“You should rethink your plan. About purging the mage’s soul.”

“And this rethinking needs to happen in the woods?”

Maples loomed high above them, blocking out most of the moonlight. They crunched over fallen leaves and twigs.

Caine led them up a steep hill into a grove of maple and poplar trees overlooking the parking lot. “In 1692, this is where the Brotherhood hanged nineteen people who had nothing to do with magic.”

Another history lesson. “I’m not saying the Brotherhood are perfect. So they get it wrong sometimes, and they need to modernize. But they’re trying to protect humanity, and no one else is fighting the predatory demons like Bileth.”

“The Brotherhood aren’t perfect, and neither is the magical world. We’ve got that in common. The difference is that the Brotherhood is gaining an unprecedented amount of power. People are terrified of magic, and that means the Hunters no longer have any restraints. No more trials. No more mercy. They’re starting to execute mages, and people they mistakenly think are mages. They want to watch the world burn. They want to watch you burn. And you want to run back to them. Do you have a death wish, Rosalind?”

Executions. Burnings. That stuff wasn’t true, was it? “First of all, I’m human. They won’t hurt me. Second of all, they don’t burn anyone.”

“Running back to the Brotherhood would be suicide.”

Tears pricked her eyes. What good was her life if she had no home, no family? She didn’t even know who she could trust anymore. “I don’t see myself having a lot of options.” She shook her head. “I don’t understand what you want from me.”

“You have a gift. You’re meant to fight. Just like I am. And call me crazy, but I think you should fight the people who want to burn you to death. Your plan to throw yourself on their mercy is utterly stupid.”

She cocked an eyebrow. “That’s your mage-recruitment pitch? Calling me stupid?”

“I said your plan is stupid. Not you.”

“You haven’t explained why we need to be knee-deep in shrubbery for this conversation.”

He stepped closer, fingers grazing her hand. His touch sparked her with a warm, electrical charge. Must be an incubus thing.

“Take off the ring.” He winced as though in pain. “It is your choice to take off the ring, but I would strongly suggest that you do it. You need to see the magic that lurks under the surface—what the Brotherhood is so terrified of. Then tell me if it scares you, too. Because I’ve seen you fight. You’re a warrior. Like me.”

At the thought of taking off the ring, raw panic burned through her nerves. “What is it with you people and wanting me to lose my mind?”

“Like you said, you don’t have a ton of options. The people you plan on running to for protection want to kill you. Now the demon world wants to kill you, too, and they will hunt you unless you convert. It’s your one chance at saving yourself.”