Half Past the Witching Hour (Paranormal Personnel Saga #3) (7 page)

An hour later, the driver parked in front of a large old Victorian house. My stomach growled and I peered outside, seeing that we’d arrived in one of those pricey, famous neighborhoods, filled with luxurious homes, expensive cars, and people that were most definitely not humans. Tron struck me as the kind of guy who would live here. He was like a rich gothic lord from Bram Stoker’s novel
Dracula
, apart from the fact that he was an elf.

‘Mr. Hendrixon is waiting for you,’ the driver informed me after he rolled up the black window separating us. In the front mirror I could see his dark fairy eyes. I nodded and got out of the car. As soon as my feet stepped out on this perfect pavement, that creepy voice surrounded me.

‘Come inside. We have a lot to discuss.’

Tron, well, Mr. Hendrixon stood in the doorway wearing a gold dressing robe, holding a cigar in his right hand.

‘Tron, wow, I don’t get it. Is … Is this where you live?’ I asked, trying to hide my high- pitched tone of voice.

‘Yes, it’s my home,’ he replied, sounding amused. ‘I know that you were probably thinking that I would summon you to some old warehouse, but no, we are going to practice magic in style, like true legends.’

I smiled because that was exactly what I’d been thinking.

They are having a laugh.

Tron led me through a long hallway, soaked with the scent of dried roses. I kept glancing around. The living room was large, with polished wooden floors and wide sashed windows, high ceilings, and an even more intense smell of flowers. I could feel so much magic in the air that even if Tron had human guests they would have recognised the electrifying ambiance of this room. All the furniture was probably antique, rare and created by an artist probably years before I was born. I didn’t even want to guess the cost of Tron’s surroundings, but I gathered that he was loaded.

I’d learned a few things about art from Quentin in the past few months, so I knew that Tron was an art collector with expensive taste. I spotted two beautiful paintings from the Renaissance period and stared, mesmerised by their beauty. Quentin would have loved Tron’s home with all these unique pieces, highly collectable and desired. The space was immaculate and I was curious to know more about this enigmatic stranger.

At first we talked a little. Mainly about his own reputation and the way he found me. From what I understood he has been living in Eastern Europe for a few years. After some time I started to understand why he wanted to help me. He was afraid if I carried on living like this I’d bring more trouble on myself. If news about my unsettled power spread, paranormals would start looking at me much closer and darker forces could take advantage of me. Then there was my cousin’s and Rufus’s kidnappings. As it turned out, he also knew about McGregor and my other incidents with magic. He wasn’t prepared to share with me how he knew my grandmother. Then he asked me to tell him everything I remembered from my visions. It took me a while to bring up these scary memories. I’d never opened up to anyone like that before, but when it came to my mother’s life I was willing to trust him.

He listened carefully and took a few notes.

‘Right. These visions might not necessarily show the exact future, but we have to take certain precautions,’ he said, after I went through what happened to me at the meeting with Rufus.

‘So what should I do?’

‘First we will start from simple spells.’

He asked me to start moving a few figures that were on the table in front of me. When nothing happened, he asked me to move books and other objects. He didn’t say anything when I failed with all my tasks. He muttered a few unknown words under his breath.

‘We won’t train tonight. I wanted to check to see what we are dealing with. Your thoughts are blocked and I can read your aura. There is something on your mind that is stopping me.’

I bit my lips, looking at his deep blue eyes. This whole trip seemed like a waste of time. My grandmother would have done a better job than him.

‘So what’s next? What should I do?’ I asked, slowly losing the patience.

‘Try to recall everything you could see when you passed out during the meeting. Every single detail is important. I’ll call you as soon as I know more,’

We exchanged polite goodbyes and I left disappointed, wondering if I should continue to see him. He had no idea how to help me.

As soon as I stepped outside I felt better, inhaling fresh, unpolluted air. But tangling emotions swirled through me, and I felt overwhelmed, shattered with my unbelievable visions. This was beyond anything that I ever thought I would have to deal with.

I didn’t sleep well that night. Well, I hardly slept at all if I had to be honest, after what had been going on in my life lately. There was only so much that one person could handle, and the blackouts and the vision worried me more than anything. It looked like Tron wasn’t going to be much help after all.

Nathaniel broke me, and even though I hadn’t accepted his new engagement, I was moving on.

After a short, to the point conversation with my father, I managed to get out of him more details about Jennifer’s murder. Dad reluctantly explained that she’d died from multiple stab wounds. As far as he was concerned, no one used any magic on her, but Dad didn’t rule out involvement of a paranormal. The investigation was still pending and he wasn’t prepared to share any possible suspects with his one and only daughter.

My day at work went smoothly, and once I left the office I took the tube to Ella’s beauty salon. I was worried about my friend. She had been ignoring me and I had to get to the bottom of what was going on.

My magic was much calmer today, although I was petrified to think that I was capable of producing deadly, lethal darkness that took full control over me. The images of the knife in Jennifer’s body were dancing in my memory, sending cold chills through me. Seeing her dead had been scary, so I kept looking back every time I heard steps behind me on the sidewalk.

I fiddled with my fingers as I reached Ella’s workplace. It was obvious that she wasn’t ready to see me, but I couldn’t wait around for her to return my phone calls. I had to see if she was all right.

‘Oh my gosh! Julia, how nice to see you, sweetie. It’s been such a long time,’ Christina sang, embracing me in a tight hug as soon as I walked in.

‘Hey, Chris, great to see you. How are you?’

‘Fab,’ replied, Ella’s co-worker. ‘But you made me very angry. Nothing came out of your promises to introduce me to some hot guys. I’ve been single for ages.’

‘Uhm, I’ll sort something out, but right now I’m looking for Ella. Is she around?’ I asked, not ready for a chat about Christina’s love life. This girl never knew how to stop.

‘You just missed her, darling. She left five minuets ago,’ Christina stated, brushing her hair. Chris often went out with Ella. They were friends, but I didn’t want to ask about Ella, just in case Chris thought that we had a fight.

‘Okay, that’s unfortunate. Do you know if she changed her number recently?’

Christina frowned, admiring her own reflection in the mirror.

‘I don’t think so. She has been off lately, stressed and quiet, not like her usual self.’

Surprise, surprise.

‘
It’s probably nothing. Don’t worry. I’ll pop into her house to see how she is,’ I said. ‘Thank you, Chris.’

‘Yeah, don’t mention it. Just remember to set me up with someone.’

I smiled, assuring her that I would. When I left I was more worried than relieved. Ella had come to the hospital to straighten things between us after I was held hostage by McGregor. I’d thought that we were fine. I didn’t think that it would take her six long months to come around. Since our conversation in the hospital we had seen each other only a few times, always very briefly. Ella didn’t come around like she used to and I accepted it, although I missed her. Magic broke us apart, but I was prepared to fight for her friendship.

I decided to hurry back to the tube station, knowing that Ella was heading home. The streets were packed with people who were rushing home. It was pick time. When I glanced at my watch I realised that my train was leaving in a few minutes, and it was probably going to be packed. I sprinted across the street, avoiding people. I was so determined to reach the station in record time that I lost my concentration for a brief moment and crashed into another person. My bag flew over to the pavement and all my office paperwork started flying around the busy street. I caught what I could, but some of the papers were blown away by the wind. Cursing under my breath, I started putting everything back, wondering how much Rufus was going to be pissed if I told him that I’d lost some of the temp contracts.

‘I thought you needed a little help, so I got your paperwork back,’ said the voice that nearly crashed me back to the ground. I shot straight to my feet, alarmed, pumped with new energy. People were passing by, staring, and I was standing face-to-face with Nathaniel. There were maybe a dozen chances in this world for us to bump into each other in London, and tonight fate obviously wanted to slap me.

I hated the bitch; again she is on his side!

‘I don’t need your help!’ I hissed, taking my paperwork away and shoving it back into my bag. I was in East London, miles away from his luxurious apartment. He had no business being here, looking sexy in his expensive suit, causing even more disturbance in my world. I just had to walk away, but he stood so close, overwhelming me with his delicious scent that screamed of sex. My problems with breathing returned, along with smoldering magic that beamed out of me with the unsteady rhythm of my heart.

‘Julia, let me call Roberto, he can give—’

‘No. Haven’t you heard what I said? I don’t need your help,’ I said, furious. Last time I saw him I couldn’t even form a word, but now we were alone, without his perfect fiancée, so I didn’t need to behave.

Nathaniel’s eyes glittered, irritation showing for a moment as he hovered them over my lips for a brief second. I tried not to care that my heart was doing a happy dance in my chest, or that he looked so handsome in broad daylight. My subconscious reminded me that he’d used me and left me broken.

‘Julia,’ he said again, almost with a quiet growl. ‘Please. I meant to call you when I came back to London. I didn’t want you to—’

‘Stop talking. I don’t want to hear whatever you have to say. You don’t owe me an explanation,’ I barked, cutting him off for the second time. Small yellow flames started escaping out of my fingers. My throat was dry and the whole world started closing up on me. Sweat gathered on my forehand as I thought about the past eight months. I didn’t have to worry about my excess magic so much back then. Now as soon as Nathaniel stepped into my life, my energy swirled back into a living thing like a quick thunderstorm, reminding me that I wasn’t human.

Nathaniel took a step forward, so I took a step backwards. He was back in his game, penetrating me with his intense gaze.

‘You’re being stubborn as always. Let me explain. I had this all planned out. As soon as I found out that a body had been discovered in my factory I had to come back. The plans with Geneva didn’t work out the way I wanted.’

Bla, bla, bla—as if I want to hear about stupid Geneva
!

My hand was itching to spellbind him, but I restrained myself, aware that this was too risky. He made me feel like I was in a secluded desert miles from any form of life and I was standing in fifty degrees Celsius heat naked. Even though I wasn’t prepared to admit to myself that I missed him, I knew that my love for him was rooted deep in my soul, hanging there, not letting me get attached to anyone else.

‘Don’t you get it that I don’t care?’ I yelled. ‘This is none of my business. I’m in a relationship. A
happy
relationship.’

Nathaniel was still staring at me with his rich hazel eyes. He obviously didn’t expect me to tell him that I’d moved on. He parted his lips, and the colour of his eyes shifted into a green.

‘Julia—’

‘No, don’t
Julia
me,’ I added, taking another step back, physically pushing and fighting with the urge to throw myself into his arms. ‘We don’t owe each other anything. If you have something to say to me, do it through Lucinda. We are over. Please remember that.’

‘Because you’ve chosen a giant?’ he asked, as I turned around. He crossed the line with that question and sarcastic tone of voice.

I stopped for a brief second, squeezing my bag, and then walked away. With a few more steps I was running, swallowing my tears. I didn’t deserve this, and I especially didn’t deserve to be judged by a guy who was so afraid of commitment that he had to move to a different country. He was so afraid of a relationship with me that he got engaged to a supermodel.

He shouted my name a few more times before his voice faded into the crowd. I was so caught up with my escape that I didn’t even want to consider stopping. I dived into the tube station, blending into the crowd of people. Distracted from my encounter with Nathaniel, I took the wrong train. Instead of going to Ella’s home, the tube took me back to my own neighborhood.

My apartment was only a five-minute walk from the station, but my meeting with Nathaniel caused illumination of that power that I tried so desperately to push away. Patches of jetting magic were sliding down my arms, and my breathing was shallow, so I was glad when I finally got home. The emotional side of me was in pieces, psychologically crushed completely and utterly. Physically, well, I didn’t even want to go there.

Thoughts about Nathaniel had subverted my mind. Guilt poured into my stomach, because I knew that I had to think about Quentin. He was part of my life now. He’d left me two voicemails while I was on the way home, and I still hadn’t called him back. My excess magic was making my daily routine a living hell and I couldn’t talk to him in that state.

I ran myself a bath and put music on in order to cast a simple spell to relieve whatever hell was inside me. Tron believed that my blackouts wouldn’t occur again if I could stay away from intense emotions, but how I was supposed to follow his advice if Nathaniel was back?

Once I got into a hot bath, I closed my eyes. The silence helped me to calm down, decrease the energy, and ignore the hot pulsations all over my body. I thought about Mum; her life seemed perfect. She didn’t have to worry about the magic or a super rich ex boyfriend who was now engaged to someone else. My mum went into work, dealt with a normal human staff, cooked tea for my dad and lived life like she wanted to, without being involved with that whole magic business.

As these unhappy thoughts collided in my mind, I heard a loud knock at my door. For a second I thought that it was just my imagination, that my mind was playing even more tricks on me. Then I heard the same loud knock again and again, so got out of my bubbly, relaxing bath pissed off even more. When I put my dressing robe on, I glanced at the clock. It was close to ten o’clock and I wasn’t expecting any visitors this time of night. I looked through the peephole, but it was dark in the corridor and I couldn’t see who was there.

‘All right, all right, I’m coming,’ I said, opening the door. My jaw dropped when I spotted Tron outside.

‘I’m sorry for the intrusion, but I thought that it would be in your best interest to visit you.’

Still speechless, I stepped out of the way. I tugged my robe tightly around my body and shut the door as he walked inside. I wasn’t too happy about the fact that he knew my address. Besides, I didn’t expect to hear from him so soon after our disastrous first lesson.