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

flicked her tail around as she tried to get comfortable and took up the entire back seat. When she couldn’t squirm herself into the perfect position, she whipped her tail out so that it dangled over the passenger seat and draped down my torso. No, it wasn’t slimy, but it did smell like putrid sardines.

‘I have never been in one of these contraptions before,’ she declared, while I did my best to shift away from the fishy reek.

‘It’s called a car,’ I said, breathing through my mouth.

‘I know what it is,’ she sneered. She paused. ‘So when does it start flying?’

I didn’t answer. In truth, I should have trusted my instincts and stuck to cycling; I would have enjoyed seeing Nimue attempting to ride a bike. I smiled at the thought.

I was doing Monroe a favour by travelling with him and Nimue. Obviously it was purely out of concern that she might get peckish and decide to snack on him, and nothing to do with the fact that she was bare-breasted and gorgeous. I had no reason to be jealous if he got together with a fish. It wasn’t like I had any claim on him. Hell, it wasn’t like I’d seen him for weeks.

For Monroe’s part, he appeared considerably more relaxed now that the reservoir water had returned to normal and there was an explanation for the bloody anomaly. Given his supernatural ethnicity, maybe he was used to this sort of thing. I wasn’t feeling relaxed at all – but then I was half-covered in cold fish.

I reminded myself that Nimue’s actions at the reservoir were probably a call for help and that she needed this ‘rescue’ far more than she was willing to admit, then I hunkered down for the journey.

‘I don’t think much of this place,’ Nimue commented, peering out of the window at the passing buildings. ‘I thought cities would be prettier. There aren’t many people around. I need this Boggart place to have a steady stream of traffic so I can feed when I need to.’

‘There will be no eating people,’ Monroe said, his voice stern like that of a headmaster’s. At the same moment, I hissed in exasperation at the flesh-eating mermaid.

‘You two,’ she declared with a sniff, ‘are no fun at all.’

I started to count to ten in my head. No wonder Disney had altered the original storyline and character of The Little Mermaid if Nimue was anything to go by.

Fortunately for all of us, the journey to Boggart Hole was reasonably short and the route had been cleared of debris. I was surprised at that. There were a lot of trees in this area, and we passed a considerable number of houses and blocks of flats that were sprouting foliage. There were plenty of potholes and fissures in the cracked tarmac beneath the small car’s wheels but there was nothing that actually impeded our progress.

‘Someone has been here,’ I murmured to Monroe when we finally pulled up in a small clearing in front of the little lake. ‘Those roads didn’t clear themselves.’

He shot me a sideways look. ‘I assumed it was your people.’

I shook my head. ‘We’ve been doing a lot to sort out the streets, but no one from my group has been out this way. I’m sure of it.’

‘So you’re saying there are others living out here?’

I nodded. ‘It stands to reason. Whoever they are, they’re certainly keeping themselves to themselves.’ I bit my lip. ‘They’re probably not going to take kindly to Nimue showing up.’

‘We all have our crosses to bear.’ He seemed blithely unconcerned that the nearby inhabitants might have a problem with a ferocious creature who liked turning water into blood and luring unsuspecting males to join her in the depths.

‘We’ll have to find them and warn them.’

Monroe shrugged. ‘If you say so.’ His eyes gleamed. ‘But they might get rather cross at her intrusion.’

I had the distinct impression he was hoping that was exactly what would happen. ‘Are you spoiling for a fight?’ I asked softly, and with genuine concern.

Before he could answer, Nimue leaned forward between our seats, her tail slapping me in the face as she shifted. ‘What are you two muttering about?’

‘Nothing,’ I said. I pointed at the water shimmering ahead. ‘Look,’ I said brightly. ‘Here’s your new home.’

Nimue’s gaze followed my finger. She wasn’t as impressed as I’d thought she would be. ‘I thought you said it was large.’

She was used to the ocean, I thought to stop myself from snapping at her. ‘We’re in a city,’ I said evenly. ‘This is the best we can manage. It’s a step up from the little reservoir.’

Her bottom lip jutted out. ‘Anything would be a step up from that hellhole.’ She frowned. ‘Are there any sharks? Or dolphins? Maybe a porpoise or two?’

Deciding that I couldn’t absolutely deny the possibility of such creatures living in Boggart Hole, I shrugged. ‘I couldn’t say for sure,’ I murmured. I should probably have managed her expectations, but all I really wanted was to get rid of her.

Aware that Monroe was watching me carefully, I slid out from underneath the weight of Nimue’s heavy tail. ‘There are definitely fish.’ I opened the car door and hopped out.

I walked to the edge of the lake. The raft of ducks bobbing on the surface didn’t so much as glance in my direction. They had to be loving this, I thought: peace and quiet to enjoy life and be a duck. No more pollution – unless you counted the magical kind – and no more pesky people to interrupt the tranquillity. I wondered whether they mourned the loss of bready titbits tossed in their direction before remembering that bread was supposed to be bad for ducks. I watched them for a moment, an odd longing for their simple life twisting at my insides. And at least they could fly away if Nimue became too annoying.

Hearing a heavy grunt, I turned round. Monroe was heaving Nimue out of the car, her arms