‘And it was just our bad luck that we got there first,’ I mused. I glanced at him wryly. ‘All this from the man who doesn’t believe in superstitions or fitting evidence to theories.’

Winter shrugged. ‘At the very least we should find out where they all live and pay them a visit.’

I grinned. ‘Now? It’s the middle of the night. And we don’t have any proof of anything apart from a little lie.’

Winter licked his lips. He felt the same glow that I did. We were on the right track; I knew it in my bones. ‘You’re right. But it’s also time we finished this.’

I held up my palm for a high five. Winter stared at it as if it were a strange, alien thing he’d never seen before. I dropped my hand in disgust but I was still grinning. And this time so was Winter.

***

Weathers’ little flat was still and silent and Bethany’s was much the same. Winter’s magic assured us that no one was inside either of them. That just left Rebecca. As we reached her house in a small suburb not too far from the city centre, I felt the adrenaline pumping round my body. The more I thought about it, the more Winter’s theory seemed to be true.

‘They’re all together,’ I breathed. ‘And conspiring against the Order. It’s the only thing that makes sense.’

‘We still don’t have a scrap of evidence, Ivy,’ Winter cautioned.

‘It fits. You know it does.’

He didn’t answer. Instead, we both stared up at the red-brick house. There was a light on inside, just visible at the top of the closed curtains. ‘Three people,’ Winter grunted.

‘See?’ I crowed.

‘Keep it down,’ he whispered. ‘And it’s still not proof. Maybe they’re just relaxing together after a long day at work. It makes sense that they know each other, they’re of similar Levels and ages.’

‘It must be gone two in the morning. That’s not relaxing, Winter.’ There was a sudden loud burst of laughter. ‘That’s a party.’

Winter ran a hand through this hair. For the first time, he looked rather tired. ‘What worked with Price won’t work here. They’ll feed off each other. Unless we separate them, they’ll never confess. And,’ he reminded me harshly, ‘without proof, we need a confession.’

I thought about it. ‘If we can eavesdrop on them, we might get what we need.’

His brow furrowed. ‘The house is warded against spells.’

‘Even though they’re all still First Level?’

‘Bear in mind what we think they’ve done,’ he answered.

True. If our theory was correct, they weren’t the magical weaklings their Level suggested. ‘Then we do this the old-fashioned way. I’ll sneak in. You wait out here until I call you.’

Winter put his hands in his pockets and glared. ‘No, I’ll sneak in. You wait out here.’

I snorted. ‘You just want all the glory for yourself.’

Winter looked astonished. ‘I certainly do not. In fact…’ His voice faltered when he saw that I was grinning. ‘Fine,’ he snapped. ‘We’ll sneak in together. But don’t make a move until I do. We already know how dangerous these three can be.’ He paused. ‘And they might just be having a drink after work. They might be entirely innocent.’