The words stung, but Sarafine tried to hide it. “I’m not pretending.”
Hunting laughed, baring his canines. “Really? Have you told your Light Caster husband about your secret meetings down here? I wonder how long it would take him to turn on you.”
“That’s none of your business.”
Hunting dropped his cigarette into an empty soda can on the desk. “I’ll take that as a no.”
Sarafine felt her chest tighten, and for a second everything went black.
The desk caught fire just as Hunting pulled his hand away.
There was no warning. One minute she was angry at Hunting; the next, the desk was going up in smoke.
Hunting coughed. “Now, that’s more like it.”
Sarafine scrambled to put out the fire with an old blanket. Predictably, Hunting didn’t help. He disappeared into Abraham’s private study down the hall. Sarafine stared at her hands, covered in black ash. Her face was probably filthy, too. She couldn’t go home to John like this.
She wandered down the hall toward the small bathroom. But as soon as she came within a few feet of Abraham’s door, she heard voices.
“I don’t know why you’re so obsessed with that kid.” Hunting’s voice was bitter. “Who cares if he can go out in the daylight? He’s barely old enough to walk, and Silas will probably kill him before he can be useful.” He was talking about the boy Abraham told her about when they first met. The one who was a little older than Lena.
“Silas will control his temper and do what I tell him,” Abraham snapped. “Have some vision, boy. That child will be the next generation. An Incubus with all of our strengths and none of our weaknesses.”
“How can you be sure?”
“You think I picked his parents by accident?” Abraham didn’t like being questioned. “I knew exactly what I was doing.”
For a moment there was silence. Then Abraham spoke again. “It won’t be long before the Casters are out of the way. I’ll see it in my lifetime. I promise you that.”
Sarafine shivered. A part of her wanted to run for the door and never look back. But she couldn’t. She had to stay for Lena.
She had to stop the voices.
When Sarafine got home, John was in the living room.
“Shh. The baby’s asleep.” He kissed her on the cheek as she sat down next to him on the couch. “Where have you been?”
For a second she considered lying, telling him she was at the library or walking in the park. But Hunting’s words mocked her. “I wonder how long it would take him to turn on you.” He was wrong about John.
“I was in the Tunnels.”
“What?” John sounded as if he thought he had misunderstood her.
“I met one of my relatives, and he told me things about the curse. Things I didn’t know. The second Natural born into the Duchannes family can Claim herself. Lena can choose.” It all came tumbling out, so many things she had longed to share with him.
John was shaking his head. “Wait a minute. What relative?”
There was no stopping now. “Abraham Ravenwood.”
John stood up, towering above her. “Abraham Ravenwood, the Blood Incubus? He’s dead.”
Sarafine jumped up. “No. He’s alive, and he can help us save Lena.”
John was studying her face as if he didn’t recognize it. “Help us? Have you lost your mind? He’s a blood-drinking Demon! How do you even know if anything he told you is true?”
“Why would he lie? He has nothing to gain from telling me that Lena has a choice.”
John grabbed her by the shoulders. “Why would he lie? How about because he’s a Blood Incubus? He’s worse than a Dark Caster.” Sarafine cringed beneath his fingers. It didn’t matter if John called her Izabel; her eyes were still golden yellow, and her skin ice-cold. She was one of them.
“He can help Lena.” He’s helping me, too. That’s what she wished she could tell him.
John was so angry he didn’t notice how her face had crumbled. “You don’t know that. He could be lying. We don’t even know if Lena’s a Natural.”
Sarafine felt something rising inside her, like the crest of a wave. She didn’t recognize it for what it was. Rage. But the voices did. He doesn’t trust you. He thinks you’re one of them.
She tried to push the thoughts away and focus on John. “When she cries, it rains. That isn’t proof enough for you?”
John let go of her shoulders and ran his hands through his hair. “Izabel, this guy is a monster. I don’t know what he wants with you, but he’s playing on your fears. You can’t speak to him again.”
Panic welled up inside her. She knew Abraham was telling the truth about Lena. John hadn’t seen the prophecy. But there was something else. If she couldn’t see Abraham, she couldn’t control the voices.
John was staring at her. “Izabel! Promise me.”
She had to make him understand. “But, John—”
He cut her off. “I don’t know if you are losing your judgment or losing control, but if you go anywhere near Abraham Ravenwood, I’ll leave. And I’ll take Lena with me.”