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 exactly 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.
