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

rats were following. I spotted a few white faces among our own guards at the barricade and Fab’s guards at his tent directly in front of us before I switched directions. Lizzy followed suit. The last thing we wanted was for any of the nasty smelly creatures to get inside our homes. Twenty metres was as close as I was willing to risk it.

As soon as we were out of sight again, Lizzy shifted. Her clothes burst off and her bones snapped. It still took her longer than Monroe to shift and the giant rats were almost nipping at our heels by the time she was done; all the same, she managed it. Her bunyip form paused for a split second before she drew in a breath, sprang up and speeded away from me.

I darted to the nearest door, which had once belonged to a barber’s. With the rats at my heels, I wrenched it open and threw myself inside, slamming the door shut behind me. One brave rodent threw itself against the glass, cracking it into a spider web of fissures. It quickly decided I wasn’t worth the effort and abandoned me to follow Lizzy and its ratty mates. I breathed out then I opened the door again and backtracked until I was round the corner from the enclave barricade and the massive white tent.

From the other corner, Julie gave me a tight, one-handed wave. I raised my eyebrows and she nodded. I motioned to her, raising my hands and preparing. The magic was already pushing at my skin. I saw Julie swallow; for all her bluster and acting prowess, she was nervous. Frankly, I didn’t blame her.

She gave me one last bob of her head and pulled out her other hand. I squinted. She’d done it: a single writhing rat was dangling from her fist. She’d done well to retrieve it from the trap. As I watched, she carefully placed it on the parasol attached to her head, where just enough chunks of dog food were entwined with the lace to keep the rat busy for a minute or two. Shadow beasts might be smart; these rats really weren’t.

I flicked out enough magic to tether the creature to Julie so it didn’t run off. We needed it to appear fearless and prepared to stand its ground, no matter what. We were creating terror here, after all. Then Julie stepped out.

Keeping my body well back, I peeked round so I could get a good look at the action.

‘Hello, darlings!’ She fluttered her eyelashes. ‘What’s going on? I heard shrieking. Is there a problem?’

From behind the barricade, Theo’s confused face appeared. ‘Charley and Lizzy ran that way,’ he said, pointing. ‘Chased by several gigantic rats.’

‘They found a nest? How utterly disgusting.’ She walked closer. The rat was still perched haphazardly on top of her parasol, nibbling away. I crossed my fingers. Just a few more seconds. I didn’t need much longer.

It was the closer of Fab’s two guards who spotted the creature first. He raised a white-suited arm at the rat and muttered something. Julie paused and turned to him, an expression of perfect confusion on her face. She might have been nervous but she was playing this brilliantly.

‘What’s that?’ she enquired.

This time, I heard him. ‘Rat.’ He coughed. ‘There’s a rat on your … head.’

Julie swung round to look behind her. The rat dug its claws in, still finishing its meal. Julie swung back with more force and this time the creature flew off. It didn’t scare easily, however. It landed on its paws and faced her. Julie screamed. Very loudly.

Pandemonium broke out. Theo darted to the bell, ringing it with all his might to indicate that there was a problem.

The two guards sprang forward.

‘Do something!’ Julie screamed at them. ‘Do something!’

It was obvious that they didn’t know what to do. Julie threw up her hands and shrieked louder, then she ran towards the guards and shoved them in front of her as if planning to use their bodies to shield her. The rat bounded after her, but I had to hand it to the guards: they blocked its path.

‘Catch it!’ Julie yelled. ‘Catch it! Where there’s one rat, there will soon be more!’

I held my breath until Theo also jumped into the fray. He joined the guards and together they advanced on the rat. It held its ground but, even so, I only had scant seconds. Sixty to be exact. That was how long we reckoned Julie could hold their attention away from the tent.

I started to count and pelted forward, moving as fast as my legs would carry me. Julie jumped out from behind the guards and drew their attention, making sure they kept their eyes trained on her and the rat rather than the tent behind them. The tent’s size would shield me from the eyes of those behind the barricade. Everything else was down to me.

Fifty-nine. Fifty-eight. Fifty-seven. There was only way into the tent and that was through the zippered front. I reached it within heartbeats and my fingers fumbled with the zip. For one terrifying moment, I thought it was stuck and I wasn’t going to open it. Then it gave way and I tugged at it with enough force to open it and get inside. Julie’s screams continued to cover me. Fifty-one. Fifty.

Frustratingly, there were two inner canvas doors. Apparently that’s what you get when you built a decontamination tent designed to keep yourself safe from magic. At least these were easier to get through than the first door. I yanked the first one open. Forty-seven. Then the next. Forty-six. A second later I was in. The tented doors flapped behind me, permitting all that dangerous magic to leak inside. I didn’t feel guilty; I didn’t have time. Instead I scanned round.

There were three air mattresses, white, naturally. I supposed that only three of them slept at any given time because there was always two guards outside on duty. Foil-covered army rations