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

straight away at—’ She didn’t manage to finish her sentence. The walkie-talkie crackled and let out an ominous buzzing sound. Anna frowned and gazed down at. ‘It’s dead.’

She glanced at the radio that Mulroney was carrying. He pressed a button on the side. Nothing happened.

I tilted my head. The television, which had been on continuously since all this started, was silent. I walked slowly to the nearest light switch and flicked it on. Again, nothing happened.

I pretended not to notice the flare of panic in both the police officers’ eyes. Find something else to focus on, Charley, I told myself. That wasn’t hard, given what was going on outside. I breathed through my nose. Let’s stay calm. We had to stay calm.

I forced my racing thoughts to slow down and returned my attention to the action outside. ‘They’re not wild animals,’ I said, looking from one wolf to another. In fact, I knew exactly what they were without needing to be told. There was something in the way each wolf held itself that explained everything. ‘They’re the shapeshifters.’ I pointed to the largest one at the front, whose fur was a deep, dark red tipped with white. ‘That’s Monroe. He was a man and now he’s … that.’ I swallowed. ‘A werewolf.’

I pinched myself in case this was a dream, but I knew it wasn’t.

‘Monroe is the sexy…’ Anna cleared her throat. ‘The man who was here with Madrona?’

I nodded. ‘Yes.’

‘So,’ she asked, ‘who are the others?’

Facing off against Madrona and the wolves was a group of tall, menacing-looking people. Something about their features tugged at me. I blinked and peered closer. ‘They’ve all got green eyes,’ I breathed. ‘Like Madrona. They’re all…’

‘Faeries,’ Anna finished.

‘The two of you are fucking nuts,’ Mulroney said. ‘Faeries? Shapeshifters? Magic? I’ll admit the events of the past couple of days are unprecedented but there’s going to a perfectly logical explanation.’

‘I said the same to begin with,’ I told him. ‘But the evidence is there.’ I dug into the recesses of my brain, remembering research I’d done before betting on a Miss Universe contest a few years back. I’d lost the bet but the information I’d uncovered in the process might be useful now.

‘Only two percent of the world’s population has green eyes. The majority of those people out there have eyes so green that you could make jewellery out of them. Besides,’ I added, ‘you saw Monroe change, just like I did.’

‘I saw nothing,’ Mulroney declared. ‘There’s nothing to see, apart from a pack of wild dogs facing off against some poor people,’ he said, a heartbeat before a jet of green light shot towards the wolves and all hell broke loose. Mulroney jumped backwards and squeaked. Frankly, I didn’t blame him. Chaos had exploded outside and was reigning without mercy.

You’d think that after watching a few war films you’d understand what it’s like to be in battle, or at least to see a battle. This was nothing like I’d imagined. This was real life, as bizarre as it seemed.

There were so many things going on that it was impossible to focus. Even with my thick walls and double-glazed windows, the sound was horrific. There were bloodcurdling screams and piercing cries of both pain and anger. Wolves clashed with the strange green plumes as they threw themselves at the men and women who were wielding them. One woman’s arm was almost ripped off in front of the window, a spray of red arterial blood splattering across the glass.

I tried to track Monroe, but he quickly disappeared behind a wall of flames.

‘People are dying,’ Mulroney said in a strained voice. ‘We have to get out there and do something.’

‘Do what exactly?’ Anna snapped. ‘There’s two of us and dozens of them.’

‘We’re the fucking police!’ he yelled. ‘It’s our job to stop things like this from happening.’

As he spoke, a blonde woman grabbed one of the massive wolves by the scruff of its neck and threw it against the house. Its tail thumped against the window, smearing the blood that was already on the glass. Then the wolf collapsed onto the pavement.

‘That’s it,’ Mulroney said. ‘I’m not standing for this any longer. I am the arm of the law and these people are going to start appreciating that fact.’ He stormed back out and opened the door again. ‘You will stop this at once!’ he bellowed from behind the two wolves that were still on my doorstep. ‘I am the police and I order you to stop!’

Anna and I rushed out after him. A tall, green-eyed man raised his hand and flicked it towards us. I grabbed Mulroney and yanked him back as a lightning streak of green flashed towards him. Instead of smacking Mulroney in the face, it hit the wall, creating a perfect circle in the plaster so I could see directly through to the kitchen on the other side. Shit. These guys weren’t messing around.

Anna slammed the door shut once again. ‘You bloody blithering idiot!’ she hissed. ‘You’re going to get us all killed!’

From behind, Lizzy’s weak voice threaded through the hallway. ‘What’s going on?’

I turned and tried to give her a reassuring smile. ‘Everything’s fine,’ I said briskly. As if. A bunch of faeries and werewolves having a fight to the death on our doorstep; nothing to see here.

‘They assaulted a police officer!’ Mulroney blustered. ‘Did you see that? They…’ He pulled his truncheon from his belt. ‘I’m going to show them.’

‘You’re not going to do a fucking thing,’ Anna said tightly.

Except he was. Despite the evidence in front of him, and the near certainty of his death if he interfered, he wasn’t giving up. I could see the mania in his eyes.

‘I’ll deal with this,’ I said. ‘They want this sphere thing, whatever it is. I’ll tell them I’ve got it and draw them towards me.’

‘That’s not going to bloody help!’ Anna yelled.

‘They won’t kill me till they’ve got it,’ I said pragmatically. ‘It’ll stop the fighting long enough for you