“I haven’t seen her since she was four or five. But I know she completes our circle. Three mages, each aligned with one of the shadow gods. Together, our power would be unparalleled. He has a few old scores he’d like to settle, including one against the Brotherhood.”
Rosalind’s knees felt weak. “Three shadow gods.”
“Right. The night god, the forest god, and—”
“The sea god.” Her mouth went dry. She’d felt the sea mage on Thorndike’s campus.
She’d sent the Brotherhood after her own sister.
She stumbled over a tree root, her mind a whirlwind of revulsion and guilt. “Caine. What if I’ve done something terrible?”
“What have you done?”
Her heart pounded in her rib cage. She had to tell him about Miranda, and the temptation to confess about the incubus was overwhelming.
She closed her eyes, an image flashing in her mind of Josiah, handing her the knife. “If you don’t do this, humans will die,” he’d said.
Rosalind’s body shook like a leaf in the wind. “I did terrible things for the Brotherhood. And I think I’m responsible for—”
“Shhh,” he lifted a finger to his lips. “Something’s happening.”
She listened to the wind whispering through the trees. Distant screams floated along the breeze, and her chest tightened.
“We need to go.” Caine broke into a run.
She sprinted with him, snapping through twigs and branches. The screams grew louder as they ran. As orange flames came into view, Rosalind’s heart constricted. Was this their destination—burning?
She pushed on faster, her breath ragged in her throat, until they reached the clearing. A young woman stumbled in front of a blazing gothic mansion. Blood streaked her beautiful face, and a tiara hung limply from wild, blonde tangles. A black cat stood before her, its back arched.
“I fought them,” the woman said, her eyes frantic. “I fought them with magic, but they’ll be back for me. They found me here.”
Caine rushed to her, grabbing her hands. “What happened?”
“It was the mage Hunters. I used a protection spell, but it won’t last. They wanted to burn me. They burned my house.”
“How did they know you were here?” Caine’s voice was urgent.
She wiped a shaking hand across her forehead, smearing the blood. “I never thought they’d come for me. I didn’t have the shields up.”
Caine gently wrapped his fingers around her arms, staring into her face. “Omerelle. Tell me what they said.”
“They didn’t say anything, but I read inside their minds.” Her sorrowful, brown eyes glistened. “The witch-Hunters had been spying on two women—a vampire and a pedestrian. The Brotherhood heard them saying they were coming to Great Misery Island. The girls are friends of yours. The witch-Hunters are accusing me of aiding the fugitives.”
At Omerelle’s words, a crushing panic began to take root. “Do you know what happened to the two women?” Rosalind asked.
Omerelle stared at her, and the woman’s willowy body trembled. “The witch-Hunters had already taken them by the time they got to me. They’re in the Chambers.”
Bile rose in Rosalind’s throat, and she covered her face with her hands. Not only did the Brotherhood have her twin sister, but they had Tammi and Aurora, too.
Anger crackled through her body. She wanted to storm the Chambers and punch a hole through Josiah’s face. As Caine tried to calm Omerelle, Rosalind took a deep, shuddering breath, trying to steady her nerves.
Omerelle picked up her cat. “I’m not staying here. Alu and I are going to hide from them.” She closed her eyes and chanted a spell; her body shimmered away.
Caine’s shot a worried look to Rosalind. “We need to get out of here now. Do you think you can do the teleportation spell again?”
She glanced down at the ring. “I think so. If you stay near—”
A hail of bullets cut through her thought, and pain speared her body. She crumpled to the ground, gripping her ribs. Caine rushed for Rosalind, his eyes black. He touched her chest, chanting the beginnings of a spell. Rosalind could feel the wound start to heal, until a spray of iron dust blasted Caine’s skin, snuffing out his aura. Another hail of bullets blasted Caine onto the ground. She looked up, catching a glimpse of a tall, thin man walking closer. Longshanks.
She gasped for breath.
Before she could sit up, pain exploded through her skull, and her world went dark.
Chapter 26