A Nightly Howl

by Joanna Mazurkiewicz

  "Julia, I don’t think—"

  "Kate, please," I begged, shooting her a warning look. She had to leave if I wanted Jasper to talk to me. Both of the girls started moving towards the entrance, leaving me alone with my crazy ex-boyfriend.

  "Jasper, you saved my butt… I get it, but that doesn’t change anything between us." I wondered what he was planning to do with me next.

  His eyes hardened, and he took a step toward me. My mouth went dry; I didn't know what to expect. I hadn't seen him for a while, but I always questioned his sanity.

  "I asked Georgiana to pass a message to you," he said slowly.

  "Yeah, I got your message from her, and I still don’t know what you expect from me."

  “Isn't it obvious?"

  I laughed, ignoring the pain radiating from my leg. "We aren’t together anymore, Jasper. Why is it so hard for you to understand that? It’s been a year; I’ve fucking moved on!"

  "Fuck, Julia, we were great together. I still love you."

  "You don’t understand what love is, Jasper," I shouted, glancing around. "I don’t have feelings for you anymore. Don’t you get it?"

  He ran his hand though his hair, narrowing his eyes. There was an obvious tension in the air, and my heartbeat slowed down, as his eyes darted away from my face. He inhaled and started shifting his scent, wrapping it all over me. This was how he marked his territory. He used to control every aspect of my life when we were together. He used magic to make my mother like him; he never admitted to it, but I just knew.

  "I know that you’re with that vampire. You’re a fool to think he has any feelings for you. Leeches like him aren’t capable of having feelings." He twisted his mouth in a nasty smile.

  “It's none of your business. You used dark illegal magic to wipe his memories after I told you to stay away from me."

  He laughed. "I won’t deny it."

  "Stay the fuck away from me; otherwise you will have my father to answer to." I limped away, thinking that the ordeal was over. Before I had a chance to defend myself, he pushed me up against the wall. He parted my thighs with his and moved his face near mine, inhaling. His body twisted into mine as he moved his hardness over my thigh. I rose on to the tips of my toes, pain sliced through my left leg and I gasped. I hoped Kate did call my father. I knew Jasper wouldn’t let me go easily. He was an incredibly well-skilled wizard and I was at his mercy.

  "Julia, I'm not here to listen to your threats. I know more about that vampire than you can even imagine. Since you started fucking around with him there has been nothing but trouble." He pressed his cheek to mine. Spicy, oriental fragrance with notes of cinnamon swirled around me.

  Boiling pain coursed through every inch of my body. My injuries weren't severe, but he kept pressing down onto me, no doubt enjoying my misery. When we were together, he would push me to the breaking point. I would have to release my magic, to see what kind of power I held deep inside me.

  “You're mine and you always will be, my power would crush that leech…" He kept talking but I didn't follow him anymore. I heard sirens in the distance and hope flickered through me, swelling inside me like a balloon. Right before he grabbed me up, I’d snatched the knife off the ground—it was now resting in my left hand.

  I could feel flames on my fingertips, but I kept my power at bay. It had been over a year and I was ready to kick his arse.

  “You're my destiny, darling, and if that vampire gets in my way, I'm going to kill him," he whispered. I smiled and pushed the knife I held in my free hand toward his stomach. His pupils dilated, and his body automatically tensed.

  "Continue to touch me and I’ll slip this knife straight into your guts," I said, then he pulled away from me. I heard voices, but Jasper’s dark eyes were focused on mine.

  "I saved your life, Julia, so you owe me." He laughed and without giving me a chance to react; he took a few steps backwards raising his hands. “I'll be watching you. Always."

  "Fuck you!"

  He disappeared into the darkness. My legs gave out and I fell to the ground, breathing heavily. I still tasted blood on my lips and wondered if I could find the way back. I heard voices close to the building’s entrance and soon the corridor was filled with police officers.

  "Julia!"

  Dad got to me, looping his arms around my waist. Our eyes met, and I felt his anger, rippling with his energy; I was in so much trouble. His face was tense, and he kept cursing under his breath until we got outside. "Tell me what’s wrong. Is it your leg, hon?"

  "I'm fine, just a bit bruised," I replied, holding my breath.

  He helped get me to the ambulance. I felt like my leg was going to fall off, but I put on a brave face. Dad was barely holding it together. His skin was ashen, and his breath was sawing quickly in and out of his mouth as he clenched his fists.

  "Julia, what were you thinking?" he yelled. "I’m barely restraining myself from taking you across my knee to beat some sense into you!"

  "Dad," I moaned while the medics fussed around me, “There was no time. I thought that I could find Rufus!"

  "Julia, for the love of God," he said, “You’re worse than your mother. I was going out of my mind thinking that you were dead!"

  I looked above his head to see Nathaniel appear from out of nowhere. He took one look at me and inhaled, his eyes began to burn with rage. "I can’t believe that you were so fucking stupid!" He growled, then lifted my chin to take a look at the bruised side of my face. His eyes darted down to my leg, which I tried to cover up with the blanket.

  "La Caz, my daughter needs medical attention," my dad said.

  "I'm taking her to the hospital, Mr. Taylor. Her leg doesn’t look good, and that magical infection is worsening with every second. We will be at the hospital in minutes. If we leave her here, she might lose her leg." Nathaniel pointed at my leg that was now swollen to the size of a melon and the blood was pouring out of me. I clenched my teeth, trying not to cry.

  Dad’s eyes settled on the injury and, for a second, I thought that he would lose his self-control, flipping with magic. "Fine" he snapped, breathless. "Take her."

  Rage built inside me when I looked at Nathaniel. He wasn't talking right now, and I didn't care how furious he was with me; I had more reason to be pissed off than anyone else here. Kate and Kelsie waved to me, and they looked like they were in good hands. Dad was called over, so he left me with the assurance that he would show up at the hospital as soon as he was done with the crime scene.

  "I'm not going anywhere with you," I said, glaring at Nathaniel.

  "Shut up, Julia," Nathaniel growled, and before I could protest he lifted me gently. Some of the medics started to protest but he was already walking away.

  "Put me down, Nathaniel, right now. I want to walk," I shouted, but I didn't have much strength left to fight. My entire body was pulsing in pain.

  “You're fucking mad if you think I would let you walk," he whispered. His fangs were extended but I didn't know if it was because of my blood or the anger that was radiating through him.

  "For God’s sake, I'm going to use my magic; you’ve humiliated me enough already."

  I was still talking when he placed me gently in the back of his limo; I started to shiver from the cold and the constant excruciating pain. Nathaniel sat beside me; his breathing was rigid, his eyes hardened on me.

  "Hospital, Roberto," he snapped, running his hand through his hair. His eyes flamed with anger. For about five minutes we said nothing. I wanted him to suffer, so he could understand what I was going through after Elena told me the truth.

  "Have you calmed down?" he whispered.

  "We aren’t talking," I replied, closing my eyes.

  "What’s wrong with you, Julia? Do you really want to die?"

  He kept his voice down, but it was pointless; Roberto was listening to every word.

  "I'm not having this conversation with you. I thought that I was going to track Rufus—"

  "Julia! You have no idea what kind of danger you
put yourself and your friends in. I’ve been calling you for hours, pulling my hair out." He was breathing like a beast ready to attack.

  I exhaled, ignoring him. "I'm going to be fine."

  "Sir, we’re here," Roberto said.

  Nathaniel insisted on carrying me into the ER. I wanted to tell him what I thought about him, but I was numb and in so much pain that I couldn’t even shout anymore. He wasn't allowed to go with me into the emergency room. A few paranormals examined my legs. After I was given some pills, I lost consciousness and fell into a deep sleep.

  Chapter 17

  I want to feel the love.

  I opened my eyes the next morning feeling like I had lost feeling in the lower part of my body. I couldn’t move.

  "Morning," the fairy nurse said, entering my room. "How are we feeling today?"

  "Fine, great," I replied. "I feel oddly restrained."

  "Oh, sorry, dear, we charmed you yesterday." She waved her hand.

  I had my body back, and I was still sore, but the pain wasn't as bad. Nathaniel was nowhere to be seen and I was so happy to be alone. As the relief washed over me, I thought about the girls. I should have insisted that they stayed out of my idiotic ideas. Everyone was right. We should have waited for my father instead of walking into that old warehouse.

  Five minutes later Dad entered the room, looking like he didn't get much sleep last night. And like his anger hadn't faded either.

  "How are you feeling?" he asked, arching his eyebrows.

  "Fine, my leg healed up well, and before you even start—I don’t need a lecture. I did what I thought was best."

  “That's why you’re getting a police escort from now on."

  "What?"

  "You heard me. Two undercover police officers will be following you from now on," he said. "I have no choice; you just don’t listen when I say to stay out of trouble. And La Caz approves of my idea."

  "I don’t need an escort, Dad. I can take care of myself," I muttered, feeling betrayed again. But the tiny voice in my head kept saying, You brought this on yourself.

  Maybe Dad was furious about what I’d done, but I felt stupid for not listening to him.

  He smiled. "Don’t be silly; it’s final," he said. "You shouldn’t blame yourself for Rufus’s disappearance."

  "But I was right. Those guys were working for McGregor; we heard them talking about how he’s still in London."

  “I'll take care of this. By the way, I need to take your statement, and your friends mentioned that a wizard killed those other two paranormals who attacked you?"

  "Yeah, Jasper showed up. He saved my butt." I sighed. He wouldn't understand why Jasper kept coming back into my life.

  "Jasper? He’s back in London?"

  "I guess so, but you won’t find him. He’s too clever to talk to the police."

  Our conversation was interrupted by Nathaniel, who walked in uninvited. He was wearing jeans and a blue shirt, looking hotter than ever. A violent tremor passed through my body when our eyes met.

  Dad gave him a faint smile and cleared his throat.

  "Mr. Taylor, I apologise for the intrusion," he said. "I came in to check on Julia."

  "Don’t worry, La Caz. I was just leaving. I'm assuming that you will take my daughter home?"

  "No, he won’t. I can get there by myself.".

  "Of course, Mr. Taylor," Nathaniel said, completely ignoring me.

  Dad kissed me on the cheek, whispering that I had to come home for dinner this weekend, and then left. I couldn't believe that he was happy leaving me with Nathaniel. What kind of parent does that?

  I looked away as a long, uncomfortable silence settled between us.

  "How are you feeling?" he asked, sitting on the chair next to my bed.

  “What's it to you?"

  "Fuck, Julia, why do you do that?" he asked, looking angry. "Everything was fine between us a few days ago. Civilised people talk to each other rather than throw themselves into life threatening situations."

  "Well, civilised people don’t lie to each other, do they?" I asked as my energy started to boil, radiating through my skin.

  He raised his left eyebrow. "Lie?"

  “Don't pretend that you don’t know what I'm talking about," I said. "I know why Caleb hates you. Elena told me everything."

  Nathaniel’s expression didn't change, but surprise flickered in his eyes. He exhaled, looking away. His scent was like a breath of fresh air, but he was still a liar and a man who fooled around with his best mate’s woman.

  "I didn't lie to you."

  "What? You’ve been lying since I met you. You stole the girl that he was in love with and now he’s looking for revenge." Maybe I was exaggerating, but if I hadn't seen Elena, Nathaniel would never have had to explain what happened between him and McGregor, because I would have never known.

  Nathaniel shoved his hands into his pockets and leaned closer to me. "I didn't take anyone away from him. Have you not considered the fact that she might have just simply chose me?"

  I didn't respond.

  "How do I know that you’re not lying?"

  "I have no reason to lie to you," he said, raising his voice. "If you’re willing to listen, I can explain.

  He was way too close to me now. My body reacted, but I tried to act like I didn't care.

  "I'm not scared of you, Nathaniel La Caz," I whispered, but my voice was too high. Sexual tension whipped between us, pulling us to each other.

  "You might not be scared of me, but I know that you want me," he said, breathing into my neck, and then he sat back in his chair. “It's a lot to go through."

  "Crack on, then." I growled, folding my arms together. "I'm sure my dad would also be interested to hear about this."

  He sighed and sat back.

  "We made a bet over Isabelle."

  "Your fiancé?"

  That word stuck in my throat. He’d been engaged to a human, so I didn't understand why he couldn’t commit to me.

  "Yes, we both noticed her when she arrived at Oxford, and we were very competitive. All of my friends were vampires. I was wild then and I didn't care about the protocol. It was just after my mother died. I partied a lot, attacked and drank from many humans. Caleb and I became friends. His maker left him after he turned him, so he was extremely hungry for blood, and I just went with it."

  "How could you be friends with someone like that?"

  "We were both young and we had all that power. I looked up to him. We were both the best in our year," he explained.

  I wasn't saying anything, so he carried on.

  "Isabelle was a fresher. We both wanted her, so we made a bet to ask her out on a date. She agreed to go out with both of us, but then she started dating me exclusively."

  "I can’t believe this," I said, feeling disgusted more now than before.

  "It was a stupid idea, but the consequences came after. Caleb knew that he couldn’t be with a human unless she knew who he was. No one knew about the bet, but she was the only girl that I was truly interested in—and not because of the bet. We dated for a while and at first, I thought that Caleb didn't care that he lost. He got bored of Uni and left."

  Nathaniel stopped talking and I waited. There was more to it. I just knew it.

  "What happened to him?"

  "I don’t know. He left London and we lost contact. I calmed down, stopped partying and feeding on humans. I was crazy about Isabelle. She understood me and loved me unconditionally. After I graduated, I proposed to her and got on with my business. I never got in touch with Caleb again."

  "But you didn't end up marrying her?"

  A spasm of pain appeared on his face. Maybe I was pushing him too hard. Maybe I should’ve just left it alone, but I couldn’t; I had to know.

  "A few years later, we went to France to visit my sister. We were going to get married in Paris. I was going to tell her the truth about what I was. I’d had enough of the lies. I wanted to be honest. What I didn’t know was that Caleb had kept track of Is
abelle and me, stalking us. He hired a few paranormals to follow us. One night in Paris, I left her alone for a few hours. He’d been waiting until I left, and he broke into our apartment. He could never forgive the fact that she had chosen me."

  I brought my hands to my mouth and gasped. "He killed her?"

  Nathaniel shook his head. "She didn't die. No, this was so much worse than death."

  My stomach contracted because I realised what he was talking about.

  "He told her that I had been lying to her for so many years. She didn't understand until he turned her into a vampire," Nathaniel said, staring blankly at me. "He recorded everything. When I came back they were both gone."

  Shock wreaked havoc throughout my body while I tried to process the idea of someone being that cruel.

  "Oh, my god" I whispered.

  "For two years I searched, but they were gone. I wanted to kill him, but he was a vampire and was surrounded by his powerful friends. When I finally found them, Isabelle nearly killed me. She became a monster. She defended him. Caleb convinced her that he wanted to tell her the truth all along; he wanted to give her immortality from the moment they met. He taught her how to kill and how to enjoy this new life without sunlight. She was a good person but being a dark creature transforms you. You don’t understand compassion, you forget how your body used to respond to emotions. Isabelle’s previous life became a blur. She hated me because I didn't give her that chance, because I lied to her about who I was. Isabelle was the love of my life. I never thought that you could suffer like that just because of love. Mum died soon after Dad leaving. When I found Isabelle, I understood why my mother told me to stay away from this suffering emotion of love. I was too arrogant and too stubborn to understand when to let go. I had to pay because I refused to leave her alone.

  He stopped talking and sat there unable to respond. I wished now that I hadn't been so stupid. Elena kept saying that she didn't know everything, and I just assumed that Nathaniel was the one to blame.

  "You wanted to know. So, now you understand why I don’t like talking about this. McGregor desired her for himself; he couldn’t bear that she’d chosen me."