“Are we in the vampire realm?” she asked.

“Lilinor. I suppose you cleverly deduced that by the presence of all the vampires,” he said, his voice glacial. “How did you find me?”

The vampire’s mythical realm wasn’t so mythical, apparently. “I followed your magic.”

“How?” he demanded.

“It smells like rainstorms, and it leaves behind a silvery shimmer.”

He slid a disbelieving gaze at her. “You can see magic?”

“Yes. It’s what makes me a good Hunter.” She might have been overdoing the bragging, but something about his cocky attitude really irked her, and she wanted him to know she had her own talents.

“You didn’t look skilled when I first met you.”

Jerk. “My skills are not the problem. I just felt bad for the redcap for a fraction of a second. It’s called empathy. Something that most people have, unless magic has sapped your humanity.”

“That hesitation suggests a certain lack of skill. A lack of mastery over your own emotions.”

Awesome. So even in the demon realm, I’m getting lectured. “Do we have to have this conversation?”

“You’re the one who came after me for answers,” he said.

“I want answers about why the Brotherhood think I’m a mage, not your analysis of my lack of skill.” She shivered, rubbing her arms. Even if his arrogance grated, she should probably be a little nicer to Caine—she was completely dependent on him for her survival right now, and had to keep him happy. “Thank you for helping me.”

Only the bird responded, with a puff of feathers.

“How do I leave Lilinor?” Rosalind asked. “What happens when someone gets to the boundaries?”

“Do you always chatter like this?”

She hugged herself, trying to stay warm in her waterlogged clothes. “I’m just curious. This is the first time I’ve visited an alternate universe. I never knew they were real before.”

He cut her a sharp look. “There are no edges. When you get to the boundaries, you end up in another part of Lilinor. Only magic will get you from one world to another. That’s why you need me.”

She’d always wondered how the alternate universes worked, and the raw fascination almost suppressed her fear. This sort information was gold to the Brotherhood—another bit of ammunition if she wanted to redeem herself. “Do you think space-time is warped at the boundaries by an intensely dense magical aura? Maybe shadow magic and light magic are magnetically attracted at a universe’s edges. The aura is staggeringly dense there. That might explain why I felt so sick when I came through.”

“Gods below. Are you still talking?” His bird twitched her wings and flew off. “You’ve even managed to bore Lilu.”

Rosalind narrowed her eyes. “I had to fight a flock of vampires to get this far, and I endured a neck-licking from Horace. I realize it was immensely stupid of me to come, but can I at least get an answer or two? Starting with an exit plan?”

“There’s no way out of Lilinor unless I create another portal. We must speak to the Vampire Lord first.”