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Chapter 6

The ex and some flaws.

I drank another strong cup of coffee after Rufus left me alone with Kate. Nothing helped and in my head, I kept coming back to my conversation with Nathaniel. For some reason, I couldn’t stop thinking about him. My own body was betraying me, and my magic went crazy when he was around—even more than usual.

My skin was still buzzing, and I was involuntarily moving things around the kitchen. Sometimes, I just wanted to scream because I knew I couldn’t be like everyone else. My magic was a gift and a curse at the same time. I kept wondering how Nathaniel could want someone like me. He always seemed so much in control, whereas my own life was very chaotic.

I kept my head down and continued working, but Claudia was in the back of my mind throughout the rest of the day. I needed to question my father later; he was bound to know more about the shot and what it contained.

Lucinda Grabovsky, the HR manager for La Caz Pharmaceutical, sent over some job specs. For the next two hours, I took in all the necessary information about the available positions and started to place advertisements on the local site. It was easy to blend the paranormal job adverts with ordinary ones; you just had to know how to do it.

I was counting the minutes until I could get the hell out of the office. I called my dad straight away, but his phone went to voicemail. Then I called Mum, but she mentioned that my dad was still at work and he wouldn’t be home until later that evening. After ten minutes of not getting anywhere, I realised that I’d gotten a text message from my best friend, Ella, asking me where the hell I was. She said that I’d better hurry up because some creepy guy was trying to chat her up. I texted her back, saying that I should be there in five minutes. I’d completely forgotten that I was supposed to meet with her after work. Earlier on, I was thinking about cancelling our plans, but that had slipped my mind too. There was so much going on, but I had been ditching her for too long now.

The taxi took me back to central Croydon. It was November and freezing. I tucked my coat around me, dreaming about a nice cocktail, but Ella chose some shabby pub that didn’t look appealing at all. I couldn’t complain, though. My friend was human and a very simple girl. Luckily, the bar wasn’t busy. I scanned the space looking for traces of magic, but this wasn’t a place where most paranormals would choose to hang out. I spotted Ella sitting by the bar, looking uncomfortable. There was some guy that was chatting her up. She looked relieved when I sat next to her.

“Oh, Ella. There you are. Come on, let’s go. Your hubs is asking after you,” I said, throwing my arms around her, knowing that it was time to change our location.

We needed to have a drink in some nice bistro where I could see what was going on out on the street. Maybe I was being a bit too paranoid, but I wanted to make sure that no other elf was going to be kidnapped tonight.

My friend smiled brightly and the guy next to her looked at me with interest. He had a wide face with a heavy jaw and small watery eyes. Those eyes were very characteristic of trolls, but I knew anyway. I could always tell.

"Oh, thanks. I’ve got to go, darling. It was nice talking to you," she said, nodding to the barman for her bill. I had nothing against trolls, although I didn’t like the way they smelled. This guy smelled of old socks and heavy aftershave.

"Can I buy you a drink?" he asked, turning to look at me.

“I’m afraid this lady is taken," said a low, grating voice behind me. I felt a hand on my back and instantly knew the person who had just spoken.

God! What is he doing here? Is he following me?

By this time, Ella had paid for her drink and come back for me. Her face said it all. She couldn’t believe she was seeing my ex-boyfriend, Jasper, again.

I was pissed off too, because I had specifically told him to stay away from me. Magical energy surged through me and my hands were itching to cause real damage this time. Then I reminded myself that there were several humans around and I couldn’t afford to expose myself like that.

I was just about to say something when the large paranormal in front of me barked,

"Sorry, mate, but I saw her first. Fuck off."

"We were just leaving. I appreciate your offer, but I’m kind of busy." I hoped that Jasper wasn’t going to do anything stupid in front of all these humans. My ex-boyfriend arched his left eyebrow and gave the unfriendly troll a murderous look.

"This lady is way out of your league, mate, so I suggest you get up and take your sweaty balls out of here before I do something that might upset you.” He didn’t raise his voice, but there was a hint of threat in his tone.

He was a self-employed paranormal bounty hunter. Some paranormals would cross the street just to avoid him, others tried to run, but that just made him angrier. This troll was obviously too brave or too stupid to realise what was coming. Jasper was just over my height and I truly wished that I’d never dated him. A lot of human customers were staring at me when I glanced around. Ella looked mystified by what was going on with her jaw hanging wide open. I wanted to kick her.

"I ain’t in the mood today, pal, and you’re getting on my nerves," the troll snarled, spitting on Jasper. Then he turned around, and I was sure he was going to leave, but instead, he jerked forward, then smashed his fist into Jasper’s face. His punch sent Jasper straight toward the tables before he landed on the floor. The troll obviously took him by surprise. Ella screamed; the barman went rushing towards the phone, shouting that he was going to call the police. Humans started getting up to take a better look at what was going on.

Half of me was glad that Jasper was screwed, but the other half was buzzing with electricity. Several glasses started to crack; I wasn’t in control of my own powers anymore. Shit.

"Now, that we’ve gotten rid of the problem we can get to know each other," the troll said to me with a bright smile.

I wanted to gag when the scent of cat puke and petrol wafted into the air. Seriously, this was too much.

"We’re leaving…" My voice trailed off, and the air around me shifted. I smelled and felt magic soaking the atmosphere. Someone had cast a suspension charm; all the humans were suddenly frozen. Then, in the blink of an eye, Jasper was beside the troll clenching his large hand around his throat. The troll’s breath was shallow and his eyes wide.

“Did I mention that I don’t really like you?” Jasper whispered, suffocating the obese troll whose face was now scarlet; his eyes looked like they were going to pop out of his head.

“Jasper! Let go of him,” I hissed, but he wasn’t paying attention to me and squeezed his hand around the troll’s throat harder. I could see that he was under the influence of dark magic. His eyes were illuminating with blue neon light. His magic wand was in his right hand. This was not good.

"Jasper!" I screamed. Finally, he released the troll, quickly muttering something under his breath. The unexpected spell lifted the hair on the back of my neck and the large creature was suspended in midair.

"Free entertainment for tonight," Jasper said, spinning the troll around.

I wished that I was more creative, more in control of my abilities, then maybe we could all find some kind of peaceful resolution. At that point, I wasn’t following Jasper’s magic anymore. He was waving it around like a maniac.

He didn’t understand that we were done, that we weren’t a couple anymore. It drove me nuts that he kept showing up in these random places, pretending that it was all a huge coincidence. This time he had crossed the line. Rage boiled inside of me. Strong currents of electricity lifted my hair and my fingertips were suddenly covered in flames.

"Jasper, you psycho, put him down!"

He didn’t listen, because he was too busy torturing the guy who was only trying to buy me a drink. The wind that he’d created ruffled his dark hair. Maybe this was a very, very, bad idea, but I couldn’t let him kill another creature.

A mass of yellow light streamed from my hands as I concentrated. The first wave of energy didn’t even touch him, but then my fury took over. The second bolt of magic threw Jasper off his feet, where he banged his head on the nearby chairs. He lost control; his magic wand flew across the pub, stopping somewhere by the entrance. There was a huge crash, and several tables and chairs smashed when the huge troll landed on the floor.

Jasper lay still a few meters away from me. The suspension spell was lifted, and all the humans in the pub began stirring back to reality. My heart was galloping out of my chest. The air was so thick with spells that I couldn’t breathe properly.

I glanced down at my hands, not believing that I was able to produce so much magic. Then, the tiny voice in my head reminded me to get the hell out of here. I quickly wiped the sweat from my forehead and rushed towards Ella who looked like she was going to start screaming at any moment.

"Come on, let’s go before the police get here." I took her hand and rushed towards the door.

When fresh air hit my lungs, the aftermath of the energy I’d produced ripped through me. I felt much better after getting rid of my excess magic, but Ella seemed to have lost the ability to speak. I quickly called out for a taxi, knowing that we had to disappear straight away.

"Julia, oh, my God," she said after a long moment. "What the hell happened?"

"Jasper went slightly out of control. He beat up that poor guy," I explained. Ella wasn’t exactly a bright human.

"Julia, you need to tell your dad. What if that guy in the bar is dead?"

"He isn’t dead," I said quickly. "The barman already called the police. We disappeared just before they were about to show up."

I was glad that Ella wasn’t asking me about the black hole that suddenly appeared in her memory. She was more worried about the fact that Jasper arrived and beat someone up because of me. I told the taxi driver to stop near the cinema. I was starving and needed to take the edge off my stress. We walked for another ten minutes, passing High Street after we were dropped off. The cinema was on my right and we entered the Italian restaurant next door. Ella was cursing Jasper under her breath.

"Two shots of vodka, please," I told the British waiter when we walked inside. I didn’t want to be caught in the middle of that mess when the Paranormal Unit arrived to check out what had happened. I’d lost control yet again, but I was glad that Jasper ended up unconscious. He had a lot of explaining to do, probably to my father who was on duty tonight. My magic had saved our arses—that much, I was thankful for, even though I still wasn’t sure how it happened.

Jasper was my ex-boyfriend. We broke up a year ago. His dark magic skills allowed him to track me anywhere I went. He’d finally stopped following me in the past few weeks, and I was kind of hoping that he had realised that we were over.

Ella didn’t know Jasper wasn’t human. She didn’t even know supernatural beings existed, or that I was one of them. My best friend was human, born and bred in London, so that was why I decided to keep the bad news about my cousin’s kidnapping to myself. It was hard lying to her, but I was trying to protect her. Besides, she wouldn’t be able to handle the magic, or understand why an elf had been taken away.

"Get a restraining order, Julia. That guy is insane," she said, tensing her jaw. Ella was two years older than me. She had long red hair, fake eyelashes, fake nails, and she used a tanning bed at least once a week. She was always well-groomed—and she was the kindest person that I’d ever known. She was a healthy size fourteen, and deep down, I knew she was self-conscious about her weight.

The handsome waiter brought our shots; I didn’t waste any time and drank one right away. “I’m considering that," I told her, staring at the menu.

"Don’t be an idiot. How did he even know you would be at that bar? What if he kidnaps you next?"

Well, Ella didn’t know that Jasper had once tried to use a dark spell to make me go on holiday with him. Right now, I was anxiously waiting for a phone call from my dad, but I was so done explaining myself. Jasper hated me because I’d ditched him, so he was trying to punish me. He knew that my magic was unstable and that I would never be in full control of my abilities.

Either way, he was going to remember tonight because I was so done dealing with him.

"Seriously, Julia, what are you waiting for? He’s dangerous!"

I knew what she was saying, but Ella had no idea that Jasper was also an exceptional magician.

“I’ll deal with him, don’t worry. I think I need another drink."

"Me, too." She waved toward the waiter, then cursed about Jasper for the next few minutes. When she finally changed the subject, I exhaled with relief. "By the way, my brother keeps asking about you."

I groaned. "I don’t need this right now, Ella. We both know that for some reason when it comes to men, I’m cursed.”

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