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

‘That’s a shame. I thought you’d enjoy some relaxation time. I thought a couple of days here would give you the space and time you need to get your head together. I’m returning to the north – I’ve got things to sort out there – but I reckoned that some time alone would do you good. The room is for you, Charlotte. Not us.’ He smiled faintly. ‘Unless that offer of screaming orgasms really is on the table.’ He leaned forward. ‘But it wasn’t what I was planning. And I appreciate that you think I have sexy blue eyes.’

My hands dropped to my sides. ‘P–pardon?’

Monroe smiled again, the corners of his eyes crinkling. ‘You need a break,’ he said gently. ‘You know, I know it. Even that green-skinned gatekeeper Alora seemed to know it. Stay here for a couple of days. More if you need it. Read books. Sleep. Chill out.’

I blinked rapidly. ‘I can’t,’ I protested, focusing on logistics rather than my embarrassment at getting Monroe’s intentions so very wrong. ‘There are a hundred and one things I’ve got to do. There are people who need me. Today alone, I’ve got a council meeting to go to as soon as I get home. After that, I promised a family on the road across from me that I’d do something about the giant spider living in their basement. And when I say giant, I mean giant – it’s the size of your damned car. And that’s without the dozens of other complaints and requests and moans that I’ll have to deal with before I can get to bed tonight. I don’t have time for a break.’

‘Yes, you do,’ Monroe said. ‘It’s not a tropical island, and I’m not sure I’d trust any cocktails that the faery would make, but you need this, Charlotte. I’ll tell Lizzy and Anna and the rest that you’re taking a few days out. They’ll manage without you. The world isn’t going to stop turning because you’re having a holiday.’

I opened my mouth to continue arguing but Monroe put his index finger to my lips to hush me. ‘If you kill yourself in the process of sorting out your community, you’ll be doing no one any favours. You need a rest.’ His voice brooked no dissent. ‘I’m ordering you to have a rest.’

‘You can’t order me to do that! You’re not my boss.’

‘In this,’ he said simply, ‘I am.’

Timmons nervously popped his head out of the door. ‘Uh, it appears that we do have a room available.’ He glanced from me to Monroe and back again. ‘If you still want it, that is.’

‘We do,’ Monroe said cheerfully.

Timmons looked at me. ‘Charley?’

A wave of exhaustion overtook me. It seemed too much effort to continue to protest. I answered before I could think about it too much and change my mind. ‘Yes,’ I said, in a near whisper. ‘Yes. I’d like the room, please.’

I didn’t order room service or thumb through the selection of books that Timmons had so thoughtfully provided. I didn’t even really think properly. I stripped off my clothes, collapsed on the bed and slept for sixteen hours. Sixteen blissful hours with no dreams, no interruptions and no craziness. Although I have to admit that I slept so soundly that a herd of mammoth pink elephants could probably have stampeded past my room and I wouldn’t have stirred. In fact, it was only when I woke up that I realised I had melted chocolate smeared across my cheek from the treat that Timmons had thoughtfully left on my pillow and I’d been too tired to notice. I peeled the foil wrapper away from my skin and dropped it onto the nightstand before absently grabbing a tissue and wiping at the chocolate. Then I stretched out starfish fashion and contemplated the ceiling with half-lidded eyes.

It shouldn’t have come to this, I thought, as I mentally traced a fissure of cracks barely concealed by the last coat of paint. I’d all but run myself into the ground. I’d pulled plenty of all-nighters before – it came with the territory of being a professional gambler – but I hadn’t ever had to deal with these levels of stress and anxiety. It felt like I was responsible for several thousand lives. The simple truth was that it wasn’t sustainable. Monroe was right: if I continued down this path, I’d burn out completely and be of no use to anyone.

I hoped everyone else would be able to see that too and would step up to help out more. In recent weeks that had seemed a very forlorn hope but, after the good sleep that I’d had, my effervescent optimism seemed to be reasserting itself. The others would see my plight once I took the time to explain it to them. Right?

I wiggled my fingers and toes with the deep satisfaction of the newly refreshed then rolled out of bed. It was time to go in search of food.

I pulled on my wrinkled clothes, feeling slightly icky at having to put them on again. When I opened the door to my room, however, there was a neat pile of brand-new clothes sitting on the floor. I gazed at it for a moment, a lump in my throat at the unexpected kindness. Five minutes later, my old clothes were on the floor in a pile and yet again I was feeling a million times better.

Given that it was about five o’clock in the morning, the corridors were silent. I wondered how many people were staying here. The hotel had a lived-in and much-loved air about it, despite the lack of people around. Maybe that was because Timmons was a faery, or maybe it was because he was an incredibly good hotel manager. Either way, there was an ease to my steps as I wandered to the stairs, past the long-since out-of-order lift and made my way to the lobby.

Towards the back of the hotel there was a small restaurant cum