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

‘He won’t,’ Monroe said to me, wiping the last of the blood from his mouth. ‘He can’t.’

‘You fucking idiot,’ I told him. ‘You absolute piece of shit.’

If Monroe was taken aback by my language, he didn’t show it. ‘What? I won the fight. I won it for you, Charlotte. Isn’t that what you wanted?’

I shook my head in despair. ‘I knew you’d been fighting, I just didn’t think it was like this.’ My voice dropped to a whisper. ‘What are you doing to yourself, Monroe?’

He stepped forward, leaning down until we were virtually nose to nose. ‘This is who I am, Charlotte. I’m a wolf. A predator.’ He bared his teeth. ‘And I’m fucked up. You’d do better to stay away from me.’

I drew myself up and eyeballed him. Monroe was not going to intimidate me; I wasn’t going to let him. ‘You’re the one who keeps coming to me, not the other way around. You need to pull yourself together.’

‘Do I?’ he asked, his tone dangerously silky. ‘Do I really, Charlotte?’

I stared at him. He was still high on adrenaline from the fight. This wasn’t the real Monroe. This wasn’t the guy I knew. Not deep down. I inhaled and pulled away slightly. ‘You’re hurting,’ I said, more gently. ‘But you’re not a bad person, Monroe. You don’t deserve this. You don’t deserve to be hurt.’

His response was flat. ‘I’m an arsehole.’

‘Right now,’ I answered, ‘you’re acting like an arsehole. But you’re not really like that. Arseholes don’t force the people they know to take a holiday before they collapse. Arseholes don’t help vicious mermaids to relocate. You have to stop punishing yourself for things that aren’t your fault and that can’t be changed.’

I’d been expecting Monroe to argue or to storm off. What I didn’t expect was the sudden sheen of tears in his eyes. ‘Charlotte,’ he said, ‘I—’

A hooded figure collided with him, stumbling against him and interrupting whatever he’d been about to say. Monroe snarled and snatched at the figure’s arm. ‘Watch where you’re going!’

There wasn’t any answer. The man – or woman – staggered off, drawing away from Monroe’s grip before spinning round. ‘Vampires,’ Monroe hissed. ‘They shouldn’t be out at this time of day. Not with the sun as high as it is.’

Damn it, I hadn’t got a glimpse of the vamp’s face. Was it one of the nine who’d not returned home this morning? Or was it simply a stray vampire who’d wanted to watch Monroe’s fight and lay a bet or two? I twisted my head, trying to make out its shadowed features.

‘Charlotte?’ Monroe’s voice was different now. ‘What is it?’

I looked at him then I looked at the retreating vampire. I gritted my teeth. ‘Sorry,’ I murmured. ‘This won’t take long.’ I jogged away from Monroe towards the vamp, who saw me coming and picked up the pace.

‘Wait!’ I shouted. ‘I just want to see your face!’

The vampire started to run. I cursed. Feeling my fingers tingle, I used my left hand to send a tiny zigzag of magic towards the ground, making the vampire stumble and trip. I scurried forward and used my right hand to pull back the creature’s hood. She howled in pain, immediately throwing up her hands to protect her face from the sun. Her unblemished, unscratched face. I slammed my palm against the nearby wall, ignoring the pain it gave me, then I reached down and helped the vampire up to her feet.

‘Sorry,’ I muttered. ‘I’m looking for someone else.’

She didn’t answer; all she did was turn and run away from me as fast as her legs would carry her.

Monroe appeared by my side. He tilted his head towards me and raised his eyebrows. ‘I think there’s something you need to tell me,’ he said.

Chapter Nine

For reasons that didn’t entirely make sense, other than ego coupled with the joy of having something else to focus on, Monroe was incredibly pissed off that I’d not come to him first.

‘I could have immediately set up a task force to find this vampire,’ he said.

I tapped my foot. ‘A task force? You’re not the President of the United States.’ At the moment, he wasn’t really even the leader of the north. To all intents and purposes, that appeared to be Julian. ‘Besides, time was of the essence. I needed to move and find him as quickly as possible. I couldn’t worry about finding you at the same time.’

‘Except,’ Monroe pointed out, his earlier pain locked away again where I couldn’t see it, ‘you did find me. And you’ve not yet found the murdering vamp responsible for Valerie’s death.’

I gazed heavenward. Enough already. ‘Not to mention that I’m wasting time having this argument with you.’

He looked at me calmly. ‘Then let’s get a move on. Let me see the list.’

I handed it over, pointing at the nine names. ‘These are the ones who didn’t clock back into the vampire ghetto after last night. That doesn’t necessarily mean they have anything to do with Valerie’s murder but…’

‘But they’re a good place to start.’ He nodded. ‘As a minor point to be aware of, though, we don’t call it a ghetto.’

It was a ghetto as far as I could see. All the same, I just shrugged; semantics weren’t worth arguing over. Not right now.

Monroe jabbed at one of the names. ‘You can rule this one out. You accosted her five minutes ago.’ His finger trailed down the list. ‘These two will be in the Blood and Bones. It’s only round the corner.’

‘Blood and Bones?’

‘One of the pubs.’

‘Charming name.’ I paused. ‘How do you know they’ll be there? And how do you know them in the first place?’

There was a beat before he answered. ‘I might be falling apart with far more drama than you’ve managed, but I still know who lives here and what their proclivities are.’

I blinked. ‘What? Everyone?’ How many residents were there in the north? It had to be several