THE FOLLOWING MORNING, I received a phone call from Mum asking why the hell no one was doing anything to help my dad. She didn't understand that healer’s magic couldn’t heal him. I tried to explain to her that someone forced him into a ritual, which went terribly wrong, and now all the spells were useless. There was no cure for what had happened to him. Halfway through the conversation my mother started crying, telling me that this wasn't over.
After the call, I read and listened to all of Nathaniel’s messages, then felt extremely guilty. I knew I needed to reach out to him. He could help me too, but instead I chose to ask my psycho ex, Jasper for help. This was ridiculous, and I knew it, so what the hell was wrong with me? Sure, Jasper could get me in to see Lancaster, but at what cost? I knew Nathaniel would never allow anyone to hurt me, but I couldn’t say the say the same for Jasper. He always had a hidden agenda and it was usually an attempt at getting me back. I told myself that I would call Nathaniel later and explain everything. I at least owed him that. Maybe he could help me find the answers I so desperately sought.
Then, the tiny voice in my head was telling me that only Jasper could bring me close to Lancaster. Witches, rituals and black magic never interested Nathaniel, and once he found out what I was planning, there was a possibility he’d lock me up in his swanky apartment to keep me out of trouble. I remembered our disastrous evening in one of Lancaster’s bars, when we were nearly torn apart by group of bikers.
I was a right mess, feeling so confused. I just wanted my dad back.
Straight after Mum’s phone call, Rufus called asking me to go straight to La Caz Pharmaceutical. Lucinda wanted to see me urgently. Rufus was on the way to the office and didn't know what she needed. Nathaniel’s factory was on the way to the hospital, which gave me five minutes with Dad.
Work wasn't on my mind at all, but I had to keep earning money. My hands were shaking a little when I jumped back into the car and fired up the engine. I had used my magic this morning to be more in control of my powers, but the past few events left me a little damaged. Nathaniel was never at work early in the morning, but I needed to be prepared, just in case I had to face him. Since my blackouts, my magic and spells had improved. Now I was able to cast the most basic spells. I experienced less tingling throughout the day and was able to concentrate more on things that mattered.
After struggling with finding parking at the hospital, I went to Kate’s room feeling a little on edge. Thoughts of last night were moving through my mind.
Kate’s mum was sitting beside her, waving her magic wand around. She was still trying to come up with a spell that could bring her daughter back.
"Oh, Julia, I wasn't expecting to see you here so early," she said, welcoming me with a warm smile. She hadn’t had much sleep, her sullen cheeks showing complete devotion to her daughter.
"I was on my way to one of the factories and thought I would pop in to see Dad," I explained. "Any changes?"
"No, her condition is still the same." She sighed. "The healers aren’t giving me much hope. I’ve tried everything, even the most complicated potions from my mother’s side, but she’s still asleep."
"Everyone keeps saying that there’s nothing else they can do."
"Your mum has taken this quite hard. She’s been here all night. I saw her in the canteen in the early hours of the morning."
Mum had been spending a lot of time in the hospital. She asked for a leave of absence at work, but she had been spending nights in the hospital. It frustrated me that the healers weren’t even trying to find a cure.
"When Mum found out that Dad was magical, she cut him off and asked for a divorce."
"Some humans are very close-minded. Now she’s beside his bed, not even thinking about the past. It’s sad that it had to come to this to make her see."
I glanced back at Kate; she looked like she was sleeping but without her soul. Her magic was fading, and it wouldn’t be much longer before she died.
"I'm going to check on my dad," I said to Mrs. Broomfield, who was staring blankly at her daughter. "But please don’t lose hope. I have some friends and… I'm going to find the white witch."
Mrs. Broomfield didn't say anything only smiled faintly, probably thinking I was out of my mind. I was scared to go into my dad’s room. I couldn’t psychically imagine my life without him. I peered through the door that stood ajar. My heart hammered between my ribs. He looked so peaceful. One of the healers mentioned that they had to charm Mum to go home; otherwise she refused to leave. My guts were turning, knowing I should have been with her.
I left feeling guilty that she was with him all alone. It was around half past nine when I finally made it to La Caz Pharmaceutical. In the past few months Nathaniel had purchased another building and opened a new production line. His Lucrative shot, which helped vampires deal with their thirst for blood, turned out to be a global success.
Todd, the security guard who I’d gotten to know well, greeted me warmly and asked me to go straight to Lucinda’s office. We supplied over five hundred people to Nathaniel’s factory in the past few weeks, so I had an idea of what this conversation was going to be about.
Her office was on the fourth floor. My friend Kelsie worked as Lucinda’s PR. It was Kelsie who waited for me by the lift. She looked a bit pale today, wearing a tight black two-piece suit and super high heels.
"The whale asked me to show you some stats first," she announced, pushing me back into the elevator. She was lucky enough that her office was a floor down from Lucinda, so she didn’t have to listen to her ranting all day long. "So, any news? I went to your apartment last night with Michael, but you weren't in."
It took me a moment to go through the events from last night. My stomach went a bit queasy when I mentioned the magic thieves and the way Jasper killed that young boy.
"What the fuck? How does that bastard know about white witches?" she hissed, opening the door to her office.
"No way, Julia, you’re not getting sucked into this bullshit. I’ll get you in front of Gordon myself. Michael knows shifters who are working for him. You don’t need Jasper."
"Kelsie, I don’t want you getting involved. This is too dangerous and stupid. The fewer people who know about this, the better. I’ll get some updates from Dannika tonight," I insisted, bending the truth. I wasn't planning to speak to the police; it was a waste of time. I was going to see Jasper.
"Listen to me, you silly idiot. Jasper’s psycho and he isn’t running this show. I’ll speak to Michael and we’ll meet tonight to discuss this. Now, let me show you these shitty numbers before Miss Perfect starts ranting that we’re wasting time."
I was too exhausted and drained to argue with her. I always got myself into trouble and every time I dragged my friends down with me. This time Kelsie was willing to get involved and I wanted to take her up on her offer. Jasper was my last resort.
The conversation about the figures was dull and after my second cup of coffee, I was ready to pack my stuff and go back to the office.
"To be fair to Lucinda, she might be right. Something strange is going on in the factory. In the past two weeks, after we offered contracts to one of our older employees, fifteen witches have gone AWOL. They aren’t even calling off sick; they just don’t come in. I don’t know, Julia, Lucinda seems concerned. La Caz is losing a shit ton of money. No one in the union knows what’s going on."
My head started pulsing with sharp pain. I didn't eat any breakfast in the morning. I couldn't even remember when I ate last. I was distracted but I understood what Kelsie was saying. It was strange that witches hadn't been turning up for work.
"Yeah, that’s unusual, but what does Lucinda want me to do about it? We ran references on everyone. The Sabbath up north might have something to do with it."
“It's not like I give a fuck either, but she wants you to find more vampires, to be more selective and—"
There was a knock at Kelsie’s door and then Nathaniel walked in, not waiting for a response. His eyes automatic
ally found mine. A crisp wind began ruffling my hair.
Yep, nothing has changed. He’s still turning me on, even when I really don’t want to feel anything right now.
CHAPTER 8
TRIGGER WARNING.
K elsie had never seen Nathaniel in her office. He owned the company and had no reason to show up so unexpectedly on this floor. Yet again, he magically knew that I was in the building.
Nathaniel mentioned the other day that he was going to start dating again and I lied, saying I was fine with that. This news sort of broke me, but after Dad, I didn't really care anymore. He was a grown man, so he could do what he wanted.
"Julia, can we talk?"
It was a question, but even if I said no he would drag me away anyway. Kelsie was moving her eyes back and forth, baffled. Nathaniel looked freaking awesome in his black suit and red tie, creating a stream of unexpected desire between my breasts.
I cleared my throat, ignoring the tingling that started in my toes. We were friends, not lovers, but I knew my feelings for him hadn’t magically disappeared. We were still madly in love with each other.
I sighed. "I guess so."
"Boss, I need her back, so don’t keep her too long," Kelsie muttered, probably sensing that I didn't want to talk to him. She didn't care that he could get rid of her any time; she was just straight to the point.
“Don't worry, Kelsie. I’ll get her back to you in no time," he assured her with that sexy smooth voice of his.
I lifted myself off the chair and stepped outside, tensing the muscles in my pelvis, fighting with lust that all of a sudden crawled down to my core.
"Sorry I didn't pick up your calls yesterday. I was busy," I lied, avoiding his eyes. Even after so long, my mind kept slamming those memories back to me, memories of us together in this building, in the elevator, and my own apartment. It was difficult to be around him, knowing what happened between us after two years of dating.
"Obviously you didn't want to listen to me and went ahead meeting that creepy ex-boyfriend of yours, didn't you?"
Why was he asking the question if he already knew the answer? I finally looked at him and my pulse skyrocketed, melting the ground beneath my feet.
"What do you want me to say? Jasper isn’t an angel. I knew only scumbags like him could get me to the white which," I answered. "And I was right."
He folded his arms together closing the distance between us.
"So, you’re telling me he knows how to find the white witch and he’s willing to take you there?" he asked in a mocking tone of voice.
"No, but he knows someone who can take me to her."
“He's lying to you. Why are you so blind? I told you that I can help you, but you need to give me a bit more time. He wants to crawl his way back into your life, using manipulation and deceit, and you’re believing everything he says."
“It's Gordon Lancaster. He holds the information about the white witch."
The words floated out of my mouth before I could stop them. All my life I suffered because I couldn’t keep certain things to myself. Now I wanted to bite my tongue, knowing that I shouldn't have said anything to Nathaniel, who was now staring at me completely frozen. The tension rose, prickling my skin. Before I could take another breath to tell him that I knew what I was doing, he brought me close, cupped my face in his hands and kissed me. Desire, thick and intimidating, shot right through me, smothering me with his incredible scent of love. He tasted better than I remembered, and the pulverising passion clouded my brain for a moment. Nathaniel tricked my brain, his tongue slid over my teeth, his hands moved down my waist and I was paralysed by my own weakness. His kiss turned hungry, desperate, shifting from rough to sensual. I squeezed my thighs together tighter, as his tongue plundered inside my mouth, tangling with mine. Nathaniel made a growling sound in the back of his throat, moving his mouth down to my neck and I melted.
When his kissing ended, my eyes were still closed. My magic was in control, but the pumping desire didn’t stop moving all over my body.
"Why the hell did you kiss me? We’re just friends, and friends don’t kiss like that," I said, doing everything I could not to throw myself at him again. What was bloody wrong with me? Hooking up with Nathaniel wouldn't bring my dad back. He was just a distraction.
With a sharp intake of breath, he pressed his finger to my mouth, silencing me.
"I had to see if you still want me as much as I want you. It turns out that I was right. Your rejection doesn’t bother me; I’ll keep waiting for you," he said in this low husky voice, moving his face close to mine. "Forget about your ex. I’ll get info out of Gordon one way or another. Just give me two weeks."
"Desire has nothing to do with what happened between us. We don’t work well together. We tried for two years and we ended up hurting too many people and couldn’t fix it," I said, angry that he kept playing with my feelings. "Let me do this my way."
"I won't let you kill yourself. Seven months ago, you fell into Lancaster’s hands and nearly died."
"That was then. Now in around a month’s time I'm going to lose my dad. Jasper’s close to Gordon; he won't let anything happen to me," I insisted, as if I really believed myself. Nausea hit me once I brought up those memories from the blackout I’d had. I didn’t want to think about what Gordon would have done to me if we hadn’t been interrupted by shifters in his neighbourhood. I had never in my life been so scared.
Nathaniel slammed his fist into the wall, his fangs descended. "Stop being so delusional. Fuck! Lancaster doesn’t work like you and me. He’s a vicious killer."
He didn’t scare me but made it much more difficult for me to say no.
"I don’t want to wait. Jasper will take me to Gordon."
"Fuck no, over my dead body. Forget it, this is too dangerous." He scowled. Lucky enough, my phone started ringing. I showed the screen to Nathaniel.
"I need to take this; it’s Dannika, Dad’s subordinate," I said and then answered it, feeling a little relieved that this conversation was interrupted.
"Hello."
"Julia, listen, I need to see you today. I have some information," she said, short and straight to the point. That’s what I liked about her.
“I'll come to the station after work."
"All right, ask for me at the reception desk."
Then I hung up and looked back at Nathaniel, who was watching me intensely, like he used to after we’d made love, after all those times when he was there for me. Regardless of our feelings for one another, he couldn’t keep me away from what I had to do.
"I need to get that report back to Kelsie. Just give me some space for now and let me do what I have to."
"No. I’ll find a way to get to the white witch and then you won't have to go to Lancaster," he barked back, running his hand through his hair, angry and frustrated that I didn’t want to listen.
"All right, fine," I said, knowing that lying would get him off my back. He approached me again and placed his hands on my shoulders.
"Promise me that you won't meet with Jasper again. Firecracker, I can’t lose you."
"Okay, I promise," I said, lying, just to make him leave me alone. I shouldn't have said anything in the first place. First Nicky, then Kelsie and now Nathaniel. All telling me what to do, but not one of them understood how I felt. Dad was in desperate straits and Jasper had answers.
Our conversation ended shortly after that and I went back to Kelsie’s office. She wasn't at her desk but by the door with her hands crossed over her chest. I only now realised that she must have heard everything and was probably aware of our hot make-out session behind closed doors. This was one of the annoying characteristics of shifters. Their hearing was much better than ordinary humans or other paranormals.
"Funny, how you two are just friends. He’s treating you like his possession, ordering you around," Kelsie snarled.
"I had to tell him what he needed to hear," I said, shrugging it off, as if the lies didn’t make me feel like a coward.
"Yeah, he kissed me, but I'm standing my ground. We’re too complicated for each other. He doesn’t need to know what I'm doing," I explained, feeling completely drained. "Anyway, be ready to go out tonight. I’m not sitting at home and waiting. I’ll be at your place at eight."
"Okay, I’ll let Michael know," she muttered. "Now let’s get back to work; otherwise Mr. Sexy Arse will kick me out, and that’s possible considering the sort of mood he’s in right now."
We did get back to the report after discussing the situation with the witches and the plan for the evening. Eventually Lucinda arrived and started complaining that she was losing half of her staff. As usual I promised to sort it out sooner rather than later, although the witches who disappeared were taken over by La Caz Pharmaceutical, so there wasn't much I could do other than supply more people.
When I got back to the office later on, there was a queue outside. Paranormals were waiting to be registered. Alexandra, Sara and even Rufus were registering people from early morning, so I tucked straight into work to help out.
It turned out that it was a bad call, because I didn't leave the office until seven o’clock. Shortly after two o’clock, we had so many people that some of them started to fight between themselves over the night shifts. Rufus separated the troublemakers and luckily, we didn’t have to call the police.
Witch's Promise : The Witching Hour Series Book 4 Page 6
