
I need to talk to you. Please let me aplologise for last night. I shouldn’t have behaved so recklessly, but when I’m around you, I can’t control myself.
I owe you an explanation. I’m organising a business dinner so you can meet a few people that are involved in the steel industry. I’m certain that some of my partners will be looking to take on a few paranormals. I would love to have you.
We will discuss details shortly; I’ll call you soon.
Take care,
La Caz
Managing Director of La Caz Corporation
PS. Roberto is still at your disposal—please don’t argue. He will drive you whenever you want.
I exhaled, reading the email again.
How dare he! He was the one that broke up with me, so he should leave me the fuck alone.
I started furiously typing my reply, but after a few seconds, I realised I was melting the keyboard. I had to calm down. I sat back and took a few deep breaths to keep my magic in place. There was no point in writing back to tell him to go to hell. He was right; if he hadn’t interrupted, I would’ve had those paranormals in my hand. My sales skills were excellent. I should go out with him just to piss him off. A wide smile spread across my face as the magnificent idea passed through my mind.
Dear Nathaniel,
You owe me big time, so, yes, I would love to be at that dinner. I’ll bring the plus one.
Take care,
Julia
Recruitment consultant
Paranormal Personnel
I didn’t have to think about this twice; he needed to know I wasn’t dying because he wasn’t around anymore, that I’d moved on. I waited for a reply but nothing came. Despite him offering me the use of his driver, Roberto, I didn’t want to be the woman that still relied on her ex, but I knew that there wasn’t any point in arguing about that. He was going to use emotional blackmail, or my father, so that battle was already lost.
I left work in a bad mood, wondering why Nathaniel still wanted to control my life. It was just before six and I normally finished work before five. Roberto was waiting for me outside the office and I jumped in, thinking about my sweet revenge over Nathaniel. I stood outside Ella’s house, hoping she was all right, when her mother opened the door.
‘Julia, how nice to see you,’ said Mrs. Jenkins. ‘How are you?’
‘Fine, thank you. How are you, Mrs. Jenkins?’
‘Good, good. I’m just getting to ready to go to work. Ella is upstairs. Lovely to see you again, dear.’
I went upstairs straight away. Ella’s brother was nowhere to be seen and I was glad I had her to myself. My stomach rumbled so I was planning to take Ella out for a dinner.
I knocked quietly and went in. My best friend was sitting by her desk, staring intensely at her laptop screen, her long red hair a mess.
‘Hi, girlfriend. What you up to?’ I asked, flopping on the bed. She turned around swiftly, staring at me with a serious, tense expression.
‘I’m having trouble concentrating today,’ sighed my best friend.
The memory charm is slowly wearing off, but she shouldn’t remember anything about last night. God I hate lying to her.
‘Have you taken your medication? You know you aren’t yourself when you miss your course.’
Ella was diabetic and her mother always had to remind her to take her pills. Mrs. Jenkins was against Ella’s diet, but her daughter was stubborn and she didn’t listen.
‘Yeah, I took them this morning. I don’t seem to remember what happened yesterday,’ she muttered, her green eyes looking away toward the window. She must have finished early today because her work uniform was hanging by the door. Ella normally looked glamorous with her spray tan and full on makeup, but today her bubbly personality wasn’t there. She seemed distracted and quiet, staring at me like she knew I wasn’t being honest with her.
‘Don’t worry about it. Are you hungry? I came to take you out.’
‘Not really. I don’t feel like doing anything.’
Now Ella never refuses to go out, she is definitely not well.
‘Come on, it’ll be fun. I can tell you all about my meeting with Nathaniel yesterday,’ I blurted, making sure she heard me. Ella’d never met him, but she was already on his side, trying to convince me I should still give him a chance.
As soon as my words left my mouth, Ella flinched, her eyes widening and, for a split second, she looked like she was going to scream. Then she exhaled, staring at me in confusion. ‘I was out yesterday,’ she said after a long moment. I tried to keep it together.
‘Out? What do you mean?’ I asked, but my voice was uneasy.
‘I was at the Hilton hotel; I was wearing my favourite dress,’ she continued.
‘You were at home, Ella. What are you talking about? You were watching movies. We talked yesterday on the phone,’ I said quickly, plastering a smile on my face. The memory spell had probably worn off, but her memories couldn’t have come back.
I swallowed hard. I couldn’t show her that whatever she said had any effect on me but she still seemed anxious and out of place. Maybe Ella wasn’t one of the brightest, but she wasn’t stupid.
‘It’s odd, but I keep seeing a bright light. When I try to concentrate, it sort of disappears.’
‘You need a good night’s sleep, darling. Come with me to yoga tomorrow and I’m sure you’ll feel a lot better,’ I suggested, chewing my bottom lip. She narrowed her eyes and rose.
‘Maybe you’re right. I think I’m making things up.’
‘Okay, cheer up, and tell me if you have any hot dates coming up?’ I asked the question, trying to sound as if there wasn’t any tension in my voice. I brought up the subject of men, hoping to distract Ella from dark memories. I needed to speak to Dad urgently; she couldn’t possibly remember what happened yesterday. My best friend had no idea about magic—she was just an innocent human. She didn’t deserve to be this way. It was my fault Daniel had used her as his food supply, the same vampire who nearly got me killed.
Ella gave me a faint smile, still staring at me like she wasn’t thinking about yoga tomorrow. ‘No, I decided to take a break. After Daniel, no one seems to be interested in me,’ she explained with sadness in her voice. The hair on the back of my neck rose as soon she mentioned that name.
Oh, Ella, if you only knew. You should be glad he isn’t around.
‘You needed a break anyway and, to be honest, he was an arsehole. Christina told me he flirted with her when you went to the toilet.’
‘Maybe, but I thought that he was the one.’
‘There are plenty more fish in the sea. Prince charming is waiting for you out there somewhere.’
She just shrugged and switched on the TV. I wasn’t going to dwell on this conversation, but I was already worried. Ella didn’t do sad faces and whenever she was depressed about something, she turned to food. We both loved to feast on all the crap when we were in a bad mood. I doubted very much that she was in love with Daniel, the bastard that tasted my precious
elf blood.
Later, I went out to get some take away and stayed with her until late. She was still quiet and absent. Tomorrow I was planning to ask Kate about memory charms. I’d never heard of a human that could resist it but something told me that Ella remembered bits and pieces from last night. Not everything, of course, but she probably sensed that I lied to her.
Chapter eight
Yeah, it’s all started because I came to Nathaniel.
When I got to the office on Thursday, I knew that the media had sniffed out the paranormal murder case. All of the sudden, Nathaniel’s handsome face appeared next to the picture of the Queen and other famous celebrities. I wasn’t sure how, but the press found out the troll who died worked for La Caz. I wasn’t linked to that mess, at least for now. The ordinary world assumed that Nathaniel was involved with some dodgy business and the death of the troll was supposed to be a warning. Of course, none of the humans knew that the troll, named Ludwig Spencer, was part of the paranormal world. Nathaniel hadn’t released any kind of statement, and I didn’t believe that my ex-boyfriend was doing something illegal. All supernatural creatures kept low profiles. Humans weren’t supposed to know about ‘our’ cases, but sometimes stories got out. We had our own special department in the government that dealt with that sort of thing, making sure the media didn’t sniff out the unusual crimes. That department took care of all leaks, but last night someone talked and the story was all over London.
I refused to get a lift with Roberto this morning. He wasn’t too happy, but I needed to feel normal today, so I took the tube to work. A group of witches were glancing at me from time to time, like they knew what I’d been up to last night. The male elf sitting next to me shifted away a few times and, when I looked at him, he pretended he was reading the paper. For some reason, everywhere I went, I was seeing paranormals reading about Nathaniel. My internal voice told me that this was just the beginning.
It was odd walking to the office alone. Sara was, as usual, late and Kate wasn’t working today. In the past few weeks I’d been getting all the day shifts. I think my dad had some kind of influence on Rufus. They both agreed to keep me close and only working when they both could keep an eye on me. When I checked my emails there was nothing from Nathaniel. It’s not like I was expecting something, but I wanted to talk to him about the dead troll.
It started raining just after ten and a few minutes later Sara walked in.
‘I’m sorry, Julia, my alarm didn’t go off and then I got stuck in traffic,’ she moaned.
You could come up with something better, you know. I heard this more than twenty times this week.
‘Don’t worry. Could you speak to these two candidates for a curse breaker position? I need to see if Lucinda needs anyone else for tonight,’ I asked her, hoping she would just shut up and get on with work.
‘Yes, right away,’ she said promptly and I exhaled with relief. She went to her desk, dropping the files on the floor yet again.
Hopeless.
I just needed to get used to it. We had to go out and buy a few more mugs because she smashed them all. Whenever she offered to make a cup of coffee, I preferred to do it myself, so did Kate. After Sara sorted out the mess with files she made a phone call to the first potential client. Just before eleven I saw Dad walking through the door, accompanied by Stuart. My stomach tightened automatically: they weren’t just here to visit.
‘Hi, Dad, what are you doing here?’ I asked, swallowing hard. Stuart’s expression didn’t give anything away.
‘We need to talk to you,’ Dad said, glancing at Sara who was talking loudly on the phone. ‘In private.’
I nodded and took them to the interview room, wondering why they were here. Dad looked like he needed a good night’s sleep. Stuart appeared tense and distracted.
‘So what is going on?’ I repeated with an edge in my voice.
‘Rufus is missing; his wife called last night. He was supposed to be back yesterday from Manchester. He called her, stating that he was leaving, but he never got home. Since eight o’clock last night his phone hasn’t been working. His wife mentioned that he always calls if he’s running late.’
I had to sit down and take a deep breath.
‘Maybe he didn’t want to drive for so long and stopped at a hotel,’ I suggested, not allowing myself to think that something might have happened to him.
‘When was the last time that you spoke to him?’ asked Dad.
I sat back, thinking about Rufus; he was supposed to be in the office last week but he didn’t show up, stating he had to go to Manchester. He sent me a quick email telling me to attend that networking event, but we hadn’t spoken since he left the office the week before last. A bead of sweat rolled down my back as I looked at my father’s worried face.
‘Last week. He was going to Manchester then he sent me an email asking me to go to that networking event. I tried to call him for several days but he never got back to me,’ I explained, trying to stay calm, but my heart was already pounding.
Dad looked at me for a long moment before he spoke. ‘We can’t trace his phone. I wanted to talk to you before I took any actions. I’ll speak to the unit in Manchester to see what they got. First, the murder, now Rufus. I don’t like this Julia, not a bit,’ he muttered.
‘Dad, I hope that you don’t think something happened to him...’ I whispered.
‘We have to consider every possibility,’ he answered, shrugging.
‘If he’s missing, then McGregor is behind this,’ I stated.
‘We don’t know that, hun. You might be right; someone already tried to burn the agency. Rufus has a lot of knowledge and contacts in this industry. He was telling me that Paranormal Personnel made tons of money dealing with La Caz Corporation.’
Yeah, it all started because I came to Nathaniel.
I knew straight away what Dad was talking about. Since Nathaniel started outsourcing his recruitment, we made money and his production line expanded. We were the biggest supplier of his staff. The other two agencies were smaller and they were struggling, as far as I knew. Then I exposed Caleb McGregor, who was producing and smuggling a fake Magic Shot, and now he was no doubt looking for revenge. Nausea hit me as I thought about Rufus. I could only hope he was all right and safe. I couldn’t bear it if something happened to him because of a decision I made, especially after what happened to Claudia. She’d been kidnapped in the middle of a busy street, and now Rufus was also missing.
‘Rufus has done nothing wrong. He might have knowledge, but he isn’t important.’
‘It’s too early to speculate, Julia. I’ll see what the unit up north has to say first. If we don’t hear from him within the next twenty-four hours, then I’ll start an intensive search,’ Dad said. ‘I just wanted to give you a heads up.’
‘I can’t believe this is happening. You must have some leads on McGregor?’
‘We already discussed this. It’s not that difficult to disappear, Julia. McGregor has contacts and money,’ Dad explained, frowning.
‘What do I tell the girls and anyone from management if they call?’ I asked, feeling hopeless.
‘Just keep it quiet until tomorrow. I’ll call you if I know more.’
They left shortly after that. I put on a brave face and got back to work. I couldn’t find my place for the rest of the day thinking about Rufus. I tried to talk with Sara but didn’t concentrate much on what I was doing. The clients came in and I dealt with them the best I could, but my mind drifted away so often. Rufus had a family to look after; I couldn’t imagine what his wife was going through.
After work I skipped the gym, waiting anxiously for any news from Dad. Roberto gave me a lift home. I didn’t have time to think about Nathaniel because Rufus was on my mind for the rest of the evening. I kept checking my phone, hoping that my dad would call with news, but the tiny voice in my head told me that I was wasting my time.
It was ten o’clock in the evening when I’d had enough of sitting on my bum waiting f
or the phone to ring. Roberto was away and I wasn’t feeling a bit guilty for leaving the flat on my own. My neighbourhood was quiet and there was never any trouble around there. I had to get some wine to take the edge of stress off. The past few days were draining and I hadn’t been sleeping well. The local shop was only a five-minute walk from my apartment. Maybe I was stupid drinking on a work night, but my magic was whipping through me like frosting for a birthday cake. I had to cast a spell but I knew that I would mess something up. Dad kept telling me to go see a healer to avoid the burst of magic, but I could never find a spare minute.
The young Asian shopkeeper gave me a smile after I paid for the wine. Dark clouds covered the moon and it was warm despite the rainy weather we had the past few weeks. On my way back, a few youngsters gave me a dirty look, pointing at my slippers.
Piss off, you little shits. I’m in my own neighbourhood.
I couldn’t help it; I showed them a middle finger. Yeah, very mature. I slipped between the houses, taking a shortcut. I was only two minutes away from my apartment when I heard a scream. I told myself to ignore it and just move along when the woman’s terrifying voice rang in my mind.
I stopped, glancing around, and my stomach tightened. The current of energy charged through my body quicker than I anticipated. During the day I’d been lacking concentration so all my senses were sharper and hypersensitive. I darted around, but my path was empty; I could hear the screams further down. Then I heard the loud laugh. I charged through the passage, not even thinking what I was doing. In the corner of a dark alley, a bright blue light was radiating from an old garage—a place where most teenagers gathered to drink.
My breathing was shallow; my heart beat furiously in my chest. I peered behind the wall. A tall figure was standing above someone, possibly a woman. From the bright light, I gathered that I was dealing with paranormals. My energy was pulling me toward them. Adrenaline crawled through my body, awakening the rest of the energy I tried to pull back. The excess magic was making me shake like jelly. My heart skipped a beat when I heard the cracking voice again.
Paranormal Personnel Saga Box Set - Books 1-3 Page 28
