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

In the end I did the only thing I could do. I closed my eyes and imagined Monroe standing beside my shoulder. Instead of burning trees and the faintly sulphurous reek of magic, I imagined his pine-fresh scent. He leaned towards my ear, his Scottish brogue bringing sense to my world. I fancied I could feel his warm breath on my skin.

‘Stop fucking this up, sunshine,’ he said. ‘You’re better than this. You’re the enchantress. Even better, you’re my enchantress.’

I sucked in air one final time and opened my eyes, then I waved my hands in a cutting motion through the air, focusing on the green flames and the now-skeletal trees. Cease. You will cease.

There was a sizzle. Just as the door to the outside world opened and a figure appeared, the magic blew itself out, leaving piles of smouldering ash and only the odd surviving tree root for fifty yards on either side.

The effort had been immense. With the same swiftness as the fire was extinguished, the energy flooded out of my body. My knees gave way and I sank to the ground, relief and exhaustion mingling with trepidation. Then arms were picking me up and moving me away, dragging me from the site of devastation to a safer spot.

I lifted my head and stared at the five white figures around me. My vision was blurred and I gasped and shuddered. I shook off the hands that were gripping me and staggered to my feet. This wasn’t the time to show weakness.

I rubbed my eyes, blinked and managed to smile. ‘Fabian Barrett, I presume?’

The figure in front of me shook his head. As my bleary eyes righted themselves, I realised that the five people were all wearing head-to-toe hazmat suits. I snorted. Did they believe that clothing that was inspired, created and produced by technology was any match for magic?

Then I saw that three of the figures were carrying massive guns, holding them in such a manner that suggested they were poised to shoot. Not at me, I hoped. Not at anything.

I cleared my throat. ‘You don’t need those weapons here,’ I said. Using them might piss off a few of the shadow beasts or hell hounds but I doubted they’d do much harm. The monsters were too fast and too canny – and too damned magical – for guns to cause them a problem. Assuming those fancy-looking guns worked here.

From behind the transparent visor, a square-jawed face with features that wouldn’t have looked out of place on Action Man fixed on me. ‘Was the fire a warning or a welcome?’ he asked.

‘Neither,’ I said. ‘I was trying to clear a path so the door could open. I only just read your message. There wasn’t much time to prepare.’

He frowned at me, apparently trying to assess whether I was telling the truth. His companions ignored me and gazed out at the city. I couldn’t see their faces but, from their posture and their formation, they were searching for threats. Unfortunately, they didn’t have to search very hard.

There was a rustle from the bushes. A moment later Lucy came rushing out, her teeth bared. She’d puffed herself up so much that she was about twice her normal size. That didn’t mean much; she was now the size of a miniature schnauzer instead of a Yorkshire terrier. But that didn’t stop the white-suited bastards from raising their guns and shooting.

I screamed. The sound of gunfire echoed round us, filling the sky and causing birds to shriek and flap up in all directions. I tried to run forward but Action Man grabbed me and held me back. I wriggled against his grasp then magic burst forth from me yet again, shoving him backwards.

The shooting stopped only when I reached Lucy. I scooped her up into my arms and backed away, glaring at the group. Lucy was shaking with what felt like fury rather than fear. I’d been right – the bullets hadn’t damaged her at all – but it didn’t make the actions of those bastards any easier to swallow.

‘If that’s how this is going down,’ I yelled at them, clutching Lucy to my chest, ‘then the whole lot of you can turn round and leave the way you came. We don’t shoot first and ask questions later. You’re visitors in my land and you will respect my rules!’

My hair whipped from side to side as I shouted. I was well aware that I probably looked like a grubby wild thing but I didn’t care. Supplies or no supplies, I wasn’t having these pricks come here and ruin my peace. I’d fought too damn hard for it.

The door opened again and yet another hazmat-covered figure appeared. This one was white, like all the others, but orange tape round his head and his body marked him out from the rest. He wasn’t carrying a heavy backpack like his companions either. Ah-ha.

The other men sprang backwards, surrounding him in an instant.

‘It isn’t safe, sir!’ one of them barked. ‘You must return to the other side!’

‘What were you shooting at? What is the problem? Report!’

‘Some kind of monster. And a blue-haired female.’

‘Human?’

‘Undetermined.’

I rolled my eyes. ‘Oh,’ I said sarcastically, ‘haven’t you heard? The blue-haired brigade have taken over Manchester. This city is ours now. We are one, yet we are legion.’

‘Move,’ muttered orange-tape man from the back. The other figures parted and he stepped forward, maintaining a distance but staring closely at me. When I saw his face it confirmed what I already knew: here, finally, was Fabian Barrett himself.

I tilted my head. Huh. There was an odd aura clinging to him. Unlike the pure blue of magic which I normally saw, Fab Barrett had a definite tinge of dirty purple. My forehead creased and I glanced quickly at the other men. They didn’t appear to have any aura at all.

Before I could think any more of it, however,