‘Hey Iqbal,’ I said, once he answered.

‘Ivy, baby! How’s it hanging?’

‘Not too bad. How’s that thesis?’

He sounded smug. ‘I’ve managed to get an extension. I told my supervisor that my grandmother had died.’

‘Didn’t she pass away a few years ago?’

‘You’re thinking of the time I skipped lectures for a fortnight and told everyone she’d been attacked by a shark while surfing in Australia. She’s still very much alive. More’s the pity. She keeps trying to throw girls my way. She can’t wait for me to settle down and have a gazillion kids. And she makes me wear these horrid knitted jumpers all year round. I swear she must think I’m ten-stone heavier than I am. They’re always massive. And I reckon she makes a special effort to buy wool that is specially itchy.’

‘How terrible for you.’

‘I know, right?’ I could almost hear him grinning. ‘Anyway, I’m going to assume because of the late hour that this is not a social call. You want my help again, right?’

‘I do. Not for myself this time, though, so no karaoke requests.’

‘But the last one went so well! If it hadn’t been for that night, you and sexy Raphael Winter would never have got it together. How is he doing? Have you set a date yet?’

I snorted. ‘Hardly. Listen, do you still have the number for that counsellor woman?’

‘Julia? The pneumatic kisser?’

‘That’s the one.’ Iqbal might have found her a bit overly energetic but she was damned good at her job. And I was sure I’d heard she had moved up to Scotland. ‘I could do with getting in touch with her.’

Iqbal dropped all his joking. ‘Why? Is everything alright?’

‘Like I said, it’s not for me.’

‘Hang on a minute.’ I waited a few beats before he came back on the line and reeled off a phone number.

‘Thanks.’

‘No problemo. Are you sure you’re okay?’

‘Yeah, yeah. Although…’ I paused. I’d trust Iqbal with my life but what I was about to say made me feel like an idiot.

‘What?’

‘Well, I’m with Winter on a job. Things are pretty awkward between us. I think he likes me and I know I like him. But how do I broach the subject without scaring him off? I’m not with the Order and I’m not technically his partner any more, so there’s no real reason why we can’t be together. You’re a guy. Should I wait for him to make a move? What if he doesn’t?’

‘Ivy?’

‘Yes?’

‘This is Ivy, right? Ivy Wilde? The woman who does whatever she wants when she wants?’

‘Uh…’

‘You really do like him.’ Iqbal’s voice was full of wonder. ‘When have you bothered this much about a guy before?’

I coughed. Raphael Winter had sneaked into my head and, with his typical tenacity, he wasn’t letting go. ‘Never mind.’

‘Ivy Wilde, are you in love?’

‘Let’s talk about something else.’

‘Is there anything else?’