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

Rather terrifyingly, I believed that he would. ‘I’m sure that’s not necessary,’ I murmured.

‘I hope not,’ Monroe murmured. ‘What a shame it would be to deny the world more baby arseholes like this one.’

Okaaaay, then.

A tall man with silver strands in his hair eyed me. ‘I’m Julian,’ he said. ‘Alpha of this pack. Such as it is. On Nero’s behalf, I apologise sincerely.’

I managed a small smile. ‘Don’t worry about it.’ What the hell else was I supposed to say to a werewolf? I glanced at Monroe. ‘Anna and I are going now.’

‘Good idea.’ He didn’t move a muscle.

I shifted awkwardly. ‘See you then.’ I turned and walked away.

‘Is she really an enchantress?’ I heard Julian ask.

‘Like you wouldn’t believe,’ Monroe answered.

As congenial as Anna’s company was, it felt odd to be travelling back sans werewolf. His scent still lingered in the postal van; when I caught myself inhaling too deeply, I hastily rolled down the window. Fortunately Anna didn’t seem to notice.

‘I didn’t think it would actually come to this,’ she said. ‘The city, I mean. But the soldiers I spoke to were sure that there wasn’t a choice. They’re too worried about this shit spreading to other parts of the country. They really are planning to quarantine everyone who’s been in Manchester to avoid further risk. But I still didn’t think they’d go through with cutting us off so decisively. It won’t just be barbed-wire fencing,’ she added grimly. ‘In the next week, there will be walls. Despite the single exit and entry point, they’re taking this containment business very seriously.’ She shook her head at the craziness of it all. ‘The whole world has gone mad and there’s no rhyme or reason to any of it.’

I fiddled with the van’s lights, flicking them to high beam. There was no one out here now, so I wasn’t going to inadvertently blind anyone, and there was so much crap to avoid on the road that I needed as much visibility as possible. ‘Actually,’ I sighed, ‘I know what their reasons are.’ I explained what I’d learned about Madrona and the rest of the faeries, not to mention how the magic had been released across the city.

‘Madrona,’ she muttered when I’d finished. ‘I knew she had something to do with all this. There was something about her that wasn’t quite right. Although I suppose we should be grateful that she swallowed that sphere and stopped things from getting even worse.’ She peered at me. ‘What’s it like? Having magic, I mean?’

I offered an awkward shrug. ‘Tingly most of the time. Baffling all of the time.’ I ran a hand through my hair, teasing out the snags with my fingertips. ‘I don’t know what I’m capable of – or if it will last. I keep expecting it to wear off. I wish there was someone who could help me make sense of it and show me how use my magic properly.’

Anna wrinkled her nose, thinking about it. ‘The thing is,’ she said finally, ‘that sort of person – the person with knowledge – has already decided what the limitations of their abilities are. They don’t seek to test them or go beyond them. You see it with children, especially young ones. They don’t yet understand what’s impossible, so they push to achieve whatever they can. That’s how society progresses, by going beyond what we think we know. Because you don’t know anything, you can also go further. The possibilities are endless.’

I took my eyes off briefly the road to stare at her. ‘I never had you pegged as a philosopher.’

Anna laughed. ‘I was too busy being a hard-nosed copper to indulge my other interests. Now all that’s been taken from me.’ Her smile disappeared. ‘I really loved my job. And this city.’

I reached over and squeezed her hand. ‘The city is still here.’

Her answer was abrupt. ‘For now.’

We drove in silence for the rest of the journey, both of us lost in our own thoughts. I was looking forward to a hot drink followed by several hours of sleep; I imagined myself stretched out in my bed with my head on my pillow. I stifled several yawns. Yes, I decided. A good long snooze would do me the world of good. I’d been ignoring the joys of my duvet far too much lately.

Unfortunately, when I pulled up to Monroe’s daft barricade and saw numerous people on the street congregating in small groups and holding items aloft as weapons, I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I wasn’t going to be catching any proper zeds any time soon.

I screeched the van to a halt and leapt out. As I started to push at the barricade to gain access, several people shouted and brandished their baseball bats and heavy-based saucepans at me.

‘What’s going on?’ Anna asked by my side.

‘I don’t know,’ I muttered. ‘But it doesn’t look good.’ I squared my shoulders. ‘It’s me!’ I yelled. ‘It’s Charley! What’s going on?’

Cath’s face appeared from the centre of the crowd. She was flanked by Jodie and Julie. ‘Let her in!’ Cath shrieked. ‘Let Charley in!’

Nobody moved. Screw this. I tutted under my breath and raised my hands, forcing out a shot of magic to move the barricade and let me past.

‘See?’ Anna murmured. ‘Endless possibilities.’

I didn’t answer. I ran towards my friends. ‘What’s happened?’ I demanded.

Cath’s whole body was shaking. ‘Max,’ she whispered. ‘It was Max.’

My blood froze. ‘He was here?’

She bit her lip and nodded. I turned to Jodie and Julie. Jodie’s expression was tight while Julie looked furious; she also had a deep gash on the side of her head. Dark, almost black blood was trickling down her cheek, but she made no attempt to wipe it away.

‘There was nothing we could do,’ she spat, her voice vibrating with rage. ‘He left us with no option.’

‘What do you mean?’ I balled my hands up into tight fists. ‘What did he