I smiled at him. ‘You’d probably have been arrested. You’d have ended up in the clink as the buddy of some hulking Bauchan with wobbly tattoos and a penchant for ginger-haired humans.’

‘There’s not much ginger going on these days. My hair’s almost as white as yours.’

‘Aren’t you the lucky one?’

Bob buzzed over and peered at us. ‘What’s with you two? We’re in a godforsaken layby in a scrap of land. It’s hardly a romantic setting and yet the pair of you are making googly eyes at each other.’ He narrowed his eyes in suspicion. ‘Is there something you’re not telling us? I know there’s a bit of an age difference but did you come here and…’ He made a rude gesture with his fingers.

‘Ewww! Bob, get out of my face!’ I flicked him away. ‘This is where Taylor and I met.’

Bob’s bottom lip jutted out. ‘Here? I will never understand humans. Why would you come here? I mean, I’m an all-knowing supreme being with…’

‘…powers you can only dream of,’ the rest of us chorused for him.

‘Exactly,’ he huffed. ‘But why would you come here?’

I shrugged. ‘Fate?’

‘Luck?’ Taylor suggested.

Bob regarded us both. ‘I met Lady Luck once.’ He lowered his voice. ‘Between you and me, she’s not all there.’ He tapped his temple.

Taylor stared at him. ‘Lady Luck? She’s a real person?’

‘Well, duh.’

‘Is she still around? Because I’ve got to tell you I could really do with—’

‘Bob’s having you on,’ I said, glaring at the genie. ‘And we’ve got more important things to do than shoot the breeze and discuss how you can gamble away more of your life.’ I pointed at a clump of bushes. ‘Come on. The Scrymgeour border is over this way. Single file and stay frosty.’

‘This is just like old times,’ Lexie sighed happily as she fell into place.

My skin prickled in a familiar frisson of anticipation. All I had to do was to focus on the fact that this was a heist of sorts – and forget that I was returning to the place where I’d spent my deeply unhappy formative years – and I’d be fine.

Bob aside, we all knew exactly what we were doing. We were dressed in black from head to toe, camouflaged for the night and against prying eyes. I kept my body low as I wove my way through the foliage, avoiding the thorns and brambles which barred the route. Soon we emerged onto a thin path which snaked upwards. If I squinted, I could just make out the glimmer of lights up ahead. I hoped the Bull hadn’t done any drastic renovations in the years since I’d run away. Despite his wealth, he was a tight-fisted bastard so chances were that everything remained the same and I’d have no trouble finding my way around. I crossed my fingers just in case.

We skirted silently through the woods. It had rained recently, so each of us left distinct tracks in the mud of the path. It didn’t matter; it’s not as if we were actually stealing anything. It was unlikely that anyone would discover our footprints and think that a gang of highly skilled thieves had wandered up this way in the dead of night. All the same, we’d have to take care that we didn’t track mud into the castle. That would be a sure-fire giveaway that something was up.