I let go of the goblet, and it fell from our fingers with a clatter to the floor. The sound echoed throughout the dungeons, but I barely flinched. His face was unreadable as he leaned in closer. The pain in my body softened at its edges. Thad had to have given me something more than just juice in order to achieve that. Aldur was known for their poisons, weren’t they? I vaguely remembered Benedict mentioning it earlier.

“You can disappear from here any moment you want.” His voice was low, barely a whisper against my ear. I shivered, but I wasn’t cold, not now. At least I didn’t think I was. I put a hand on his chest just to make sure. He stared at it.

“Why don’t you escape?”

Footsteps bounced off the stone walls, getting closer. I tried to pull away, but he gripped me by my shoulders. I couldn’t move like I wanted; I couldn’t think. What had been in the drink?

“It has something to do with the witches, doesn’t it? Are you trying to break them out?”

I felt the shadow demons before I saw them. Thad whipped around, yanking me with him as he stood, his grip on my upper arm crushing. I inhaled sharply, the only sound of pain I made. If he hadn’t drugged me, I probably would have screamed as my body protested each movement.

“Transport us outside the cell, or they will know what you can do.”

I tried; I really did. Whatever he gave me was still working on my body, dulling my mind enough that it was hard to focus, hard to concentrate.

Thad growled, and black fire shot from his hand and into the lock, even as a large cut appeared down his shoulder. He yanked the door open with a grunt and shoved me against the adjoining wall in the corridor. I hit with a crack but didn’t feel any pain. Whatever he had given me was the good stuff. My body slid down the wall, just as the shadow demon guards came upon us.

“Quite the mouth on her,” Thad offered as a way of explanation. I couldn’t even glare in response. Thad’s hand closed around my upper arm again, yanking me roughly to my feet.

My head lolled to the side, and one of the shadow demons sniffed. “Not very strong, if all it takes is a few days without food.”

Thad shrugged. “Females.”

I clawed my way through the fog enough to lash out with my claws, digging into the soft skin of his side. He grunted, then backhanded me. I turned my head in reflex, eyes wide when his hand didn’t make contact with my skin. The other demons had fallen for it, snickering amongst themselves and unable to tell it wasn’t real from the angle. I was too drugged to do anything other than mutely stare.

“Bring her to the room with the others. Severn wants her examined,” one of the shadow demons commanded.