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

coiled round his neck. I rolled my eyes. ‘You walked before. It’s not far from the car to the lake. I’m sure you can manage it.’

She held the back of her hand up to her forehead in an almost perfect facsimile of a fainting nineteenth-century woman. ‘I’m weak from having been out of the water for so long. I just need a little help.’

Didn’t we all? I gave her an irritated, dismissive wave and ignored the glare emanating from Monroe. If he’d agreed to carry her, that was his look out. You shouldn’t volunteer unless you are prepared to see your actions through.

Clearly Nimue was heavier than she looked. Monroe staggered over with a pained expression and eventually dropped her beside the lapping water. The mermaid flopped down on her belly, dropped her head and her face disappeared beneath the surface. She stayed like that for some time until I ambled round to her tail, hefted it up and used it as leverage to shove her into the water.

I wiped my hands on my jeans. Yuck. It would be a long time before I could eat fish for dinner again.

Nimue’s head broke the surface. The water had to be shallow, but she was doing a good job of keeping most of her body submerged. Guilt traced through me; maybe she really had been suffering from being in the car for so long.

‘How is it?’ I asked.

Various expressions crossed her face and I waited for another snide remark. Instead, she settled for grudging acceptance. ‘It’s alright.’

Surprised, I smiled. Nimue smiled back. One of the brown female ducks separated from the rest and came to investigate the lake’s new arrival. Nimue raised a dripping hand and stroked its head. It quacked softly in response and my smile widened. Then Nimue opened her jaws wide and her head snapped down. The duck didn’t even have time to flinch.

Sickened, I looked away. ‘Was that necessary?’

There was the sound of crunching bones – and possibly beak – as she munched. ‘Sorry,’ she mumbled through a mouthful. ‘But I really am hungry. It’s been a few weeks since I’ve eaten anything substantial. Are you vegetarian?’

No. I ate meat and I knew where it came from. I also understood that, as far as Mother Nature was concerned, there was a food chain. But that didn’t mean I enjoyed that little display of death. I briefly acknowledged the hypocrite within me and changed the subject. ‘Don’t turn this water into blood. We won’t come here to help you a second time. There’s food here,’ I said, avoiding looking at the rest of the ducks. ‘There’s no need to alter the entire ecosystem.’

Nimue looked at Monroe. ‘Your girlfriend is very annoying.’

He didn’t bother to correct her. ‘Charlotte is right. We’ve helped you this time despite your attempts to push us to the contrary. You don’t want to cross us a second time.’

Nimue tsked. ‘Fine. I’ll be good.’ She pouted before throwing him a kiss.

I sighed. ‘Let’s get out of here.’

Monroe nodded and took my arm.

‘Wait!’ A high-pitched note entered Nimue’s voice. We paused and looked at her. ‘You’re leaving already? You’re not going to wait around to see if I behave?’

I tilted my head and looked at her. ‘Whether you behave or not is your choice. If you don’t, we’ll come up with an alternative plan to deal with you. But in the meantime, it’s up to you.’

‘You’ll have to come back and check up on me to know what I’m up to!’ she yelled, a whine colouring every word.

Suddenly I understood. I grimaced, as much to myself as anyone else. ‘Sure,’ I said. ‘We’ll come back.’

‘Every day.’

Too much. ‘Every month.’

‘Every week,’ she countered.

I sighed. I supposed I could manage that much. ‘Okay,’ I conceded. ‘We’ll come every week.’

Nimue grinned, a fleeting expression that transformed her face. ‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘For everything.’ Her tail flicked out and her head vanished beneath the lake’s surface.

I breathed out. ‘I think she actually meant that,’ I whispered.

Monroe gazed at me unblinkingly then he gently pulled me back towards the car.

‘My little brother, Joshua, liked mermaids,’ I murmured. ‘He’d have been terribly disappointed to find out they’re so nasty.’

Monroe’s hand gave mine a tight squeeze. ‘But lonely, too,’ he added.

Yeah. I sighed and pulled away from him. We all had our problems.

I climbed into the car and huffed at the lingering fishy reek before clipping on my seatbelt. Monroe gripped the steering wheel but didn’t turn on the engine.

I waved at him. ‘Monroe? Hello?’

He dropped his hands and turned towards me. ‘When the vampire came to see me about you, I thought it was part of some stupid plan to get me to pull myself together. But now I see you are struggling too.’

I stared at him. Heat rose through my skin, flushing its way from my neck to my cheeks. ‘I’m not sure where to start with that,’ I said faintly. ‘I thought you came to the reservoir because you wanted to see me.’

‘I didn’t lie,’ he said. ‘I did want to see you.’

‘But Julie went to you and told you to come.’ My voice was flat.

Monroe gave a humourless chuckle. ‘I think you know my opinion of her well enough to realise that she couldn’t make me do a single thing I didn’t want to.’

All the same, I’d wring her bloody neck when I saw her next. She had no right to go to Monroe behind my back. ‘What do you mean I’m struggling?’ I demanded. ‘I’m perfectly fine. Beyond feeling slightly sick at watching a mermaid decapitate a damned duck, that is.’

‘You’ve lost your usual sheen of optimism,’ he said mildly.

‘I’d have thought that would make you happy,’ I sniped. ‘And, whether you recognise it or not, I’m still very optimistic, thank you very much.’

‘You found Nimue irritating.’

‘She’s an irritating being,’ I shot back.

‘You’re short-tempered.’

‘I fucking am not.’ I clenched my fists together. Then I realised what I was doing and slowly released them. ‘Okay,’ I conceded. ‘Perhaps I