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

blood and why a werewolf like Maggie would kill Philip. The magic is growing within us to a point where we can’t control ourselves.’

‘It’s only a theory,’ I bit out. ‘And not a very good one.’

Lizzy frowned. ‘I don’t feel like killing anyone.’

‘I wasn’t feeling like that but I’m starting to feel rather murderous now,’ Monroe said, directing his words at me.

I smiled serenely at him. ‘I’m coming with you,’ I said, ‘whether you like it or not. If you turn into a wolf and rip my throat out along the way, then you’re absolved of any responsibility. I have my big girl pants on and I know what I’m getting into.’

He snorted. ‘Big girl pants?’

‘Lacy. Pink. Delicate. They’re very pretty.’ I paused. ‘Would you like to see them?’

Monroe’s eyes darkened and he turned away. ‘No.’

Just as well. They were actually cotton, grey and very holey.

‘We’re going now,’ Anna said hastily. ‘We’ll leave you to it.’

‘Lizzy should come with me to the north,’ Monroe grunted.

‘Lizzy is staying here,’ I told him.

Lizzy grabbed Anna’s arm and started to walk away quickly. ‘Lizzy is leaving!’ she called out to us. ‘Don’t kill Julie unless you really have to! Good luck!’

Monroe sniffed. ‘Now look what you’ve done.’

‘I haven’t done anything.’ I grabbed his shoulders and forced him to look at me. ‘You know me, Monroe. You know what I believe in. I want to protect everyone and keep them safe. If I thought Lizzy was a threat, I wouldn’t let her waltz over there to hang out with everyone else. She’s not going to hurt anyone. Neither are you. You’ve already changed a lot of your ways. You’ve been calmer, you’ve been thinking of others. Lately you’ve been far more thoughtful than I’ve been. Those aren’t the actions of someone who’s about to flip out.’

‘We’ve been through this. You make me calmer.’

I threw up my arms. ‘All the more reason for me to stay with you!’

He shook his head. ‘It’s not worth the risk.’

‘It’s my risk to take. Besides, I can protect myself. Even against you.’

‘You couldn’t.’ He looked down at me, his eyes narrowed. ‘Not if I really wanted to hurt you.’

‘Try me,’ I said.

His head dipped lower and he bared his teeth. He let out a low snarl and yanked himself away from me. ‘We can’t do this. I can’t let myself hurt you. We don’t have to separate from each other for good, but we need to do it until your theory has been disproved.’

I was certain that if Monroe’s pack were still alive and this had come up as an issue, he’d have laughed in my face at the very idea that his wolf side would take over his other instincts to the point where someone would get hurt. He’d lost far more than just his family when they were all killed. I dropped back and considered. I had to be smarter about this. If this was all about base instincts, perhaps those were what I should be addressing. This was about Monroe wrestling for control with himself.

‘Do you know what?’ I said thoughtfully. ‘Upon reflection I think you’re right. We should stay away from each other. You’re a predator and you’re dangerous. Once we’ve established what’s really going on with these killings, we should avoid each other for good.’

Monroe’s eyes narrowed. He seemed to think I was toying with him. Which I was. ‘You changed your tune quickly enough.’

‘It’s for the best. Maybe we should build a wall between the south and north to avoid any further complications.’ My eyes dropped deliberately to his lips and then lower, travelling slowly down his body. ‘And temptation,’ I husked.

Monroe blinked. ‘I’m glad you finally see the light,’ he said stiffly.

‘I do,’ I told him cheerfully. ‘And despite how much I feel for you, there are plenty more fish in the sea. There are still lots of good-looking men hanging around the city. Now we know they all have magic, I can enjoy any number of powerful partners.’

Monroe’s expression darkened and I thought for a moment that I’d taken things too far, but he simply turned on his heel. ‘Let’s solve these murders so you can get on with your love life then,’ he spat.

Behind his back, I smiled. He was perfectly happy to have distance between us when he was the one putting it there, but when I did the same thing his natural instinct was to fight against it. There really was something left of the old manipulative poker player inside me. Monroe didn’t appreciate how good I could be at bluffing when I tried. But was I also a winner – and this was one match I was most definitely going to win.

We found Cath in the hospital, chattering away to the same doctor as the night before. She hadn’t seen Julie since the morning, and she was so bright-eyed and enthusiastic to be finally learning from a real medical professional that I didn’t want to distract her and ruin her day with the details of what Julie might have done. Relieved that she was safe, I told her to stay put.

Monroe and I went off to search the rest of the district. Julie wasn’t hiding from the afternoon sun in any of the vampire-friendly pubs and she wasn’t in any of the public buildings. And when we arrived at the vampire enclave, the new guard at their barricade denied having seen her. ‘Look,’ he said, ‘I know what happened the last time we helped you out. I’m not protecting that bitch, though. If I knew where she was, I’d tell you. She doesn’t come here.’

There was nothing that suggested he was lying. Julie didn’t have a lot of friends, even amongst her own kind. While facing the fact that she might be some master manipulator with a penchant for corpses, I felt the need to defend her.

‘Listen,’ I said to the vamp, ‘I appreciate that she could have caused the end of the world but