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

still very furry. She was chained up in a small room and there was a glint of madness reflected in her yellow eyes. Her lips pulled back over her teeth as we entered, but I thought that most of the fight had gone out of her. She wanted this to be over as much as we did.

Monroe folded his arms and loomed over her, alpha wolf virtually seeping out of his tanned pores. He stared Maggie down and she whimpered and lowered her belly to the floor. She didn’t, however, transform back to human in any way.

‘Change,’ he ordered. Her fur bristled but that was all it did. Monroe hissed in frustration and gestured at me.

I swallowed and stepped up. It was all very well having lots of magic at my fingertips but it didn’t mean I knew what to do with it. There wasn’t a manual for this sort of shit.

I rubbed my sweaty palms on my jeans and gave Maggie a small smile. ‘I’m going to try a bit of magic,’ I said. She whined and drew back, her eyes widening in fear. ‘It’s to try and help you shift. I won’t hurt you.’ I hoped.

Magic buzzed beneath my skin, eager to be put to use. Feeling more terrified than Maggie probably was, I lifted my right hand and pointed at her. A single plume of magic spouted forth, hitting her on her muzzle. It hissed as it made contact but nothing else happened.

‘Is there a magic word?’ Theo asked.

How the hell did I know? I gritted my teeth and tried again, using slightly more magic this time. I willed Maggie to change with every fibre of my being. Again, not a single thing happened.

Monroe cursed. ‘Something is there,’ he said. ‘Something is preventing her from making the change.’

‘Let me try,’ Theo interjected.

Both of us stiffened but Theo’s expression didn’t change. ‘What’s the worst that could happen?’ he asked.

He probably didn’t want me to answer that. After a moment’s indecision, Monroe nodded reluctantly.

Theo stepped forward – and Maggie’s reaction was completely unexpected. She rose up and tried to back away, her chains jangling violently and her backside slamming into the wall. When she realised she had nowhere to go, she opened her mouth and snarled. Saliva bubbled up in the corners of her mouth as if she were a rabid dog.

‘Stop that!’ Monroe ordered, his words imbued with imperious command. They didn’t make any difference: Maggie continued to snarl and froth.

‘She’s been like this ever since she killed Philip?’ Theo asked.

‘Yes,’ Monroe bit out, treating her inability to transform as a failure on his part.

‘So the last thing she did was taste his blood,’ Theo mused. ‘Maybe she needs another taste to bring her back.’

I stared. ‘I really don’t think that’s a good idea,’ I began. It was too late; Theo had already reached into his pocket and drawn out a thin knife.

Monroe wasn’t happy. ‘Weapons are not permitted here,’ he said. ‘Not anywhere in our community.’

‘Your body is a weapon,’ Theo answered unequivocally. ‘I need something to defend myself with.’ He raised the blade and sliced it across the palm of his hand. Then he held it out, letting a few drops of bright blood splash on the floor.

Maggie’s nostrils flared as she scented the blood and she looked even more scared than before. Her whole body was quivering, as if she couldn’t control it.

‘Go on,’ Theo urged. ‘Have a taste.’

A hundred to one this would never work. Why would it? All the same, I watched, fascinated, as Maggie’s tongue darted out and she lapped tentatively at the nearest drop.

At first it seemed that nothing was happening but then an expression of oddly lupine confusion crossed Maggie’s face and her body contorted and spasmed. She had to be in great pain. The chains holding her in place clanked violently and I drew in a sharp breath. Her tail whipped wildly from side to side and she threw her head back in a keening howl. I made the mistake of blinking and, when I looked again, she was on all fours, her curved naked back presented to us.

‘Shit,’ I whispered. ‘It worked.’

Maggie raised her face and looked at us with tear-stained cheeks. Her human features were strangely reminiscent of her wolf form. I gazed into her pain-filled eyes for a moment then I sprang into action. ‘Get those chains off her,’ I barked. ‘And find her some clothes.’

‘We don’t treat nudity with the same fear that you humans do,’ Monroe said.

Theo spoke at the same time. ‘She might look human,’ he said, ‘but she still killed one of mine.’ At his words, Maggie’s head jerked up.

‘We are not interrogating a young woman who is manacled and naked,’ I said. ‘Regardless of the circumstances.’ I didn’t care what was encouraged by werewolf culture or what Theo thought. We were better than that; we had to be.

Soon clothes were found and Maggie was released from her shackles. Julian appeared while she was being allowed some privacy to dress, his expression a grim mask. ‘So she finally shifted, did she?’

‘It was the vampire,’ Monroe grunted, pointing at Theo. ‘He worked out what to do. One taste of his blood was all it took.’

I watched Julian’s face carefully. There was no indication that this was an expected outcome. ‘Is that normal?’ I asked. ‘Is it something to do with vampiric blood?’

All three men shook their heads. ‘It’s not anything I’ve heard of before,’ Monroe said.

Theo agreed. ‘We’ve clashed with werewolves before. There have been deaths before, but nothing in our records suggests that such a thing adversely affects the werewolf concerned.’

Julian’s body was tense. ‘Your kind have killed ours in the past, too. This is not a one-sided conflict.’

‘I wasn’t saying that it was,’ Theo shot back. ‘And I wasn’t implying that werewolves are bloodthirsty monsters, even if you deserve that reputation more than we do.’

‘I think you’re forgetting that a vulnerable human woman was the first to die,’ Julian replied.

I didn’t