‘Where else am I going to go?’ He threw me a narrow look and I smiled sunnily. ‘Thank you, Adeptus Exemptus Winter. You’re the best.’

‘Don’t push it,’ he growled.

I smirked. As soon as he turned away, I got to work. I reached back, focusing on the weights. This was a series of runes I’d used on many occasions. I hated lugging customers’ bags in and out of the taxi, especially when they had heavy suitcases. Some people expected it; some demanded it because they enjoyed watching a girl heave their stuff around. There was a simple way around it. By the time Winter returned with a cup of water, I was all set to go.

I took the cup from him, drained it and smacked my lips. ‘Thanks!’

‘You’re welcome,’ he murmured. His eyes were suspicious. I’d have to give an Oscar-worthy performance.

‘Ten reps?’ I asked. ‘You don’t think maybe we should start with less?’

‘Make it twelve.’

‘Hey!’

He shrugged. ‘Every time you complain, I’m going to add more.’

‘Well, that sucks,’ I muttered. At least I’d deflected his attention from the weights.

‘Be careful with your breathing,’ Winter instructed.

‘Mm’kay,’ I heaved, trying to look as if I were really struggling.

‘Those weights aren’t that heavy. You’re not that weak.’

He was right; the weights weren’t heavy at all. ‘Says the man with muscles that Popeye would envy,’ I muttered. I had to be careful not to overdo the straining or he’d get suspicious.

‘Keep up remarks like that,’ Winter told me, ‘and all you’ll get for lunch is boiled spinach. I got these muscles by working for them. You can do the same.’

Yeah, yeah. I glared; I also shut up. With the facial expression of someone in pain, I lifted ten times, clenching my jaw and holding my breath to make sure my cheeks stayed red. It might have looked as if I were giving it everything I’d got but it felt like I was lifting air. Ha! Take that, Mr Smarty Pants.

I couldn’t cheat on every exercise. Some of the strange contortions he made me do were impossible to fake and sometimes he didn’t look away long enough for me to cast a spell. All in all, though, it was a successful venture. Winter wasn’t stupid; if he’d checked closely enough, he’d have worked out what I was up to. His trouble was that it didn’t occur to him that I’d try fake my way through getting fit.

I was lucky our binding would last only three months. I doubted Winter would fall for my tricks for long. But then, for all I knew I couldn’t trust him any more than he could trust me. He may have had something to do with Bell End and his partner breaking into Eve’s flat. They were all in the Order, after all.

Despite managing to fudge my way through most of the exercises, I was still exhausted by the end of them. My whole body was in agony.