City of Magic: The Complete Series by Helen Harper (book club recommendations TXT) 📕

He shrugged but at least he didn’t try to deny it. ‘You were adamant that you could take care of yourself. Don’t worry, I’d have never let you be harmed.’ He said it so dismissively that I wasn’t sure whether to be pleased or irritated. Either way, this probably wasn’t the time for yet another spat.

Monroe still hadn’t taken his blue eyes off the wolf in front of him. Although she was unnaturally large, she wasn’t a match for him. Her belly was almost touching the ground and her head remained lowered. When Monroe knelt down and reached over to touch her muzzle, she whimpered.

He pulled back and examined his fingers grimly. ‘Blood,’ he said. ‘Vampire blood.’

I stopped breathing. ‘Philip?’ I whispered.

Monroe’s expression was hard. ‘Let’s find out.’ He stared at the wolf. ‘Take us to him.’

She didn’t hesitate. With her body still low to the ground, she slunk forward like a whipped cur. Monroe and I followed. Nothing about this was making any sense to me, not yet. It didn’t help that by the time we reached the back of the casino even I could smell the tang of blood in the air.

The werewolf continued to whine. Her whole body was shaking, I assumed from fear of Monroe. But when we came to the dim shapes of some squashy sofas, designed for those taking a break from gambling, her whimpers grew more fearful and high-pitched.

Monroe’s spoke evenly. ‘Charlotte, can you perhaps raise some light on this situation?’

I didn’t want to do it because I already had a good idea what I would see. The outline was visible; were the details really necessary? I grimaced and squeezed my eyes shut, then flicked out the magic I knew would cast enough light to illuminate what I didn’t want to see.

I heard Monroe suck in a sharp breath. The female werewolf howled. I slowly opened one eye, confident I was going to regret it. I was right. Three seconds later I was throwing up onto a roulette wheel.

It was definitely Philip the vampire. And from his torn flesh and the ragged wound in his side, he’d virtually been ripped apart. Whatever he’d done to Valerie – and why – he wouldn’t be able to tell us about it now.

Chapter Fourteen

Monroe had suggested that I head to the Travotel while he escorted the werewolf to the north. The hotel was closer to the casino and staying there would give me the chance to get some proper rest again. Truth be told, however, not only did I want to avoid the place of Valerie’s death, I was also looking forward to getting home. I missed my own bed and I’d been away from my people for too long. Unfortunately, bedraggled, exhausted and traumatised as I was, I couldn’t even turn the corner of my street before I was accosted. It’s never a good thing when people run at you.

‘I’ve been looking for you for days!’ Elsie Jones, who lived out on Morecambe Road, barrelled towards me. For a moment I thought she was going to give me a hug and tell me how relieved she was that I was alright but that was a foolish hope.

‘There’s no gluten-free produce left anywhere in the city apart from the last of the cereal bars, and Alex at number fifty-seven took all of them! He knows I’m gluten intolerant! He can’t be allowed them all, Charley. It’s not fair! You have to talk to him straight away. We’re all being rationed and he’s having more than his fair share. It’s not right!’

I blew air out slowly and tried to smile, hoping the smell of torn-apart vampire wasn’t clinging to me. ‘Well,’ I said, ‘obviously things will get more difficult as time goes on. We don’t have an endless supply of…’

‘I know that!’ she bellowed in my face. ‘That’s exactly my point! But that’s not all, not by a long shot. He’s not been disposing of his rubbish properly. We’re supposed to leave it out for collection so that we keep disease and rats down to a minimum. Two weeks on the trot and he’s not done it! If there’s another infestation of rats, it will be his fault. Just because he’s in a wheelchair, he thinks he should get special treatment.’

‘I will investigate the matter and talk to him,’ I promised.

‘He’s in the square at the moment. You can talk to him now.’

‘I’ll talk to him when I get the chance,’ I said. ‘Excuse me.’ I managed another weak smile and walked past her. Her complaints had been loud enough for other people to appear. From their expressions, they all had something to say to me. My body sagged. I could do with half an hour’s peace to get my head together.

I strode forward, hoping I could get to my house through sheer will power.

‘Charley!’

I waved at the Entwhistles and picked up my pace to scoot past them without engaging in conversation.

‘Charley!’

‘I’m busy right now,’ I called to Professor MacTavish, who wasn’t a professor at all but insisted on being called one. ‘I’ll speak to you later!’

I sighed. I couldn’t avoid everyone forever but I’d hoped for a longer period of grace than this.

By ducking and diving and smiling firmly at anyone who approached, I made it to my front door without too many interruptions. Alas, the door was wide open and I could already see Julie in the hallway, trying to usher out Albert. ‘When she returns,’ she was saying, ‘I’ll tell her you’re looking for her.’

There was no way to sidle past the pair of them without being noticed. I steeled myself and stepped inside. ‘Hi, Julie. Hi, Albert.’

They both turned towards me. ‘You made it!’ Julie exclaimed. ‘Is everything alright? What happened?’

‘I’ll explain later,’ I said tiredly. I didn’t think old Albert would want to hear the gory details.

‘What happened with the blood?’ he asked.

‘I avoided getting too much on me,’ I answered, without