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

In one explosive movement, Monroe transformed from blue-eyed poster boy to snarling wolf. It happened so quickly that I leapt backwards by about three feet. The Fiat slammed on its brakes and the three wide-eyed people who were piled on top of each other on the front seat started to scream.

Great. This was great.

I didn’t particularly want to face down Monroe’s wolf form in this sort of situation; I didn’t understand enough about what happened to Monroe the man when he turned. Lizzy had said she’d lost herself when she’d been a bunyip. If Monroe was more animal than human right now, I was literally throwing myself to the wolves. Unfortunately, he wasn’t leaving me with much choice.

I jumped back into the fray, standing between Monroe and the car. ‘Stop that,’ I said sternly. ‘These poor people have been through enough. There are abandoned cars everywhere. We don’t need to take this one.’

Monroe bared his teeth at me, pulling his lips back over his gums.

I put my hands on my hips. ‘Is that supposed to scare me?’

The driver of the Fiat, seeing her chance, put the car into reverse. The tyres squealed as the car shot backwards and away. Monroe’s muscles bunched up; for a second, I was sure he was going to spring after them. Then he shook himself, his long fur rippling. I blinked and once again the man stood in front of me.

Naked. Of course.

‘You are a most infuriating woman.’

I cocked my head at him. ‘Try and say that again without sounding patronising.’ I paused. ‘Aren’t you cold?’

‘Aren’t you? You’re the one who’s dripping wet.’ He raised his eyebrows suggestively. ‘Maybe in more ways than one.’

I’d have been offended if I hadn’t been relieved firstly that he wasn’t tearing apart the departed Fiat, and secondly that he was displaying a flash of his former arrogant self. ‘I have a fine coating of monster saliva to insulate me,’ I said blithely. Then I shivered.

‘We need clothes,’ Monroe told me. ‘And a new car.’ He stalked back towards the stadium. ‘Come on.’

I stared after him for a brief moment. Be thankful for what you’ve got, Charley, I told myself.

I jogged off after him.

Our new vehicle was a brick-red Smart car; it matched the Manchester United tops we had snagged from the team shop perfectly. Although it was a squeeze getting all of our supplies from the ruined Jeep to fit inside, the car was small enough to navigate the destroyed streets. Monroe gunned the engine and swerved round corners and obstacles as if we were in a Ferrari. The man was a law unto himself.

‘Turn right here,’ I instructed when we reached the crossroads that would lead us back home.

He immediately turned left.

‘I said right.’

‘I heard you the first time. We’re not going back to your place yet.’

I sighed. ‘The Travotel.’

Monroe didn’t answer.

‘As I already said, because there’s a man left in the city who’s got green eyes—’

‘He’s a faery. This Timmons has to be a faery. It’s too much of a coincidence otherwise.’

I grabbed the armrest to avoid being squashed against the door as Monroe slammed round another corner and sped up. ‘But I thought the perceived wisdom was that all the faeries had gone. You have to be prepared for the fact that this guy is like the rest of us.’

‘A werewolf and a strange magic-wielder?’ he enquired.

‘Enchantress,’ I answered primly.

‘Whatever. Look,’ he said. ‘All the faeries who were at Castlefield vanished. I assume they returned to their homeland and left us to deal with the mess they’d created. It’s entirely possible, however, that any of them who weren’t at the final showdown weren’t included in the big send off. Mike Timmons is one of them. I know it. I can feel it.’

I licked my lips. ‘If he is, what exactly are you going to do?’

Monroe didn’t answer.

‘Jodie, Julie and Lizzy are out there,’ I reminded him. ‘We have to make the rendezvous with them or they’ll think something has gone drastically wrong.’

‘We’ve still got plenty of time.’

‘But…’

‘Please, Charlotte,’ Monroe said, in a tired voice. ‘Let me do this. I have to do this. I owe it to my pack to do this.’

He was going to bulldoze his way in and threaten this Timmons bloke whether he had my permission or not. I’d have to hope that he managed to remain calm and didn’t rip the guy from limb to limb. Sadly, the odds were not in my favour. ‘Okay,’ I murmured. ‘But call me Charley. Only my brother called me Charlotte.’

Monroe’s fingers tightened momentarily on the steering wheel. ‘You suit Charlotte.’

‘No,’ I said. ‘I don’t.’ And that, I decided, was the end to the conversation.

Despite Monroe’s best efforts, we couldn’t drive directly to the hotel. The closer we got to the city centre, the more cars blocked the roads. Every street was littered with abandoned vehicles. I could only imagine that the people here had tried to evacuate, got snarled up in their own traffic and boarded the army-issued buses instead to get themselves to safety. That was all very well for them, but it didn’t help our cause. Even the pavements were filled with cars.

Monroe got as close as he could then stopped the car and pulled out the keys.

‘Leaving all these supplies here probably isn’t a good idea,’ I said.

He grunted. ‘That didn’t bother you when you ran off to rescue that foolish drowning man.’

‘He wasn’t drowning, he was being eaten. And anyway, that was different.’

‘Was it?’ he asked softly. He didn’t wait for an answer but simply left the car and started walking instead.

I got out and followed him. Soon both of us were forced to climb on top of car roofs and slide across them. It was far easier than trying to squeeze through the gaps left by the abandoned vehicles.

This was quite possibly the most chilling sight I’d seen so far. From one end of the street to the other there weren’t any other people. Many of