Her mind was racing now. The mage had already muddled her thoughts, trying to lure her to the dark side.
She had to remember the pictures Josiah had showed her, the ravaged and burned bodies of the mages’ victims. “Forget about the blood. Your people—vampires, mages, demons—they slaughter humans like prey, just for sport. You both know it. Look at what happened in Boston. Mages rampaged through a high school. They shot students with arrows. Burned them to death. For what?”
Caine nodded. “There are some sadistic mages out there. I won’t deny that.”
Somehow, this admission felt like a victory to Rosalind.
“Too bad the Brotherhood never manages to actually catch them,” he added, “since they’re always too busy murdering doddery old widows.”
Rosalind had to stop herself from throwing the canister of dust at his head. Of course he was just screwing with her mind, but everything he said seemed to strike a chord. It was getting harder to believe the Brotherhood only went after the bad guys, when they were so busy chasing her down.
It was as though her whole future as a Guardian had just gone up in flames, even if she knew Josiah was looking out for her. “Whether or not the Brotherhood will take me back, I can’t live with this mage inside my head. It’s like having an invader in my own body.”
“Some people would be thrilled to have that power, you know,” Aurora said.
Rosalind didn’t even want to think about the crushing, raging agony that had pierced her mind when Ambrose ripped off the ring. “What if the ring doesn’t stay on me forever? What if someone pulls it off again, like Ambrose did? I was in hell.” She shot a glance at Caine. “You understand, right?”
“Oh, I understand.” He traced his finger over his lower lip. “But you need to get over it.”
Arrogant prick. “And what exactly happened to you? What went so terribly wrong that my parents cast you off into the streets? You obviously lost your mind. Did you kill someone?”
Caine’s body went still, and his eyes darkened to deep, black pools, as deep and vast as the cosmos. Shadows swirled around him.
At the sight of his pitch-black eyes, panic hit her like a fist. Caine wasn’t just a mage. He was a demon, and she’d just pushed him into attack mode. Dread clenched her heart, and for a moment, she thought she saw the ghost of dark wings unfolding behind him. His predatory, midnight glare whispered into the darkest parts of her mind, run.
A moment later, his eyes cleared, and he rolled his neck.
She clasped her hands together to hide the shaking. She couldn’t let him see her fear, even if she’d just come within whispering distance of death.
“I can’t take any more of this,” Caine said. “If I have to listen to her talk every night, I’d just as soon face the wrath of Ambrose. I want her out of here. Now.”
Rosalind clenched her trembling fingers. Maybe she’d gone too far.
Aurora’s eyes bulged. “You can’t be serious. You’re going to defy Ambrose?”
Caine’s eyes flashed like storm clouds. “If I have to listen to her carrying on every night and asking me stupid questions, I’m going to murder her myself.”
“So you’re handing her over to the Brotherhood?” Aurora asked.
Caine shot Rosalind a cold look. “I will get you the information you need for your exorcism, and then you need to leave. I don’t want to see your face again. Do we have a deal?”
Still rattled, she lowered her voice to steady it. “I swear on my honor as Hunter.”
Aurora snorted. “Hunter honor. That’s obviously bollocks.”
“I’ll take what I can get,” Caine said. “And then we’ll send her back to the people who want to kill her if that’s what she really wants.”
“You’re acting crazy,” Aurora said. “What if she tells the Brotherhood all about us?”
He stared out the window at the cemetery. “I’ll erase us from her memory.”
Rosalind didn’t like the sound of a supernatural lobotomy. “I don’t want you to erase my brain.”
He leveled his icy gaze on her. “That’s the deal. If you want the exorcism, take it or leave it. I can’t risk you running back to the Brotherhood to tell them where we are. Even you must be able to understand that.”
He had a point. “Fine.” She didn’t trust him, and didn’t know what he might find in there. Maybe she could slip away just after the exorcism.
“You’re both insane,” Aurora said. “I’m going to make sure Ambrose understands this was done against my advisement.”
Rosalind let out a long breath, still trying to hide the raw fear she’d felt at the sight of Caine’s black eyes. “Is there some spell you need to find, to get this mage out of me?”
“This is beyond even me,” Caine said. “We’ll need to find the sybil.”
Rosalind stood. “Great. Where do we find this sybil?”
“I don’t know,” Caine said. “But Jorge will. He’s a vampire who runs Salem’s blood bar.”