A Nightly Howl Read online

  The networking event was being held at the prestigious five-star Hilton hotel; I had to look my best. I put a lot of makeup on and visited a hairdresser earlier. I went for a pair of killer dove-grey heels and a matching skirt, along with an elegant scarlet-coloured blouse. I had my business cards in my purse and was ready to rock. My stomach was rumbling when the taxi driver dropped me by Park Lane. The street around the hotel was busy, filled with sophisticated-looking paranormals and several humans. This was the part of London where everyone wanted to be. A lot of celebrities had stayed in this hotel and I was glad I had a chance to represent Paranormal Personnel.

  I took care of the bill with the taxi driver before making my way toward the hotel. This whole event probably cost the business a fortune, so I couldn’t let Rufus down. Surely this was very important, and I wasn’t leaving without solid contacts.

  I spotted humans and paranormals dressed in suits following the uniformed hotel staff. The lobby was impressive: large, with a long reception desk and, behind them, a round of beautiful fairies ready to take care of arriving guests. After spotting the advert for the networking event, I headed through the long corridor following two men in black suits. I looked good, smelled good, and my magic was under control, at least for the evening, so I didn’t have to worry.

  A pretty fairy in uniform invited me to go through the wide door; the main event was set up in a large room. I was a bit early but a lot of paranormals had already started pitching, talking amongst each other. I stood by the entrance, looking around. This entire event was supposed to be for paranormals only, but I could see a few humans among the guests. The room was getting busy, so I decided to hang by the bar, attempting to catch anyone from large manufactories or contact centres. The bartender handed me a glass of champagne and I joined a group of wizards, clearly overhearing their discussion about margins. I didn’t know anyone here, so I had to start somewhere.

  Chapter 2

  Him.

  "Yeah, it’s hard to do business during a recession; my profit dropped by three percent last year. People don’t want to work, and I can’t afford to pay them more than minimum wage," a tall werewolf said, shaking his head.

  A man next to him shrugged. "Tell me about it, Donald."

  "Oh, come on, gentlemen. Why are we all being so negative?" another wizard fumed, patting a large stocky man on the back. "I found a few customers here already. The British economy might be sinking, but the paranormal world isn’t."

  "Of course, Roger, your connections are impressive," another paranormal said, frowning.

  "I agree with Doug; times are tough at the moment so I’m trying to make the best possible savings. I lost twenty percent of my workforce due to cutbacks," one of the smaller wizards with a silver beard, said. He reminded me of a Merlin figure, although he was wearing a black perfectly-cut suit.

  "Well, the government doesn’t make it any easier for us," Roger agreed, smiling. "Doug, I think you should talk to that witch; she specialises in taxes. She saved me tonnes of money last year."

  "So, that’s your secret? Roger, you old git." Doug chuckled. “That's how you made your fortune?"

  “Let's talk about the workforce, gentlemen," someone who’d been standing quietly to the side, interrupted. "I can’t afford to employ people who have been out of work for a number of months. I’m only working with the most prestigious clients."

  "Yes, young people are so unreliable these days."

  "Excuse me, may I interrupt? Julia Taylor, I’m from Paranormal Personnel. We deal with recruitment for paranormals. We can always negotiate a margin and we don’t charge high fees," I said, barging in, flashing my best and sweetest smile. I knew that I was being rude, but this was the perfect opportunity for me to show them that I could be their problem solver.

  "Paranormal Personnel?" a small troll asked, joining our group. “Don't you guys supply people to La Caz Pharmaceutical?"

  "Yes, we do," I said quickly. "We supply people on a daily basis. We’re based on Main Street in Croydon and have several paranormals approaching us looking for work."

  "What sort of sectors do you specialise with?" a stocky wizard asked.

  "Manufacturing, mainly, but we do cover contact centres, admin, and other sectors. We’re pretty flexible."

  "Yeah, I heard from La Caz himself that those guys are good. It’s a shame about the fire. Apparently, all your files were destroyed," the troll muttered.

  "We’re re-registering people, and—"

  "The fire was just a terrible accident, Mr. Liroy. Paranormal Personnel has never let me down."

  The familiar voice folded over my shoulder. My body locked when I felt his hand on my back. His voice awakened my magic and every ounce of desire that I’d been dismissing for so long. Air caught in my lungs as my need for him sank into my stomach. I wished I could just melt away. Every cell in my body clung to his presence and magic cascaded over my fingertips. An electric flux of energy caused every small hair on the back of my neck to stand on end.

  "La Caz, I’m surprised to see you here. We were supposed to have a meeting together the other day, but your secretary said you were in Geneva?" The troll standing next to me frowned.

  I didn’t dare turn around, but I could smell Nathaniel—lemons and cedar notes. It was his signature scent, which normally drove me cuckoo, and right now I was barely controlling myself, shaking with pain and desire. I would have never attended this meeting if I’d known that this bastard was going to be here. Lucinda mentioned he was out of the country; I was supposed to have fun on my own.

  "Some unexpected events brought me back to London," the half vampire said behind me. He was standing a few inches away, turning my body into mush. His smell, his voice, and him just being so close deprived my skin of heat. "Gentlemen, will you allow me to take Ms. Taylor away? I promise to return her to you as soon as possible."

  “I'm not finished here—"

  "Make sure you do, La Caz. I certainly need to talk to that beautiful elf about my own company. I desperately need to hire a few temporary staff."

  "Yeah, La Caz, I know your tricks; you only want to keep her for yourself," the Merlin look-alike wizard fumed.

  His hand was still on my back, and my magic was going crazy, swirling inside me like a tornado. We moved away from the group of businessmen and stopped by the bar, where he could watch what was going on around the room. He shifted his weight and leaned toward me, his sweet breath near my face. Warmth crawled through my skin and down between my legs. I was ready to tell him to leave me alone before he started to speak.

  "Julia, look at me—we need to talk."

  We were in a highly professional environment, so I didn’t want to make a scene. My heart was pounding, and I was just about to faint when he placed his hand on my arm. His touch was like a bonfire in the night on my skin. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t pull away. We were both aware that people were looking at us, but he didn’t seem to care. His attention was focused entirely on me. He moved my chin with his hand and I couldn’t avoid looking straight into his eyes.

  His hair was longer and smoothed nicely to the sides, his hazel eyes hardened. I couldn’t move or breathe, but the excess magic that had been accumulating inside me for weeks was going through rapture. Nathaniel La Caz knew what he was doing to me, standing so close, but he wasn't planning to move; I could see it in his gaze. The brief memory of him in his office between my legs coiled through my mind. A flush crept up on my cheeks.

  "Julia, you can’t imagine how happy I am, seeing you here," he said, his voice a whisper.

  "Really?" I asked with a small voice. "You can’t imagine how much you pissed me off by being here. Thank you for ruining my business pitch. I just lost a good business contact."

  Something flashed in his eyes, but I wasn't sure what it was. Desire? Resentment? When he smiled, he was back to his normal self and my world was crashing down.

  “Don't worry about those tight tycoons. They won’t go away," he said. “I've misse
d you, my firecracker. I want to straighten things out between us." He moved even closer, his voice just a husky whisper. A soft wind circled between us and my skin tingled with small crackles of static.

  “Don't call me that! I'm not your fucking anything," I hissed, irritated. My palm was itching to slap him, but I couldn’t ruin my reputation in a place like this. People were staring; I could feel their eyes on us. Nathaniel was a famous personality around paranormals. Everyone here knew who he was, and everyone knew that we were together a few weeks ago.

  “You're angry and that’s understandable," he said simply. “That's why we need to talk in private."

  The glass near us was vibrating dangerously close to the edge of the bar. I was stirring the energy surrounding us, and my head was throbbing. I darted my eyes away from him and glanced around. A group of stunning-looking witches were watching us closely; they were all aware of cursive magic. The air around us was so thick, I was surprised that nothing had exploded. Others were also glancing with curiosity, probably wondering what was going on between us.

  "Please, firecracker," he pleaded, forcing my gaze back to him.

  "I don’t want to talk to you, Nathaniel. I came because I knew that you weren't going to be here. Just leave me alone and let me work. Rufus sent me here to gain new clients, not to waste time talking to an overly prestigious, cocky bastard like you," I spat out my words.

  “C'mon Julia, that’s a low blow, even for you." He scowled, moving slightly away, sucking all the air out of my lungs. “I'll introduce you to a few useful people after five minutes with me. I think it’s a fair deal."

  I’d built up a wall while we’d been apart, but it didn't last; it was jackhammered by the explosive emotions caused just by his touch. I couldn’t concentrate being around him.

  "Fine, let’s go," I snapped.

  "This way," he muttered, directing me toward the room next to the staff entrance. Women were smiling, smoothing their hair when Nathaniel passed through. They were drawn to him; the way he moved and handled himself was appealing and sexy.

  If we hadn’t left, I was quite sure that the glass on the table would’ve exploded. Nathaniel opened the door and let me through to what looked like a long dark corridor. My mind was screaming that this was a very bad idea, but I was already inside.

  "Now, we’re away from nosy people so we can talk like adults." His hazel eyes brewed with fire and I knew this was such a bad sign.

  "Get to the point. I haven’t got all day," I said annoyed.

  "Just calm down," he said. "We haven’t seen each other for over a month. How’ve you been?"

  I was staring at him, trying to figure out if he was joking but realised that he was literally asking how I was.

  "Fuck, Nathaniel," I fumed. "You brought me out here just to ask me how the hell I am?"

  "Yes, after all, you’ve been through a lot because of me," he said, watching me intensely.

  “I'm fine," I replied, but my voice cracked. "Now, if you’re satisfied with my answer I’m going back to my sales pitch. So, stay away from me."

  I turned around, prepared to walk away. I didn’t have to wait for him to say anymore, because there was nothing to add. We were done with each other. There was no point in dwelling on the past, but what happened next blew all my sense to hell and crushed me even more. Nathaniel grabbed my shoulder, stopping me, before he swirled me around and pulled me close to his chest. This was enough to send me out to another planet. Suddenly, the consistency of the air changed, making it nearly impossible to breathe. My heart stopped. Before I could react, Nathaniel crushed his lips into mine. His kiss melted me right through, sending an irresistible spasm of desire through my core. He violated my mouth, my tongue, and pushed me against the wall. His hands found my waist and pulled me toward his him; I could feel his hard length pressed against my body. I moaned, feeling alive again.

  "Julia, I nearly forgot how incredible you taste." He growled in a husky whisper. He moved his lips down to my neck, kissing me. I felt light-headed; my brain was only registering parts of what he was doing to me. His touch was like a drug in my veins.

  When I felt his fangs near my neck, a tingle of boiling energy passed through my stomach, moving down between my legs. My mind roared to push him away, but my body wanted more. I was lost, lust was pouring down me like a summer rain. When his lips found mine again, the pulsing down below only increased; his mouth took mine completely, like he couldn’t get enough of me. The magic throbbed through me.

  "Stop, I…" my voice trailed off, but I came to my senses and pushed him away, breathing hard. My heart pounded against my chest as if it were hammering its way out, then we heard a terrible scream next door.

  I looked at Nathaniel, confused. He grabbed my hand and we both hurried away, bursting through the door on our right. The next room was much smaller than the main one; I guessed that it was designed to hold small meetings. I pushed through the crowd, seeing a woman sobbing next to a large man. When I realised that I knew her, blood rushed in my ears. My best friend, Ella was crumpled on the floor, crying her eyes out and pointing at the man next to her. Someone tried to pick her up, but she jerked away.

  "Dead, he’s dead," she kept repeating.

  "Ella!" I shouted and rushed toward her, pushing away the fairy who was trying to help her. The man next to Ella was, indeed, dead. Smoke was evaporating from his body. Dark magic coursed through the air. I embraced Ella in a tight hug. “It's all right. Come on, let’s go; let’s get away from him."

  "Dead, magic... light... I saw it, Julia. I really did." Her eyes were wide, one of her fake eyelashes was sticking out, and her mascara was smudged all over her face. She kept squeezing my hand hard. A lot of paranormals and even some humans surrounded us. I had no idea what Ella was doing here, but she must have seen something that she shouldn’t have, and now she was freaking out.

  "Come on, darling, we’ve got to go," I said again, trying to pull her from the floor, but she was still hysterical, crying and pointing at the corpse in front of her. I searched for Nathaniel in the crowd, hoping he could help drag her away. I didn’t have to look for long because he was beside me within a moment.

  "Humans!" I hissed, but a few paranormals were already whispering the memory spells to shield those who shouldn't see what was going on.

  "Dead!" Ella screamed, pointing at the dead paranormal man, her breathing irregular.

  "Ella, calm down."

  She passed out after taking a long deep breath, then fell into my arms. I glanced at the body next to us, recognising a troll. Although he was dead, his smell was still strong—a mixture of whiskey and bleach. He was massive, with broad muscular shoulders and a small squashed nose, lying prone on the ground in his immaculate black suit. I had no idea what kind of spell could kill a two-hundred-and-seventy-something-pound troll, but whoever it was, he must have known what he was doing.

  "Julia, what’s going on? Do you know her?" Nathaniel asked, staring at the body with an odd, tense expression.

  "Ella is my best friend. I don’t even know what she’s doing here. I didn't see her earlier," I stammered. "Is she going to be all right? I don’t know what to do. She’s human and she wasn't supposed to see anything magical."

  "Calm down. She’s unconscious, but her heartbeat is steady," he said, running his hand through his hair.

  "La Caz, police are on the way. Take her away—there are too many humans here," the stocky wizard said; the same one who had been with the group of paranormals earlier on. The crowd slowly faded, moving away to the main room. A few werewolves were examining the body. I pressed my fingers to my forehead, my pulse still racing.

  "Let me take her away from here," Nathaniel offered, then lifted Ella like she didn’t weigh anything before he walked out of the room. The hotel personnel pointed toward a wide door away from the crowd. I followed him as he placed Ella gently on a pool table in the quiet room. I was still in shock, pacing the room, trying to calm down.

  "We need to
take her to the hospital,” I cried out. “She might be hurt."

  Nathaniel exhaled sharply and drew his eyes away from my friend. "I don’t think that’s a good idea, Julia. She probably witnessed a murder, but her memories need to be wiped for her own good."

  "She shouldn't be here," I yelled. "Who the hell was that—"

  The door burst open and I stopped talking in mid-sentence. Dad walked through the door and sighed with relief; Stuart was behind him.

  "Julia, I was just told that Ella was attacked," he grumbled, staring at my unconscious friend. "I was in the neighbourhood when I got the call. Tell me what the hell happened here?"

  "We heard her screams, and when I got to the room that troll was already dead; she was hysterical."

  I couldn’t tell him that right before I’d been making out with my ex. Nathaniel placed his hand on my shoulder and squeezed it. Dad stepped toward me, eyeing him hard.

  "The ambulance is on its way; a human made the call and our unit picked it up," he said, not talking his eyes off Nathaniel. "I just saw the body, a troll, and my team is already examining the damage. The dark spells are traceable—"

  "Spencer was my bodyguard, Mr. Taylor. He was here because he was working for me."

  The long and uncomfortable silence stretched for about a minute. My gaze was flicking from Nathaniel to my dad. The large mirror above the fire placed cracked, and Stuart flinched, stepping away.