Half Past the Witching Hour (Paranormal Personnel Saga #3) (29 page)

‘Dad, no, no, I’ll talk to her. She isn’t—’

‘Hun, it’s better to let go. I chose love and took the risk, but it didn’t work. I always knew that your mother wouldn’t handle me, as me. Your mother is the love of my life, but it’s better to hurt now than later. It’s better to let go.’

He disconnected the call straight after that and I stared at my hands thinking that there was still a chance. Dad didn’t just give up; he couldn’t just let go. Deep down he was a fighter, and Mum needed to understand that he had only wanted to protect her.

As I sat like that for minutes, hours, I slowly began putting Dad’s reasoning into perspective. Mum was a human; she didn’t understand magic; she felt betrayed and cheated. Dad wanted to spare her more pain, so he accepted the consequences of his actions. I wanted them to make it work, but the damage was already done.

Then I started thinking about my own situation. An hour later, freshened up and determined to put my life back to normal, I called a taxi. I went straight to the hospital to see Nathaniel. We both had gone through a lot: we pushed each other, we loved each other, and we kept hurting one another. We had to decide if this was what we both wanted.

I was allowed into his room, but only for a few minutes. Nathaniel lay on the bed, his chest covered with bandages, his breathing uneven. I stared at his pale face thinking about happy times we spent together. Minutes passed, and I sat there questioning if we were ever going to get married and be happy, like we were supposed to.

‘How long have you been sitting here?’ he asked suddenly, startling me back to the room. I didn’t know how long I sat there for. His hazel eyes were watching me intensely.

‘A few minutes or so. I don’t know,’ I replied. ‘How are you feeling anyway?’

He didn’t answer, tightening his jaw as the pain contracted through his face. He exhaled.

‘I’m in pain, Julia, and I guess that I deserve what Meredith did to me. I should have talked to her about you.’

‘My parents are getting a divorce. They are not going to make it through,’ I said, ignoring his stupid reflection about what happened.

He didn’t say anything at first; he just stared at me, looking wary and frustrated.

‘Julia, it’s going—’

‘Oh please, don’t give me that crap. It’s not going to be all right. My parents still love each other, but they aren’t going to be together anymore.’ I said, cutting him off.

‘This is not over yet.’

I shook my head, smiling to myself. My thoughts trailed off to all the times that Nathaniel and I tried to make it through. All these failed attempts were making me feel more depressed and anxious about the future.

‘Nathaniel, I think it’s best for us to keep it apart. I can’t believe that I’m saying this, but we are not working. This is not working.’

He moved again, pain shattered through his body, as he tried to reach for me.

‘Julia, don’t do this. We can have a fresh start now that we aren’t involved with anyone else. Are you going to throw our love away? After what we both have been through?’

‘I love you, but I can’t keep waking up next to you every morning knowing that magic broke my parents apart. Passion isn’t enough to keep us together.’

‘Fuck, I want to be with you. I can prove that I’m serious this time.’

‘You don’t have to and I don’t want you to,’ I whispered. ‘Let’s see what happens in the future, but for now I can’t do this. We’re only going to damage each other more, so I’m walking away.’

‘Just like that, you’re walking away from the relationship that you always wanted? From love?’

‘There is always a friendship, Nathaniel. We can still see each other. Let’s start from that and see where friendship would take us, because love is poisonous.’

Nathaniel’s face was red, the vein in his neck pulsing fast. Shock and desperation painted all over him. I couldn’t touch him or even kiss him, because I didn’t want to be back to the same place again. Instead, I turned around and walked away, remembering my father’s words.

It’s better to hurt now than later. It’s better to let go.

End of volume 3