That wasn’t very reassuring. If you’d asked me three days ago, I’d have said it was impossible that dragons and werewolves and faeries existed. I supposed that until it was proven otherwise, I’d have to hope that zombies were not one of the new denizens of the mostly empty city of Manchester.
‘Let’s hope you’re right.’ I glanced over towards the trees. ‘You can come with us too,’ I called to Julie.
Jodie hissed slightly, while Julie was so surprised that she apparently forgot it was daylight and poked her head out from behind a tree to look at me. ‘Perhaps something got lost in translation,’ she said. ‘I’m a vampire. I’m responsible for the near destruction of the entire world.’ She sniffed. ‘I want to drink your blood. All of it. In one long gulp.’
Well, I figured, at least she was honest. ‘Are you going to drink my blood?’
‘No, darling. Not if you have gin to hand.’
‘Are you going to drink anyone else’s blood?’
This time there was slightly more hesitation. ‘No,’ she said slowly. She pursed her lips. ‘Not if they don’t want me to.’
Jodie folded her arms. ‘She can’t be trusted.’
She was probably right. Who would trust a vampire? Especially a vampire with excellent acting skills? But I was certain that it was better to have Julie Chivers, with her fangs extraordinaire, under my nose where I could see her than have her roaming around the city and preying on the vulnerable people who were left behind. And we all fucked up from time to time, maybe not on such an epic scale as almost causing the apocalypse, but still— The woman deserved a second chance. I’d killed my little brother and people forgave me. Well, some of them did. Giving Julie a safe berth, even temporarily, could be good thing. It was a calculated risk, my favourite kind.
‘If she wants to come with us,’ I said firmly, ‘she can.’ I wagged my finger at Julie. ‘But the first time you try to bite anyone I’ll do my enchantress voodoo shit and I won’t hold back.’
‘What exactly are you capable of, darling?’ Julie enquired, all smiles now that I’d made her my new BFF.
How the hell did I know? Then I reminded myself that it wouldn’t do much good to look baffled or incompetent in front of an actual vampire. I pasted on my best poker expression and waved my hand airily at the devastation in front of us. ‘Believe me, darling,’ I drawled, matching her luvvie tone with my own. ‘You ain’t seen nothing yet.’
It took far longer than I’d anticipated to get back to my warm, familiar house. Jodie and Julie bickered the entire way and Julie spent more time than we could afford darting in and out of shadows to avoid any sunny sections of the streets. I marched ahead, my arms swinging as I tried to maintain a brisk pace. It didn’t do much good.
I tried to remind myself that my two strays had been in a battle for the survival of the world; maybe I should cut them some slack. It was about the only thing that stopped me from knocking their heads together when they continued to argue and snipe.
If I’d thought I could relax once I was under the relative safety of my own roof, I was sadly mistaken. The sour stench of desperation was palpable when I pushed open the front door.
I checked the downstairs rooms; they were all empty. Directing Jodie and Julie to the kitchen, and hoping they wouldn’t destroy too much of my paltry crockery collection by flinging it at each other, I headed upstairs. Cath and Lizzy were outside one of the bedrooms, their ears pressed against the closed door. They hadn’t even heard me come in.
I cleared my throat, making them both jump. Lizzy threw herself at me, wrapping her arms round me in a tight hug. ‘You’re back!’ she exclaimed. ‘And you’re safe!’
I hugged her back and smiled over her shoulder at Cath, who grinned shyly. ‘I am back. I have some answers. I also have a long to-do list for us and a very short space of time for us to complete it in.’ I quickly outlined what I’d learned and what was happening to the city in the next few hours. ‘So,’ I finished, ‘if you want to change your minds and leave, you need to go quickly.’
Lizzy raised her shoulders. ‘If things were different, I’d be running for the hills. But somehow I think this is the place for a monster like me.’
‘I’m staying too,’ Cath said in a quiet, yet very insistent, voice.
‘So don’t ask us again. We’re all masters of our own fate, Charley. It’s up to us what we do.’
I gave them a nod. ‘Fair enough. I wanted to be absolutely sure.’ I pointed at the still-closed door. ‘What’s going on here?’
Lizzy grimaced. ‘Listen for yourself.’
Unsure what I was about to hear, I tiptoed over and pressed my ear against the wood. From deep within the room came a soft moan. No, it wasn’t a moan; it was more of a whine.
‘Monroe.’
It wasn’t meant to be a question but Lizzy nodded anyway. ‘He didn’t move for the first hour after you left. Then, when he began to wake up, he almost bit Cath’s head off before turning hairy and running up here.’ She scratched her head. ‘About the only thing more terrifying than transforming into a furry monster is watching someone else turn into a furry monster. Especially when that someone else is half dead and grieving.’ She sighed. ‘I don’t know what to do. When either of us tries to open the door or talk to him, he snarls and goes nuts.’
Neither of them appeared to be hurt and, given what I’d already seen of Monroe’s power and strength when he was in wolf form, that
