He stared at her in disbelief. “You’re the one he’s hunting. If he gets anywhere near you, he’ll torture you to death. I need to keep him as far away from you as possible. He’ll forget about you eventually, but right now he wants to impale you. Repeatedly.”

Even though her vision of stabbing Caine had only been a nightmare, guilt still weighed heavily on her, crushing her chest like a load of rocks. On top of that, she was starting to feel strangely protective of the incubus. “I’ll hang in the shadows or in the house, but I’m not leaving you alone. You were too closely matched last time for me to feel good about it. I’ll only step in if I think you’re about to die.”

He inhaled deeply before handing her a knife. “Fine, but you must promise to stay inside. I’m still hoping to fix this with diplomacy.” He eyed her carefully. “What, exactly, do you know about high demons?”

Hardly anything. When encountering a high demon, novices were just supposed to run. “I know they’re immortal. Speaking of which, can I have more blades? I don’t feel like one is enough.”

He pulled two more daggers from his holsters, and a thin stiletto. “There are ways of killing them, but the weapons need to be charmed. To deliver a death blow, you need to be a powerful mage. I fit the criteria, but let’s hope it doesn’t come down to that. If we killed Bileth, we’d have far worse problems than the Brotherhood.”

“You mean we might have eighty legions of demons hunting us.”

“Precisely.” His eyes trailed up her legs again, lingering on her tiny black underwear. “As much as it pains me to say it, you should probably put on some clothes.”

“Oh.” She hurried over to her pile of clothes, slipping into her pants and boots. She slid two of the blades into her boots, and the stiletto into her belt. “Where are Tammi and Aurora going?”

“They’re taking a boat to Great Misery Island. I know a sorceress there who is quite fond of me. She should be able to keep them hidden for now.”

Footsteps pounded up the stairs, and within seconds, Tammi’s flushed face was in the door. “Rosalind. Let’s go. We’re taking a sailboat from the dock.”

She shook her head. “I’m staying here. Caine might need me.”

Tammi’s face blanched. “Are you high? I haven’t heard such a terrible idea come out of your mouth since you decided to dress as a slutty sheep for Halloween.”

Rosalind scowled. “You already know I hunt demons. Why is this surprising?”

Tammi stared, her voice incredulous. “You hunted pixies who screwed up the plumbing.”

“Is that true?” Caine arched an eyebrow. “And the slutty sheep outfit, too?”

Rosalind looked between them, her resolve growing. She projected her voice, imbuing it with as much authority as she could. “I’m not going to argue with you two. I’m staying. I’m the one who caused this situation, and I’m not letting Caine take the fall for it by himself. And then I’m going to help tackle the Brotherhood. Got it?”