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

The door opened and something was thrown in, a heavy object that hit the floor and rolled under a sofa. I frowned.

Monroe’s reactions were faster than mine. He dived after it, but he was too late. A fraction of a second later there was a blinding flash, a horrendously loud crack and the whole world slipped sideways. Again. This was becoming a bad habit.

Chapter Twenty-Three

‘You know the best thing about the British Army?’ Max drawled.

I struggled against my bonds. It didn’t matter what I did, I couldn’t move so much as my pinky. He’d taken full advantage of my disorientation. It was fucking galling to be all but knocked out twice in the space of an hour. Some all powerful enchantress I was.

I gave up trying to move and glared at him. At least I could still talk. ‘You’re going to tell me no matter what I say, so go on. What’s the best thing?’

He sauntered up towards me. ‘Lord Max.’

I snapped my mouth closed. Max smiled and pointed at someone out of my line of sight. A moment later Julie appeared, her wrists bound behind her. She opened her mouth at me, displaying the briefest flash of her fangs. I shook my head. Not yet. We weren’t there yet.

Max withdrew a narrow blade from his breast pocket. He leaned across to Julie and used the tip of the knife to draw a bead of blood across her cheek. It was fortunate that he was looking at me rather than Julie; she seemed more turned on than terrified.

‘What’s the best thing about the British Army, Lord Max?’ I bit out.

His grin grew even more smarmy. ‘I thought you’d never ask. The best thing about the British Army is that when they evacuate in a hurry,’ he purred, ‘they often leave behind a lot of their ordnance. It’s amazing what you can pick up when you have a good rummage around.’ He shrugged. ‘Sure, they make an effort to take all the really effective stuff – and we can’t find a way to get the abandoned tanks to work no matter how hard we try – but there are useful objects like flash grenades that work wonders when you’re trying to snag yourself a witch or two.’

He released Julie and sent her staggering into a nearby chair. I couldn’t see any of the others and my stomach tightened. If Max knew what Monroe and Lizzy were, he’d have them here too. I had to count on his continued ignorance to see us through.

He sauntered towards me, still with the same nauseating smile. ‘You didn’t really think I expected you to hand yourself over with barely a protest, did you, Charley? I know you too well and I’ve been in this business for too long. I knew you’d try something.’ He raised his shoulders in a fluid, nonchalant shrug. ‘In fact, I was counting on it. I needed to see exactly what you were capable of when you were backed into a corner and how your powers work. Now I know.’ He leaned in. ‘I have to admit, I didn’t expect that you’d be capable of murder. Especially the sort of murder that yanks a man’s intestines out of his stomach and leaves them lying in a trail across an expensive Persian rug.’ He sighed. ‘I rather liked that rug. I’d been planning to keep it. But the bloodstains do add a certain je ne sais quoi to the pattern. Maybe it’ll still look good in the right conditions.’

I stopped breathing. If he’d been in that room, he’d have seen Lizzy. She was in her bunyip form when I left; even if she’d shifted back to being human, she would be stark naked. If he discovered what she really was…

‘My man shouldn’t have tried to rape your friend,’ Max continued. ‘For that, I am sorry. I didn’t think he was that type. He probably deserved what he got in the end.’ He peered at me as I tried to keep a stoical expression on my face and not appear too relieved. ‘You know my other team members who went into that room are still unconscious? Are they likely to recover?’

How should I know? I tried a shrug of my own but, trussed up as I was, I failed. ‘I don’t know,’ I managed.

‘Hmm.’ He pulled away and stroked his chin. ‘It’s clear to me that your powers reside in your hands. Any time you’ve performed … magic, it’s been your hands that have done the deed. No special words, no telekinesis, just a snap of your fingers and hey presto!’ He grinned. ‘I’m right, aren’t I? By the look on your face, my little experiment means I know more about you now than you know about yourself.’

He paused for effect and then said, ‘You really shouldn’t have left those two women alive. They told me a lot about what you did. You have too soft a heart. Me? I’d have sliced their throats in a heartbeat and been done with it. Your friends, who are more skilled than I imagined, also showed a reluctance to kill. Still,’ he mused, ‘it was a stroke of genius sending that actress.’ He jerked his chin at Julie. ‘I wasn’t expecting that.’

The actress in question was looking more dangerous by the second. Max still thought I was the only one around here with special powers. He really had no idea.

Julie licked her lips slowly, lasciviously, and I shuddered. This could go very badly for Max indeed.

There was a knock at the door. A moment later, a moustachioed man entered, looking like he should have been at Downton Abbey rather than in magic-torn Manchester. He was wearing a damned tuxedo and holding aloft a silver tray. Max really did fancy himself as lord of the manor.

‘Lord Max,’ the man murmured. ‘Your evening drink.’ The butler presented him with a glass containing what looked like whisky.

Max grunted and took it from him, taking a delicate sip