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

Her eyes widened. ‘No, I haven’t.’

‘Yes, you have.’ I absorbed the news for a moment. The ramifications of this could be life changing. ‘Keep it to yourself,’ I said suddenly. ‘For now.’

Cath looked far more terrified than she had been when she was confronted by a swarm of giant rats. ‘Okay.’

I reached across and patted her arm. ‘You’ll be fine.’

‘Okay.’ She stared at me. ‘You’re bleeding.’

I grinned at her. ‘I’ll be fine too.’ Delight expanded deep in my chest. Now that I thought about it some more, this had actually been an incredibly successful day.

Chapter Nineteen

‘I’ve identified two out of the three men from Valerie’s diary,’ Anna told me the next morning. ‘Both young guys. Or at least a great deal younger than she was. They were both shocked about her death but neither was … devastated by the news. The first one is one of ours. He lives a few streets away but still within our barricades. He met Valerie at the casino. She told him she could teach him magic spells. It didn’t take him long to realise she was lying and that she had ulterior motives.’

‘Sex?’ I guessed.

Anna pursed her lips. ‘That, but also companionship. He told me they didn’t have much in common but she’d enjoyed playing the role of the experienced older woman with a lot to teach.’

‘A veritable Mrs Robinson.’

‘Indeed.’ She sniffed. ‘The other one said he felt a bit sorry for her. He’s one of the hotel residents, so he already knew that she’d been murdered. He didn’t initially volunteer his, uh, involvement with her when we questioned all the guests but I suspect he was embarrassed. I could be wrong, but I don’t think either of them had anything to do with Valerie’s death. Maybe it was simply a thirsty vampire who drank too much.’

‘Who, by coincidence, was then killed by a werewolf who was seemingly attacked herself and now has memory loss.’

Anna shrugged. ‘Occam’s Razor.’

Sometimes the most obvious theory is the one that’s true – but I wasn’t convinced and, from Anna’s expression, neither was she. ‘You’ve had no luck with lover number three?’ I asked.

‘Not so far.’ She consulted her notes. ‘From what her diary says, she met him at the hotel but he wasn’t one of the usual residents. She was also … disparaging about him. Here,’ she tapped the notepad. ‘Jiggly skin. Bad teeth. She also wrote “know-it-all” and added a little doodle of a knife wrapped in barbed wire. Whether that’s relevant or not is anyone’s guess.’

‘Either way,’ I said, ‘this third man was not her usual innocent ingénue.’

‘No.’ She grimaced. ‘There’s not much to go on to locate him. Lots of people pass through the Travotel. Some, like you, go there for a break for a couple of days and some are just curious about Timmons the faery. Some use it as a meeting place and for socialising. It’s safer than venturing somewhere else in the city but more interesting than remaining out here 24/7.’

I pondered over this. ‘Neither us nor Monroe’s lot keep track of who comes in and out on a daily basis.’

‘The barricades are there to keep beasties out,’ Anna pointed out, ‘not to keep people in. And there are always the loners who don’t live in either community. Our missing man could be anybody. And he might not have anything to do with what happened. I’ll keep on it for another day or two. There are some punters who frequented the casino with Valerie who might have some useful information to impart. But at this stage it’s more about tying up loose ends than coming up with answers.’ She looked at me. ‘This is often how things go. Even when you find your man, there aren’t always reasons. There’s not always a motive.’ Her expression hardened. ‘Sometimes people are just shit.’

‘Theo, the vampire I spoke to, was convinced that Philip wouldn’t have killed Valerie. That he was too nice and kind and gentle to do such a thing, even if it were possible.’

‘If there’s one thing I’ve learnt over the years as a police officer,’ Anna said, ‘it’s that anyone is capable of anything. And we are talking about vampires here. Look at Julie. Most of the time, she’s perfectly lovely but she also almost caused the end of the world.’

‘She fucked up once. Disastrously so. But I don’t think she’d kill anyone.’

‘Anyone,’ Anna repeated, ‘is capable of anything. Julie wanted to be more powerful and the magic gave her everything she desired. Murder is about power, Charley. And so is magic.’

I had to grudgingly agree. It wasn’t only Julie: the vampires and werewolves were all stronger because of the magic in the atmosphere. Possibly that magic was affecting their baser instincts too, and encouraging mild-mannered vampires like Philip to take human life and werewolves like Maggie to take a vampire’s life. The trouble with that scenario was that it boded very badly for the future. If the magic could make anyone do anything, maybe we were all doomed. I shivered.

Anna pushed back her chair and got to her feet just as there was a sharp knock on the door. No one ever knocked. I knew instantly who it was. I wasn’t sure whether to be glad that Monroe had come to me first or dismayed that I’d not had the chance to approach him.

I gave Anna a meaningful look and walked to the door and opened it. Monroe was leaning lazily against the door frame. I didn’t miss the flash of relief in his eyes when he saw me. ‘Charlotte,’ he drawled. ‘May I come in?’

I motioned him inside. ‘Of course.’

‘I was just leaving,’ Anna said hastily. ‘Good to see you, Monroe.’ She gave him an awkward wave and bustled out.

Monroe waited until she had gone and glanced at me. ‘She has a crush on me.’

I shook my head. ‘No, she doesn’t. She was startled by your good looks when she first met you, but she got over