But now, the only thought filling her head was that she’d embarrassed herself in front of so many senior Advocates. She’d made a mistake, and hadn’t been on top of her game. She didn’t care what Noah said. She knew protocol in rooms with magical artifacts. She should have asked permission before touching anything, and she hadn’t. She’d been so enthralled by Noah’s description of ancient magic balls that she’d just reached out and picked up one of the replicas. Never mind the fact that Noah would have given her permission if she’d asked, so she still would have picked up the ball and angered Kai. Julia was hard on herself, and had already worked out all the ways that everything that had happened today was her fault.
They had reached her office, and Jasper stepped around her to hold the door open for her. He stepped inside after her and shut the door, then turned to look at her with a smile.
“Finally, we’re alone and we can talk,” he said. He seemed relaxed, and completely clueless about the fact that Julia was still upset. Completely clueless, that is, until he saw the look on her face and froze.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, rushing over to her as his voice filled with concern.
Julia shook her head and took a step back. “It’s nothing. I’m just…tired.”
Jasper narrowed his eyes at her. “You’re still upset about what happened back there, aren’t you?”
Julia sighed. “It’s a big deal to me, Jasper. I’ve worked so hard to impress all of the senior Advocates, and one crazy old wizard made me look like a fool in front of everyone. I’m so humiliated.”
“No one thinks you were a fool. It sounds like everyone knows that this Kai guy is a bit on the looney side.”
Julia went to sit at her desk, purposefully putting some space and furniture between her and Jasper. She felt overwhelmed. She knew what Jasper was saying was logical, but she still felt off. She felt crushed somehow, like, if nothing else, Kai had proven that she was easily rattled. Advocate Defenders could not be easily rattled. Advocate Support Specialists should not be easily rattled, either. And yet, she was sitting here feeling like her world was ending just because she’d been yelled at about picking up a ball.
Jasper was looking at her with worry etched deep into his face. “Maybe we should go get some lunch. You’ll probably feel better after you have a little time to process everything and get some food in your stomach.”
But Julia shook her head. She couldn’t imagine eating right now. She suddenly felt overwhelmingly tired, and all she wanted to do was lie down. “I…I think I need to go home for a bit,” she said. “Do you think you could try to meet up with Elliot to shadow him for the rest of the day or something? This morning has just been…exhausting.”
Jasper looked hurt. “You don’t want me around?”
Julia shook her head no. Shit, he was going to think that this had something to do with their time on the boat this past weekend. It didn’t have anything to do with that. She just felt so embarrassed and overwhelmed right now by her unfortunate meeting with Kai. “It’s not anything to do with you, I promise. I just need to go home and have some peace and quiet to recover. I know you think I’m overreacting, but Kai really rattled me.”
Jasper still looked doubtful, so Julia decided to distract him with an offer of drinks later.
“What if we meet up at the Winking Wizard tonight? It’s a Monday so it should be pretty quiet and we can talk. Hopefully by then I’ll be feeling more like myself again.”
Jasper still didn’t look happy, but he slowly nodded. “Okay. If you’re sure you don’t want to try having some lunch with me first? I really think some food would do you good.”
Julia shook her head no. “I appreciate the offer, truly. But I think I just need to rest.” She forced herself to put a wide smile on her face. “I’ll see you tonight though, and we can talk about everything?”
Jasper sighed. “Alright. Winking Wizard tonight. I guess that’s my cue to leave.”
He leaned over the desk and planted a soft kiss on her forehead, then turned to leave. Julia didn’t say anything else, but as soon as the door closed behind him she put her head in her hands. She’d postponed having a conversation with him for the moment, but she wasn’t sure she was going to be any happier or any less exhausted tonight. Wearily, she took a deep breath and then forced herself to stand. She should try to get some rest. At the very least, she was going to go home so she didn’t have to be at the Advocacy Bureau anymore today.
She felt crazy for thinking this, but something in the air here felt suddenly strange to her. Julia shook her head as she reached for her jacket and car keys. Yup, time to go home and lie down for a bit, before she started acting as crazy as Kai.
Chapter Nine
Jasper tapped his foot on the floor over and over, an anxious twitch he kept becoming conscious of, stopping, and then unconsciously starting again. The Winking Wizard was nearly empty on this dreary Monday evening. The weather gods must have been making up for the beautiful weather they’d granted over the weekend, because now the temperature had taken a nosedive, and a torrential rain had started. Not too many people wanted to come out to the bar on a Monday, anyway. But with the weather outside as bad as it was, Jasper was one of about four crazy people who had braved the storm to come get a pint.
Of course, he wasn’t really here for the Dragon’s Breath lager. He was here to see Julia, and he wished she’d hurry up. The clock had already passed the six o’clock mark, and he hadn’t heard from her at all. He’d come to the bar right after work, hoping she might show up just after five, since she would know that he’d be done at the Advocacy Bureau by then. He’d been disappointed when she wasn’t here, but he figured she’d show up soon enough, or at least text him to give him an estimated time of arrival. But so far, she’d been silent.
Jasper knew he was acting a bit like an obsessed teenager at the moment, but who could blame him? Julia was beautiful, and he knew deep in his soul that she was his lifemate. He had a burning desire to tell her this, and to find out whether she felt the same. He’d never pined for a girl before, but right now he was pining for Julia.
His pining continued for another hour, and he started to get worried. As the clock inched past seven and he still hadn’t heard from Julia, the nagging feeling that something was wrong began to grow stronger. He began to worry that she had somehow gotten into an accident. This rain could have made driving somewhat treacherous. The only other possibility at this point seemed to be that she was standing him up. It was late enough now that she should have at least let him know what time she planned to be there. They’d agreed to drinks after work, after all, and it had been two hours since work ended.
Jasper pulled out his phone and held it in his hand, staring at the screen and trying to decide whether he should text. He didn’t want to seem desperate, even though he was starting to feel desperate. He still had quite a bit of dragon pride, after all. He swiped to unlock his phone, then locked it again, then changed his mind and swiped to unlock it. He went back and forth several times before finally telling himself that he had to get a hold of himself. Now he really was acting like a foolish teenager. Grunting in frustration, he typed out a quick text and hit send before he could change his mind.
Hey! I hope you’re feeling a bit better? What time do you think you’ll make it to the WW?
He set his phone down on the table in front of him, telling himself to give her at least a few minutes to respond before getting too antsy. But almost as soon as he’d let go of the phone, it rang. In the nearly empty bar, the phone’s vibration against the hard wood of the table sounded unnaturally loud. Jasper saw Julia’s name flash onto the caller I.D. screen, and he reached for the phone so quickly that he nearly knocked it onto the floor. He managed to catch it though, and tried to sound casual as he answered, despite the fact that his heart felt like it was about to pound right out of his chest.
“Julia?”
“No, it’s Rachel. This is Jasper?”
Jasper’s h
eart dropped. The fact that Rachel was answering Julia’s phone instead of Julia herself only increased Jasper’s gut feeling that something wasn’t right. But he took a deep breath and told himself to stay calm. Dragons didn’t panic, after all. “Yeah, this is Jasper. What are you doing with Julia’s phone?”
“I have her purse. She…she…”
Rachel paused, her voice breaking. Even over the phone, Jasper could tell that she was fighting—and failing—to maintain control of her emotions.
“Rachel, what’s wrong?”
“She’s in the hospital, Jasper. She’s really sick. She called me at about four-thirty, telling me she thought something was wrong. She said when she tried to stand up she felt dizzy, that she felt nauseated, and that she had a weird tightness in her chest. I told her to call an ambulance if she felt that badly, but she didn’t want to. She said she had somewhere important to be tonight and that she’d tough it out. From your text just now I’m assuming that you were meeting with her?”
“Yeah, we were supposed to meet at the Winking Wizard after work.” Jasper was already standing up to leave the bar. He held his phone up to his ear with his shoulder so he could fish some cash out of his wallet to throw on the table to cover his tab. “She’s at the hospital? What’s wrong?”
So much for dragons not panicking. Jasper could feel the panic rising in his stomach right now. He had known deep down that something was wrong. Why had he ignored that feeling? His lifemate was in trouble. He started running toward the exit as Rachel answered him.
“The doctors don’t know. I went by her house to check on her because she stopped answering my texts. I wasn’t sure whether she was ignoring me because I was trying to get her to go to the hospital, or if something was really wrong. It’s a good thing I checked, because when I got to her place she was passed out in the middle of her kitchen.”
“Oh my god. Is she still unconscious?” Jasper was running toward his truck now, completely oblivious to the fact that the cold rain was quickly soaking him to the bone. He had to get to Julia.
“She’s completely out of it,” Rachel said, her voice breaking again. “I called an ambulance and stayed with her until they got there, of course. Then I grabbed her purse from the kitchen counter and drove to the hospital. I thought she might want her phone when she woke up.”
“But she’s still not awake?”
“No. The doctors says she’s feverish and in a coma. They don’t know what’s wrong with her, but they think it’s some sort of dark magic. It’s not a normal illness, Jasper. I’m really worried about her.”
“Which hospital is she at?” Jasper’s truck roared to life and he peeled out of the parking lot, leaving a spray of muddy rain water in his wake.
“Torch Lake Main. The doctors have called in a specialist from St. Merlin’s across town. Apparently there’s a doctor there who specializes in dark magic, and they think he might be able to tell what this is.”
“I’m coming to see her. What floor are you on?”
“Third. I’m in the waiting area on the third floor, outside of the magical emergencies department.”
“I’m on my way. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
The ten minute drive to the hospital felt like it took ten hours. Jasper’s heart was pounding, and his palms were sweaty as he zoomed through several stale yellow lights and drove way too fast on the roads that were slick with fresh rainwater. He knew he should slow down. It wouldn’t do anyone any good if he crashed his truck and ended up in the hospital, too. But he couldn’t think rationally right now. All he could think about was the fact that something was wrong with Julia. He felt bad for assuming earlier today that she’d only said she was tired because she was embarrassed over the incident with Kai. She must have already been getting sick at that point, and he had just misread the signs.
The hospital parking lot was packed, and Jasper was forced to park near the back row. He cursed as he killed his engine and hopped out, already at a run. Every second he wasted was another second that he wasn’t there with Julia, with his lifemate and the woman he loved more than anything. He hadn’t even had a chance to tell her how he felt about her, and now it sounded like her life might be in danger. How in the world had she been affected by dark magic? Surely, it hadn’t happened at work. The Advocacy Bureau was probably one of the safest places in Torch Lake. But who would have targeted her outside of work? Of course, Jasper thought she was really special. But she wasn’t some big name or important person that dark wizards would be motivated to attack. There were plenty of more “important” people in the city to go after if a dark wizard was here and wanted to cause harm. Any of the High Council members or dragon shifters, for example.
The deluge from the sky continued, and Jasper was once again soaked through as he ran from his car to the hospital entrance. Not that it mattered. He was still dripping wet from leaving the bar. He didn’t slow down as he reached the hospital entrance, which earned him several angry yells from the receptionist at the information desk.
“Hey! Excuse me, sir! You’re tracking water everywhere. Please, stop! And besides, you need to check in. All visitors need a badge!”
Jasper ignored her and ran to the stairwell, where he quickly started taking the stairs two at a time up to the third floor. He had more important things to worry about right now than wet floors and visitor badges.
When he burst into the third floor waiting room, he immediately saw Rachel, who was sobbing into her hands. Rachel’s lifemate, Jake, was here now, too, and had his arm around Rachel. Jake felt his heart dropping, and the world felt like it was spinning.
“Is she still alive?” he asked, his heart tightening in his chest as he took in the grim, sorrowful faces of Rachel and Jake. The two of them did not look happy, and for a moment Jasper feared the worst. Rachel looked up at him with a tearstained face, and he held his breath as she tried to choke out an answer.
“Sh-she’s still a-alive. B-but…” Rachel broke down into complete sobs then, and Jake held her tighter.
“But what?” Jasper asked, trying to be sensitive to how upset Rachel was, but too upset himself to remain calm. Whatever was going on was not good.
It was Jake who finally answered. “Come sit down, man.”
Jasper came to sit on the row of waiting room chairs across from them, his feet squeaking on the tile of the hospital room floor as he did. He left a trail of water in his wake, but he hardly noticed. His mind was only focused on one thing right now: what was wrong with Julia?
“I got here right after Rachel finished talking to you, as did the doctor who specializes in dark magic. It only took him about two minutes to figure out what was going on.”
Jasper felt his chest tightening up again. “So it was dark magic?”
“Yes. He said she’s suffering from an ancient curse that sterilizes magic.”
“Sterilizes magic? What does that mean?” Jasper could take a guess, but he didn’t want to believe that this might be happening to Julia.
“It means that whoever suffers from the curse loses their ability to do magic,” Rachel said between sniffles.
Jasper felt like the floor had fallen out from underneath him. He might not be a wizard himself, but it didn’t take a genius to realize that losing one’s magical ability was one of the worst things that could happen to a wizard. It would be especially bad for someone like Julia, whose entire career depended on the use of magic. Everything she had worked so hard to achieve at the Advocacy Bureau would be lost. She could not become an Advocacy Defender without magical abilities. Jasper felt his heart breaking for Julia. He knew her career meant the world to her. She had poured her whole life into it. It didn’t seem right that it could all be snatched from her in an instant. He hopped to his feet and started pacing like a wild animal caught in a cage.
“Surely, there’s a cure for that? A magic spell or a wizard potion that can fix the problem?”
He knew, of course, by the way Rachel had reacted to the news th
at there was no cure. Or at least not a reliable one. She wouldn’t be sobbing in Jake’s arms if there was an easy fix to this.
Jake was once again the one to answer. He looked up at Jasper and shook his head sadly. “There’s no known cure. The doctor said a small percentage of people manage to fight off the curse on their own, but that usually those people don’t go into a coma like Julia has. He said that it looks like, unfortunately, she’s not one of the lucky ones with the natural ability to fight this off. There’s nothing they can do except make her comfortable and try to keep the pain down with meds.”
“There’s also a chance she could outright die from the fever and other side effects,” Rachel said in another choked sob. “The doctor said thirty percent of people die in the first twenty-four hours.”
Jasper felt anger, frustration, and despair all tearing at his heart. He knew Julia would probably rather die if she was going to lose her magic. But he couldn’t bear the thought of losing her. “How did this happen?” he roared. “Have dark wizards infiltrated Torch Lake again?”
It seemed like no matter how much security was tightened, dark magic always crept in. But why had Julia been a victim here? She was one of the brightest, most promising citizens in Torch Lake, but not many people knew that. How had the dark wizards figured it out?
Jake cleared his throat, agony etched in his face. “It wasn’t a dark wizard. At least, the doctor doesn’t think that’s the most likely possibility.”
Jasper frowned. “If this is a dark magic curse, then how could it not be a dark wizard? Surely, no one could accidentally perform a dark magic spell.”
Jake shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “This particular curse isn’t usually caused by a wizard casting a spell. It’s caused by coming into contact with a cursed object.”
It took a few beats for Jasper to process what Jake had just said. But then in a flash, it all came rushing back to him. The look on Kai’s face when Julia had touched one of the balls in his precious pile. He hadn’t been angry merely because she’d been touching his things. He’d been angry because he’d known the balls were cursed.
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