I paced over to the window and glanced out. The Enchantment set was like a ghost town. Mazza ambled from one side to the other with a sad expression on his face. I couldn’t see another soul, no matter how badly Morris Armstrong might want filming to continue.

‘Keep going,’ I said grimly. I turned back to the Ipsissimus. ‘There’s a reason you’re telling me all this and not Winter, so you might as well let me know what it is.’

For one fleeting breath, I thought he looked guilty. Then he raised his chin and met my gaze head-on. ‘Indeed. Either the necromancer must be killed before he grows too strong, or the magic must be halted before it can overtake him. Maidmont thinks he has found a way to neutralize the power. There is an incantation which, if performed by a highly capable witch, is likely to stop the magic in its tracks. I believe you possess that capacity.’

‘What’s the catch?’ Because there was always a catch. Always.

At least the Ipsissimus didn’t beat around the bush. ‘The side-effects of doing such a thing are catastrophic. As far as we can tell, the witch who performs the incantation will be forced to absorb the necromantic magic themselves. In all likelihood, it will destroy them, body and soul.’

Now we were at the crux of the matter. ‘You want me to do this. You want me to sacrifice myself.’

His answer was simple. ‘Yes.’ He paused. ‘I am sorry. I do like you, Ms Wilde, despite what has gone on in the past. It is a shame that you are not in the Order. I think you could have done great things.’ He met my gaze. ‘Of course, if you can kill this rogue witch in time then the incantation may not be required.’

I swallowed. Killing another human being wasn’t usually in my daily planner. Not that there was ever anything in my daily planner. But if it meant stopping the loss of life on a grand scale, there really wasn’t any choice to make. Unfortunately the same went for the incantation. If it were the choice between destroying myself and destroying half of Scotland, I’d have to step up to the proverbial plate.

I didn’t bother suggesting that Winter should do it. He possessed just as much magic as I did, but he was in the Order and I wasn’t. I was expendable. That might have rankled if it weren’t Winter. I would do this for him. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself otherwise.

‘How will we know?’ I asked quietly. ‘How will we know whether there’s still time to neutralize the magic?’

‘He has already raised two undead creatures. If a third one is brought from its grave then it’s too late. But it takes time to maintain that kind of energy, especially between the first few raisings. There may be a day’s grace.’

Except a day wasn’t very long at all. And the Ipsissimus didn’t sound very convincing. ‘You don’t think it’s likely. You think it’s already too late.’