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

rolled his eyes. ‘Don’t blame me when you’re all slaughtered in your sleep.’ Giving Julie a wide berth, he stomped off to help carry in the last of the supplies. There was a lot of work still be done, in every sense of the word.

There is a lot to be said for possessing an analytical mind, capable of sizing up a gambling table in one sweep. Before too long, I had everyone organised. With Cath’s help, Lizzy made a list of all the nearby houses, investigating their suitability and parcelling them out to our new arrivals. Each household received a care package to tide them over for the next few weeks, and tasks were doled out to ensure that we were less likely to run into trouble later down the line.

Now that we had more souls, the concerns I had about securing enough rations seemed less of an issue. I sent out everyone who was able to procure various items. By tacit agreement within our original group, the secret supply stashes we’d created were kept quiet, to be used at a later date if there were emergencies. In less than a couple of hours, it felt like everything was moving like a well-oiled machine. Of course, none of that made Monroe happy.

There were several minor injuries to attend to. Every time Julie glanced at one of the wounded survivors, I felt a nervous tug in the pit of my stomach. The blood that she’d taken from the hospital seemed to have satiated her – for now at least. Her benign expression didn’t quell my fears, but it was pleasing to see that the actress was capable of pulling her weight. With the sun sinking down over the horizon, she felt more confident strolling around the street and helping out. She spent considerable time kitting out a makeshift clinic where Cath could dress the worst of the wounds. While it probably wasn’t a coincidence that the vampire decided to volunteer at the one place where she’d come across more blood, her eagerness to help was satisfying.

Monroe decided to make himself useful by setting up barricades at either end of the street so that he could monitor who was entering and exiting. I hated the idea; it would only serve to shut us off and discourage others from joining our growing community. However, with the threat of Max still looming over us, not to mention the likelihood that more magically enhanced monsters might rear their ugly heads, I couldn’t argue too much. The more people who were here, the less likely it was that our location would remain hidden. With any luck, Max would leave us alone when he realised we were a force to be reckoned with.

‘You’re blocking out all the light with your barricade,’ I called out to Monroe, as he backed the last vehicle into place.

He didn’t deign to answer. He hopped out of the truck and raised an eyebrow. ‘Night is falling,’ he said, as if I were too dim to have noticed. ‘That’s why there is less light.’ He glanced around the street and checked his watch. ‘Only five short hours until Manchester is locked down. After that, we’re on our own.’

I pursed my lips. ‘I’ve been thinking about that. I know the government will have their hands full with evacuees, but Manchester is the third biggest city in Britain. There’s no way they’re going to abandon it completely. I reckon they’ll continue to drop supplies for those of us left here. They’ll send in troops to sort out things like that canal monster, and investigate everything else in order to make it safe. Magic or no magic, Manchester isn’t doomed. It can’t be.’

Monroe sent me a long-suffering look. ‘I don’t think…’

He didn’t finish his sentence. From overhead came the sound of an aircraft. It was several hours since the last one had roared past, so the fact that there was now another flying over the city filled me with joy. I sent him a triumphant glance and tilted my head back to watch.

‘Anyone still left in the city has to reach an evacuation point by midnight tonight,’ a loudspeaker boomed. ‘Your safety will not be guaranteed until you have left Manchester. Do not stop to take your belongings. Leave now. There are evacuation camps to the north, south, east and west. Do not stay in the city. This is a government directive.’

The language was considerably more forceful than it had been earlier in the day. Did that mean that a lot of people had ignored the instructions to leave and the government was under pressure to get everyone out? I dug my heels into the road, as if camouflaged soldiers were about to appear and haul me out kicking and screaming.

The helicopter, spotted us, flew over and hovered directly above our heads. ‘Leave now!’

I gave it a wave and a smile. The pilot was close enough for me to see the whites of his eyes. He glared down as if I were a complete idiot for not immediately running out of the city. Perhaps I was, but it didn’t stop me from smiling and waving more vigorously.

Monroe tutted. ‘You’re an idiot. You know you should evacuate. Everyone should evacuate.’

‘You’re not evacuating,’ I said.

His mouth flattened into a grim line. ‘I have a death wish.’

The pilot stayed where he was for one long moment. When it was obvious that we weren’t moving as instructed no matter what was said, he took the helicopter upwards. The loudspeaker started up again.

I started to turn away to check on the others when there was a strange crack and a flash of blue light filled the sky. I whipped round. ‘What the hell was that?’

‘Thunder,’ Monroe said. ‘And lightning.’

‘Blue lightning?’

He didn’t get the chance to answer. There was another illuminating flash of blue. It smacked directly onto the helicopter, which was still within view. The buzzing whirr of the blades turned into a whine and dark smoke filtered upwards.