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

Lucy turned in his direction, hesitating. Both the overhead light and the television switched off. Fuck.

I reached between the bars of the cage once more. Lucy chirruped but she was already bored with that game. I poked her gently but she wasn’t playing ball.

‘Charlotte…’

I grimaced. ‘I know. I’ll have to take her out of the cage. If it turns on again, we won’t have long before she settles herself and the TV stops working. Be ready.’

Monroe was already back on his feet, pointing the remote at the television. ‘I’m ready.’

I swallowed and nodded, then I started to unclip the cage door.

Aware that she was moments away from freedom, Lucy began squeaking again. The light turned itself on. And the television. I heard a quiet click as Monroe tried to change the channel. I reached in for Lucy, whose excitement was now uncontainable.

Then the announcer’s voice filled the air. ‘Day 323 of the Manchester siege. There has been no word as yet from Fabian Barrett, who entered the lost city just two days ago searching for any remaining survivors. The Prime Minister is adamant that all precautions have been taken for his safety. Under no circumstances is anyone else to attempt to approach the border walls sealing Manchester from the rest of the country. Sources continue to indicate that there is only a slim chance that anyone remains alive inside the walls, but Fabian Barrett…’

Lucy nuzzled against me and sighed happily – and the television clicked off.

I tried everything. I tickled her, I held her up in the air and bounced her about, but the moment was gone. Again.

Chapter Nineteen

I was finding it hard to concentrate on what Fab was saying. He was waxing lyrical about all the things he was planning to bring in to help us. But he’d been doing the same for the past hour and, even without thinking about my various plans to get Lucy to engage with either a television or a radio again, I’d have zoned out. It didn’t seem to matter to him. As long as I kept up the pretence of listening, with occasional mmmms and hmmmms and yeahs, he thought that I was hanging on his every word.

‘…water powered cars are a possibility. It saves you having to worry about a lack of petrol or the vehicles conking out at any point. You must be tired of walking and cycling all the time.’

‘Actually,’ I murmured, making the error of tuning in long enough to disagree with him, ‘I quite enjoy it. It keeps me fit. And while Manchester is big, it’s not that big. It’s perfectly possible to walk from one end of the city to the other in a few hours.’

If my head hadn’t been down, absently scanning the road for potholes, I wouldn’t have registered the brief pause in his step. Clearly he thought my mumbles were vastly preferable to my dissension.

‘But, of course,’ I added hastily, ‘that’s only because I’ve had to get used to walking and cycling. Having a car that I can rely on is a luxury I’ve not been able to consider until now.’

‘Well,’ Fab said, ‘thanks to me, now you can.’ He waved his arms, his hazmat suit flapping around his elbows. He seemed to be suggesting that a water-powered car was about to appear in front of my eyes simply because he’d said so. As if by magic. I could have told him that the magic in Manchester didn’t work that way but I didn’t bother wasting my breath.

‘I can’t wait to see what you’re going to bring,’ Cath said.

Jodie nodded with buoyant enthusiasm. ‘It’ll be like Christmas. We can’t thank you enough, Fab.’

Even Felicity cracked a smile. ‘We should build you a statue.’ There wasn’t a trace of irony in her tone. She’d come around to the cult of Fab quickly enough. The way things were going, I half expected the three of them to fall to their knees and start worshipping the man. Nothing would surprise me any more.

‘Look,’ I said, suddenly feeling guilty for my cynicism. ‘There’s the door to the rest of the world just up ahead.’

‘With considerable devastation surrounding it,’ Fab remarked, glancing round at the scorched trees I’d blasted away only a few days ago. ‘You really do have a great deal of power at your fingertips.’

‘I do,’ I said simply. I scanned his face for a reaction but there was nothing beyond a cheerful smile. I mentally slapped myself for being a suspicious bitch and drew in a breath. ‘Well, God speed,’ I told him.

Fab inclined his head, smiling slightly, then he walked past me towards the door. I squinted after him. His murky purple aura was more heavily defined now. I bit my lip. Was that my doing? Had my incursion into his tent caused more magic to cling to him?

I glanced at his trailing bodyguards. Their auras were considerably less distinct – and more blue. I rubbed my eyes to be sure. I wasn’t imagining things.

Boyce caught my stare and frowned. ‘What?’ he growled.

I shrugged. ‘Nothing.’

He glanced at Fab then back at me before sniffing loudly. ‘You’ve done a good job here,’ he said. ‘Not only by surviving but by creating this community. You should be proud of it.’

Taken aback, I blinked at him. ‘Uh, thank you.’

He nodded. ‘It wasn’t me.’

‘Pardon?’

‘When your little beastie ran off,’ he said, his tone short and clipped. ‘It wasn’t me who saw her. I was just passing on the message.’

My mouth felt dry. First there was the question I’d overheard him ask his buddy. Now this. What exactly was he saying? I glanced at Fab, who was talking to Felicity about the wonders of the Kobe beef he was planning to bring in.

‘Boyce,’ I began.

He gave a minute shake of his head. ‘You have a good thing going here,’ he said gruffly. ‘I’ve spent a lot of time in dangerous parts of the world and the community you’ve established here is genuinely impressive. I