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

ego was massive and people like that could rarely contain themselves for long. He was probably dying to boast about what he knew. Besides, he was the one who’d mentioned the ‘m’ word.

I had been banking on a scientific answer but that was before things got really freaky. Perhaps this was to do with magic – albeit magic that had apparently never existed or never shown itself before now.

I calculated various approaches before selecting the best one to achieve the desired outcome, then I sidled up and leaned against the wall, peering at Lizzy. Her head had dropped, as if she was refusing to look Monroe in the eye, and her body was motionless. Part of me hoped that she’d give herself a shake and try to attack him with her horns. Right now, she wasn’t doing much of anything.

Neither was Monroe.

‘Your boss has gone,’ I said in a conspiratorial whisper. ‘This is an old house and sound doesn’t travel well, so she won’t hear what you say.’ I poked his arm. Man, it was rock hard. ‘You made up that word, didn’t you? Bunyips don’t exist.’

His lip curled so I knew he’d heard me, but he didn’t react. His attention remained focused on Lizzy. He folded his arms and glared at her. Nothing else – a glare.

Lizzy raised her head a fraction, her black eyes flicking at him nervously. Then she dropped to the ground, rolled on her back and presented him with her belly.

My mouth fell open. He did all that with a look? Who on earth was this guy? Perhaps his arrogance was merited. I narrowed my gaze, wondering what he was planning to do now that he had Lizzy in total submission. When the tension in his shoulders eased a smidgen, he went up another notch in my estimation. He wanted to help Lizzy as much as I did.

‘Do it.’ His voice was low. In fact, it was barely audible.

I blinked. ‘Pardon?’

He hissed under his breath, ‘Not you.’ He kept his eyes trained on Lizzy, who remained perfectly still, albeit flat on her long furry back with her gigantic paws hanging loosely in the air. She looked like a golden retriever begging for a belly rub. Almost. ‘Do it,’ Monroe repeated.

Lizzy emitted a low, strangled moan. Alarmed, I leapt forward but Monroe barred my way, his tanned forearm stretching out in front of me.

‘You…’ I began.

‘Hush.’ He jerked his chin upwards and his voice softened to a low, melodic purr. ‘Come on, sweetheart. You can do it.’

Lizzy groaned. I felt even more uneasy. Do what? What exactly was he suggesting? Then one of her front paws jerked, as if someone had tied an invisible string to it and started tugging. Her other paws followed suit and her head began to thrash from side to side, thumping the wooden floor so hard that I could feel the vibrations under my feet.

‘Watch,’ Monroe said with quiet satisfaction. ‘Watch this.’

It started with her horns. Initially it was almost imperceptible but, as I focused, I saw them retracting, returning back into her skull inch by inexorable inch. By the time several inches of Lizzy’s horns had vanished, her muzzle was also starting to change. She stopped moaning but opened her mouth in a silent, agonised scream. Then her fur gradually disappeared, merging back into her skin.

In less than two minutes, the Lizzy I knew – the human Lizzy – was lying naked and defenceless on the living room floor.

I rushed past Monroe and this time he didn’t try to stop me. I grabbed a throw that was draped on the back of one of the now-broken deckchairs and wrapped it round her. Her pupils were still ringed with black but, when she looked at me in pathetic gratitude, the expression was that of my Lizzy.

I reached out and hugged her tightly. For a brief, heart-rending second she didn’t move a muscle. Then she let out a choked sob and hugged me back.

From out of nowhere a hand holding a glass appeared. ‘Salt water,’ Monroe said gruffly. ‘It’ll aid her recovery time. I’m assuming this is the first time she’s shifted, so she’ll be disoriented for quite some time.’

With a shaky hand Lizzy took the glass and gulped down the water. Once she’d finished, she wrapped her arms round herself. ‘Thank you,’ she whispered. She closed her eyes.

Monroe crooked his little finger at me imperiously. ‘We need to talk.’

‘I’m not leaving Lizzy alone.’

‘She’ll be fine now. She’ll recover more quickly if you leave her in peace. She’s vulnerable and confused, she needs some space to focus on herself.’

I opened my mouth to argue but Lizzy raised a hand and waved me away. With considerable reluctance, I backed into the hallway.

All my earlier plans to goad Monroe into telling me more about what the fuck was going on had melted into concern for my friend. ‘Is she going to be alright?’ I demanded.

He offered me a dismissive sniff. ‘She’ll be fine. She’ll never quite be the same again but she’s still essentially the person you know.’

I put my hands on my hips. ‘Explain. You obviously understand what happened to her and knew how to transform her back. What is she? What happened?’

‘You couldn’t possibly understand.’ He half turned away from me but I grabbed his arm. Slowly, as if angered that I’d dared to touch him, he wheeled back round.

‘Try me.’

Monroe’s blue eyes flicked at me disparagingly. ‘You might have noticed that things are not what they were.’

I ignored his patronising air. I wanted answers. Hell, I deserved answers. ‘You’re talking about hordes of rats and fire falling from the sky and the trees growing bigger at a rate of knots.’

‘I am.’ He glanced behind me at Lizzy, his gaze softening. ‘Your friend’s DNA isn’t wholly human. Under other circumstances, she could have lived her entire life without ever realising she was different. However, the … stuff in the air has brought out her other side.’

‘The stuff. You mean the magic.’

He shrugged.