Cath sniffed; if I didn’t know better, I’d have said she was about to cry. I’d never seen that before. ‘I’m sorry, Charley. He was so…’
‘Persuasive?’ I asked. ‘Manipulative?’
Jodie bit her lip. ‘I should have known better,’ she muttered.
‘Are you very angry?’ Cath asked in a small voice.
‘No.’ I was telling the truth. ‘I feel relieved actually. Vindicated. I knew deep down that I couldn’t trust him. There have been a few things that have given me pause but no first-hand evidence that he’s up to no good. I couldn’t be sure, but now I am. He’s playing the long game. He’s been building himself up until everyone is convinced he’s amazing. Now he’s concentrating on bringing down those who might stop his plans.’
I thought of my brush with death. There was not a shred of proof that he’d been responsible for that but suddenly I was sure that he was. And how could he have found out about Joshua? Only a handful of people knew about my little brother’s death. Had Fab investigated me before he entered Manchester? Why would he do such a thing? He couldn’t have known who I was until he got here.
My dread deepened. ‘There’s something we’ve not thought of.’
Jodie looked pale. ‘What?’
‘I’m not the most powerful person,’ I said. ‘I mean, maybe I am magically but in terms of strength, Monroe is the most powerful. And in terms of the actual enclave, I’d say that Julian has the most power. If Fab Barrett has been trying to bring me down, he’ll try to bring them down too.’
‘But why?’ Felicity asked, still brimming with fury. ‘If he’s playing the long game, what’s he actually trying to win? What does he want from all of this?’
‘He wants Manchester,’ Jodie said. ‘He wants to control our city.’
‘Or,’ Cath suggested, ‘he wants the magic.’
‘But he’s terrified of the magic,’ Felicity said.
My mouth tightened. Was that truly the case? I ran my hands through my hair and straightened my back. ‘We have to get home and speak to the others.’ I paused and glanced at my friends. ‘Thank you,’ I said quietly.
‘Are you being sarcastic now?’ Jodie asked.
I shook my head. ‘You stopped to think. You could have let yourself be wholly persuaded by Fab Barrett’s slick words and smooth tone. I was certainly persuaded for a while. But instead you stopped to think. We stopped to think.’
‘Not quickly enough.’ Felicity tossed her head. She was still angry at herself and I suspected she would be for some time.
‘Wait until I tell you how he spoke to Julie when he met her a couple of years ago,’ I said.
Jodie pulled back her shoulders and glared. ‘He was nasty to Julie? To our vampire? I’ll fucking kill him when he comes back. I don’t care what supplies he’s bringing with him. No-one messes with Julie.’ At my look, she shrugged. ‘What? She’s virtually family. I can argue with her.’ Her eyes darkened. ‘But woe betide anyone from outside who crosses her.’
I smiled. ‘Amen to that. We’re all family. Let’s get back to everyone else.’
Another voice rang out. ‘Before you do that, there’s something I think you should see.’
I turned. Alora was standing in the middle of the road. In her right hand she was loosely holding a sharp-looking sword - and the expression on her face was terrifying.
Uh oh.
Alora led us to a tall, grey building. It was the sort of place which, in pre-apocalypse times, would have struck dread into the hearts of anyone who was forced to enter it. You know the sort – somewhere you are forced to go in order to fill out forms in triplicate, which are then lost by some bureaucrat who insists you didn’t fill them in properly so all your worldly possessions are confiscated, you’re cuffed in irons and your family are left destitute. I’m exaggerating but not by much.
Monroe was waiting by the door, a grim expression on his face. ‘Barrett’s gone?’
I nodded. ‘For now.’ I gestured at Felicity, Cath and Jodie. ‘He’s been a busy little billionaire as well, whispering oily lies in all sorts of ears.’
Monroe’s face darkened even further. ‘Both Theo and Carter came to visit me this morning when I was out checking on the perimeter. Barrett has been suggesting to them that, as a werewolf, I will never have their best interests at heart and neither will Julian. That we will collude to blame the vampires for all sorts of terrible things.’
My jaw tightened. ‘You know,’ I said softly, ‘if we hadn’t already been down that road before and sorted out all those issues, his lies could have become a real problem.’
‘I know.’ His eyes were a stormy blue. ‘We’ve all put too much into this community for one man to come along and destroy it.’
I aimed for an easy smile. I needed Monroe to keep his cool. ‘He’s been gone five minutes and we’ve already uncovered a wad of untruths. He’s not as smart as he thinks he is.’
Alora looked at us both. ‘But why has he gone?’ she asked.
I frowned. ‘What do you mean?’
‘He told you he was leaving to get the supplies you need to survive. Why didn’t he bring them in with him? He’s supposed to be intelligent. He couldn’t have seriously imagined that we were all dead. Anyone with any sense would have brought in as much food, water and medicine as they could carry. It’s been almost a year and the government, the press and whoever else is out there are aware that thousands of people chose to stay in Manchester. Plus the extras who arrived when it became obvious what was happening.’ She spoke with a keen intelligence. ‘Barrett would have gained your trust far quicker if he’d arrived with the
