Sara had been flapping about Nathaniel for the last ten minutes, contemplating whether or not he would come back like Prince Charming. As soon as the last client left I was ready to deal with Kate’s questions.
"What the fuck, Julia? How dare he come here, disturb you while you’re working and even touch you?"
"It was a goodbye kiss, I declined his offer."
That was almost the truth, but if she was to ask if we were sleeping together I didn't think I could lie. "He’s ready to leave his fiancé for me, he said that he finally understood what he wanted."
Kate normally didn't swear but the words that came out of her mouth in the next thirty seconds shocked even me. She called him every name in the book and then some, but I’d have preferred if she would’ve slacked off a bit instead.
"Obviously you’re not that stupid, Julia. I'm proud of you for throwing him out. That self-centered bastard deserves to know his place," Kate added, then told Sara to shut up.
I was officially a coward, a girl who couldn't even tell her best friend that she’d cheated on her boyfriend with her ex. I also couldn’t tell her that I was still completely in love with him. What had I gotten myself into? I just wanted to cry.
My work day didn't get any better later on. Kate had a date with her perfect boyfriend and I hurried to see Ella. Outside the office I had another surprise; my best friend was waiting for me in her car looking like her usual self.
"Ella, are you okay? What are you doing here?"
"Alex let me leave an hour ago, so I decided to come here," she replied giving me a weak smile. I jumped into the car and sat next to her. Ella looked fine to me. She was a little paler than usual but other than that her makeup and spray tan remained untouched.
"How are you feeling? I know you were probably in shock and—"
"Julia, stop talking for a second," she said cutting me off. "Yes, at first I thought it was mistake. Mum and Matt, they aren’t magical at all, and then he told me that I'm the only one who found my magic."
Ella was confused, and it was understandable, but I never imagined she would just accept that new part of herself so easily.
“What happened when I left? You were crying."
"Okay, I was jealous of you, Julia. That’s the truth and I cried because I thought he was joking. When you told me that you weren’t human I was angry that you kept it from me but also jealous because I was ordinary."
"Oh, Ella…"
"No, let me finish. Yeah, I don’t know this man who calls himself my father, but he showed me memories of when he met my mum. That other man, Tron, told me that you’re in trouble with your magic and that’s why they decided to tell me now. They said you’re blacking out and hurting people."
"Yes, that’s right. I was fine until three months ago, but then I had my first blackout," I explained with a heavy sigh looking at Ella, who all of the sudden wasn't my silly friend anymore. Maybe she hadn’t accepted that she was paranormal, but she was slowly understanding it.
"Tron’s teaching you to control it. They told me I might be in danger now because Alex is a royal. He was cast out because he married Mum."
“That's the story, but before he came into the picture, I didn't know that royal lines even existed. My grandmother never mentioned them before.”
"Alex said his spell was strong, that I should have never felt any magic. If it wasn’t for you, I don’t think I’d ever found out who truly I am."
"Trust me, Ella, the paranormal world is much more complicated. You were happy before. What if they’re right; what if someone comes looking for you? I don’t know anything about royal fairies, but what if something happens to you?"
"I can't think about this now. I want to get to know Alex, he’s my dad."
This conversation wasn't going in the right direction. Maybe I didn't understand the danger of the situation. Maybe Alex wasn’t even sure if his brothers were still looking for him. All I knew was that my best friend was happy that she was paranormal. This was certainly unexpected.
"So, what now? What are you going to do? Are you going to see him?"
"Yes, maybe, I don’t know. I miss you, Julia, and I don’t care about the blackouts. I'm sorry for how I behaved when you told me who you were."
"Oh, Ella, it’s all forgotten." I swallowed my tears and hugged her. Our differences were all behind us, but I wasn’t too sure how Ella imagined her new relationship with Alex would be. She’d obviously agreed to comply, keeping their heritage a secret from her mother and brother. So far, she wasn’t showing any signs of magic.
We talked more later when we decided to have lunch together. She told me about the conversation that she’d had with Alex. He tried to establish if she could use her magic, but so far, he only found that she was immune to spells. At first the memory spell that my dad cast upon her worked but then it faded after time. Her immunity had only grown stronger.
After dinner, I went to see Quentin instead of practising my magic with Tron. Before throwing myself into intense training to restrain my blackouts, I needed to put my failing relationship to rights and tell him what was going on. It was time, blackouts or not.
"Hey, sexy. What are you doing here?" Gomez asked when I showed up at Quentin’s home later on.
"Looking for my boyfriend," I said walking through the door. Quentin gave me a key, so I let myself in.
"Quini is out of town, but we can have some fun together. How about we play poker? Whoever loses has to take their clothes off," Gomez suggested moving fast around my legs.
"Out of town, but where is he? He didn't tell me he was going away." I said ignoring his inappropriate suggestion.
"Don’t know. He got home about twenty minutes ago in a rush, then left saying something about a major exhibition. So, are you stripping, or what?"
"No, I'm not stripping, I'm leaving."
Gomez was making these odd noises, but I shut the door behind me and started walking back to the tube station. It was strange that Quentin didn't say anything about going away, but he’d said a few days ago that he was going to be busy. I guessed our talk would have to wait until he came back from his trip.
Mum left me a couple more messages on my phone. After seeing Nathaniel this morning my excess magic was only getting worse, rolling over my body in wave after wave. I had to go train with Tron, but I wanted to speak to Quentin. I’d gotten rid of Nathaniel for the time being, so I could sort out my ongoing issues, lied to Kate but that was over. I had to straighten out all of my affairs first.
I fell asleep in the train on the way home. I must have close my eyes for a moment or so, because then I was dreaming.
The train shifted, and I was in my parents’ home talking loudly about magic. My mother was sitting in a chair, shouting.
"Julia, what are you doing, hon?" she kept asking. Her hands were tied behind her back and the voice inside my head told me to pour petrol all over the house. I refused to pick up the canister, but my hands grabbed it of their own accord and I started moving around the house. I tried to fight with the commanding voice, exactly as I did the last time, but my movements weren't my own. The voice in my head told me that I had to cover all the rooms in the house, that the woman in front of me had to die. She saw me, and she was a witness.
My mother’s screams were heard around the house, and I wanted stop pouring petrol all over the floor, but someone else had taken possession of my body and I couldn't stop.
Then I walked back downstairs, and my mother was crying, fear was taking over her body. She was going to lose it. When I took out the box of matches she started screaming.
“It's all right, calm down," the voice said. I realised soon enough that I was the one who was screaming.
“What happened?" I asked. I was still on the tube; the train was moving at its usual speed and people were staring at me like I was mental. I touched my face; my cheeks were burning, and I was surrounded by humans. They were all looking at me.
"You fell asleep and had a nightmare," a
woman sitting next to me said. She looked like she was in her forties staring at me with concern etched across her face.
"Sorry, I'm really sorry," I blurted out and stood up when the train stopped. This wasn’t my station, but I didn't care; I had to get away from all those people. My mind was racing as I ran from the underground. It was still daylight outside, but the darkness was going to take over soon.
My hands were shaking when I took out my phone. I was in Central London, but I didn't want to take the tube to get home. My first instinct told me to call Tron but then I bit my lips thinking that maybe he wasn’t the one who I needed to speak to.
This nightmare had been hunting me down since the blackouts started. My mother, my family; they meant everything to me. My blackouts had become more frequent and I was afraid that the next time around I would murder my own mother. I couldn’t bear the fact that now I had a great opportunity to change this, to prevent it from happening.
Things with Nathaniel were complicated, and I needed someone who understood dark magic, because that was exactly what I was dealing with.
"Where are you? We need to meet," I said as soon as he picked up. I deleted his number as soon as we broke up, although I still remembered it.
"Julia, nice to hear your voice again."
"Cut the crap, Jasper, I need to see you. I'm on Oxford street, can you pick me up?" He agreed, and I was relieved that he wasn’t busy. I knew I was taking a gamble by asking him for help, but I was desperate. I only hoped I wasn’t making a huge mistake. He knew his black magic. After all he was dangerous, unpredictable, and his obsession with me caused more harm than good, but right now he was the only person I could think of who could help.
He arrived an hour later when it was already dark.
"I thought you didn't want to see me?" he asked when I jumped into his car.
"I wasn't planning to but, whatever. You said you’ve changed, and if you mean it, then you can help me with something."
In all honesty, Jasper wanted to get into my pants, so he could say anything he wanted. At the end of the day he was an expert in black magic, he could deny it as much as he wanted, but I knew he had contacts with the most vicious individuals within the industry.
"Are you in trouble or something? Don’t tell me; you want me to get rid of that leech for you?" he asked laughing.
"Actually, I took care of him myself. Besides, that’s none of your business," I said. "My power is getting out of control and I’ve been having blackouts. Some people got hurt: Ella was in coma for a few days and now, I keep dreaming that I'm going to burn my parents’ home." He didn’t need to know that I’d continued to see Nathaniel. I was afraid of how he might react otherwise.
There was no point in starting idle chit chat with Jasper, I had to tell him straight what I wanted. He didn't respond until he stopped the car. His brown eyes swept over my body, but I ignored the lust in his eyes.
"How long has this has been going on?" he asked in a serious tone.
"Three months maybe? It’s fairly recent but I'm scared to be around my parents."
"Violence with your magic is lethal. This never happened when we were together," he observed. "And you came to me because?"
"Oh, come on, we both know you’re a dark wizard, so stop pretending you don’t know what I'm talking about. All those trips abroad? I heard the rumours, Jasper." I noticed he was attempting to block his thoughts, probably trying to think of a spell to shut me up.
"I don’t talk about that with anyone. How do I know you won’t call your father and have me arrested?"
I laughed.
"I could go to someone else, but no one can know about this; my magic is too lethal like yours."
It seemed I’d given Jasper something to think about. We were only together for a short while, but people talked. When we broke up, he went abroad. I shouldn’t have even considered talking to him in the first place, especially after I found out he was recruited by McGregor, but he was my last hope.
"If you promise me something first, then I’ll help you." He glared at me when we stopped at the traffic light. I had bad feeling about this, but then I thought about my mother and cringed.
"We are not getting back together," I said fervently.
“You're going to try to be friends with me again, for real this time. I guess you owe me, ‘cause I saved your virtue."
"We’re kind of even, because you were the one who used me for McGregor. I can't believe you were so stupid. He wanted to get to Nathaniel and almost succeeded."
"It wasn’t just about your leech. He introduced me to the most powerful wizard and it was all about gaining magical skills. We both know you need me, but I don’t get it. What about your all-powerful grandmother?"
“Let's just not go there. I’ll forget about your naughty past, consider being friends with you again and you’ll help prevent more bloodshed. I won’t ask any questions."
"Fine, I’ll play by the rules, but we’re going somewhere first. I need to consult with someone about your genetics. Magic that powerful doesn't just inflame with age. We might have to take some serious steps in order for the blackouts to stop."
"Such as?"
"Paying a visit to magic stealers; they can reverse your magic back to where it was. They can make you an incredible offer that might stop the blackouts. If that doesn’t work then I’ll step in, use my skills and experience to put you into a deep sleep, searching for the bad genes that turn you into a killer."
"Woah, hold on. What do you mean, magic stealers? What bad genes? And how do you know about the killings?"
Chapter 27
Magic thief.
He laughed, then parked his car on some obscure dark street. We were still in a good location, somewhere in Southeast London. And he still didn’t answer my questions. I gathered he wasn’t planning to. Knowing Jasper, he had someone watching me which was creepy, but I didn’t want to think about that—I needed his help.
"You need to come with me, I want to see if I have what I need in my lab," he told me opening my door. I was pushing my limits. Didn't I remember that Jasper was unstable, a complete psycho, and now I was going with him to his illegal lab practising dark magic? My own self talk made me want to slap myself silly, but what other choice did I have?
The street didn't look different from any other street. A few cars were parked outside alongside a round of terrace houses. The sky was completely covered with clouds. Jasper approached the door to number twenty-seven and we went inside.
What hit me at first was the smell of fresh antiseptic; it reminded me of being back in the hospital. Jasper turned on all the lights and I found myself in a completely bare home. There was a living room on our right, with only an old dirty green sofa.
"This is your lab? Are you kidding me?" I looked around in disbelief.
"Easy to hide, plus no one disturbs me here. Come on," he said, encouraging me to follow him to what was supposed to be a dining room. I was taken aback straight away by the large table situated in the middle of the room; there were various flasks, jars and the scent had changed. The air was soaked with magic and my energy started whipping through me again, lifting up my hair.
"What exactly do you do here? I can't see you using dark magic in this place."
Jasper was sifting through a few books that were on the shelves. He wasn’t listening to me muttering to himself. Tron and Alex, well, they seemed like powerful paranormals and they hadn’t found a cure for me yet.
"I always knew what you were capable of, but you dismissed it. You have darkness inside of you, and I want to see if I can get it out."
"Woah, hold on. What do you want to get out of me?"
He stopped reading and looked at me, his eyes were shimmering with challenge and mischief.
"The darkness controls you when you blackout and I need it for my research. There’s a spell we could perform that will split your magic in pieces."
My mouth went dry and in in a flash, I saw myself again, out of con
trol, burning my mother alive.
"Okay, do whatever you can. When can we start?" I rubbed my sweaty palms together. This honestly scared the shit out of me.
"We need someone—a magic stealer. The best would be an unstable magic stealer."
"Jasper, sorry, I hate when you’re making fun of me like that," I said laughing trying to ease my crazed thoughts. My ex-boyfriend narrowed his eyes putting on a pair of black gloves. His magic wand was next to him.
"This is dark, lethal magic that you’re carrying, and we need a person who’s lost control of his or her mind to split the pieces. Magic stealers are more powerful than you can imagine; they feed on emotions and fear, some of them to the point where they go crazy. We need this person to touch your soul. I can only do so much."
I didn't like the sound of that at all, especially the part where we had to use another paranormal to prevent bloodshed. Magic stealers had enough on their plate already. They were outcasts of magical society. Most of them lived on the streets selling whatever they could to get a magical fix.
Every part of me told me not to trust Jasper, but then there was my mother. Dad would probably have me locked up if I told him that Mum was going to die. My visions were powerful and when it came to magic, I had to expect the worst.
Jasper was still looking through his books as I ran my fingers over flasks inhaling herbs and some kind of metal smell in the air. There were stains of blood on the table and I wondered just how long Jasper had been doing this sort of thing. Some wizards were obsessed with the darkest, most forbidden magic. In modern times, no one paid much attention to ancient spells.
Jasper worked for himself. I always thought he had enough money, but it was his ambition of becoming the greatest that had always pushed him. His spells were more advanced than that of any other wizard. He travelled a lot, making connections with all sorts of creatures. I’d never discovered the purpose of all this, but I was worried.
"Let me ask you something," I started, "Why do you do this? Why do you want my darkness so much? And all this here?" I swept my arm to the side towards the long table in the middle of the dining room.
Elf's Affection: The Witching Hour Series Book 3 Page 21
