‘Whatever you do, leave me out of it,’ Boyce said, shuffling to the tent. ‘I’ve done my part.’ He unzipped the first entrance and ducked inside, no doubt to begin the tiresome process of decontamination, whatever that involved.
I had more important things on my mind.
‘Lucy!’ I called again. ‘Lucy!’ I jogged down the road, glancing from left to right. I had little hope of spotting her small dark body in the shadows but I had to try. With any luck, she’d come to me rather than the other way around. ‘Can you scent her?’ I asked.
Monroe frowned. ‘Nope. Not even a trace.’
I cursed. ‘She could be anywhere.’ I continued down the road, doing my best to pierce the darkness for any signs of movement. ‘Lucy!’
‘I don’t think…’ Monroe began at the same time as an odd scraping sound reached my ears from up ahead.
I clutched his arm. ‘That came from down there.’ I picked up speed. ‘That’s her.’
I ran down towards the source of the sound. I could have sworn it had come from one of the old terraced houses on the right. My footsteps clattered along the road, echoing noisily. Realising that the sound might scare Lucy off, I forced myself to slow down. When I reached the halfway point, with our own settlement barely visible behind us, I came to a stop.
‘I think it came from this house,’ I said to Monroe, whose breath had barely quickened and whose footsteps had been as silent as a cat’s. I pointed. ‘Or maybe this one.’
‘We’ll check both out,’ Monroe said. ‘I’m sure we’ll find her, Charlotte. If not tonight then tomorrow. Assuming she wants us to find her, that is.’
‘She wants us to find her.’ I knew it in my heart. I started forward, heading for the first door. It was in a sorry state, lying ajar and half off its hinges, with the paint peeling off the façade. There was nothing to suggest there was any life inside but if Lucy was in there, frightened, she’d be hiding.
‘Wait,’ Monroe said. ‘Something’s not right.’
I half turned, ready to tell him that he was being a scaredy-wolf and he should toughen up. Before I could, there was another strange sound, a grating crunch like stone falling against stone. Monroe let out a sharp bark of warning. I looked up, just in time to see a dark shape flying down from the roof above as if in slow motion.
I didn’t have time to think – all I could do was react. While Monroe leapt towards me, prepared to use his body to shield mine, I shoved one hand out to him and one hand up to the air. Magic spouted forth and Monroe was flung backwards. The dark shape had gravity working for it, however. All I could manage was to suspend it in mid-air, scant inches from my head.
‘Charlotte!’ Monroe yelled.
I kept my eyes trained on the shape. As far as I could tell it was an entire chimney stack, somehow loosened from its perch. It had to weigh at least half a ton; I might have temporarily stopped its descent but it could still crush me.
Without looking at Monroe, I slowly moved the hand that was pointed at him up to join my other. For the briefest second my control slipped and the massive pile of bricks dropped another inch.
‘Get out of there!’ Monroe shouted.
I gritted my teeth. ‘I’m trying.’
Beads of sweat broke out on my forehead. This was far harder than it looked because every law of nature was working against me. More and more magic was flowing from my fingertips, working to keep the fallen chimney from collapsing on top of me. I edged backwards, trying to get out from underneath it. The bricks dropped another inch. I stopped breathing.
Monroe’s voice was preternaturally calm. ‘Can you push it upwards? Just for a moment? It’ll give me enough time to shove you out of the way.’
A trickle of sweat ran into my eye. I blinked fiercely at the salty sting and tried not to lose concentration. ‘No. I’m already using all my energy to keep it in place.’ And that energy was draining fast. I drew in a shallow gasp of air.
The wind was blowing gently to my right. It wasn’t much more than a breeze but I’d have to take whatever I could. ‘Move back,’ I muttered to Monroe.
‘Charlotte…’
‘Move the fuck back.’
I heard him do as I’d instructed. Focusing on the air, and imagining that it was strong enough to move bricks, I tensed my entire body. I had to wait for the right moment. But my grip was slipping and the right moment might never come.
With a loud grunt, I swung my arms to the right in the direction of the light wind. At the same time, I threw my body to the left. Half a second later, as I fell onto the damp ground, there was a crashing thud as the chimney stack did the same, sending red bricks scattering across the road.
I rolled, getting as far away as I possibly could. I wasn’t sure what I thought would happen – it wasn’t as if inanimate stone usually stood up and tried to attack, even in this city. Then again, stone didn’t usually fall on top of my head.
Monroe grabbed my T-shirt and hauled me upwards, pulling me against him. Panting, I stared at the fallen stack. It was far larger than I’d realised.
Monroe’s grip tightened. ‘Are you alright?’
I nodded. He released me and shifted into his werewolf form in an instant, then he sprang up the wall of the house, using sheer momentum to scramble up to the roof. I backed up, feeling my entire body tremble from the effort and adrenaline. That had been close. Too close.
It didn’t take Monroe long to leap down by my side. ‘Anything?’ I asked.
He
