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

far more pain than he was letting on. ‘You’ve each got enough inside to last you for a full day. It shouldn’t take any longer than that to get under the wall.’

I glared at him. ‘You knew about this? That they’re all going and leaving us behind?’

His blue eyes met mine. ‘It’s their choice. Freely made. You lectured me about something like that once upon a time.’

Something twisted inside me. At the end of the day, we were responsible for each other; we had to have faith and trust in each other. Our continued survival wasn’t down to the actions of just one person; if we made it, it would be because of all of us. I believed in my friends. I had to prove that belief.

‘Your names will go down in history,’ I said quietly. ‘What you’re about to do is amazing.’ I glanced at them. ‘And if anything goes wrong, we’ll come after you in a heartbeat.’ I’d drag my beaten and bruised body after them if that’s what was needed.

Lizzy grinned. ‘We know you will. But we’ll be fine.’

Julie sniffed. ‘Look, darling,’ she said, ‘if you want to take my place, then feel free.’ She reached into her pocket and drew out her little hip flask. Rather than take a sip from it, however, she upturned it. The gin glugged out, splattering onto the ground. She allowed herself a small smile. ‘It looks like I’ll be getting redemption elsewhere,’ she said, as much to herself as to any of us. She flicked a look at Jodie. ‘Fancy offering me a vein later as compensation?’

‘In your dreams.’

It would be a miracle if they made it to the end of Barrett’s tunnel without killing each other.

Cath, apparently sensing my doubts returning, grabbed one of the bags from Monroe. ‘Let’s get going,’ she said firmly.

I crouched down to pull off the manhole cover. Unfortunately, a wave of dizziness overtook me and I sucked in a breath.

Jodie knelt down beside me. ‘This is why we need more than one hero,’ she said. She grabbed the cover by its edges and flipped it over. Despite my swirling head, I looked down. Shit. Was that…?

‘Guns.’ Monroe’s body stiffened. ‘Lots of them.’

We stared at them in silence. While I was beyond glad that I’d been right about the tunnel being here, the evidence in front of us showed just how far Fabian Barrett had been prepared to go in order to gain control of Manchester and the magic. It was sickening.

I shook myself and looked at my friends. ‘Are you sure about this?’

None of them answered. Instead, Julie blew me an airy kiss. ‘Toodle-do.’ She stepped forward and dropped down, landing on a steel walkway with a clatter. The others followed one by one, until they were all shrouded in the tunnel’s gloom.

‘What are our odds of success, Charley?’ Lizzy called.

‘Excellent.’ I might even have been telling the truth.

She smiled. Then, within moments, all of them disappeared from view.

Eight hours later and no one was smiling at all. Waiting around for something to happen was far harder than it looked.

‘I feel a lot better. We should go after them.’ I stood up on wobbly legs. When my knees buckled, I sat down again. At Monroe’s look, I glared. ‘We can’t just hang around here twiddling our thumbs! It’s been hours. Anything might have happened to them. I could take a bike. I’ll be able to catch up to them.’

‘I hardly think that a bicycle in the sewer would get very far,’ he said. ‘Even if you were in any fit state to ride it.’

‘It looked like there was a decent walkway. We should at least try.’

‘Julie and the others will get the job done.’ He ran a hand through his hair. I gave him a suspicious look. There was a definite tremble to his fingers and beads of sweat on his skin. He sighed at me and lifted up his T-shirt. Although his others wounds were already healing, there was a nasty gash on his side which was edged with yellow pus. ‘It’s infected,’ he told me. ‘We don’t have any antibiotics and I don’t have the strength to burn it off. Not just yet.’

Alarm flared through my bones. ‘That settles it.’ I stood up again, this time managing to hold my balance. ‘I’m going after them.’

He growled. ‘You’re not much better than I am.’ His eyes, which were glazed with pain, flashed. ‘If there’s one thing you’ve taught me it’s that we don’t have to do everything alone. They’ll do it. You know they will.’

My shoulders dropped. ‘I hate feeling helpless like this.’

He caught my fingers in his. ‘I know,’ he said quietly. Then his head jerked up.

‘What?’ I demanded. ‘What is it?’

Before I’d finished my question, the barricade alarm started to ring. The sudden hope that lit through me was quickly extinguished by the expression on Monroe’s face.

‘Stay here,’ I said.

He rolled his eyes. ‘Fat chance, sunshine.’

The pair of us stumbled out of the door. I’d barely gone three steps when I realised it definitely wasn’t Julie returning. The bellowing roar from up ahead told me that much.

‘Shadow beast,’ Monroe grunted. ‘I knew it.’

I tilted my head back and took in the giant dark shape. It was a massive creature. Why now? Why come here now? Was it sensing our weakness and taking advantage? It opened its mouth and roared again, causing the buildings around us to shake. My fingers jerked in response as a brief surge of magic flared through me. It wasn’t enough, though; it wasn’t anywhere near enough.

Streams of people appeared. Some were werewolves, already transformed into their animal shapes. Some had their own magic flickering at the ready. A group of vampires bounded forward, eyes glowing red and fangs bared. I looked around. The whole community was out here; we were all prepared to defend our enclave, no matter what it took. Regardless of what state Monroe and I were in, everyone was ready to do