Aurora arched an eyebrow. “You’re really caught up in this fault thing, aren’t you? Hasn’t anyone ever told you that sometimes bad things happen to good people?”

“We’re not going to give her to Bileth,” Caine said. “Ambrose would never forgive it—and anyway, the Hunter is growing on me. At least in the rare moments when she’s quiet.”

Aurora was already refilling her drink. “You’re directly defying Ambrose’s orders to train her, so I’m a bit confused why you’re suddenly worried about his forgiveness.”

“I wasn’t going to defy him entirely,” Caine said. “I have a solution that meets Ambrose’s needs as well as hers.”

This was the first Rosalind had heard of this concept. “Wait. What solution that meets both our needs?”

“Ambrose wants the mage’s spirit to survive,” Caine said. “The spirit will simply need another body. And I have a willing host who would gladly accept this power.”

“Who?” Aurora asked.

He sipped his drink. “Me.”

Rosalind straightened. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. The mage’s mind will break you. It was physically painful. Her body was on fire. And can you really handle another soul?”

Aurora glared over her Martini glass. “What do you care what happens to him? Once you run back to the Brotherhood, it will be your job to ram an iron spear through his heart. You get that, right?”

“I won’t come for him, even if he doesn’t erase my memories.” It was the first time the thought had ever occurred to her, but as soon as the words were out of her mouth, she knew them to be true. Even if he was a demon, he’d done nothing but help her so far.

The longer she spent with the demons, the less she wanted to hunt them.

“Oh, really? You won’t hunt him now, and he’s growing fond of you?” Aurora’s eyes raked over Rosalind’s dress. “Did something happen between you two? And would that something have anything to do with the state of your clothes, and the fact that you both smell like you’ve been rolling in dirt?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Rosalind said.

Aurora rolled her eyes. “I was wondering how long it would take. At least maybe now that she’s taken the edge off, she can relax a little and listen to some sense.”

“It wasn’t like that,” Rosalind said. “We were trying to take the ring off to see what would happen.”

“I get you. I haven’t ‘taken the ring off’ in weeks and it’s making me crazy.” Aurora sloshed her drink.

Rosalind blushed. “I meant literally. My actual iron ring.”

Aurora’s face brightened. “Thank the gods. Taking that off is the first good thing I’ve heard you say since I’ve met you. You’re going to let Caine train you, like Ambrose said?”

Rosalind tightened her fist. “It’s not possible. There’s something wrong with the spirit. She was on fire, and so was I.”

But Rosalind was almost starting to see Aurora’s point. With a demon lord hunting her, she needed the protection of someone powerful. Once she exorcised this spirit, there would be no more Caine and no more Ambrose.