“I have only ever tried to help her! Would I have come to you for blood if I hadn’t? I could have kept feeding her mine, and practically forced her into a mateship! I got your blood, so she at least had a goddamn choice!”

My jaw dropped open in disbelief. The bitter taste in everything he gave me made sudden sense, my heart clenching with emotion as I realized how much he actually had cared for me. I blinked rapidly, breathing heavily.

I turned to Kieran, pleading. “Do something!”

Kieran sighed; his face resigned.

I turned around, but Ronan looked how I felt. He said, “It’s a dominance battle. We can’t interfere. If you try, one of them might kill you in a rage.”

I snarled and flared my wings. Thunder boomed overhead, making it difficult to hear anything.

Thad was bigger than Benedict and had control of the shadows and darkness. Unfortunately for Thad, Benedict had a thousand years of experience and quickly narrowed down his opponent’s weaknesses. Benedict took out Thad’s leg with a quick swipe, and he fell hard. His wings fluttered uselessly as he didn’t know how to properly wield them, and with a grunt Benedict stepped on both. A raw scream ripped from Thad’s throat as Benedict slowly tore a claw through one wing, his screams echoing off the cliffs and only driving the storm harder. Thad gathered his magick to strike back, but I’d had it.

“Enough!”

My tattoo flared white hot, my blood magicks sparking to life. Benedict’s eyes went wide at seeing how much of my body was covered in it. I didn’t hesitate, throwing myself between the two of them. Benedict snarled and stalked towards us, so I threw myself over Thad’s body. His blood was warm against my skin, his breaths coming in short, pained gasps. Our bodies rose and fell together in rhythm.

Benedict’s eyes flashed in pain and anger. “I don’t care if he’s a draken! He’s taken control of the demon hordes. He’s our enemy, Wren! Move aside and I’ll kill him, and we can destroy the demons in the fortress! We can finally take back Dorea!”

I thought of the demons back in the keep and the half-breeds. Thad had said they were just people like us. People looking for a home. Would it be worth the price of peace to kill them all? Was it even possible for such different races to live together peacefully?

Thad is one of them.

He was, wasn’t he? And unfortunately for Benedict, that changed everything. It would be bloody, and it wouldn’t be easy. But it was possible to live in peace with the demons, and I had to at least let Thad try. I wasn’t sure if he would agree, but I remembered the loneliness of his scent, seeping into his soul like a stain far worse than any magick I had ever seen.

I raised my head from Thad’s chest, looking Benedict dead in the eyes. My hair stuck to my face, all of us soaking wet as the rain kept washing away the blood that welled underneath my claws. I wouldn’t look at Thad. Not now.