The HR director was a full-blooded mermaid, but she looked far from the stereotypical appearance of a beautiful, radiant water creature. Mermaids normally swam at least three days a week to keep their skin looking healthy, but Lucinda enjoyed food more than she did swimming. Her skin was almost grey, her eyes heavy were and bloodshot. She obviously didn't care about her appearance. Today she wore a blue two-piece suit which made her look even paler than usual.
"Ladies, why are you standing by the elevator? Miss Crawford? I told you to bring them to my office," Lucinda fumed frowning at Kelsie. She must have put on a little bit of weight since the last time I saw her. She swept us all with her stern look and stopped on me for longer than was necessary, probably wondering if I was still coping with being away from Nathaniel.
"No, Miss. Grabovsky, you told me to meet them here because we have to go down to production."
Kelsie didn't take any crap from Lucinda and she was the only person I knew who wasn't afraid of her.
"I said no such thing, Miss. Crowford. Now, let’s go. I have reports to run," she said packing herself into the lift.
Lucinda pressed the button for the lowest floor while we were all squeezed inside. I didn't understand why she wanted me to see the production line. When I came in a few months ago she asked Kelsie to give me a tour and introduce me to a shift manager. I knew Nathaniel’s factory well. He’d shown me around himself when we started working together. I hadn't been here since last year, but I didn't believe it was necessary for me to see the new production floor.
"So, Miss. Taylor, how are you?" Lucinda asked.
"Uhm fine, great actually, working most of the time," I replied with a small voice, wishing the lift would move faster.
"Work is important but you need to relax a little as well," she said pausing. "You know, I always told Mr. La Caz to separate his working life from his private life. He didn't listen and now, the poor thing, he had to travel to Paris to see a specialist. Apparently, he was so overworked that he collapsed."
I had to squeeze the handle in the elevator to keep myself together. I knew that she was going to bring up Nathaniel. She obviously liked to torture me with information about my perfectly handsome and rich ex-boyfriend. Kelsie and Kate were staring at me so intensely, looking as if they were afraid I was going to let go of my magic and involuntary change Lucinda into a frog. On the contrary, my magic was still absent, but my heart was pounding. The tingling and crackling of magic were part of me and now I felt like a normal human being without it. I wasn’t feeling well at all.
"Julia’s taking care of her new boyfriend, so she surely knows how to separate her working and private life just fine," Kelsie said with her sweet voice. I could always count on my girls to have my back. Lucinda looked at her raising her perfectly shaped eyebrow with astonishment but didn't say anything else. For the first time she seemed to be at a loss for words. She couldn't quite believe that I’d managed to replace the perfect Nathaniel with someone else.
When we reached the production level my anxiety increased. My magic was gone, and I was worried that it might never come back. Lucinda started talking about the production of Lucrative shot while taking us to the lowest level. No one was working in that part of the factory. I was curious to know how many people she would need. Shifts were always varying, and Nathaniel knew how to run a successful business.
"The company has come up with something new and exclusive. We’re still doing research, but I want you to meet the production manager who’ll be in charge. We’re expecting a lot of orders, and we need to know how many more workers you could supply," she boasted showing us around the large open space with a number of machines and new production line. I kept wondering if we were underground. I had no idea Nathaniel had managed to create such an efficient room, although the building seemed like it had limited space.
"What kind of number are we talking about here?" I asked as she kept pointing at various stations and positions she was planning to recruit for.
"Twenty-five paranormals to start with and then we’ll see. Production will expand significantly. Lucrative shot had a tremendous success when Mr. La Caz—"
Lucinda stopped talking and nearly fell but I caught her arm regaining my own balance.
"Oh, thank you, Miss. Taylor, there seems to be some spillage out here," Lucinda said. This part of production was filled with heavy machinery and light was limited. There was some kind of liquid on the floor and I walked straight into it; my heels were wet. Inhaling, I could smell a heavy metal scent; the air around us was thick, as if someone had been casting spells down there in the past few hours. My fingers started crackling with electricity, but the energy was foreign—it didn’t feel like mine. I began to feel a little dizzy.
"Mrs. Grabovsky…. Are you all right?" Kelsie asked. "I brought a flash light with me. I know you said that you didn't want to turn all the lights on."
"Yes, great, at least you found yourself to be useful today. Point it toward the floor to see what we’re dealing with," Lucinda ordered.
My best friend brought the flashlight to her face and gave us all her fake freaky smile before she pointed toward the spillage on the floor. Then we all heard a terrifying scream and one by one we were able to see a body lying in a pool of blood in front of us. Lucinda screamed then collapsed on the floor.
"I'm going to switch on the main generator," Kelsie shouted, running away with the flashlight. Kate grabbed my hand and a minute later the lights came on. Somehow, I forced myself not to scream, but shock convulsed right through me, curling my toes. Kate gasped as we both recognised the dead body of our former co-worker, Jennifer Griffiths.
"Oh, my God, is that… is she—"
"Dead, yep, she’s dead, stone-cold dead," Kelsie confirmed after checking for a pulse. She didn't seem to be that bothered about seeing a dead body, and she had no idea who was lying dead in front of her. Kate was pale as a ghost. Lucinda was on the floor unconscious and I was suffocating, losing oxygen, staring at a large kitchen knife that was right in the middle of Jennifer’s chest. It looked like she’d bled to death.
Then startling images began piling up in front of me and my stomach revolted and heaved. I’d seen myself here—in this place—holding the same knife that was now dripping with blood, just before I dropped it on the ground. I opened my mouth to scream but another image flashed through my mind. I was walking along a long dark street, holding a knife in my hand. Then I was seeing myself with that same knife, stabbing, attacking and killing someone who kept screaming. A few seconds later, I felt a burning sensation on my cheek. My eyes snapped open and Kate was standing in front of me.
"Hey, stop screaming, you’re all right," Kate said holding my arms and shaking me back to reality. I closed my mouth. It took me a moment to recognise her.
"Hey, is Julia all right?" Kelsie asked, leaning over Jennifer’s body.
"Yeah, she’s fine.” Kate replied looking at me. "How is Lucinda?"
"Passed out, couldn't handle it," Kelsie said sounding amused. "I kind of like her that way—out and silent."
"What’s going on?" I asked walking around, trying to calm my breathing. My world was spinning out of control, but I couldn't let Kate see me like that. Normally, I would stay calm and collected, but those images shuttled through me like bullets. I felt like I was going to be sick.
I told myself that I wasn't a killer; Jennifer was my former co-worker. She’d tried to kill me, but I never wished her dead; I’d saved her life during the fire at our office knowing that she’d betrayed me. This morning I woke up with blood on my hands and now, I just had a real flashback of stabbing someone—a person. God, I needed to see a doctor; I was going mental.
Maybe that’s why my magic was absent, because I blacked out in the middle of the night and murdered my ex-coworker.
"You were in shock, and kept screaming about the knife," Kate explained looking at my face, searching for any signs of madness. "Right after Lucinda; she went down first."
Kelsie was on the phone with 999.
"Jennifer, she’s dead," I repeated.
"Murdered, if we want to be more precise," Kate muttered, scanning the production floor.
"The police are on their way. Do you think your dad will show up?" Kelsie asked, staring at Jennifer, mesmerised. I swallowed a few times, stopping myself from throwing up. Kelsie didn't know that Kate and I knew the victim.
"Probably."
"Hey, girls. I don’t know why you’re both so shocked? It’s a body; your father works for the police department, so you should be used to it."
"Kelsie, give is a rest. This is our ex-coworker, Jennifer. She and Julia were kind of close," Kate explained through gritted teeth, shooting her an angry stare.
"Co-worker? Oh, wow, I'm sorry."
"Kelsie," I sighed, "It’s fine. Jennifer was a bitch and nearly burned me and herself to death. She was a nasty piece of work, but I she didn’t deserve to die like this. It’s better if we find something to cover her up with."
Chapter 4
Unexpected visit.
My stomach kept revolting and cramping when The Paranormal Unit arrived. Lucinda was taken to the hospital; she was in shock, but the healers were optimistic about her condition. My father showed up half an hour later with his forensic team.
"Let me guess; you were here purely by coincidence?" he asked pursing his lips with annoyance.
"I came here for a meeting, Dad. You can ask Kate if you don’t believe me," I mumbled shoving my sweaty hands into my pockets. He shook his head and went to look at the body. I urged Kate and Kelsie to keep their mouths shut about my mini-meltdown and screams from earlier on. He didn't need to know that I’d all of the sudden turned into a girl who was afraid of a corpse. Everyone knew that I was tough, but Kate had seen me losing the plot twice already.
Later on, I managed to talk my dad into telling me that Jennifer had been dead for about six hours, and that she wasn't charmed. No one used magic on her, although the air around the body was soaked with magic. My heart fluttered in my chest when he informed me that Jennifer was killed between one and three in the morning.
After that, Dad requested all the CCTV cameras from security. He also wanted to question a few people who were working in the building yesterday. My arse was sitting on pins and needles wondering how long I had to wait until the warrant for my arrest would be issued. All the evidence pointed toward me, but I couldn't remember anything.
"You girls should leave. We’ll be here for a while and if I need to speak to any of you, then I’ll contact Julia," Dad said, walking through the door to Lucinda’s office. I didn't have a chance to ask him more questions because he was called by another officer and vanished shortly after. I exhaled loudly wondering if I’d find anything that could lead him to the killer.
"This is bad, really bad," Kate said once we slipped inside the taxi.
"Jennifer was closely tied to McGregor," I whispered. "And he’s also dead."
"Yeah, I don’t like this. It seems as though McGregor’s enemies are cleaning up his mess."
I refused to say anything more, getting back to memories from last night, or the lack there of. Yet again, I had a giant hole in my mind and my energy was gone right along with it. I had nothing to rely on.
“I'll call Rufus," I said clearing my throat hoping to avoid further conversation about Jennifer and my overall wellbeing. Kelsie was asked to stay in the factory to deal with the crisis, while Lucinda was taken to the hospital. She seemed pretty excited about her new role. I told Kate that I had to go to the hospital and pick up Quentin. That was another lie; the truth was that I needed to stay away from the office for a while. Alexandra agreed to cover for me. Instead of going to see if Quentin needed anything, I went to the gym and stayed there until evening came. Eventually I needed to get some rest, but I still didn't check to see if the knife was in my drawer, I was too scared to find out if I was indeed a killer. I kept watching TV, afraid to fall asleep, but exhaustion finally took over close to midnight and I drifted away.
The morning after, I shot from the bed and went straight to the bathroom. I examined myself with relief, not seeing any blood. I was also glad that I woke up in my own bed this time. Maybe I was hallucinating everything; maybe the blackouts never took place.
Later on, I went to the office. I sat at my desk staring blankly at the computer screen. My brain didn’t want to cooperate. People were expecting me to be all right, but deep down I was falling apart. I’d only had one good night’s sleep.
What if I did it? What if I was a murderer? My power hadn’t been set off since my breakup with Nathaniel, but I did blackout and as a result, Quentin ended up in the hospital.
Kate quit asking me if I was all right, but she kept glancing back and forth probably trying to use her internal magic to see what I was hiding from her. I also had a phone call from Quentin asking about Gomez, saying that he’d had enough of lying in the hospital bed and was going to be discharge tonight. In the end I offered to pick him up and nurse him back to health until he was well enough to get back to his apartment.
Clients came and left. My day was moving at a snail’s pace. I picked up the phone three times in the past ten minutes wondering if I should call my dad and ask him if he had any suspects, but I knew that it was still too early.
It was after three o’clock when I finally had a chance to get the hell out of the office and grab something to eat. The absence of my magic was getting me down and my agitation grew. The images of the knife and Jennifer’s dead body kept flashing through my mind.
I returned to the office with the headache. There were a few people on the sofa. I noticed an older elf who looked at me when I came in, then Kate called me over to her desk.
"This elf is here for you. He didn't say what he wanted only that he would wait for you," she whispered.
I had no idea who the paranormal was, dressed in perfectly cut, possibly tailor-made suit. He was an elf, a pure blooded one. I could tell straight away because of the energy that he was surrounded in. His hair had a slight silver glow, but when he was younger his hair was probably baby blond, exactly like mine.
I placed my lunch on my desk and walked over to him.
"My colleague mentioned that you’re here to see me?" I asked with a polite smile. The guy took his time, folding a paper and when he finally looked at me I was flexing my fingers with impatience.
"Miss. Taylor, can we move to a more private room?"
I stood in front of him looking into his deep blue eyes feeling as if my magic was slowly waking up. A tingle of electricity slowly rolled over my back and that usual warm feeling settled into my stomach. Electrical current filled the air, and I felt relieved that at least my energy was back.
"I'm sorry, but could you tell me what this is about? I don’t think we’ve met," I said, digging for any memories that would indicate why I should have known this odd paranormal. He didn't respond straight away, but he continued to stare at me, his eyes beamed with curiosity.
"We met a long time ago. I don’t think you would remember because you were a little girl back then. Miss. Taylor, I insist, we need to have a one-on-one conversation in private. I can't do this in any other way."
His voice was deep and enigmatic; my magic was surging throughout my body like a tidal wave, igniting my fingertips. I was attempting to hide them behind my back.
"Fine, whatever, let’s go, but I don’t think that’s really necessary."
Kate was trying to pin down the stranger with her eyes, but I doubted very much that it would get her anywhere. The older paranormals seemed powerful enough to turn any kind of spell around.
I took the stranger to the interview room trying to figure out what was happening to my body. All morning and half of the afternoon I’d felt useless, and now all of the sudden, my energy was back, jetting through me, heating up my blood.
The older elf sat down in the chair and nodded for me to sit opposite him. When I took a closer look at him my
wild power had finally settled down and my fingers stopped sparkling. The elf was now smiling looking around the office with even more curiosity. His eyes stopped on the whole in the ceiling. Last year, Nathaniel stopped by hoping that I would sleep with him, and my magic had gotten out of control blasting a hole in the middle of the celling. Kate and I never got around to fixing the damage. Just another reminder of Mr. Bastard.
"Your magic is still strong in this room. Did something happen here?" the stranger asked, narrowing his eyes on me.
My anxiety flared up causing hot and cold air waves to pulse throughout my system.
"Can you tell me who you are first?" I asked in a high-pitched tone losing my patience. I didn't like his ambience or the fact that he knew more about me than he was prepared to share. His clothes seemed old fashioned but chosen with great care.
"My name is Tron and I'm one of the oldest elves that still live amongst humans. I'm here to help you with your umm… how to put it right…. Oh, yes, incidents with magic. I want to help you to control it."
I took a deep breath and looked away, thinking fast. He couldn't be serious. No one knew about my "incidents," not even my father.
"You’re losing me, Tron. I don’t know what you’re talking about. I'm half elf and I'm magical like you. I don’t have any incidents or problems with my magic," I insisted. I wasn't prepared to talk about my lethal magic with a stranger who was dressed like he was in the wrong century.
"I haven’t had a chance to speak to your grandmother yet, but if she was here, she would agree with me. Have you been blacking out lately? Have you been experiencing any memory loss?"
"No, no and no," I lied feeling more and more uncomfortable about this entire conversation. My grandmother would never send someone else to tell me that I needed to gain control of my magic. This guy was a scam artist and I didn't trust him, although he was spot on about what had been happening to me lately.
Elf's Affection: The Witching Hour Series Book 3 Page 3
