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

Max glanced back at his henchmen, all of whom were staring at Monroe with wide eyes. I noted that they were keeping their distance. I wasn’t sure whether that was because of what I’d done to them in the supermarket or they were following Max’s lead. Either way, I was grateful for it. It meant there was still some wiggle room to extricate ourselves from this situation without a stupid fight.

I lifted my hands and waved my fingers. Several of Max’s henchmen pulled back. This was suddenly almost fun.

Max folded his arms and pointedly ignored me, but I knew from the faint tug of muscle above his eyebrow that he’d registered my unspoken threat. ‘You do have a certain je ne sais quoi,’ he murmured to Monroe. ‘I could use you. Why don’t you come join us? I’ll give you all the blue-haired women your heart desires.’

Monroe’s body quivered. He stared Max down, his blue eyes fixed on him. For a long moment nothing seemed to happen then Max looked away. ‘I’ll take that as a no then.’ He glanced at me. ‘Another time, Charley.’ He turned on his heel and followed the rest of his group out of the hotel door.

I exhaled. That could have been far, far worse. All the same, despite the peaceful ending, I still felt uneasy. Somehow I didn’t think Max was going to stroll away quite as easily as that.

Monroe snorted mildly. ‘He’s a bully,’ he said ‘but he doesn’t have any real power. We don’t have to worry about him.’

My uneasiness grew. ‘He’s not going to run away and hide under the nearest rock. Max doesn’t work like that. He’s calculating and clever and he doesn’t let others get the upper hand.’

‘Except,’ Monroe said dismissively, ‘I just did. That man is nothing. There are other things that are far scarier and more powerful than he is.’ He grinned without a trace of humour. ‘Like me.’

Timmons twisted his hands together. ‘Why did he come here?’

Good question. ‘He’s bad news,’ I said. ‘And you can guarantee that he was here for a reason. You probably don’t want to find out what that reason is. I strongly recommend that you leave this place. You can come with us. There are plenty of empty houses in my street – you and your guests can take your pick.’ I nodded. ‘Safety in numbers.’

‘He is not coming with us.’ Monroe glared at me. ‘He’s a faery. We can’t trust him.’

‘Of course he can come. He can do whatever he wants.’

‘His kind are responsible for all the shit that has happened here.’

‘Which,’ I argued, ‘probably makes him the most useful person to have around for all the shit that’s still going to happen. Besides, we can’t turn people away. We’re all in this together.’

‘No, we’re not. Don’t be so fucking ridiculous. We have to look after ourselves. We can’t worry about the rest of the world at the same time.’

A door at the far end of the lobby opened. ‘Has there been some kind of trouble?’ asked a nervous voice. ‘We saw that group of people approach and then leave again. They looked … scary.’

‘Everything is fine,’ Timmons said. He looked and sounded as if everything was very far from fine.

I looked at the group of people. There were at least twenty of them and most were pale faced and bedraggled.

Not all of them though. ‘Valerie?’ I asked.

The older woman adjusted her fur stole and smiled at me. ‘Charley! What a pleasure. How are you, dear?’

Anyone would think we’d bumped into each other at a garden party. I managed to avoid rolling my eyes. ‘Fine,’ I said. ‘You?’

‘Well, Arthur cleaned me out the other night so I’ve been better. And all the craziness out there is most worrying. Generally, however, I’m doing very well.’

‘I’m glad to hear it.’ Annoying as the woman could be, it was rather nice to see a familiar face.

She flicked an interested look at Monroe. ‘Nice to see such a handsome specimen of a man with you. Tell me,’ she asked, ‘do you demand that he dresses the same as you? You do both look rather cute.’

Monroe folded his arms. ‘Unbelievable.’

Valerie smiled. ‘I was teaching these other fine people the rudiments of bridge,’ she said. ‘Would you like to join us for a game? You’re both very welcome.’

‘Now isn’t really a good time,’ I replied.

Valerie’s eyes gleamed. ‘The stakes are high. There’s a thousand-pound minimum buy in.’

Money wasn’t going to do any of us any good, not now. Not here. ‘No,’ I said flatly.

‘If you don’t have the money, you can stake him,’ she said, pointing at Monroe. ‘He’s got to be worth at least a grand.’

Suddenly, her offer was rather tempting. I tried not to smile and focused on what was important. ‘Thank you but no.’ I looked at Timmons. ‘You should come with us. You should all come with us.’

Timmons straightened his shoulders and met my gaze. ‘Madrona taught me to stand up for myself. These good people are free to go wherever they please but this is my hotel and I am not leaving it. No matter who comes calling.’ He took a nervous sidestep away from Monroe as he spoke, but I had to admire the man for not yielding completely.

‘I’m not going to force you,’ I told him, while Monroe huffed in irritation. ‘But all of you should know that staying here is dangerous. We should be together. My area has lots of space and plenty of comfortable houses. Anyone who wishes to come with us can come with us. I live on Curledge Street.’

‘For fuck’s sake,’ Monroe muttered.

‘We can protect you,’ I said.

‘No,’ Monroe said. ‘We can’t.’

I drew in a deep breath and tilted my head back, looking at the glass chandelier that hung over our heads. Then I raised my hand and concentrated on the tingle in my fingers. A moment later, the entire contraption came crashing down to the ground, sending glass