Love with Fangs (The Witching Hour Series Book 1) Read online

  “All right, all right… maybe he felt attracted to me, but it’s all because of my blood. You know that all the vamps love elves and fairies.”

  “Whatever. You have to tell me what happened in the ladies’ room,” she demanded.

  I rolled my eyes and smiled.

  “He just wanted to make sure that I wasn’t going to pass out,” I explained. “He’s so prestigious and arrogant—so way out of my league. Besides, elves aren’t supposed to date vampires.”

  Ten minutes later, we were finally driving away from Brunel Industrial Park and I could breathe normally. My phone vibrated; it was a text message from my cousin.

  Let’s meet up at Bellinis. I need a drink after having a day from hell.

  I read it and smiled, knowing that this was exactly what I needed too. Darkness covered the streets and the cars in front of us were moving slowly. I still had goosebumps and my magic had been whipping throughout my body since we left the meeting. I needed to cast a spell, knowing that if I didn’t, I wouldn’t get any peace in the restaurant.

  "Listen, just drop me off here,” I said, then pointed at the alley on the corner. “The restaurant isn’t far, and I need to get some fresh air. My magic is really bothering me right now. I don’t want to blow up your engine if I can help it.”

  "Are you sure? You would have to walk several blocks in heels.”

  "It’s fine, my cousin is probably walking too,” I said, as electric current charged over my body.

  “La Caz has that kind of effect on women, darling,” she sang, but I only rolled my eyes, then got out of the car.

  I crossed the street, feeling light-headed. The streets were still busy, and humans were rushing around. I started walking, dreaming about a hot bath and a glass of wine. It took me another ten minutes to reach the corner of a busy alley. The restaurant was just across the road and I wondered if Claudia was already inside.

  Moments later, I heard someone shouting my name. My cousin was waving at me and I wondered if she had been waiting very long.

  The traffic was atrocious, and I had to walk another several meters to find the zebra crossing.

  “Just wait for me inside!” I shouted at her, but she indicated that she couldn’t hear me. I was just about to walk across the street, when an odd sensation moved over my body. Seconds later, a black van pulled in front of Claudia. Time slowed down when I saw two large men jump from the van and onto the pavement. They seized my cousin from both sides, grabbing her arms. Moments later, they dragged her inside the van. I started screaming, waving my hands and wanting to run towards my cousin, but there were so many cars on the road. No one was willing to stop to let me pass to the other side.

  People were staring at me—everything was happening so fast. My cousin was pulled inside the van and no one even noticed. She didn’t stand a chance. I saw sparks flying around, but then the doors slid back, and I lost sight of her. The driver of the van nearly collided with another car, forcing its way back into traffic. The wheels spun out and a moment later, the van disappeared around the corner.

  Blood pounded in my ears while I glanced around, knowing that someone must have witnessed something—anything. Claudia, my poor cousin, was taken—she was kidnapped. I didn’t recognise these men. I had no idea who they were.

  "Claudia, oh, my God, Claudia!" I screamed, not knowing what to do. The pedestrians were staring at me like I was crazy. I reached the spot where Claudia had waved at me just a few moments ago. My hands were shaking when I dialled my dad’s number and spoke to him.

  I had no idea if he understood anything that I said, but half an hour later, I was sitting in the police station trying to describe for the fourth time, what I’d seen. My dad was pacing up and down, shouting at his subordinates. My memories were hazy, and I didn’t even fully realise when I was picked up by a police car and driven away from the place where Claudia had been taken. I believed I must have been in shock.

  "I told you, I couldn’t see their faces,” I said, shaking my head. “This all happened so quickly. The two men were definitely paranormals; they were dark haired, yes. And they may have been giants or trolls. Claudia must have been so scared.”

  The shock was slowly wearing off when I suddenly remembered the strange phone call I’d received earlier on. I gasped.

  “What? What’s going on, hon? Are you all right?” my father asked.

  “This morning, someone called the agency. We’ve been getting dead phone calls for weeks now, but earlier on, a werewolf warned me to watch out for a black van. He said that female elves had been going missing around London and that I might be next,” I explained, swallowing hard.

  Dad dragged his hand through his hair, and stared at me like I had lost my mind. A few other policemen exchanged sharp looks with each other.

  “Dannika, check to see if there are other missing girls in that area. Find out if they were all elves,” Dad told one of his subordinates. “Julia, just try to stay calm. What happened to Claudia wasn’t your fault. I need to call your aunt and tell her what’s happened. This won’t be an easy conversation.”

  Then someone called him out for a minute or two and he rushed out, leaving me alone. I clenched my fists, wondering if it was a possible to trace the earlier phone call. That werewolf must have known more about who was behind Claudia’s kidnapping. A cold shiver crawled over my spine when I remembered that I was supposed to be next.

  Around five minutes later, my father returned to the office, but I couldn’t read anything from his expression.

  "We found a syringe with blood on the pavement. We don’t know yet if it’s evidence, but it was in the exact spot where Claudia was kidnapped. I need to get it into the lab as soon as possible," he explained, looking deeply confused.

  “Yes, that werewolf on the phone said something about kidnappers wanting blood,” I told him. “I thought that maybe he was crazy or something, but what if this whole thing is somehow connected?”

  I knew that I was supposed to let him take care of this, but the tiny voice in my head kept telling me that whoever was behind Claudia’s kidnapping had carefully planned this out. Was it possible that I was supposed to witness Claudia being taken?

  “Maybe, but right now, Julia, this isn’t your concern. We will find Claudia,” he added more firmly.

  He was worried about my cousin just as much as I was. She was a straight-A student and full-blooded elf. She never got herself into any trouble, but I suspected that her kidnapper was after her blood. Now, everything was slowly beginning to make sense. I couldn’t imagine how my Aunt Dorothy would feel once she found out that her only daughter had been kidnapped.

  “Lucrative Shot!" I half shouted, springing to my feet, suddenly remembering my conversation with La Caz earlier on.

  "A lucrative… what?"

  “I’ve just been at a meeting with that huge manufacturing company in Brunel Industrial Park, and apparently they’re starting production of an injection that will allow vampires to avoid drinking from humans. What if they’re linked to the paranormals in the van?” I knew I was probably thinking way ahead of myself, but there was still the possibility of a connection and it needed to be looked into.

  “That’s a hell of an accusation, Julia. I will investigate this, but we need evidence.”

  “Yeah, I heard about that,” Stewart, Dad’s right-hand man, said, “but that La Caz has plenty of money and the shot is synthetic. I don’t think they would have anything to do with your cousin’s kidnapping.” I honestly didn’t care about his opinion right then.

  "Get that syringe to the lab and ask them to find whatever they can," my dad ordered. "And you, young lady, are going home with one of my guys. From now on, I want you to be more careful. Maybe I should send someone with you at all times, just in case.”

  “No, I’ll be fine. I can take care of myself and I want to help,” I insisted, but he had already made up his mind.

  “Just leave this to me and to the rest of the Unit. Go home and don’t men
tion anything to your mother. We can’t allow her let her worry.”

  In the end, Dad sent me home with Dannika who was patrolling the neighbourhood. My mother was human, and she didn’t know about my father’s true nature. I hated that we couldn’t tell her the truth, but apparently Grandma insisted that it was too risky for her to know that she’d fallen in love with an elf.

  Sometimes, I thought that my grandmother interfered with our lives way too much. I was still pissed off when Dannika dropped me home. Claudia was on my mind and I had a bad feeling that the syringe that was found on the crime scene might have been produced by La Caz Pharmaceutical.

  It was nearly eleven p.m. when I sat down to have my dinner. I couldn’t stop thinking about that vampire, Nathaniel La Caz. If the shot was his, then I knew that I had to talk to him again. My father wanted me to stay away from the investigation, but Claudia was family and I felt it was my duty to help find her. If I hadn’t agreed to have dinner with her, maybe this wouldn’t have happened.

  As I lay in bed, Nathaniel filled my thoughts. I’d broken up with my psycho ex-boyfriend a year ago and hadn’t been out with anyone since then, but… Nathaniel La Caz? He was an immortal bloodsucker. He was nothing like what I had expected. All these new emotions were silly and surprising. I shook my head; what a mismatch.

  He and my cousin were still on my mind when I drifted off to sleep.

  Chapter four.

  Unexpected visitor.

  I dreamed about Claudia that night. She was drowning in the water and whenever I tried to reach her, the current was pulling her away from me. She was screaming, desperately fighting to get to me. I woke up several hours later, drenched with sweat. When I glanced at my reflection in the mirror, I had dark circles under my eyes.

  After a quick shower and breakfast, I was ready to conquer another day. I couldn’t skip work; there was a lot of people who were relying on me today. My stomach was in knots when I rolled into the office in the morning. I kept thinking about Claudia, wondering where those bastards could have taken her. I hoped that the strange werewolf would call again, so I could ask him about the men who’d taken my cousin.

  I had a lot of work to do before noon. Kate, my co-worker, arrived just after nine and made coffee for both of us. I called my dad, and after a bit of convincing, he finally revealed that the syringe with blood that had been found yesterday belonged to La Caz Pharmaceutical. He refused to say anything more and had to hang up.

  My Aunt Dorothy called crying, asking me to tell her everything that I saw yesterday. She broke my heart when she sobbed into the phone.

  It was a hard and long-winded conversation. After the line disconnected, I was ready to jump into a taxi, head over to La Caz Pharmaceutical, and question La Caz myself.

  “You know that’s a bad idea, Julia. You have no proof that he had anything to do with the kidnapping,” Kate told me after I explained to her what had happened yesterday.

  I was too wound up to concentrate on my work and Kate noticed that there was something wrong with me.

  “I know,” I mumbled, wondering if I should ask my grandma for help. She was a very powerful elf, and maybe she could somehow trace that phone call. I knew that apart from the syringe, my father didn’t have any other evidence. I had to help with the search whether my dad liked it or not.

  My regional manager, Rufus, was unreachable, as usual. I knew that he was still in London, but I was expecting him to at least pop in to the office to go over what happened at the meeting yesterday. I wanted to get promoted, but right now that wasn’t what was most important.

  Jennifer kept telling me that La Caz only signed the contract because he was interested in me. I waved off this thought, tempted to arrange another meeting with him. He couldn’t possibly have signed with Paranormal Personnel because of me. No one in his right mind would even think like that, especially not Nathaniel La Caz. But deep down, I sort of knew that my subconscious was right. We had chemistry and an instant attraction. I couldn’t deny it, but right then I was too worried, thinking about my poor cousin, rather than wondering if he found me irresistible.

  Time dragged on until lunch, and I kept going over the kidnapping in my head. But I still couldn’t remember anything specific about those men. At half past twelve, a fairy came in looking for call centre work. I took her CV and asked her to come back and register on Monday. Kate went to lunch and I stayed, waiting for an email from the HR director, worrying about Claudia even more when I heard someone at the door.

  “I’ll be with you in a moment," I called out, staring at the screen for longer than I should have. Then the same overpowering smell hit me out of the blue: mint leaves and cedar notes. My skin buzzed again with rippling electricity.

  Slowly, I lifted my eyes and found myself staring at Nathaniel La Caz. He was standing in front of my desk in broad daylight.

  “Shit! What are you doing here?" I quickly covered my mouth with my hands. I really needed to watch my tongue. I dropped the pen on the floor that I’d been chewing on earlier on.

  This was really unexpected, but convenient at the same time. Now, I could finally ask him about his special project—and Claudia.

  “Hi Julia, it’s good to see you again.” His low sexy voice sent a shiver down my spine.

  “You’re a vampire. How are you walking in daylight?”

  He laughed. “I’m a Dhampir, so I don’t need to hide from the sunlight." He looked around the office. This gave me time to pull myself together. My heart was pounding, letting me know that I wasn’t making any progress with my self-control. Then I heard the door open again and saw Rufus marching towards us.

  “Oh, Mr. La Caz, I can see that Julia is already keeping you company.”

  I was speechless, glancing from Nathaniel to Rufus, not understanding what was going on. La Caz looked relaxed in his grey suit.

  "Rufus," I began, clearing my throat, “I’ve been trying to get in touch with you all morning."

  "Oh, yes, Julia. Mr. La Caz, here, called me out of the blue and explained everything that happened during the meeting. He wanted to see Paranormal Personnel for himself, so I offered to drive him over," Rufus explained, smiling. Most of the female vampires in the office had a crush on Rufus. He was tall, nearly six feet four, and always dressed in a neat, tailored suit. He had light brown hair, trimmed short, and today, he was unshaven, which just added more magnetism to his look. After all, he was a giant.

  Since all the paranormal creatures started breeding with humans’ centuries ago, they’d lost their species-specific looks. Trolls weren’t ugly, giants weren’t ten feet tall, and elves didn’t have pointed ears. However, we all had certain characteristics that helped us to recognise each other. Only vampires kept their paleness and thirst for blood, but they also adapted—they had to. Rufus was incredibly sexy, but when La Caz was standing there in all his gorgeous maleness, I was breathless. Nathaniel was very attractive. His body was toned and firm; he must have worked out a lot. He looked amazing in that grey suit.

  "Right," I muttered, staring at Rufus, who had no idea what was happening inside my chest. I didn’t believe he was there because he wanted to check out the office. No managing director of any serious company would ask to do that, especially, not a vampire who had millions of pounds. At the same time, this was my chance to question him about the shot and Claudia’s kidnapping.

  " Welcome to Paranormal Personnel, Mr. La Caz. Would you care for a coffee, maybe with dash of blood?" I asked with a hint of sarcasm. I just couldn’t help myself. Then Rufus’s phone started ringing at the same time.

  Nathaniel sucked in a long breath and arched his left brow. Moments later, he sat on my desk and leaned over whispering, “I would love to have you on this desk, Miss Taylor. You can’t imagine how much you turn me on.”

  I continued starting at him, dumbfounded. My mouth open and closed, but nothing came out. I was suddenly paralysed, while my heart pounded furiously in my chest. The lights inside the office started blinking and
that wasn’t a good sign. Normally, I stayed away from men, especially paranormal, because my magic was so unpredictable. I was too scared of screwing up yet another relationship, or maybe it had something to do with my deepest insecurities. After all, my grandmother believed that I could never learn anything specific when it came to magic.

  He must have been aware that my magic was causing havoc inside me, because he leaned closer. I inhaled fresh air and repeated my question.

  "What the hell are you doing here, Nathaniel? Let’s face it; you didn’t come here to see our office, did you?" I leaned back in an attempt to distance myself from his mesmerising scent.

  "I came here because I wanted to see you," he said quietly. Rufus’s back was turned to us and thank God for that, because I didn’t want him to witness this scene. I felt a bead of sweat start rolling down my back.

  "Well, you’ve seen me. Now, I have a lot of work to do, so just leave me alone,” I said, sitting back down and trying to make myself look busy.

  Then, I remembered that I wanted to ask him about Claudia. Damn. He had connections in the city, and I knew he could help me, but first I needed to make sure that he wasn’t the prime suspect.

  Rufus turned off his phone and Nathaniel pulled away from me. "Julia, Mr. La Caz was telling me how you convinced him to sign up with us. We will need to take on a few extra staff here. La Caz Corporation is starting the production of a shot that eases the demand of blood from humans, so they will have to take on a lot of temps." Rufus seemed excited.

  "Yes, we will need at least a hundred temps for the next few weeks," La Caz, said in a dry tone.

  "Julia will take care of this; she knows what she’s doing," Rufus assured him.

  "I don’t doubt that. Miss Taylor, here, already gave me the impression that she has everything under control. Do you think I can have a private word with her?" My regional manager looked surprised by his unusual request, but he flashed La Caz a positive smile. I didn’t understand why he had to ask Rufus’s permission; I was still standing there, and I was capable of making my own decisions.