‘Amen to that,’ she murmured. ‘Well, good luck to you. Someone will come out soon and tell you when it’s time.’ She smiled slightly. ‘Don’t get hurt.’ With that, she whirled round and took off into the night.

I grinned. That was easier than I thought.

There was a flash of light and Bob appeared, two points of colour high on his cheeks. He was absolutely furious. ‘What on earth do you think you’re doing, Uh Integrity? This is not part of the plan! I thought you were going to hide in the corner and watch him. Do this and you’ll get caught and everything we’ve done up to now will have been a complete waste.’ He threw up his hands. ‘If you want your revenge on Byron so badly then ask for your last wish. I’ll do what I can to minimise the damage. But you can’t throw everything away because you’re feeling hurt that he’s moved on.’

I was touched by his concern. ‘Chill, Bob. I’m not going to get caught. And I’m not looking for revenge.’

‘Then what are you after?’ he demanded.

The truth was that I wasn’t entirely sure. The glimpse I’d caught of him back at the Cruaich had started up a strange, yearning itch, one that I’d never be able to scratch again. Maybe this was my last chance to get my kicks with Byron before all hell broke loose. Maybe I thought I could find out what he and his father were up to. Or maybe I was just a fool. I suspected it was the latter but it didn’t matter now; I was set on my course.

‘Never mind,’ I said dismissively. ‘But if I can use Illusion to pretend to be Aifric and get away with it—’

‘Almost get away with it.’

‘Then,’ I continued, ignoring his interruption, ‘I can use it to pretend to be that woman.’

He stared at me. ‘You’re going to pretend to be a stripper? Do you even know how to strip?’

‘Ha!’ I scoffed. ‘It’s taking your clothes off, Bob. I do that every single day.’

I concentrated, pulling out the magic and telling myself to mimic every part of the stripper, seen and unseen, until I was transformed. It couldn’t just be coincidence that I’d ended up with more Illusion than any other Gift. This was meant to be.

I examined myself. Instead of my usual pale, milk-bottle skin, I had an all-over tan. I whistled. Damn, I looked good. I checked underneath the coat. Hmm. I was also dressed as a policewoman as the stripper had been. Talk about stereotypes. I glanced at the mask she’d given me and, deciding the Illusion was more than good enough, discarded it.

I gave Bob a twirl. He huffed and looked away. ‘Stay out here,’ I told him. ‘It’ll be safer for you that way.’

‘Don’t come crying to me when you end up in a real grave instead of an imaginary one.’

‘Everything will be fine.’