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

had the strongest werewolf in the country acting as his chauffeur. He probably thought that getting Monroe to drive to his own death was some kind of poetic justice. Well, he’d learn. I’d show him what justice really meant.

Anna parked behind, effectively blocking Monroe’s car so that Albert would have to run if he tried to make a quick getaway. I could run down a seventy year old, that much I knew.

Trying to be quiet, I opened the passenger door and stepped out. Anna did the same on her side. I spotted the fresh footsteps in the mud straight away, two sets, both leading towards the lake.

I held my finger up to my lips and pointed. Anna nodded grimly. She started forward, ready to follow wherever the tracks led, but I grabbed her back.

‘You have to go and talk to the bogles,’ I whispered. ‘We’ve caused them enough trouble already. Explain to them what’s going on and that they have to stay away from here. I’ll deal with Albert.’

She tried to be stern. ‘I’m the police officer, Charley.’

‘I know. But magic is involved in all this. If it weren’t, Albert wouldn’t have been able to manipulate his victims to the extent that he already has. You might have that magic inside you now like everyone else, but I have more.’ I wasn’t boasting, merely stating a fact. ‘I have the magical experience, too. Besides, the last face the bogles want to see again is mine. Once you’ve spoken to them, you can come back here. Either it’ll all be over and I’ll have stopped Albert, or you’ll need to do it yourself because I’ll have fucked up.’

‘Charley…’

‘This is my responsibility, Anna. I have to do this.’

She hissed with obvious reluctance but I knew she’d do what I asked. ‘You said the bogles live only a few streets away from here. I’ll run. I’ll be back here in less than twenty minutes. I guarantee it.’

I smiled at her. ‘I’d expect nothing less.’

She tutted then she spun on her heel and sprinted off. That meant I had only minutes to resolve this situation. I couldn’t put Anna in danger; if all this went tits up, everyone would need her around for whatever else came in the future.

I lifted my head and strode forward. Coming, Albert. Ready or not.

I heard him before I saw him. His voice was surprisingly low and mellifluous. ‘Where is she, Monroe? Where is the mermaid?’

‘She’s in there. She has to be in there.’ Monroe’s answer sounded distant.

‘Call her.’

I stepped out from the trees just as Monroe moved robotically to the lake’s edge. ‘Hello, Albert,’ I said.

For a moment or two, he didn’t move then he slowly turned towards me and smiled. ‘Charley. It’s good of you to join us.’

‘The game’s up,’ I said. ‘Your time is over.’

Albert arched an eyebrow. ‘Is it indeed?’

‘You’re coming with me and you’re going to pay for what you’ve done.’

Rather than being intimidated, he appeared amused. ‘Am I? What exactly have I done then? Hmmm?’

It was the ‘hmmm’ that got me. It was both patronising and degrading at the same time, as though by dint of his age and gender he was automatically superior to me.

‘You freak!’ I spat. ‘You think I don’t know what you’ve been doing? How many people you’ve killed?’

Albert’s expression was mild. ‘My dear girl, I’ve not killed anyone. My hands are clean.’ He held them up for inspection. ‘And that’s no mean feat, given how long it took you to sort out the water problems we were having.’

‘Nimue,’ Monroe called, oblivious to my presence. ‘Nimue, come out.’

‘You see?’ Albert enquired. ‘I’m standing here. It’s that wolf who’s doing all the work.’

‘Yeah, but you’re yanking his strings.’ Furious magic sparked at my fingertips. ‘Get him back.’

The older man tapped his mouth thoughtfully. ‘Let me think about that. No.’ He smiled. ‘I don’t think I will bring him here.’ He leaned towards me. ‘Do you know that you cannot hypnotise anyone to do anything their moral core wouldn’t permit them to do under normal circumstances? It’s why I couldn’t hypnotise dear Val to kill a vampire. She didn’t hate them as much as she thought she did. She was a bit fearful of their kind.’ He chuckled. ‘Although in the end she had every reason to be.’

‘She went to you for help! All you did was get her killed!’

‘But I did help her. She was deeply unhappy. I made that better for her.’ He shrugged. ‘I didn’t do anything to any of these people that they didn’t want. The male vampire wanted blood. The female werewolf wanted the vampire’s blood.’ He gestured in the air. ‘And so on and so forth. All I did was give them permission to achieve their heart’s desire.’

‘Through hypnosis supplemented with magic!’ I half yelled.

Albert’s eyes narrowed. ‘I was helping them. You’re just like the others.’

I tried to control my breathing. ‘The others?’

‘The so-called Council for Psychotherapy deregistered me.’ He rolled his eyes in disgust. ‘They didn’t agree with my practices.’

‘I wonder why.’

Albert didn’t hear me. ‘But,’ he continued, ‘in this new world, they don’t exist. It’s why I stayed in Manchester, you know. I offer freedom in the same manner that the magic does.’ He reached out to pat me on the shoulder but I flinched away. ‘I’m better at it than you are.’

‘Nimue,’ Monroe called again, this time with a trace of frustration. ‘I need you to come out of the water.’

‘You see?’ Albert grinned toothlessly. ‘He was yours but now he’s mine. And he feels so much better for it. He came to me, you know, not the other way around. They all did.’

I couldn’t help myself. I thrust my hands forward, sending harsh green magic slamming into Albert’s chest. He was knocked backwards into the mud, expelling a loud oomph of air as he fell. He struggled to his feet, disdainfully wiped off a smear of mud from his face and glared. ‘You see?’ he said softly. ‘Now I’m giving you