by Helen Harper
Something gleamed in his blue eyes. He wanted to burst in with a show of strength and prove to the world that no one was a match for his might. I fully understood the sentiment but both of us knew better. ‘Fine,’ he said. He angled his head upwards and sighed. ‘I suppose you want us to enter from the roof.’
I grinned. ‘Well, there is a conveniently gaping hole across half of it. It’s not like it’s that high up.’
‘I’m not afraid of heights,’ he growled.
I patted his cheek again. ‘Of course you’re not. The big bad wolf would never be scared of something like that.’
He curled his arm round my waist and pulled me in tight. ‘Watch it.’
I lifted myself up on my tiptoes and gave him a quick kiss. ‘Whatever you say.’
He tutted. He did, however, follow me to the wall of the building. Atta boy.
Using the same trick as before, I flicked up the magic I needed, coiling it round the guttering and grabbing hold of Monroe. He put his arms round me then we were off, zipping upwards through the night air. This time I avoided going near the windows; there was no point in flirting with danger unnecessarily and announcing our arrival. Instead, we reached the edge of the roof and placed our toes on the few undamaged tiles at the bottom of it before I released the magic.
Monroe didn’t stop holding me, though. He kept a tight grip as we shimmied up to the gaping hole in the uppermost part of the roof. The edges were charred and brittle so I stepped carefully. Only when I was sure I had a decent enough foothold did I lean over and peer inside.
As expected, most of the floor below was badly damaged. Evidence of the fire was everywhere, from the ragged, blackened wallpaper to the twisted metal of old office furniture. I wondered whether Barrett had deliberately selected this place as an ambush because he thought that the scene of a fire might gnaw at my guilt and throw me off my game. I wasn’t quite so sensitive.
I glanced at Monroe. His eyes were focused and his body was unnaturally still. I waited a beat and then spoke. ‘Anything?’
He shook his head and released his hold on me. ‘Not on this level. I can hear something from further down but this floor is clear.’
I didn’t waste any further time. Holding my breath, I crouched and started to lower myself carefully inside. The floorboards would no doubt be unsafe, not to mention creaky, so it was imperative that I was both careful and quiet. I only dropped down when I was sure of my landing spot; even so, a cloud of black dust rose up as soon as my feet touched the floor. I clamped one hand over my mouth to avoid coughing and motioned to Monroe to wait until I’d worked out a path. I was considerably lighter than him; I’d have a better shot at this than he would.
Shifting my weight, I found the joists and shuffled, leaving a trail in the soot behind me. I grew more confident and picked up speed until, in no time at all, I’d reached the other side of the room. Beyond was a short corridor and a drop into what had to be a stairwell. Bingo. I caught my breath then nodded at Monroe who followed in my footsteps. When he reached me, I raised an eyebrow. ‘Who’s a marauding rhino now?’ I whispered.
Monroe smiled grimly. I was turning, ready to advance upon the staircase, when he grabbed my hand and squeezed it in warning. I froze as voices drifted up from below.
‘How will they find this place?’
‘The ginger fucker is a werewolf. He’ll be able to scent his furry friend.’
‘Are you sure about that?’
There wasn’t a pause. ‘Positive.’
‘I’m not sure that this is a good idea. Do you—?’
The response was explosive. ‘Shut the fuck up. You don’t want the boss to hear you saying that. You know what happened when Boyce spoke up.’
There was a brief lull in the conversation.
‘Where’s the boss now?’
I heard the thudding of steps followed by the sound of Fabian Barrett’s voice. It chilled me to my very bones. ‘I’m here.’
I exchanged a tense glance with Monroe. How on earth had that bastard got here? There was no way he could have passed Nero and the others so quickly, either with or without a fight. My fear trebled. He was beating us at every turn. Still.
‘Are we all clear on what’s to happen here?’ Barrett continued.
There were murmurs of agreement. ‘None of them are to leave alive,’ someone said.
Monroe hissed through his teeth.
‘Exactly.’ It was Barrett again. ‘All three of them are held in high regard. Once they’ve gone, the others will be easier to control. If anyone else in the enclave puts up a fight, we can put a bullet in them and be done with it. There are several I’ve got my eye on, but let’s see how they react once their esteemed leaders have abandoned them.’ There was a ripple of amusement in his words that made me nauseous. ‘We need the community here to generate more magic into the air. Once we have our own people in place with their own skills, we can sort out the others for good. We don’t need more blood on our hands than is absolutely necessary. Not yet, anyway.’
I clenched my fists. I’d suspected Barrett of many things over the past few days but hearing him speak so coldly about murder was beyond the pale. To my side, Monroe’s skin was breaking out in patches of dark red fur. I could feel his body trembling with rage.
‘They should be here any second now,’ Barrett said. ‘Kill the other one.’
There was a muffled grunt. Somehow I knew it belonged to Julian. ‘You might have managed to get me out here with your promises of peaceful negotiation,’ he said in a strained voice, ‘but you won’t do the same to Charley or Monroe. They’re smarter than you think.’
‘What did I say?’ Barrett said calmly. ‘Kill him already.’
Monroe threw himself forward. I had just enough time to raise my hands and send a blast of magic towards the already weakened floor before he crashed through it, shifting in mid-air before falling onto the floor below.
Soot and dust and debris blotting out everything. I couldn’t see a fucking thing so I did the only thing I could: I jumped down through the hole after him.
As soon as I landed I lashed out with magic. I heard someone yelp in pain, followed by a thud as they fell to the ground. I spun round and did the same in the opposite direction. I wasn’t aiming to kill but if any of those bastards did die, I certainly wouldn’t be weeping.
Then a shot was fired and I froze. Where had that come from? I whirled round, trying desperately to search for the familiar shape of Monroe’s wolf. Something heavy and painful struck me in the chest and I staggered backwards. I blinked rapidly, in time to see a figure walk towards me.
‘Charley,’ Barrett tutted. ‘I appreciate the effort but you will never beat me. You might have survived last time but you won’t this time. I’m not going to rely on simply dropping half a building on your head.’
I stared at him, my mouth dry. It took me a moment to realise what was different: he wasn’t wearing the hazmat suit. He did have on full body armour, however. That wouldn’t help him against my magic.
I raised my hands but before I could do anything he thrust out his palm. A purple jet burst forth and hit me in the head, knocking me sideways.
Barrett crouched down and gave me a brilliant grin. ‘Now who’s the real enchanter around here?’ He jerked his head backwards. ‘Bring him over.’
From the group of half a dozen square-jawed, blank-faced bastards, two men strode forward. I recognised them as Barrett’s guards but neither of them were wearing hazmat suits. Between them they dragged Monroe’s limp body, his naked skin streaked with blood. He was back in human form, a fact that didn’t initially make any sense.
Barrett laughed at my expression. ‘Didn’t you ever stop to think why I was taking DNA samples? It didn’t take much, you know, to work out the key to controlling the beast within. You didn’t really think it would take me two days to sort out some food supplies, did you? I had far more important things to do. Less than twenty-four hours in my lab and my scientists knew exa
ctly what it would take to beat the animal out of the man.’ He flexed his fingers. ‘As you see, I’ve been practising. With Julian’s body to work on, we’ll now be able to discover even more.’
My eyes travelled beyond him. Julian was lying in a heap on the floor in a pool of blood. His chest was moving – but only barely. From the way he was holding himself, he’d been shot in the stomach. Without medical attention, he would soon be dead.
I let out a howl of rage and thrust forward again. This time, Barrett didn’t attack me; instead, he turned and sent another spurt of magic towards Monroe’s helpless frame. Monroe did his best not to cry out but his body convulsed with pain. I jerked back. I could risk getting hurt but Monroe looked to be in a bad way.
‘This,’ Barrett said, ‘is why you have failed. You knew this was a trap but you still couldn’t stop yourselves from rushing towards it as soon as you knew that your buddy was going to get hurt. You need to stop trying to save others and start saving yourself.’ He sighed. ‘That’s a lesson I thought you’d have learned already, Charley. You only survived that fire when you were a child because you didn’t rush into the flames to save your little brother. If you and your boyfriend here hadn’t tried to save Julian, you might have succeeded against me. Instead,’ he said, ‘you’ll both die.’
He tilted his head. ‘I can make Monroe’s death particularly painful, you know. It’s entirely dependent on you and how you act. Play nice, and all this will be over quickly. Put up a fight and you will regret it.’ He looked almost sorrowful.
I had to keep him talking. The more I could delay matters, the more there was a chance that I’d figure a way out. Fabian Barrett hadn’t won yet, not while I was still breathing. ‘How do you have so much magic?’ I croaked. ‘Have you been living here in Manchester all this time?’
‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ he dismissed. He rolled up his right sleeve and pointed to various marks on his arm. ‘I’ve been fast-tracking myself.’
I stared. ‘You’ve been injecting yourself with magic?’ No wonder his aura had been so different. So … unnatural.
‘Directly into my bloodstream.’ He bared his teeth in a nasty grin and winked. ‘It turns out it’s not the Plague – not unless the Plague is something to be desired above all things. And with you gone, I’ll be the most powerful magic user in the world. They’ll be flocking to my door.’
‘Is that what this is about?’ I croaked disbelievingly. ‘You want to be number one?’
‘Is that so very wrong? You know, you really have made life difficult for yourself. If you hadn’t sought to disrupt my plans and question me at every turn, we wouldn’t be in this pickle now. I’m here to help your community. I always have been.’ His expression contorted further. ‘You should have been more grateful. As it is, my only option is to get rid of you. And your boyfriend.’
Not if I had anything to say about it. But Monroe was no longer in any fit state to fight and I was facing six muscular bastards. It was a good job that I always liked to bet on the underdog. And even if Barrett did have more power than me, I’d been doing this for longer.
Monroe wheezed and raised his head. ‘Kill me,’ he whispered. ‘But let Charley go. I’m already done for.’
I gazed at him. Bloody idiot. How could he be done for? Just how powerful was Barrett that he could take out my beautiful monster in a mere moment? Then I saw Monroe’s left nostril flare. I dropped my head to disguise my expression.
‘Actually,’ Barrett said, ‘I think I’ll shoot your precious Charlotte first. You can watch the life leak out of her. Then I’ll end you.’
He raised his hand, palm upwards, and one of his goons stepped forward and placed a gun in it. ‘Would you like a bullet, Charley?’ he enquired. His eyes gleamed. ‘Or shall I use magic? Perhaps that would be more appropriate. I do like a bit of poetic justice.’
I thrust out both hands in the direction of Monroe’s two captors. My magic smacked into the centre of their chests and they were thrown backwards, hitting the wall with a thump. Barrett snarled and he squeezed the trigger on the gun. Before the bullet could be loosed, however, Monroe crashed into him. Both men tumbled to the ground.
Unable to do anything to help their employer for fear of inadvertently hurting him, the other three rushed at me. I rolled away but one caught my ankles and yanked me towards him. I snapped magic out in his direction, catching him smack-bang on the chin. He screamed and collapsed.
The other two were far cannier. They lunged for my arms, taking one each and pinning me down. Magic trickled out of my fingertips again and I felt their hold on me tightening as they both exhaled with sudden pain. But they weren’t letting go and the angle they were holding me at made it nigh-on impossible for me to do much else.
Plumes of purple magic were billowing out of Barrett. Each time one hit Monroe’s naked body, he grimaced with pain but he wasn’t giving up. The intense concentration on his face meant he would fight to the very end. We both would.
To succeed in a game of cards you usually have to work in small increments. Raise the bet bit by bit. Don’t play your best hand all at once but lure your opponent in. To throw everything onto the table would be metaphorical suicide. Sometimes, however, when you’re desperate that’s what it takes.
As Monroe gasped in pain yet again and swung more weakly for Barrett, I knew what I had to do. And I knew that Monroe would approve. This wasn’t only about me and him; it wasn’t about Julian or whether he was still alive or not. This wasn’t even about the enclave. It was about the entire world. If someone like Barrett took control of the magic, what ensued would be terrible for everyone, not just those of us in Manchester. Barrett was already giddy with the power and his delusions of grandeur were close to becoming a reality.
The two bastards holding me down might have pinned me so that I could do them little damage but attacking them wasn’t my only hand. I thought of Barrett’s admission that he’d been responsible for my near miss with the chimney stack. Unluckily for him, I was capable of learning from both the best and the worst.
I twisted my wrists so I could angle my fingertips upwards enough for my plan to work. Then I tilted my head back and looked up at the splintered hole in the floor above and the glimmer of stars in the night sky. I twisted my neck towards the rest of the building, which was hanging together by little more than a structural thread.
‘I’m sorry, Monroe,’ I said. ‘I love you.’ I didn’t check to see whether he heard me or not. I simply took a deep breath and then I blasted out enough magic to bring the whole thing crashing down on our heads.
Chapter Twenty-Six
If it wasn’t for the agonising pain throbbing through my entire body, attacking my limbs and my spine and my head – even my big toe, goddammit – I’d have believed I was dead. Everything hurt so much that I almost wished I were.
‘You’re lucky that we got here so quickly and pulled you out,’ Alora said, her voice drifting over to me from the left.
I coughed and wheezed. It seemed as if half of the damned building was in my lungs. ‘Mon…’ I tried. I couldn’t get the word out. ‘Mon…’
‘Hush.’ She knelt down and placed a cooling hand on my brow. ‘He’s out too. He’s okay. Everyone’s out, in fact. We’re trying to patch up the other wolf. I’m not sure yet if he’ll make it, but he’s fighting.’
Her words filtered slowly through my brain. I tried to make sense of them. Something soft and warm flung itself at me and I cried out in pain. Lucy squeaked in alarm and started to nuzzle at my chest.
‘You should thank her,’ Alora told me. ‘Your little shadow beast is the one who came and got us. She saved your lives.’
With excruciating lack of speed, I turned my head and stared at the pile of rubble. There was little remaining of the building we’d just been in. I supposed we’d been fortunate that we were near the top when it had collapsed.
I groaned as another series of shooting pains screeched through me. Perhaps bringing the building down ha
dn’t been my best idea.
‘Help me up,’ I whispered.
‘I don’t think…’
I set my jaw. ‘Help me up.’
Hands reached for me and gently pulled me to my feet. I held Lucy in the crook of one arm and leaned against the sturdier of the two bogles while I looked round. People were everywhere – and not just bogles. I spotted several prone bodies, their identikit dark clothes marking them out as Barrett’s men. Then I saw Barrett himself, a ring of wolves round him all with expressions that suggested if he so much as twitched they’d rip him to pieces.
Cath, along with both doctors from the enclave, was kneeling by what looked like Julian. There were clusters of others all over the place. Where the fuck was Monroe? Until I saw him with my own eyes, I wouldn’t believe he was alright.
‘I’m here, sunshine.’
I whipped round, moving far too quickly for my poor damaged body to cope with. The ensuing dizziness and renewed surge of pain made my knees buckle. Monroe, draped in a threadbare blanket, jumped towards me to help the bogles hold me up. His own ravaged body wasn’t up to the task and he stumbled against us, almost sending us all flying back down to the ground.
Alora tsked. ‘Honestly.’
I found my footing and raised my eyes to meet Monroe’s. He was pale and bleeding but he was alright. We were both alright. I fell into him, ignoring Lucy’s muffled squeak of surprise as she was momentarily squashed between us.
‘I’m sorry,’ I gasped. ‘It was a stupid move. I didn’t know what else to do. It was a huge gamble and…’
Monroe’s lips grazed my forehead. ‘And it paid off,’ he said. ‘I don’t know how else we would have got out of there.’
‘Julian…’
‘He’s tougher than you think.’ He sighed. ‘He will pull through.’ Monroe moved back and looked at me. ‘Even if he doesn’t make it, he wouldn’t have wanted this any other way. You did what had to be done.’
