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

be easier to nab him in the south than it would be here. He’ll have nowhere to run to, and our own community will back us up.’

‘Yeah.’ I scratched my nose. Anna was right. ‘I just wanted to get him here and now, you know? To maybe even catch him in the act.’ I struggled to sit up again and gazed round the room. Inspirational posters covered the walls. There was the heady yet calming scent of lavender. This was a space designed to put someone at ease. It was the sort of space you’d want to go to if you opted for therapy. That made me all the more angry. ‘He’s supposed to be helping people,’ I ground out.

‘I know.’ Anna was considerably calmer than I was. ‘We’ll get him, Charley. Don’t worry. In less than two hours’ time, he’ll be in custody.’

I nodded and pushed myself to my feet, my toes kicking one of the fallen books as I did so. A scrap of paper underneath it caught my eye and I knelt down to pick it up.

My blood chilled when I read what was on there. It was a list of names. And vulnerabilities.

Valerie. Lonely. Desperate for male attention.

Philip. Scared. Desires blood.

Margaret. Feels trapped. Dislikes vampires.

Craig. Impotent. Wants to feel powerful.

Mermaid. Unknown.

There was another name at the bottom of the list. My eyes swam when I saw it and my insides clenched.

Monroe. Grieving. Guilty. Afraid of losing control.

Wordlessly, I passed the paper to Anna. She scanned it and her face whitened. ‘Monroe went out,’ she said.

I nodded, unable to speak.

‘They didn’t know where he was going.’

I nodded again.

‘Would he have come here?’ she asked. ‘Would he have sought out Albert?’

My chest was rising and falling with increasing speed. I’d only ever felt true fear like this once before. I thought about all that Monroe and I had discussed over the last few days, and nodded at Anna for a final time.

She exhaled. ‘Okay,’ she said. ‘Okay. Neither of them are here now. We need to assume that they’re together and that Albert is planning something. We have to work out where they might have gone.’

My mind flailed, panic fluttering across my bones. That wouldn’t help: it didn’t help me save Joshua, and it wouldn’t help me save Monroe. I squeezed my eyes shut and allowed myself three seconds of outright, blood-trembling terror. Then I opened my eyes and straightened my shoulders.

‘He started at the Travotel,’ I said, my voice clear. ‘But he was surprised when the alarm went off and had to make a run for it with Philip in tow. He wouldn’t try there again.’

‘Philip died at the casino.’ Anna pursed her lips. ‘That was neutral ground. It would be safer. Albert could have used Philip’s own home without worrying about any of the northern guards or other vampires, but he was probably nervous after the Travotel experience. He wanted somewhere he could control.’

‘Except,’ I said slowly, ‘he took Craig to Boggart Hole. Or at least he tried to.’

‘He didn’t bank on the bogles being there too,’ Anna mused. ‘Until Alora showed up screaming her head off, only you and Monroe knew the bogles were there. You’re right, though. Unless he’d visited Boggart Hole before, he couldn’t have controlled an open-air environment in the same way as the casino. That was proved when he messed up there, just like he did at the Travotel. He’ll be looking for somewhere else enclosed. Somewhere else he can control.’ She met my eyes. ‘The pair of them could be anywhere. I don’t know how we can find them in time to stop whatever is about to go down.’

I pinched the bridge of my nose. ‘What you’re saying should make sense but the casino was linked to Valerie. Maybe he chose that location as nothing more than a nod to her.’

‘Either way,’ Anna said, ‘he’s not going to be stupid enough to go there again.’

‘Perhaps not. But the Albert I know is gruff and cantankerous and likes to have things his own way. He doesn’t appreciate failure. He failed with Maggie to an extent because she’s still alive. He must have wanted her to die too. But she’s also out of his reach now – and she wasn’t his only screw-up. He also failed with location. He didn’t reach Nimue before the bogles got in his way. This time he has Monroe with him, who’s been there before and knows where to go. If Monroe is truly under Albert’s spell, he’ll be able to direct him towards Boggart Hole while avoiding the bogles’ neighbourhood. Albert will get a second shot at Nimue and bring Monroe down at the same time.’

‘So,’ Anna asked, ‘is his target the mermaid or Monroe?’

‘Maybe both.’ I gave her a grim look. ‘It doesn’t really make a difference.’ Except I didn’t care about Nimue. Monroe had my heart.

‘I suppose not.’ She touched my arm. ‘Are you alright?’

‘Yes.’ And I was – for now. Either my hunch was correct and we still had a chance to get to Albert and Monroe in time, or it wasn’t and we didn’t. I didn’t want to think about that scenario unless I had to. ‘We have to get there as quickly as we can,’ I said.

So far all we were doing was running around the damned city at full speed and falling short whenever we got somewhere. This would be our final destination. I’d stake my life on it. ‘We have to stop Albert.’ And possibly Monroe too, if he’d already been set on his own collision course.

‘We will, Charley.’ We both pretended not to hear the doubt in her voice. ‘We will.’

Monroe’s little car was parked in the same spot as it had been when Malbus thrust his sword in my face. I should have been relieved at the proof that Monroe was here, but I was just annoyed. It meant that Monroe had driven Albert and the old bastard was pulling all the strings. He even