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

‘He’s such a hero.’ Julie’s voice was flat. ‘Except you heard what that guard asked. If his buddy is the one who let Lucy out of her cage, he could also have been the one who drew you out after her to kill you.’

‘There’s no proof of that.’ But doubt continued to crawl through me. Damn it. Nothing was ever easy.

Theo glanced out of the window. ‘Well,’ he said, ‘it appears that our hero is returning. Charley, before your boyfriend goes crazy trying to make sure that you’re alright, I suggest you head out and meet him.’

I nodded and looked round the little gathering. ‘Let’s all act as normal as possible.’

Julie snorted. ‘Normal, darling? You’re forgetting who you’re talking to.’ She smiled at me. I grinned back at her and walked out of the door. She followed behind.

‘When were you planning to tell us that someone tried to kill you?’ Lizzy asked, catching up.

‘Yes, darling,’ Julie agreed. ‘You ought to have mentioned it before.’

I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it. ‘As I said, it was probably an accident.’ Or maybe I just wanted to believe that it was.

‘Hmm.’ Julie took out her hip flask. ‘This is probably water.’ She took a delicate sip. ‘Mm. Tasty water.’

I rolled my eyes. ‘I didn’t want to worry you unnecessarily. Besides, I’m not the only one keeping secrets around here. Are you ever going to tell us what happened between you and Fab?’

‘Nothing happened. Stop changing the subject.’

‘Julie…’

Her lips pursed. ‘Just because I used to live in the public eye doesn’t mean that everything I did was for public consumption. As I’m sure I’ve already said, he won’t remember me. And my opinion of Fabian Barrett has absolutely no bearing on whatever else is going on here.’

Suddenly I knew exactly what had happened. The little hints about her dislike of him, coupled with her desire not to talk about it, should have made it obvious. ‘Oh,’ I said. ‘I get it. Okay.’

Lizzy frowned. ‘I don’t get it. What are you talking about?’

I waved a hand. ‘It’s not important.’

‘If it’s not important then you can tell me about it.’

‘But…’

Julie tutted. ‘For goodness’ sake. My old friends were never this tiresome.’

‘Your old friends,’ Lizzy pointed out, ‘didn’t know that you drank blood or that you’re over two hundred years old.’

‘They would have been jealous.’ Julie took another long gulp of her alleged water. ‘But fine.’ She sighed. ‘If you must keep insisting then I’ll tell you. I met Fabian Barrett at a cocktail party a few years ago. He was about my age in appearance – and as far as he knew. I was under the impression that it might do both of our reputations some good to be seen in public together. I’ve often had little dalliances with such men. It passes the nights rather pleasantly and it keeps my name in the gossip rags. I suggested as much to him in a quiet corner.’

‘You don’t have to talk about this, Julie.’

She looked at me. ‘Now I’ve started I may as well finish. He laughed in my face. He told me he’d never be seen out with such an old hag. He could do far better than a mere soap actress, and he certainly wouldn’t go near one with saggy tits and more wrinkles than a Sharpei.’

Although it was what I’d been expecting, the cruelty in the details left me stunned. ‘What a fucking wanker.’

‘My thoughts exactly, darling. First of all, I’m not merely a soap actress, I’m virtually a national treasure. I don’t have wrinkles and my breasts are incredibly pert.’ Her mouth tightened. It was clear that despite her protests, Fab’s words still rankled.

The look of horrified incredulity on Lizzy’s face was matched only by her tone. ‘He can’t get away with that. To treat you like that? And talk to you that way? You should confront him. Publicly. Remind him what he said to you and show everyone else that, billionaire saviour or not, he’s a tosser.’

Julie’s hands tightened around her little hip flask until her knuckles were white. ‘You’re forgetting how long it’s taken me to get people to stop treating me like I’m carrying the plague. There are still plenty of vampires out there who hate me for being an actress on television. And there are plenty of humans who despise me for almost causing the end of the world. No one’s going to care that Fabian Barrett was once mean to me, they’ll think that his instincts were spot on. What he said to me doesn’t mean his intentions in coming here aren’t genuine.’ She gestured at me. ‘As you’ve discovered, Charley, he’s here to help. There’s nothing I can say or do to stop that. I’ll simply stay away from the man and let him be the hero everyone wants him to be.’

Lizzy grimaced. ‘Well, for what it’s worth, I’m not going to forget that he was a prick.’

Julie smiled. ‘That’s kind of you.’

Lizzy nodded and strode away. Her anger was evident in her bulging spine as she fought to regain control of her animal. I might not be able to shapeshift but I felt something similar and I clenched and unclenched my fists as Julie and I walked in silence towards the barricade.

Just before she peeled away to head into the Blood and Bones, I paused and stretched out my fingers, cracking my knuckles. ‘So what are you really going to do?’ I asked.

‘I have no idea what you mean, darling.’

I looked at her. ‘I know you. You’ll get your revenge on him one way or another. What are you planning?’

She smiled faintly. ‘Nothing concrete yet.’ She leaned in. ‘But believe me, Charley, it will be spectacular.’ And with that, she whirled away.

I normally prided myself on being able to maintain an effective poker face. Given what I’d learned inside Fab’s tent, it should have been easy