The cave was not far from the building and she didn’t have enough energy to walk back to the daaeman, behead him, and then walk back.

What to do? Behead a demon or explore a cave? Decisions, decisions.

Knowing from Micah’s book that she had some time before Bai woke from his coma, if that’s what it was, she turned and walked toward the cave. It was probably nothing, but she needed to check it out—no matter how much she really didn’t want to go spelunking today.

She entered the cave and made her way into the recesses, taking a few turns here and there. There was only one way through as the passageways were just big enough for one adult witch.

The only good part about being in the nasty, damp cave was that if Bai came out of his coma thing prematurely, he wouldn’t be able to find her. The bad thing was that she half expected to stumble across a bear or some other wild animal in here, or worse—a pile of dead bodies or something. It was on Duskoff land, after all.

Finally, she reached a largish cavern-type room. Having freaked herself out by that time and finding nothing but rock inside, she turned around to leave. That’s when her light caught something up against one of the walls.

She stopped and turned, shining her flashlight on the object once more. It looked like . . . a casket. Somebody’s coffin.

Oh, hell no.

Sarafina wavered on her feet for a moment. Her head was telling her to go have a closer look, but the rest of her body screamed at her to run away fast.

Her head won and she forced her body to obey.

She hadn’t come this far to not investigate the thing that had piqued her senses. Apparently, this is what she’d come in here for.

She inched closer and closer to the shiny black casket, hoping like hell the top wouldn’t open and a vampire or something wouldn’t pop out. Really, she’d expire where she stood.

As she grew closer, a humming sound reached her ears. Walking around to one side, she shined the flashlight at the back of the casket and saw electrical cords hooking the thing up and running straight into the stone wall.

Well, that was odd.

Frowning, she reached out and touched the brass handle on the side. Maybe it wasn’t a casket, after all. It was pretty big to be one, unless the person inside was a giant. Or . . .

A daaeman.

An Ytrayi?

Rue.