by Helen Harper
I flinched. I’d not done much. And I really was very tired of being the boss.
The door opened and a white-coated figure appeared, framed in the moonlight. ‘Ah, Cath. You’re still here. I was hoping to catch you before you left.’
‘Hey, doc!’ Cath waved. ‘This is Charley. She’s the enchantress,’ she added proudly.
The doctor strode forward and reached out to shake my hand. ‘It’s a pleasure to meet you finally,’ she said. ‘Catherine here has been singing your praises.’
I coughed. ‘Uh, it’s nice to meet you too.’ I wondered if it would be bad form to ask the good doctor to abandon her work here and join us in the south. It couldn’t hurt to ask, right?
Before I could say anything, the doctor jumped in. ‘I’m glad you popped in,’ she said. ‘I wanted to speak to you about Catherine. She has quite a talent and a great deal of enthusiasm. We could do with someone of her calibre to help out here. Our group does tend to get into quite a lot of scrapes. We can teach her more about the rudimentals of medicine. The more medically trained people we have, the better.’
I couldn’t have agreed more. The trouble was that I wanted the medically trained people with me in the south, not on the other side of the city where I couldn’t reach them in a hurry. But Cath looked so eager that I was reluctant to say no. Besides, if I prevented her from coming here to learn that made me as bad as Monroe and all the others. I sighed. I was too tired for all of this right now.
‘In theory that sounds good,’ I said carefully. ‘Maybe we can discuss it later? Cath and I are leaving now.’
The doctor glanced me up and down, registering my dishevelled appearance and – no doubt – exhausted eyes. ‘Absolutely. You’re welcome here any time.’
After my blow-up, I wasn’t convinced that was still the case. Regardless, I smiled at her and propelled Cath past her. ‘Nice to meet you,’ I said firmly. I could still manage some manners, if nothing else. ‘Come on, Cath. Time to go.’
We trotted out, weaving through the streets until we reached the main barricade leading out from the northern community. Felicity, the werewolf I’d met earlier in the day, was waiting there. I was prepared to scoot past her with nothing more than a raised hand but she stopped us, her expression serious. ‘I have a message for you,’ she said.
Here we go. I took a deep breath. ‘Go on.’
‘Monroe said that he’ll leave you in peace if that’s what you want, and that he knows you can look after yourself.’ She pointed to a car beyond the barrier. ‘He wants you to take that and drive home. He was most insistent about it.’
As much as the stubborn side of me wanted to throw the gift in Monroe’s face and storm off into the night to prove a point, I knew I had to take it. For one thing, I had Cath’s welfare to look after. Besides, we’d get home far quicker with the vehicle than if we were cycling or on foot.
‘Tell him thank you,’ I said, with more grace than I’d thought I’d be able to muster.
‘Can I drive?’ Cath asked eagerly.
‘No.’
‘But…’
‘Get into the car, Cath.’
She jutted out her bottom lip but did as I’d instructed. I joined her, remembering everything I’d learnt from my visit here. ‘You’ve done well,’ I said quietly. ‘That doctor was obviously really impressed with you, and the fingernail you found is invaluable. Well done.’ My hands gripped the steering wheel. ‘It might be a good thing if you come here again and stay to learn more.’ It pained me to say it; I didn’t want to lose her, and not just because of her value as a potential doctor. I’d really grown to like her and I enjoyed her company. Cath had free will like the rest of us, though, and she deserved her right to exercise it without other obligations and responsibilities holding her back.
For a long moment, she didn’t speak then she turned to me. ‘Are you trying to get rid of me?’ she asked in a small voice, with more vulnerability than I’d ever seen from her even in the dark days immediately after she’d escaped from Max.
‘Never,’ I said. ‘I’d prefer it if you didn’t go. But that’s for selfish reasons. You should do whatever your heart is telling you to.’
She blinked at me. ‘What does your heart tell you?’
That it was tired and sore and that a certain blue-eyed werewolf with complex issues of grief and masculinity was the only person who would ever make it sing. ‘That we should get home and get some rest,’ I said.
I started the car engine. I reminded myself to be thankful that I wouldn’t have to worry about getting caught in a traffic jam and put the car into gear. Adios, muchachos.
Most of the journey was uneventful. As mine was the only vehicle on the bumpy, potholed roads, I could flick the headlamps on full beam and accelerate as much as I dared. The main route between the north and the south was fairly clear of trees and dangers. In the absence of a working radio, Cath hummed and sang. She wasn’t the most accomplished singer I’d ever heard but her voice lifted my spirits. Before long, I’d pushed my worries away and was bobbing along in time to her beats.
I’d over-reacted earlier, especially with Monroe who I knew was trying hard to soften his approach to survival – and our future together. A few hours apart would do us good. I’d swallow my pride and return to apologise tomorrow. It was the only thing I could do.
Cath was just reaching a crashing crescendo when a shadow flitted across the road in front of us. I hit the brakes, more out of instinct than logic, bringing the car to a juddering halt and stalling the engine. Cath and I were jerked forward.
‘Sorry,’ I said. ‘Old habits die hard.’ These days it was far better to keep moving, especially at night, rather than stop and encourage the beasties to start swarming. I was more than confident of my skills at beating them back, but that didn’t mean it was sensible to invite trouble.
Cath was untroubled. ‘I told you I should drive,’ she said.
‘Yeah, yeah.’ I smiled. ‘You can drive next time.’
‘Promise?’
I’d long since learned not to make promises I couldn’t keep, so I just winked at her and switched on the engine again. When I tried to accelerate, however, the wheels spun uselessly. The car shook; what it didn’t do was move.
I cursed. We must have got caught in a pothole or something. Maybe it was a patch of slimy mud from the increased erosion caused by all manner of magical happenings. I sighed and unclipped my seatbelt. ‘Stay here,’ I said. ‘I’ll sort this out.’
I opened the car door and waited a beat to see if this was some sort of trap. I couldn’t sense anything waiting in the darkness, and the shadow that had made me slam on the brakes had bounded off into the night. I walked round to the back of the car. The back wheels had snagged in a narrow sinkhole which plummeted down into dark depths that I didn’t want to think about.
‘Piece of cake,’ I muttered. Everything was easy when you had magic. I raised my hands. I’d send out one quick boost to push the wheels forward over the hole and we’d be on our way. Honestly, if all the problems in my life were this straightforward I wouldn’t have a single to worry about.
My magic blossomed forth, hitting the tail of the car and lifting it up just enough to do what I needed. It juddered forward and I started to smile in satisfaction. Then something flew out of the darkness and smacked me onto the cold ground.
I gasped, as much from shock as anything else. More magic burst out of me and the thing, whatever it was, squealed. I heard claws skitter away and I breathed out, pushing myself up onto my elbows. The coast was clear. Unfortunately, my attacker had buddies. I’d barely made it into a sitting position when, out of the gloom ahead, dozens of them appeared and leapt towards me.
It was my turn to squeak – actually, it was more of a screech. I covered my head with hands and doubled over to protect myself. I appeared to have come across another colony of whatever those giant rat things were that Maggie had been talking about. They were the size of cats and smelled like a sewer. Appa
rently they were also incredibly angry. Rats had been my first experience of the apocalypse, way back before I’d understood what was going on. These creatures were akin to those first ones in fur only; these were larger, scarier and considerably more dangerous.
They swarmed over me, claws scrabbling to get into my skin. At least two of them were tugging at my trousers. More were nibbling at my back and I felt a pair of sharp teeth bite into my hands. I concentrated and tried to send out more magic to throw them off. Blast them, Charley, I whispered to myself.
Magic exploded from me. The rats flew off, some tumbling before running off, others shaking themselves then and preparing to attack again. Creepy little shits. I prayed that they weren’t carrying any diseases and took advantage of the brief hiatus to scramble to my feet. One more shot of magic should be enough for me to escape to the relative safety of the car. Screw the rats.
My skin tingled. No more Miss Nice Enchantress. I lifted my hands a final time. I’d have managed it as well, if it weren’t for the cunning little bastard that leapt onto my back. Its jaws opened and it bit into my neck without a moment’s hesitation, as if sensing my human vulnerabilities.
The pain was excruciating and all coherent thought fled. My arms flailed and my magic was all but forgotten in my desperation to get the creature off me. I felt warm blood trickling down my neck but it barely registered. My fingers clutched at matted fur, and tears squeezed out of my eyes.
Suddenly there was a flash of strange purple light. The rat tumbled and landed on its back, its eyes wide and staring. Cath was standing beside the car, gazing at her hands in astonishment.
I heard more skittering to my left. My blood froze and, without any more thought, I barrelled for the open car door and flung myself inside. Cath jumped in the other side and we slammed the doors shut. I revved the engine and we accelerated away. I caught sight of several rats chasing after us in the rear-view mirror before we turned the corner and escaped.
‘Bloody hell,’ I screeched. ‘Those things were massive!’
Cath shuddered. ‘Tell me about it. Did you see their eyes?’
I looked at her. ‘What I saw was purple. Purple magic.’
She bit her lip.
‘That was you, wasn’t it?’ I asked.
She nodded. ‘I think so. I don’t know. It’s never happened before. I just knew I had to do something and … I don’t know. It’s like something inside me came bursting through.’
‘You’ve got magic,’ I said slowly. ‘Just like me.’ I squinted at her. Now I looked at her and concentrated, she did indeed have her own blue aura. It was lighter than the shade I’d seen on vampires and werewolves, but it was definitely there.
Her eyes widened. ‘No, I haven’t.’
‘Yes, you have.’ I absorbed the news for a moment. The ramifications of this could be life changing. ‘Keep it to yourself,’ I said suddenly. ‘For now.’
Cath looked far more terrified than she had been when she was confronted by a swarm of giant rats. ‘Okay.’
I reached across and patted her arm. ‘You’ll be fine.’
‘Okay.’ She stared at me. ‘You’re bleeding.’
I grinned at her. ‘I’ll be fine too.’ Delight expanded deep in my chest. Now that I thought about it some more, this had actually been an incredibly successful day.
Chapter Nineteen
‘I’ve identified two out of the three men from Valerie’s diary,’ Anna told me the next morning. ‘Both young guys. Or at least a great deal younger than she was. They were both shocked about her death but neither was … devastated by the news. The first one is one of ours. He lives a few streets away but still within our barricades. He met Valerie at the casino. She told him she could teach him magic spells. It didn’t take him long to realise she was lying and that she had ulterior motives.’
‘Sex?’ I guessed.
Anna pursed her lips. ‘That, but also companionship. He told me they didn’t have much in common but she’d enjoyed playing the role of the experienced older woman with a lot to teach.’
‘A veritable Mrs Robinson.’
‘Indeed.’ She sniffed. ‘The other one said he felt a bit sorry for her. He’s one of the hotel residents, so he already knew that she’d been murdered. He didn’t initially volunteer his, uh, involvement with her when we questioned all the guests but I suspect he was embarrassed. I could be wrong, but I don’t think either of them had anything to do with Valerie’s death. Maybe it was simply a thirsty vampire who drank too much.’
‘Who, by coincidence, was then killed by a werewolf who was seemingly attacked herself and now has memory loss.’
Anna shrugged. ‘Occam’s Razor.’
Sometimes the most obvious theory is the one that’s true – but I wasn’t convinced and, from Anna’s expression, neither was she. ‘You’ve had no luck with lover number three?’ I asked.
‘Not so far.’ She consulted her notes. ‘From what her diary says, she met him at the hotel but he wasn’t one of the usual residents. She was also … disparaging about him. Here,’ she tapped the notepad. ‘Jiggly skin. Bad teeth. She also wrote “know-it-all” and added a little doodle of a knife wrapped in barbed wire. Whether that’s relevant or not is anyone’s guess.’
‘Either way,’ I said, ‘this third man was not her usual innocent ingénue.’
‘No.’ She grimaced. ‘There’s not much to go on to locate him. Lots of people pass through the Travotel. Some, like you, go there for a break for a couple of days and some are just curious about Timmons the faery. Some use it as a meeting place and for socialising. It’s safer than venturing somewhere else in the city but more interesting than remaining out here 24/7.’
I pondered over this. ‘Neither us nor Monroe’s lot keep track of who comes in and out on a daily basis.’
‘The barricades are there to keep beasties out,’ Anna pointed out, ‘not to keep people in. And there are always the loners who don’t live in either community. Our missing man could be anybody. And he might not have anything to do with what happened. I’ll keep on it for another day or two. There are some punters who frequented the casino with Valerie who might have some useful information to impart. But at this stage it’s more about tying up loose ends than coming up with answers.’ She looked at me. ‘This is often how things go. Even when you find your man, there aren’t always reasons. There’s not always a motive.’ Her expression hardened. ‘Sometimes people are just shit.’
‘Theo, the vampire I spoke to, was convinced that Philip wouldn’t have killed Valerie. That he was too nice and kind and gentle to do such a thing, even if it were possible.’
‘If there’s one thing I’ve learnt over the years as a police officer,’ Anna said, ‘it’s that anyone is capable of anything. And we are talking about vampires here. Look at Julie. Most of the time, she’s perfectly lovely but she also almost caused the end of the world.’
‘She fucked up once. Disastrously so. But I don’t think she’d kill anyone.’
‘Anyone,’ Anna repeated, ‘is capable of anything. Julie wanted to be more powerful and the magic gave her everything she desired. Murder is about power, Charley. And so is magic.’
I had to grudgingly agree. It wasn’t only Julie: the vampires and werewolves were all stronger because of the magic in the atmosphere. Possibly that magic was affecting their baser instincts too, and encouraging mild-mannered vampires like Philip to take human life and werewolves like Maggie to take a vampire’s life. The trouble with that scenario was that it boded very badly for the future. If the magic could make anyone do anything, maybe we were all doomed. I shivered.
Anna pushed back her chair and got to her feet just as there was a sharp knock on the door. No one ever knocked. I knew instantly who it was. I wasn’t sure whether to be glad that Monroe had come to me first or dismayed that I’d not had the chance to approach him.
I gave Anna a meaningful look and walked to the door and opened it. Monroe was leaning lazily against the door frame. I
didn’t miss the flash of relief in his eyes when he saw me. ‘Charlotte,’ he drawled. ‘May I come in?’
I motioned him inside. ‘Of course.’
‘I was just leaving,’ Anna said hastily. ‘Good to see you, Monroe.’ She gave him an awkward wave and bustled out.
Monroe waited until she had gone and glanced at me. ‘She has a crush on me.’
I shook my head. ‘No, she doesn’t. She was startled by your good looks when she first met you, but she got over that when she got to know you.’ I grinned and winked. ‘She was in a hurry to escape because I told her what happened between us yesterday. She feels awkward about the situation.’
His eyebrows shot up. ‘You told her about us?’
‘She’s my friend,’ I said simply. ‘I needed to offload.’ Then, more gently, ‘You might want to try it some time.’
Monroe smiled faintly. ‘I’m not sure Anna wants to hear about my problems.’
I tsked. ‘I meant with your friends.’
‘I don’t have any friends.’
I watched him patiently. ‘I’m sure you do. In fact I know you do. I’m your friend.’
‘My friend?’ he asked softly.
I didn’t blink. ‘Yes.’
His eyes grew more intense, to the point where it was difficult to look away. ‘Even after our … argument yesterday?’
‘It wasn’t much of an argument,’ I said. ‘It was mostly me yelling and you listening.’
‘Because you were right,’ he murmured. ‘I am beginning to re-think my policy of isolationism.’
I’d already suspected as much but it was good to hear him say it. A thrill of delight ran through me. Maybe our future was brighter than I’d thought.
‘The reason being,’ he continued, ‘that if everyone is together in the same place, it’ll be easier to keep an eye on them all. It’ll improve all our safety and ensure all our survival.’
My happiness dissipated slightly. He was still fixated on the idea of survival at all costs. What about the quality of that survival? I told myself that I should be happy that he was concerned about everyone’s future. I’d had visions of Monroe’s community as a series of separate enclaves, with each race protecting itself from the others.