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

Julie frowned. ‘Darling, speaking as a monster myself…’

‘No,’ I repeated, more firmly. ‘I promised that I’d get rid of her by the end of the week. It’s only Tuesday and there’s still plenty of time. We’ll have to find the shadow beasts’ lair. We can’t leave Lucy here in the middle of nowhere.’

‘Technically,’ Jodie said, ‘it’s not the middle of nowhere. Marks and Spencer’s is right over there.’

I gave her a look and noted the small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. ‘M&S has a fine selection of underwear, although I’m sure it’s now hopelessly out of fashion compared to the rest of the world. But I’m not convinced that’s what Lucy needs. We can do better than abandoning her here.’

Cath beamed. ‘Great. That means we can stick together for longer and continue our mission. One for all!’

Julie tutted. ‘All for one.’ She raised her eyes heavenward. ‘I suppose. I’ll need to get some blood off at least one of you if this keeps going.’

‘We’ve barely been out for a couple of hours, you blood-guzzling moron,’ Jodie muttered.

‘We could do with a break though,’ I suggested. I frowned at Julie. ‘Not a blood break.’

Cath clapped her hands. ‘The Travotel is near here! We can pop in to see Timmons.’

‘Great,’ Jodie said sarcastically. ‘A faery. That’s all we need.’

She grinned. ‘Technically, he’s the faery now. He’s the only one.’

‘Just as well.’ Jodie turned away and folded her arms. I knew that despite her tough, uncaring stance she missed the faeries she used to know, even if they had inadvertently caused the apocalypse and left this world for their own without so much as a backward glance.

‘He might have insights into Lucy,’ I said gently. ‘And he does have coffee. Besides, Anna is there.’ I missed the police officer’s pragmatic approach to life.

Lizzy brightened. ‘That’s decided then.’ Her head snapped to the left. ‘Pigeon!’ she shrieked. She took off after it without a moment’s hesitation.

‘Come on,’ I said to my other reluctant travellers. ‘Let’s go put our feet up for half an hour.’

In my hands, Lucy chirruped. That was a plan, then.

Chapter Six

It didn’t matter how many times I strolled through the front doors of Timmons’ hotel. I was continually amazed at how spick, span and downright well-kept he managed to keep the place. There were always fresh flowers in the lobby. The marble floor was always sparkling. The Travotel might be suffering under the same rationing privations as the rest of us but you wouldn’t know it from wandering inside and taking a look around. Perhaps it was because he was a faery. Or perhaps he was simply a very good hotel manager.

Unfortunately, the sense of peaceful equilibrium lasted all of about ten seconds. We’d barely made it five steps inside when Timmons’ magical alarm began to shriek. The last time that had happened, a string of horrific deaths had followed.

I froze, the desperate sinking sensation I suddenly felt making my earlier cup of cold tea lurch nauseatingly around the pit of my belly. Timmons’ alarm was set off when there was a perceived threat to the hotel or the people within it. I knew that he’d made considerable alterations to the spell in recent months to make it more effective.

Both Anna and Timmons appeared in a heartbeat with matching expressions of grim trepidation.

‘What is it?’ Anna snapped. ‘What’s going on?’

‘I’ll check the rooms,’ Timmons said. I knew what he was thinking; if another dead body showed up, the hotel guests would have his guts for garters.

‘Don’t bother,’ Jodie said. I turned to look at her. She pointed at my backpack. ‘It’s Lucy.’

Not only did I feel like an idiot for not thinking of that sooner, I was also affronted on Lucy’s behalf. ‘She’s not a threat!’ I blurted out.

Anna and Timmons exchanged glances before the policewoman stalked over to examine Lucy for herself. Her immediate response was to recoil with her hands raised in a defensive stance. Then she looked again. ‘Wow,’ she said finally. ‘It’s kind of cute. But did you seriously bring a shadow beast in here?’

‘It’s a baby shadow beast,’ I said defensively.

Timmons edged over and peered. Lucy squeaked to say hello. ‘Your baby monster is hungry,’ he remarked as the door to the hotel staircase banged open and several fearful people appeared. He cleared his throat. ‘But you have to leave her outside.’

‘I…’ I bit my lip. He was right. The people here had dealt with enough. Whether Lucy was a threat or not, her presence would only amplify their fear. The expressions on the collection of people who now stood in the lobby and stared at me was enough to tell me that. ‘Do you have somewhere safe outside where I can leave her?’ I asked.

‘Use one of the old cars,’ Anna told me.

Timmons seemed relieved that she was taking charge. ‘Yes.’ He rubbed his hands together. ‘Good plan. You do that and I’ll check on the rest of the guests. You know, just in case.’

I reached down and gently stroked Lucy’s head. ‘Do you have milk?’

He pursed his lips then he walked behind the hotel counter and opened up a cupboard, drawing out a box of little UHT cartons. You know, the sort that you find in hotel rooms up and down the country which never contain enough milk for a decent cup of anything. I stared at them. ‘I don’t think…’

‘That’s all we’ve got,’ Timmons interrupted. He puffed out his chest. I realised it was important to him to prove to his guests that he had the situation under control and that he was dealing with matters. I took the box.

‘Thank you,’ I said. ‘I’ll do as you have instructed.’ I pretended not to notice the look of relief on his face.

I took Lucy and the daft milk cartons outside to the nearest car, which hadn’t been driven for so long that it had ivy growing up its wheels and snaking under its bonnet.

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