She jogged over, her shiny ponytail swinging, and beamed at me revealing perfect white teeth. ‘I clocked off at six so I took advantage of the early finish to go for a run.’

I looked her Lycra-clad body up and down. ‘Good for you,’ I murmured. Not that I thought six at night was an early finish, given that she was up and out the door by five thirty most mornings. The reason I knew that was because last month I’d binge-watched several episodes of Enchantment and only crawled to my pillow when the sun was rising and she was leaving for work.

‘You should come with me some time. It’s a really invigorating way to end the day.’

I resisted the urge to point out that she is tall, fit and lithe whilst I tend more to short and plump, with breasts that have the potential to take out one of my eyes, even when I’m wearing the most advanced sports bra on the market. I like Eve, but she isn’t the kind of person who takes ‘hell no’ as an answer. It was far safer not to give any response and hope that she’d quickly move on to another topic.

‘How is work these days?’ I asked.

Fortunately, my mention of her favourite subject made her eyes brighten and all thoughts of forcing me to join her fitness regime fled. ‘It’s good. Really good. I’ve got all the basic runes down pat and I’m pretty confident with Myomancy. My supervisor reckons I’ll be ready to take the Second Order exams next month. There’s even a chance that I’ll be moved to Arcane Branch.’

I watched as she bounced from toe to toe at the thought. Eve lived, breathed and probably dreamed the Order. Or rather The Hallowed Order of Magical Enlightenment to give it its official title. Most people don’t bother to use its full title, probably because it sounds less like the all-encompassing, all-powerful magical organisation for almost every witch in the United Kingdom and more like a happy clappy hippy enclave.

‘Are you sure you’ll like Arcane Branch?’ I asked. ‘Aren’t those guys a bit too much strait-laced geeks and sombre Simons?’

‘Ivy!’ She punched my arm playfully but with such unintended force that I flinched. ‘Arcane Branch is where it’s at! Of course, they’re serious – their job is the most important in the country. Without them, there’d be chaos on the streets.’ She raised her eyebrows in admonishment. ‘They deserve our utmost respect.’

Yeah, yeah. I didn’t want to rain on Eve’s parade. ‘You’re right,’ I lied. ‘They’re wonderful.’

She nodded with the fervent zeal of a true believer. ‘I hope I’m good enough to meet their criteria and join them.’

I shook my head. ‘Are you kidding? If they don’t want you, it’s because they’re worried that you’ll show them all up.’ I wasn’t lying; Eve might be a little too enthusiastic about the Order for my liking but I couldn’t deny her dedication or her ability. ‘They’d be lucky to have you.’