Free Half Past the Witching Hour (Paranormal Personnel Saga #3) by Joanna Mazurkiewicz Page A

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