Thad nodded, and mercifully Severn took the shadow demons with him. I blinked back hot tears of relief. Thad waited a long, torturous minute after they had left, our bodies frozen together.

“Get off.” Thad stood abruptly, dumping me onto the ground. I barely caught myself as he turned away, his ears red. I shifted into my human form immediately, trying to shake the feeling of knife blades against my wing joints.

“Let’s go. You’re coming to my chamber.”

I planted my feet into the ground. “Like fuck I am.”

He sighed, wincing as he patted the bloodied bits of skin I had carved up during our little performance. “If you’d rather stay in the dungeons, be my guest. The demons will be back in a few hours, and I doubt you want to be here when they do.”

I shot a tortured look back at the restrained witches, but there wasn’t anything I could do for them. Not yet. Even so, I still hesitated. Thad rolled his eyes. “Benedict was not exaggerating when he said you were stubborn.”

Mentioning my mate was the worst thing he could have done. “Why do you even give a shit what Benedict says? You’re the leader of the human rebels.”

My claws were out, but he only huffed. “Not for much longer. Do you really think they’re going to accept me when word gets out what I am? They are more likely to kill me on sight, or worse. I lied to them my entire life! Now they have no leader, no direction . . . ” He trailed off, frustrated.

I frowned. “So that’s it? You’re abandoning your people and taking up with Severn?”

His face twisted in rage. “They’re not my people any more now than they’re yours! And while I’m here, it’d be foolish not to use Severn and the others to learn how to control my demon side. I don’t see anyone else lining up to help me!”

I broke away, unable to bear the raw look on his face. When I could speak, my tone was calm and measured. “I still care about humans even though I’m no longer one myself. I have friends who are human, and even the ones I don’t know still deserve protection if I can give it.”

Thad’s face twisted. “Why? Humans are hateful and full of pride. My entire childhood I was treated as an inconvenience. The people around me put up with me and trained me because of who I was supposed to be and what I could later do for them. When they thought I was a human, half of them still didn’t trust me simply because I grew up outside of Cantrada! Why should I show compassion when they fear anything different from themselves? They need allies from Aldur but can’t look past their own prejudices to see that maybe having a king who grew up there would be advantageous! I hope they all burn!”

I took a step back at his vehemence, alarmed as magick swirled and escaped from him. I glared. “You told Severn about my means of escape. He’s going to chain me up the moment I get back to the dungeons! Then I really will be a prisoner.”