Chapter 29

Reality mixed with illusion.



My skin crawled with unease and I watched, hoping that damn match wouldn’t touch the floor soaked with petrol. I roared at my magic, ordering it to answer me, combining the spell that my father had left all over this house. In slow motion, Craig was running away from the room; Kelsie’s mouth was moving slowly, and she fought with him.
I desperately wanted to stop him from escaping. I desired to keep him in here with me and my mother.
Then everything went back to normal and bright red and orange flames soared through the living room consuming everything in its wake, spreading so quickly I could feel the heat from the burning embers. Then I heard my mother scream and saw her stumbling back to her feet. A second later, I heard Craig swearing.
Within a moment he barged back into the living room dragging Kelsie behind him. I had no idea what I did, but I felt the faint source of my magic crawl over my back.
"Fuck! You bitch! You created a shell!" he roared rushing towards me. Then time slowed down again, and my vision blurred. The flames danced around me, the heat was unbearable, and everyone was screaming. Craig didn't reach me, and I felt as my magic responded to me, colliding with my father’s energy. Red, raw light poured out of me, spearing directly into Craig. My eyes were catching everything, every part of Craig’s movement, his strained muscles splitting as he was thrown across the room towards the flames. He slammed against the wall between the sofa and cabinet crashing on the floor.
"Julia, Julia, look at me!"
Someone was touching me, screaming in my face, but when I saw Kelsie her voice wasn’t audible. Her lips were moving but a long constant sound was filling me.
She was shaking me, and I looked at my mother who was staring at the body that was being consumed by fire. Flames were everywhere covering the entire space.
Then Kelsie slapped me, and I snapped out of that hollow place, taking a long deep breath. My eyes darted around the flames, the heat was making my skin crawl. My mother’s screams were echoing throughout the space.
"He’s dead, I killed him," I said seeing what was left of Craig’s body lying in a boiling pool of blood. He was burning alive, not moving.
Kelsie grabbed my hand, and when we reached my mother I didn't expect her to listen to me, instead I drug her towards the hall.
"We can't get out, there is a barrier around the door and windows. Oh, my God Julia, did you do this?"
I spun around calling up my power again, but my finger sparkled. My energy was absent, and my mother was watching me. She was pale, mumbling something to herself.
The flames were lethal, consuming the oxygen and anything else that would allow us to live. We didn't have time to think of what to do, we were going to burn alive if my power didn’t return.
We tried to reach the door, but it was as if I’d created an invisible shield that wouldn’t allow me to touch the handle. It was like there was a wall in front of me. Black acrid smoke was filling the space, my mother kept pointing at Craig’s dead body and the blood. My skin burned as smoke made me sick to the point where I just wanted to curl up in a ball on the floor and let this power take over.
Kelsie tried to shift but she was coughing so much that it was impossible for her to use her own energy,
"We’re going to die in here," my mother cried curling herself next to me and staring at my fingers that crackled with passing magic. This time I didn't have the magical artefact that my grandfather had given me, this time we were all alone. We were inhaling smoke into our lungs; it was penetrating our bodies and fire was everywhere. My father’s magic had left me.
My vision blurred, I couldn't see what was happening all around me, the heat was unbearable. I squeezed my mother’s hand, praying, because this was the end. By killing that bastard Craig, I cut off the only way out with my magic. Kelsie’s eyes were open as she crashed to the floor, taking long whizzed breaths.
Tears mixed soot were streaming down my face and I wanted to live, because then I would change everything: fix my relationship with Nathaniel and my grandmother.
My mother must have passed out; she wasn't squeezing my hand any more, my skin was burning, and the flames were closing in on me. I knew death was approaching, slowly, causing me pain I’d never experienced before. I placed my head on the floor and held my breath, thinking that it would be easier to suffocate, than die burning alive, feeling the pain that was splitting me apart. Then I stopped breathing and it was over.

***

I thought dying was supposed to be peaceful. In my dying world I wasn’t supposed to feel any pain or hear any sound, but you don’t always get what you want.
Instead of thinking about what was coming, I counted.
One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Bang!

I lifted my heavy lids and through the flames I saw that death was nearly there, someone was standing in the entrance shouting.
"Julia! Julia! Can you hear me?"
I recognised that voice, and I smiled, thinking that dying wasn’t so bad after all. I felt magic coursing all around me and then, darkness.
Death was near me, lifting me in its arms and carrying me over the fire. I liked death’s voice.
"Why didn't you do anything?"
"The fire started all of a sudden, and we panic—"
"Idiots, she nearly died! What if an elf wasn’t here with me?"
I moaned and lifted my eyelids. It was dark, and someone was carrying me—I knew this voice.
"Stop moving, my firecracker—your wounds—I have to get you to an ambulance."
I smiled and then lost consciousness, a moment later I lifted my heavy lids and sat up abruptly. Someone was putting something all over my arms and face. My skin felt like someone pressed an energized wire against it, my chest felt heavy. I pushed the hands away and laid back down.
"Miss, please, you need to stop moving, you have …"
"Mum!" I roared.
Nathaniel was beside me then, I recognised him, although I didn't understand what he was doing here. Tron was there, too.
"Your mother’s on her way to the hospital, so is Kelsie," Nathaniel said pacing around.
"I killed him, it was Craig, he made me go to my parents’ home, and then my mother and Kelsie came, but…"
"Shhh, firecracker, it’s ok—"
The rest of his words faded, and I felt burning, searing pain that blinded me completely and I fell into darkness.

***

I didn't know how much time had passed when I woke up again. Someone was in my room and I heard voices.
"My sweet, Julia, I can't believe I wasn't there."
"Mr. Taylor, you can't be in here. Your daughter is recovering!"
"She’s my daughter, I can't leave her. How is my wife?"
"Stable…"
I wanted to move, but I was lost, and the voices faded. My skin burned, and I wanted to open my eyes but there was this thick blackness and more voices.
"Julia, God, what happened to her and what the hell are you doing here?"
"Calm down, Mr. Van Royen. I fought with nurses to be here and I'm not interested in leaving just because you can't keep your mouth shut!"
"La Caz, I remember now."
Quentin was there and Nathaniel, but I couldn't open my eyes. I couldn't tell him how sorry I was.
There was silence for a long moment when I thought to wake up, but the burning was still there, and my mind was disconnected from my body.
"How long, how long have you been sleeping with her?"
"Not now, Mr. Van Royen, this isn’t the right time."
"I'm leaving her with you, but I want to know; how long has this been going on?"
"A few months. I fucked up with her twice before and then took another woman, but Julia was always in my life."
"Fuck you, I don’t need your pity, vampire."

***

I moved and lifted my lids. I was expecting to ache, but I was numb and covered in some sort of oil.
"Hun, oh, God, hon, thank God you woke up."
"Dad?" I asked looking around. I was in the hospital. The healer was standing by my father putting something in her pocket. She gave me a smile.
"How are we feeling, Miss. Taylor? Are you experiencing any pain?"
"No, no pain, but this stuff on my skin is gross and it stinks," I explained lifting myself up. My muscles ached when I moved.
"Dad, how’s Mum and Kelsie? Are they all right?"
"Your mother’s in different ward, she should be awake soon. The healers have to be careful around human doctors. Her recovery will take longer. Your friend was discharged today, and she’s waiting to see you. Shifters heal much quicker, plus she has all the paranormal genes in place."
I flopped back on my pillow trying to gather my thoughts. The healer gave my father more instructions about how to deal with my burns and left.
Dad looked exhausted, he looked like he hadn’t shaved for a couple of days, and he was still in his uniform. I couldn't take this any longer. I lied to my dad for so long, interfering with his investigation.
"I'm so sorry that I wasn’t there, hon. I was working on a case but when I got the phone call I thought I’d lost you both,"
My heart opened up and despite surviving two fires I felt broken because I’d betrayed my own father, the man who only wanted to protect me. I touched his hand and started telling him about my blackouts. It took me over an hour to explain myself, talking about the day when I woke up in my apartment covered with blood and later on discovering Jennifer’s body. He listened throughout pacing around the room going paler and paler. When I made it to the point where I had to tell him about Mum and Craig my voice broke, but I had to complete the story.
"Master, he was talking about a master?" he asked looking at me like he didn’t recognise me anymore.
"Yeah, I don’t know if we should believe it. He seemed like he’d lost his mind. He talked about being a dark leader."
"Julia, I'm so angry with you right now that I want to pull you across my knee and smack you. Why didn't you tell me any of this? I can't imagine what would happen if Mary—"
Dad didn't finish, standing up abruptly. I couldn't bring myself to tell him that I’d exposed my mother to magic. There was no way he could cover it up with memory spells. Mum had seen too much.
I open my mouth to tell him that he would have to be careful when he went to visit her later, but then the nurse interrupted us.
"Mr. Taylor, your wife is awake. I just had a call from the other ward."
Dad rushed to the door and disappeared before I could even stop him. I was ready to hurry after him. I had no idea how Mum was going to react when she saw him.
My arm felt a little sore but when the healer disappeared I moved hoping to get back on my feet and rush after Dad before it was too late.
"Where do you think you’re going?"
Nathaniel stood at the door staring at me with a strained expression on his face. His hands were in in his pockets and he was wearing a black suit. I felt my magic stir my insides as soon as I laid eyes on him. He looked so yummy just being there, staring at me with those hazel eyes.
"Hi," I said pulling the sheet over my legs and exhaling. He walked over to my bed and sat in the chair.
"How are you feeling?" he asked with a small voice. Him being around reminded me of the time when he visited me after I was nearly kidnapped outside his building. Now we were alone again, after I’d put a halt to our affair.
"I'm all right now, how are you?" I asked looking at him as the tension between us rose and the air crackled with savouring desire.
"Calmer than I was, although I think I might lose my temper soon if you don’t stop getting yourself into trouble. Do you have any idea what I was going through when I barged through the door of your parents’ house?"
My memories were hazy and after a few days in a deep sleep I wasn't sure if I dreamed about Nathaniel or if he really did rescue me from that fire.
"I need to thank you. A bit longer and we would have burned to death."
He touched my hand before I could even protest and just like that the lust was back swirling inside my body like a windstorm.
"After what you told me about your magic I hired a few people to keep an eye on you. They spotted you first with that wizard, your ex, so I became alerted. They lost you for a bit but then caught up with you outside your parents’ home with a strange shifter. You didn't look like you were in any distress, so I told them to keep an eye on the house. For a long time, nothing was happening, and I was getting impatient, so I asked my friend to trace the elf who trained you. Trust me this guy wasn’t easy to find, but once I arrived at his house I knew something was wrong. He didn't want to talk to me, but when I mentioned you were with a shifter in your parents’ home, he grew concerned and told me that he’d feel better if he could check to make sure you were all right. On the way to your parents’ home I received a phone call from one of the guys who was watching you. They smelled the fire. They were humans, so the magic prevented them from entering. When Tron and I got there, I thought that I’d lost you. The fire burned almost everything, people were standing outside—your parents neighbours. Tron helped me with charms."
Nathaniel stopped talking and I sat back wanting to kiss him, but I had so many questions. Craig was dead. I was certain of it, because I was the one who murdered him with my outburst of magic, and I failed to save myself and my family.
"Nathaniel, I don’t know what to say, if it wasn't for you then I would have died," I whispered caressing his hand. God, I wanted to cuddle him so much, but things between us were complicated.
"Julia, you’re the love of my life and I would do anything to save you."
That statement brought tears to my eyes and my heart swelled in my chest. We were staring at each other as the love between us blossomed.
"Quentin was here. He found out about us?" I asked swallowing a large lump in my throat. I closed my eyes feeling like a total coward. Of course, Quentin put two and two together. I lied to him about Nathaniel. I told him that we only had a professional relationship and all of a sudden, he was by my bed, holding my hand. I should’ve told him sooner, now the damage was done.
Nathaniel shifted in his chair and exhaled sharply.
"He knew as soon as he saw me. I didn't have to say anything."