City of Magic: The Complete Series Helen Harper (fox in socks read aloud TXT) 📖

would have been affected by the magic because they flew across our atmosphere. They were as immersed in Manchester air as you and I are.’

‘Exactly. The birds weren’t wearing hazmat suits. They weren’t protected. In theory, they could have picked up all manner of magical infections and carried them to the outside world. To Fabian Barrett. And if he wasn’t afraid of what they might have picked up, then why is he afraid that he’ll pick something up?’

We exchanged glances. ‘Do you think he’s making too much of the whole magical contamination thing?’ Monroe asked.

‘I don’t know. Something doesn’t feel right.’ I pursed my lips. The more I thought about it, the more uneasy I was. They were only pigeons – but if there was only one thing I trusted more than Monroe, it was my gut.

‘Hold that thought,’ he told me. He came to a stop, lowering his body slightly. I squinted and followed suit, well aware that Monroe’s senses were keener than mine.

He moved his hands, indicating that there was a shadow beast ahead. I stiffened, worried about Lucy and what I might have to do with her. As silently as I could, I lowered myself to the ground, belly to the tarmac, wary of Monroe’s comment the other day that I often sounded like a rhinoceros when I wandered through the streets. He did the same. For several beats, nothing happened. Then the beast appeared.

It was smaller than Lucy’s mother had been but it was still massive, reaching the roofs of the surrounding three-storeyed buildings. It lumbered to the right, moving away from us. At least the wind was on our side and blowing in the opposite direction, so our scent wasn’t carried to the beast.

‘We have to follow it,’ Monroe whispered. ‘This could be our chance to return Lucy to her own kind. We have to see where it goes.’

We didn’t have do that but I couldn’t argue. I picked myself up and, following his lead, tiptoed after the shadow beast as quietly as possible. I had no clue as to where it might be going but it was certainly moving with purpose. Once it had passed the next crossroads, it picked up speed. Monroe and I did the same.

We twisted left, then right, then right again, tailing the shadow beast as it wended its way through the streets. A few times we held back and a few times we sprinted forward. The beast itself didn’t once glance towards us and the uneasy prickling down my spine increased. I tugged at Monroe’s sleeve.

‘It could be leading us into a trap,’ I said quietly. ‘It’s just wandering around aimlessly.’

He shook his head. ‘No. It’s tracking something. I can smell it. There’s some other creature beyond it. I can’t get enough of a scent to tell exactly what it is but there’s definitely something else there.’

I liked the sound of that even less. I craned my neck to check on Lucy. When that failed, I gestured to my backpack. ‘What’s she doing?’ I asked.

He stepped back and looked for me. When he looked at me again, he had a strange expression on his face. ‘What?’ I asked. ‘What’s she doing?’

‘Drooling.’ He pointed down at the ground.

I followed his finger, spotting the little puddle. Eurgh. ‘Why do you think…’

I didn’t finish my sentence. A heartbeat later, Lucy had bounced out of the backpack and was off, dashing after the other shadow beast. I gaped, my stomach dropping. I immediately started to go after her but Monroe hauled me away.

‘No,’ he said. ‘If she’s going to join her kin, we should leave her to it.’

‘But…’

‘Charlotte,’ he said, reaching out to me, ‘you know this is right.’

All of a sudden there was a ground-shaking roar. The shadow beast had stopped and was pawing at the ground, its claws scraping against the cement like fingernails down a blackboard. My hand went to my mouth. It looked cross – and Lucy was still bounding towards it. Fear rippled through me. It was our fault she’d been orphaned and now it was about to be our fault that she was ripped apart. I shook off Monroe’s hand and ran. My fingers prickled with magic as the power built up inside me and pushed at my skin.

Just as Lucy reached the shadow beast, her diminutive size making her look pathetically fragile next to her monstrous cousin, there was another sound. This time it didn’t come from the shadow beast, it came from under the ground. I slowed, breathing hard and trying to bring my magic back under control before it vomited out.

Rats started to appear from the drains surrounding both shadow beasts. Big ones. I hissed and sprang onto a nearby wall. I hated those bastards. They attacked without provocation and in vast numbers. More than once I’d found myself on the receiving end of their vicious disdain. It seemed wherever I went in this damned city, sooner or later I came across scores of the bloody things. The first time I’d inadvertently been in possession of the magical sphere which had kickstarted the apocalypse and, as a result, the rodents had avoided me. That was a long time ago. These days I knew that, given half a chance, they’d rip me to shreds for a quick munch on my oh-so-tasty flesh.

My first instinct was to sprint forward again. I wanted to grab Lucy, scoop her up and keep her well away from those damned rats and their sharp, yellow teeth. I couldn’t say for sure why I hesitated; it certainly wasn’t a well-thought-out or rational decision. It was for the best that I did, however.

The adult shadow beast paid Lucy no attention. What it did do was reach down and grab a rat by its tail, hold it up in the air for a moment and examine it. Then it opened its jaws and dropped the rat in. There was no sign that the beast chewed the rat; it seemed to swallow the rodent