by Helen Harper
The shadow beast lowered its body and moved one massive paw. Lucy wriggled free and leapt towards it, her black body almost disappearing as she landed. The shadow beast blinked at me.
‘I’m sorry that we killed your friend,’ I said. I touched my chest where my heart was. ‘I truly am sorry.’
It blinked again.
‘Pull back,’ I said quietly to Theo and Felicity.
‘I’m not sure that’s…’
‘Pull back.’
I twisted round, glad that Monroe was waiting beneath me as I slid ungracefully down the barricade. Then I shuffled away with him beside me. Fortunately, everyone else followed suit.
‘All it wants is Lucy,’ I murmured.
‘Why now?’ Theo asked. ‘None of them cared about her before.’
‘Can’t you feel it?’ I felt an odd tug of sadness. ‘It’s in the air. It’s all around us. We’re on the cusp of change and even the shadow beasts can sense it. Manchester is evolving once again. The shadow beast doesn’t want to fight any more than we do. Sometimes you have to put aside your fear of what is other.’
‘You’re really weird sometimes.’ Felicity sighed heavily. ‘This has been the strangest fucking day.’
Lucy let out a distant, muffled squeak. The air crackled and, from the large house nearby, there was a sudden glow of light followed by the sound of a familiar voice booming from a television set.
‘My name is Julie Chivers. I have come from Manchester. And I’m here to tell you what’s really going on inside those walls. It’ll blow your socks off, darlings.’
I smiled, acting like I’d been expecting this all along. ‘Boom.’
Epilogue
I’d never seen Jodie look quite so irritated and that was saying something. She marched over, clutching a paper bag, before reaching inside it and pulling out item after item.
‘Have you seen this shit?’ she demanded. ‘A tea towel. A car sticker.’ She reached in again. ‘A bloody action figure.’ She waved it in my face. I had to admit it wasn’t a bad likeness. ‘And all of them have Julie Chivers’ face plastered all over them. For the rest of my life, I’m going to be that person who once knew the saviour of Manchester. No one seems to care that all this was almost her fault in the first place.’ She rolled her eyes. ‘Julie fucking Chivers. I went out in that tunnel, too, you know. I risked everything too.’
‘You did,’ I soothed. ‘You’re as much of a hero as she is. But remember, the apocalypse wasn’t Julie’s fault,’ I said, for about the millionth time. ‘And we can’t even call it the apocalypse. It’s not the end of the world. Far from it.’
Most of the walls around the city had already come down. Instead of shiny steel and barbed wire, what greeted our eyes were the distant green hills, blue skies and rolling countryside dappled with sunshine.
It had taken longer than I’d thought to get to this point. There had been numerous visits made by government officials and military scientists and official dignitaries. Of course, they had to be sure and there would always be doubters and naysayers. There always were. But the research Barrett’s company had already conducted had stood us in good stead and hurried things along.
From the masses of people waiting for final approval, there were more than enough believers who wanted to see this new Manchester for themselves. Most of them were waiting just a hundred yards away. We’d already had a ridiculous number of requests to re-home the hell hounds. The Kennel Club was fast at work designating a brand-new pedigree for them. Whether they’d ever be house trained or not was another matter, but I wisely kept that thought to myself.
Yes, there were other dangerous beasties within the city but, with more food coming in, they seemed content to stick to their own territory. All the riskier areas were marked off and there was a strict curfew in place across several neighbourhoods. The shadow beasts, the canal monster, Cuddles, Nimue – they had as much right to be here as any of us did. As long as they were respected, I reckoned things would turn out alright. Manchester was no longer just for humans, it was for everyone and everything. Magic was wholly inclusive.
Jodie was only vaguely appeased. ‘It’s going to be my lot in life,’ she said mournfully, ‘to be Julie’s sidekick.’
‘Well,’ I said, ‘at least you know you’ll be assured of good-quality gin.’
Lucy, who was by now the size of a small Shetland pony thanks to her shadow-beast family, and who for reasons best known to herself had decided to join us for the day, danced forward to the invisible spot on the road that marked the edge between magical Manchester and the rest of the world. The people on the other side pointed and gaped. Lucy sniffed and pawed delicately at the air. Then she seemed to recoil and back up. I smiled to myself. She didn’t want to leave any more than I did.
From the corner of my eye, I spotted Lizzy leaping up and down in delight. She was waving her hands vigorously at a group of golden-haired people who were standing with visible impatience about fifty metres away. One of them raised a hand in the air. I couldn’t be sure, but it looked like he was holding up a jar of Vegemite. ‘That’s them!’ she shrieked. ‘That’s the other bunyips! Finally I’ll have some of my own kind around. It won’t be all about those bloody wolves.’
Julian hobbled up on crutches. ‘What’s that about bloody wolves?’ he growled.
I grinned at him. ‘The Australians are in town. Soon you’ll be outnumbered.’
‘It’s not just bunyips,’ he muttered. ‘I’ve had letters from Japanese kitsune, Canadian bear walkers, Ethiopian boudahs, Chinese dragons…’
I clapped my hands. I was particularly excited to meet another dragon. It was a long time since Liung the Lawless had flown over my head, almost another life.
‘Yeah, yeah,’ Julian said. A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth as he turned away. He hailed Alora, who was also watching proceedings. She was taking our impending opening with far more grace than I’d expected. I suspected it was as much to do with the other excited bogles being keen for new blood as anything else. Or perhaps she’d realised that isolationism was never a permanent solution to anything. North Korea, take note.
Anna strolled up and thrust a handwritten flyer into my hands. ‘I’ve got hundreds of these. Mike is making me hand them out to everyone who enters the city. I don’t think he’s quite thought this through. There are thousands of people out there. The Travotel only has about a hundred rooms.’
‘It’s the only hotel in town.’
‘Not for long,’ she told me. ‘Thank goodness.’
‘Have you decided what you’re going to do?’ I asked.
‘The Minister for Justice has been in touch. I’m to become Manchester’s special commissioner. I won’t be in charge of the new police force but,’ she smiled, ‘I’ll still be able to tell them what I think they should do.’ She gestured at the people waiting to enter the city. ‘I don’t know if you remember Mulroney, my old partner.’
I followed her gaze, my eyes landing on the nervous face of the older police officer in the crowd of people waiting for the official re-opening of Manchester. ‘I’m sure you’ll have fun telling him what to do,’ I said.
She winked. ‘Who me?’
I grinned back before sobering up. ‘Has anyone told you…’ My voice drifted off.
She nodded. ‘He’s in a special containment cell on the Isle of Wight. It appears that injecting yourself with magic is only a temporary measure. His powers are already fading.’ She dipped her head. ‘He’s been charged with treason, the first person since 1945. He won’t be a problem for any of us ever again.’
I breathed out. ‘Okay.’
Cath, who’d appropriated a white coat and was wearing it full time since her acceptance into medical school, bounded up with Felicity in tow. ‘This is peng!’
I sucked on my bottom lip. ‘I dunno, Cath,’ I said. ‘I mean, it’s been a year now. What if everyone your own age now uses different words? What if peng no longer means anything?’
Sh
e laughed. Then her eyes welled up and she rushed at me, wrapping her arms round me tightly. ‘Everything will be different now,’ she sniffed.
I hugged her back. ‘Change is a good thing.’
‘I know. But…’ she sniffed and wiped her eyes. ‘I want to say thank you. You’ve done more for me than you’ll ever know.’
Felicity snorted. ‘You’ve not done anything for me.’ Then she pressed her lips together tightly, reached in and hugged me too.
When I eventually extricated myself, I had to walk away to give myself some breathing space. This was proving more emotional than I’d expected. I turned my back on the world outside and gazed inwards at Manchester. In the glittering sun, it seemed that the city was holding its breath, waiting for the next chapter in its glorious life. God, I loved this place.
‘How are you doing?’
I slipped my arm into Monroe’s and leaned against him. ‘I’m good.’ I hesitated. ‘I think.’
He smiled at me. ‘I know what you mean. It feels like we’ve been in our little world for so long that the rest of the world doesn’t exist.’ He licked his lips. ‘Then again, when I’m with you the rest of the world doesn’t exist anyway. You’re all that matters. Manchester is home but it’s only home because you’re here too.’
‘Are you about to break into song?’ I asked suspiciously. It was out of character but I was prepared for just about anything.
He laughed. ‘Tell me, enchantress,’ he said, ‘what are the odds that we’ll still be together in twenty years’ time?’
I met his eyes. ‘That’s not a bet I’m going to take,’ I told him. ‘It’s already a sure thing.’
His head dipped, his lips brushing mine. That wasn’t good enough. I hooked one arm round his neck and drew him in closer. That was more like it. Honestly, everyone deserved their own monster. They weren’t getting this one, though; this one was mine.
There was a shout from behind. ‘They’re unveiling the sign!’
Whatever. I was happy enough where I was. Besides I already knew what the sign said.
Welcome to Manchester, the City of Magic.
About the Author
After teaching English literature in the UK, Japan and Malaysia, Helen Harper left behind the world of education following the worldwide success of her Blood Destiny series of books. She is a professional member of the Alliance of Independent Authors and writes full time, thanking her lucky stars every day that's she lucky enough to do so!
Helen has always been a book lover, devouring science fiction and fantasy tales when she was a child growing up in Scotland.
She currently lives in Devon in the UK with far too many cats – not to mention the dragons, fairies, demons, wizards and vampires that seem to keep appearing from nowhere.
Also by HELEN HARPER
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