Lexie sniffed. ‘Integrity is not Sidhe. Not like the rest of them are, anyway. She’s better than that.’

I gave her a grateful look even though we all knew the truth. ‘We need to get a move on,’ I said, changing the subject. ‘We’ve been here far too long as it is.’

Working together, we easily unscrewed the air vent panel opposite. I went first, wriggling my way through, followed by Speck, Lexie and Brochan respectively. It was unfortunate that Brochan was somewhat larger than the others and ended up getting stuck halfway. With considerably hilarity – muted though it was – we managed to pull him through. He landed with a rather painful sounding thump, rubbed the base of his spine and grimaced.

‘You really do need to watch your weight after all,’ I commented, dodging out of the way of his playful swipe. Then I winced melodramatically. ‘Ouch. If looks could kilo…’

‘Watch it,’ he growled back, jabbing his thumb ahead to focus me on our goal.

With only one barrier left, we all took a moment to admire the not-inconsiderable steel door in our path.

‘It must have cost a pretty penny,’ Lexie said, her eyes wide.

‘Hundred and twenty thousand,’ Speck answered. ‘Retail, anyway.’

‘Waste of time when you think about it.’

We shared a grin.

‘Are you sure the drill isn’t going to be too loud?’ Lexie asked, gnawing at her bottom lip.

‘Worry wart. We’ve tested it. No one’s going to hear a thing.’

‘And,’ I added, ‘even if they do, they’ll associate it with the building works next door. They’ll assume some poor sod has been pulled in over the holiday to speed up the construction.’

‘I could still cast a spell,’ Speck began. All of us shook our heads in vigorous denial. Speck pouted. ‘Just because the last one went slightly wrong…’

‘Slightly? I almost lost my eardrums!’

I patted him on the shoulder. ‘Really, Speck, there’s no need. This drill is the business.’ I pulled out several parts from my small backpack while the others did the same. We assembled the heavy-duty piece of machinery in next to no time then I hefted it and gave an experimental tug on the button. It was definitely audible but no louder than our normal speaking voices. I raised it in Speck’s direction. ‘Would you like to do the honours?’

He held up his palms. ‘This is your last gig, Integrity. You should do it.’

I glanced at Lexie and Brochan, both of whom nodded solemnly in agreement. For a brief moment, a hard knot rose up in my throat. Bugger. ‘I’m really going to miss you guys.’

Brochan turned his head away while Lexie blinked rapidly several times. Even Speck grabbed my hand and squeezed it. ‘It won’t be the same without you.’