“You’re wrong,” Rosalind said. She needed to remember what Josiah said. Mages would do whatever they could to mess with your head.

“They’re barbaric,” Aurora countered.

Rosalind’s temper flared. The demons would love people to think that good and evil were merely subjective concepts with a whole lot of gray area. “We’re barbaric? And what about you? I found a severed hand in your room last night. You drink human blood.”

“So? Hunters drink inhuman blood,” Aurora shot back.

“What are you talking about?” Rosalind asked.

“The ambrosia you drink,” Caine said. “It’s made with the blood of furies, kept as slaves against their will. You do worship a god of blood, you know. Honestly Rosalind. It’s almost like you don’t know anything useful.”

“Why do you think vampires are so keen on Hunter blood?” Aurora asked. “Lucky for you, it fades fast, or I’d be taking a little nip from your wrist.”

“And speaking of barbaric,” Caine said. “Let’s not forget that the Brotherhood have reinstated burning as a punishment for witchcraft.”

No. They’re lying. The Brotherhood didn’t touch humans, and she’d never heard anyone talk about burnings or blood drinking.

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.”