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

said. ‘I’ll see if I can scout out where the other shadow beasts are nesting. I can drop Lucy off with them and maybe they’ll act as surrogate parents.’

As reluctant as I felt, I knew it was for the best in the long run. I was lucky that I’d managed to persuade him to let me keep Lucy at all. Julian, one of the alpha werewolves, had an instinct for the day-to-day mundanities of keeping a community running smoothly. Truth be told, he did a far better job of keeping things running here than I’d ever done on my own in the south.

Monroe was happy to delegate most of the dull but important stuff to his old friend while we were occupied with clearing out the rest of the city from apocalyptic debris and untold threats. It was an odd system – but it seemed to work. I was far happier these days. The stress of leadership had never suited me.

‘On the plus side,’ Monroe said, ‘and changing the subject, when we were out we came across a couple of old warehouses that still have food in them. Lots of rice, in fact. Enough to keep us going for another few months when you combine it with our other supplies and proper rationing. It won’t exactly be a balanced diet but it’s better than nothing. We’ve already arranged for it to be transported to the warehouse.’

‘It’ll bulk out the cabbages and carrots that we’ve managed to grow,’ Lizzy said cheerfully. ‘And I’ve heard that the strawberries are doing well.’

‘Great,’ Julian said, sounding as if it was anything but.

Lizzy’s expression was earnest. ‘We’re getting there,’ she said. ‘A lot of people have been putting their new magic skills to good use and helping with the crops. Within the embargo, of course,’ she added hastily. She was referring to the fact that we were trying to limit our use of magic to avoid overpowering the atmosphere with its after-effects. ‘We’ve filled the gardens in the enclave and swathes of them outside to capacity. It’s a long time since anyone has seen a chocolate bar or a good steak, but we’re doing alright. We’re not at starvation point – far from it. And I heard that the chickens we’ve rounded up have started laying a few eggs.’

‘The chickens need feeding too,’ Julian said, his dourness unabating.

‘We’ve got plenty of animal feed.’

He sighed. ‘Do we, though? It’s already August. We’ve stockpiled supplies for the winter but there’s not nearly enough, despite rationing and green fingers. The vampires are complaining that the blood they get tastes of cabbage. The werewolves are complaining that they’re not getting enough meat in their rations. The humans are lacking a lot of basic vitamins. No, we’re not going to starve but I wouldn’t say that we’re doing well.’ His voice was heavy.

I winced. I knew what it was like to try and keep everyone happy and feel like you were failing. I’d almost collapsed several times from the stress of it all. I was beyond glad that Julian was now overseeing these issues rather than me but it was still my problem. The growing lack of food was a problem for all of us.

Cath piped up from the corner where she’d been sitting quietly. ‘The docs asked me to tell you that we’re running low on antibiotics. We’ve had a lot of injuries over the last few months and we’ve stopped giving out the stronger stuff unless we really need to but…’ She gestured futilely. ‘We’ve done an estimate. If things continue as they are, we’ll be completely out of stock by Christmas.’ That was only five months away.

It was clear that we were stuck in Manchester for the long haul. None of us wanted to leave; the magic’s pull was too strong for most of us to entertain that idea. All the same, the thought of being gnawed on by the beasties out there, or having an accident followed by a serious infection when there were no antibiotics, was indeed a sobering one.

‘We’ve got loads of paracetemol though,’ Cath continued, trying to appear more cheerful. ‘And there’s enough anti-histamine to last us for several years. The gardeners are working on natural remedies and a group are experimenting with magic as a healing tool. But you need to know that there might be shortages in the future.’

Julian ran a hand through his hair. ‘How many pregnancies are we at now?’

‘Sixty-eight.’

He swore.

‘It might be worth suggesting to expectant mothers that they leave,’ Monroe said.

I shot him a narrow look. ‘Yeah. Because all those female vampires and werewolves can’t wait to end up in quarantine on the other side of the wall while they are heavily pregnant. Not to mention what might happen to their magical babies once the rest of the world gets their hands on them. You know that I’ve missed a few periods here and there,’ I said. ‘Shall I get my bag packed just in case?’

Monroe’s face darkened. ‘You’re going nowhere. Not without me.’ I smiled slightly and he softened, putting up his hands. ‘It’s merely a suggestion. People need to know that the option is still open to them to leave if they wish.’ He hesitated. ‘Would you leave?’ he asked quietly. ‘If you were pregnant?’

‘Not unless the baby’s health was at risk,’ I said. ‘And not without you.’ I sighed. Everyone knew that leaving was an option – it had always been an option – but it meant turning our backs on Manchester, never to return. The longer we stayed in this new world, the more it felt like home. I didn’t want to leave and I didn’t think anyone else did either, but unless we solved these shortages we might not have a choice.

I drummed my fingers on the table. ‘We need to come up with a way to monitor the magic in the atmosphere. If we can be sure that we’re not expelling too much, we could use more to help us grow