Chapter 27

The confrontation.



"You’re such a beautiful creature, Julia," he said, kissing me. "And I do want to fuck you again, but I know that if I do, I won’t be able to resist biting you this time."
Then, with vampire speed, he left the room. I looked around and concentrated on a cleaning spell and soon all the glass was flying to the bin in the kitchen. For the first time in years, I didn’t mess up the spell. I was impressed with myself. I still needed two new lamps and a few lightbulbs. Nathaniel was back in the bedroom, watching me.
"Are you going to stand there naked the whole time, or are you going to put some clothes on and have breakfast with me?"
"You know that my hunger can only go so far, but let’s feed you because you’re starting to get grumpy and your magic might want to come out and play again. Then I would have no other choice but to fuck you hard." He smiled mischievously.
I stole a kiss from him and then walked to the living room. I couldn’t even compare his apartment to mine, but there was nothing to be ashamed of. My kitchen was basic, set in grey colours. He made me breakfast, and we spent the rest of the day indulging in each other. We talked about my life and Nathaniel’s plans for the future. Mum called in the afternoon, asking me whether I was coming for Sunday roast. I had to refuse, making up some lies. I wasn’t going to tell her we were serious again.
He left me in the evening, stating that he was going straight to the police station to speak to my dad. I could only hope that Dad was going to behave and take him seriously.
The next day, I surprisingly got a phone call from my father. He mentioned that Nathaniel went to see him. The new evidence changed the trajectory of his investigation, but he was still going through with his large undercover action. He sounded more cheerful and he didn’t try to convince me that I shouldn’t see Nathaniel anymore.
It was cold this morning, and in the Tube, two witches were staring at me throughout the whole journey.
"Morning, Julia," Kate said, walking in holding her magic wand.
"Morning. Coffee first." I vanished into our kitchen cupboard to force caffeine into my system. Alexandra was still on her way and Kate was already going through her emails. I placed a cup on her desk.
"Julia," she began, looking at me, bewildered. "You had sex with a vampire?"
I nearly dropped my cup; my jaw hit the floor.
"Maybe I have, but he’s a Dhampir." I smiled. She was staring at me as if I were a space invader that just landed on planet Earth.
"You slept with Nathaniel La Caz?" she choked out.
"Yes, but how did you even know that—" I didn’t have to finish, because I realised what she was talking about. He deliberately left his scent all over my body, so everyone would know I had been with a vampire.
"How could you not notice it?" she asked.
"Oh, I don’t know," I paused, turning pink, "Can you get rid of it? No wonder people in the Tube were staring at me like I was some kind of a freak."
"It’s a complicated spell, darling, but I can try. Let’s do this before clients start coming in," she said and dragged me to the interview room. She used a lot of fairy dust to remove Nathaniel’s scent. I was a little pissed off that he didn’t tell me what he was doing. I shook my head thinking about his antics and decided that I would hold off speaking to my Dhampir about what happened. I had a busy day ahead of me.
A few hours later, I was unharmed. A few elves walked into the office asking about a call centre job. When I was about to make a phone call, I spotted Rufus who had just entered. I glanced at my watch; it was only twenty past two and I wasn’t expecting to see him today.
"How are we, ladies?" He placed his suitcase by my desk. Something was off in his expression. I couldn’t put my finger on what it was, but he looked tense, maybe slightly disappointed.
"Fine, as usual. How are you?" I asked him.
“I’m marvellous. I need to have a private word with you, Julia," he said, sounding serious. I didn’t like his tone.
"Yes, sure," I replied and rose, dragging my bottom to the interview room, where I’d once had a little chat with Nathaniel. I sat, staring at him; his eyes were unreadable.
He tightened his jaw and cleared his throat. "I don’t know how to say this, and please don’t take this the wrong way."
If he planned to sack me, then I was going to lose it. "Just say it, for God’s sake," I blurted out, irritated.
"Are you dating Nathaniel La Caz?"
My smile faded away and I looked at him, feeling as if someone just punched me in the stomach.
"Rufus, I don’t think this is any of your business," I said, forgetting I was talking to my regional manager.
He frowned. "I didn’t want to ask, but I just want to tell you to be careful. He’s not the sort of man who can commit himself to anyone. I heard about him before he called me, and I have to tell you that La Caz is a dangerous man. I’m only saying this because I care about you, Julia," he said, shrugging. "Besides, your father thinks that he’s a suspect. Have you thought about your cousin?"
"Everyone is telling me what to do, but no one knows what they are talking about," I said, getting angry about his lame arguments. "And he isn’t a suspect anymore. Other vampires are behind those kidnappings and Dad is on the case."
Rufus scratched his head and leaned towards me. "Okay, maybe, but I’m telling you this because I care about you and you’re still young. So maybe he’s exciting, and he has money but—"
I cut him off. "It’s not about money, Rufus."
"Okay, I’m sorry," he added quickly. "Nathaniel La Caz plays with creatures. He doesn’t do relationships. I remember when I was younger, before I married Elena, every night I saw him with a different woman, and as far as I know, he hasn’t changed. I’m here as your friend, Julia, not as your boss."
"Thank you for your advice, Rufus, but I’m not some blond bimbo who’s going to be manipulated by a man," I said, trying to stay calm. "I told him what I want, so please spare me this lecture, because my father already gave me one."
“I’m not the bad person here. I said what I needed to say." He ran his hand through his hair. We both got up and I wondered whether I should have said something else, but he left the room in silence.
Nathaniel called in the evening, asking me about my day. He revealed that his conversation with my dad went well. He also told me that he had to go to Scotland for a few days for some important meeting. I thought it was perfect timing because Ella had been begging me for weeks to join her for a girl’s night out, and I couldn’t keep sitting at home worrying about Claudia.
In the end, I joined them. It was a several days after Nathaniel left and I had a whole weekend to myself. Ella asked me to meet her and the girls at her house.
"You’re here! We were wondering whether you were going to turn up after all," Ella said, looking annoyed when I walked through her front door. Our human friends were already in her living room looking elegant.
"Sorry, I was stuck on the bus." Ella was wearing a short red strapless dress and she had full makeup on. She must have been in a tanning bed today because her skin was much darker than the last time I had seen her. I walked into the living room and greeted Christine, Tanya, and Melanie.
"Julia, where have you been, you crazy girl? You’re a terrible friend." Tanya kissed me on both cheeks. Ella was my closest friend in this group, but I knew all of her friends from the beauty salon where she worked. They treated me as a part of their clique, although I didn’t go out with them that often.
"She’s too busy with her new hot boyfriend, Christine." Ella giggled, walking behind me.
"Come on, show us his picture. I can’t believe you have been hiding him all this time," Tanya demanded. She was wearing a glittery golden dress. Ella had never met Nathaniel and had only seen the picture on my phone, but that didn’t stop her from talking about him like he was the man I was going to marry.
Christine was only five feet tall. She was blond and covered with freckles, but always well-groomed. Tanya was dark haired, tall and skinny. Melanie didn’t like me, but she pretended she did. Once, when I got drunk, I read her thoughts and she wished she could just get rid of me. Fortunately, we didn’t see each other often, but I tried to be nice whenever I was around her.
Being pressured, I didn’t have any choice and had to show them Nathaniel’s photo. For a long moment, the girls giggled, staring at him in admiration.
"How did you meet him? Has he got any friends? Do you think you would be able to introduce us?" Tanya kept throwing a million questions at me.
"I only just started dating him," I exclaimed, but the girls wanted to know all about him. So, I gave them enough information about Nathaniel to keep their imaginations going. When we finally made it to the taxi, I was already exhausted and wished Ella hadn’t mentioned Nathaniel at all.
I was planning to get drunk tonight and the girls always knew how to have fun. We were going to central London, avoiding supernatural clubs. Even if I wanted to take the girls, they wouldn’t have been allowed in; they only made exceptions in certain circumstances.
"This night will be amazing." Ella sighed, holding my hand when we left the taxi. “I’m hoping to see Daniel tonight."
"Daniel?" I asked, confused.
"The solicitor I used to date. He called me a few days ago out of the blue.”
"Ella." I looked at her pointedly. “You said he vanished. I thought you ended it?"
"Well, he told me he had to go away for work and he lost his phone, so he couldn’t call me," she explained while we were queuing to get to the club. The girls were behind us chatting with some random guys.
"And you believed him? That is one of the lamest excuses I’ve ever heard, and you know it," I warned her, feeling that if that vampire was back, my best friend wasn’t safe.
She rolled her eyes. "He’s gorgeous, Julia, and he sounded genuine."
“C’mon, Ella, you’re better than that. Get rid of him."
“I’m seeing him tonight and I want you to meet him, so please be nice." When Ella got an idea in her head, there was no way I could convince her otherwise.
After half an hour in the queue, we were finally allowed into the funky modern club. It was close to nine, but the club was busy. We left our coats in the cloakroom and found a table in the corner. It took us more than forty minutes to order drinks; we all had a few shots just to warm us up.
"For the wild night!" Tanya shouted, and we cheered with our cocktails. For the next two hours, we drank and talked, taking in the atmosphere. The girls were trying to get the attention of some guys standing farther away. Finally, Christine went over and chatted with them, then they came to our table.
The music was loud, and soon, I started to relax, trying to have a good time. Close to eleven o’clock, Ella dragged me to the dance floor. She was already wasted but still kept perfect balance in her killer heels. The club was getting busier and the dance floor became crowded.
"This is awesome," Ella said, jumping up and down. I was slightly dizzy, and my skin was letting me know that I needed to cast a spell, but I could still push the magic away, for now. I left Ella and vanished into the ladies’ room soon after; my bladder was bursting.
When I came back, Ella was already wrapped around a dark-haired man on the dance floor. I decided to step aside and went back to the bar to get another drink. When I came back, Christina was chatting with a tall muscular guy beside our table; there was no sign of Tanya or Melanie.
Soon my best friend returned; the man she had been dancing with was holding her hand. When they approached, the colour drained from my face. Ella’s companion was a vampire; the coldness that evaporated from his skin made me uncomfortable. He was tall, dark, and handsome and I wasn’t that surprised Ella couldn’t resist him.
"Julia, this is Daniel," Ella said, squeezing his hand.
"Hi." I tried to sound cordial.
"Any friend of Ella’s is also a friend of mine," he said, leaning towards me. I smiled when they sat next to me. The vampire looked interested in my best friend and when Ella was drunk, she talked a lot. I was drinking my cocktail, trying to think of whether or not I knew any kind of spell to make him leave, but I was never good at casting anything other than my cover charm. The lighting was dim and vampire senses were much better than humans, so I couldn’t think of what to do. Soon, Christina vanished with her companion, leaving me alone with Ella and the vampire. Tanya and Melanie came back. Ella started to introduce her new "boyfriend" to them.
"Ladies, I see that you need top-ups of your drinks," Daniel said smoothly. I couldn’t guess his age, but I wouldn’t think he was an old vampire based on his how he was acting. What did I know, though? Ella, Melanie, and Tanya giggled.
"Cosmopolitans for all of us, please," Ella said.
"And for you, Julia?" He turned to face me.
“I’m fine for now." He nodded, then left us.
"Oh, my God, Ella, he is gorgeous," Tanya squeaked.
“I’m going to the ladies’ room," I said, but no one paid much attention to me while they talked about Daniel. I decided to take matters into my own hands. As I was trying to get through the crowd of people, I started seeing more and more supernatural creatures—mainly vampires—dancing with humans. Vampires normally didn’t hang out at clubs filled with humans. Something wasn’t right here.
"Are you looking for someone?"
Daniel was standing in front of me; his dark, hungry eyes gazing at my neck. I took a deep breath and decided to tell him to go to hell.
"What the fuck do you think you’re doing?" I asked him, keeping my voice hard. He laughed and inhaled my scent.
This wasn’t good; he was a full-grown vampire. He could feel that I wasn’t human. I had no chance.
“I’m having fun with your friend, Ella."
"Don’t give me that bullshit, bloodsucker. I saw bite marks on her neck." I felt my energy accumulate and the current pass through my skin. I couldn’t lose control here in front of all these humans.
He narrowed his eyes and licked his upper lip, but he wasn’t afraid of me. "Your friend seemed to enjoy my touch."
"You know the protocol; you can’t date her unless she knows that you’re a vampire. She’s my best friend," I snarled.
"I don’t care about the protocol. She’s my play thing for now. Her blood tastes good," he whispered, leaning towards me.
I clenched my fists. "Stay away from her," I growled, ready to use my magic to teach him a lesson.
"You can’t tell me what to do. It’s a free country, my dear elf friend. I can snap your neck in a second and no one will ever find you." He moved closer to me. Panic rushed through me and my heart tried to gallop out of my chest.
"I wouldn’t do that if I were you. I have a famous father who is in charge of the Paranormal Unit," I said, but my voice was trembling. "If you attack me here in front of all these humans, you will die. I know your rules."
"Don’t dare threaten me, blondie. I don’t give a fuck about the protocol and right now, your scent intoxicates me so much that I’m going to taste your blood," he said, moving so close to me I saw my own scared reflection in his dark eyes.
A bead of sweat rolled down my back. I knew that I couldn’t use my magic here, but I had to defend myself somehow.
"Is there a problem?" someone asked.
"I suggest you leave; this one is mine," Daniel barked, not taking his eyes off me. I sensed another vampire next to me. Then, in a matter of seconds, a white hand clenched around Daniel’s neck and I saw Philip La Caz in front of him.