“I’ve walked into something really weird, haven’t I?” Aurora said. “Please don’t tell me you fed his ego.”
With the dust washed off him, Caine smiled. “Our Hunter has spent a little too much time among the impure, and now she fancies a bit of shadow mage. Her mind must be corrupted like ours. Funny. I wouldn’t have guessed a follower of the True God, not to mention one from lofty Maremount nobility, would be so easily warped. I suppose, in the face of godlike beauty, a little lust is only to be expected even in the purest of creatures. I wonder how far we can take that.”
She shielded her eyes with her hand. What an ass.
She needed to get out of there before she gave in to temptation. The longer she stayed around Caine, the harder it would be to piece her life back together, to resume her life among the Brotherhood.
If such a thing was even possible at this point.
Chapter 12
“Speaking of becoming corrupted,” Rosalind said. “I’m not letting you train me. I want to get this mage’s soul out of me. The Brotherhood can’t blame me for something that was done to me when I was a child. Once I have this thing exorcised, I can get out of your life.”
“Uh-uh,” Aurora said. “Ambrose said Caine’s going to train you. So that’s what’s happening.”
“You can’t force me to learn something,” Rosalind said.
“Actually, he can,” Aurora snapped. “He has mind control abilities.”
“I’m not going to hypnotize her,” Caine said. “She’ll go along with it willingly. What other options does she have?”
“Actually, I’m not going along with it,” Rosalind said.
Caine stared at her. “Don’t be ridiculous. You’re completely irrational.”
“I’m irrational? I just learned that I’m possessed by a lunatic spirit. I think it’s perfectly rational to want it exorcised.”
Aurora’s face was stony. “You think the Brotherhood would take you back, after you spent time with us, using Caine’s magic?”
“I’m still human. Humans have rights.” Maybe the vampire had a point, but Rosalind couldn’t even consider that option. She had no life outside of the Brotherhood—no future. “None of this has been my fault. I was only a kid when this happened. I have to make them see that. I don’t want to be here, and you don’t want me here. If you help me with the possession, we’re done with each other for good.”
As the room darkened, Caine chanted a spell to light the candles in the iron sconces around the room, then folded his hands behind his head. “You must understand that your actual guilt isn’t the point. The Brotherhood convict whoever they want. Sometimes it’s demons and witches, and sometimes not. Look outside the window. You can see where they pressed Giles Corey to death with a load of rocks during the Salem Witch Trials. The old man had never looked at a spell book in his life. Did that stop them? No. They had their sights set on him, so he was dead.”
“He actually deserved it,” added Aurora. “Not for being a mage. He was just an arsehole. Apart from that, Caine has a point.”
“That wasn’t the Brotherhood.” Rosalind wanted to clamp her hands over her ears. It couldn’t be true. The Brotherhood had to be certain of guilt, or it meant they’d been interrogating innocent people—even killing captives, according to Caine. The blood rose to her cheeks. “The Brotherhood know what they’re doing. I’ve committed my life to them. I belong with them.”
Caine arched an eyebrow. “The Brotherhood won’t dig too deeply into extenuating circumstances. Any hint of magic is enough for them to stoke the flames of your funeral pyre.”
“You’re wrong,” Rosalind said. She needed to remember what Josiah said. Mages would do whatever they could to mess with your head.
“They’re barbaric,” Aurora countered.
Rosalind’s temper flared. The demons would love people to think that good and evil were merely subjective concepts with a whole lot of gray area. “We’re barbaric? And what about you? I found a severed hand in your room last night. You drink human blood.”
“So? Hunters drink inhuman blood,” Aurora shot back.
“What are you talking about?” Rosalind asked.
“The ambrosia you drink,” Caine said. “It’s made with the blood of furies, kept as slaves against their will. You do worship a god of blood, you know. Honestly Rosalind. It’s almost like you don’t know anything useful.”
“Why do you think vampires are so keen on Hunter blood?” Aurora asked. “Lucky for you, it fades fast, or I’d be taking a little nip from your wrist.”
“And speaking of barbaric,” Caine said. “Let’s not forget that the Brotherhood have reinstated burning as a punishment for witchcraft.”
No. They’re lying. The Brotherhood didn’t touch humans, and she’d never heard anyone talk about burnings or blood drinking.