“Physical pain doesn’t bother you, does it?” He ignored the dying demon at his side, kicking him in the face as he reached out again for aid from his master. Severn grabbed my hair and pulled my head up until his face was only inches from mine.

“I can’t wait to make you scream!”

He dropped me and withdrew his sword from the demon with a sick, wet sound. The dying creature moaned, and I tried to twitch away as Severn punched his fist straight into the demon’s chest, ignoring his tortured gasps. My stomach rolled and bile went up my throat. The demon went silent, and all I heard was a wet thud. The air sparked with hot, white magick, and a whimper of fear left my throat.

“You know there is a far greater pain that is possible.” Severn held the demon’s still beating heart in his hand, and white tendrils of fire burst from him to wrap around my neck, my arms, and my torso. They burned in tandem with the wound from Luci on my hand, the pain seeping into my blood and lighting every nerve in my body on fire.

I wondered how the little fire witch was doing, but I couldn’t spare many thoughts for her now. My own pain was overwhelming and breaking through every mental barrier I had before I was ready. I screamed, unprepared. I tried to roll away from Severn, from the body, from the horror. I pressed my bleeding hand against my chest, my blood magick flaring into life. The pain dulled but only momentarily. I didn’t know how long I could endure this, how long I could take it without breaking. Maybe if I screamed louder, enough to make it stop.

“Master.”

The pain cut off abruptly, and I crumpled to the ground. Severn threw the remaining power at the intruder, who smartly dodged to the side. The demon behind him was not as fast, his body igniting in a white inferno. For a moment his bones were visible before the charred husk of his body fell to the ground. The first demon stepped to the side and bowed low, unfazed. “The Cantradian heir would like to speak with you.”

Severn narrowed his eyes at me, then laughed. “Bring him in. Perhaps he can enlighten us to a few things.”

It took me until Severn was back on his throne before I could summon the strength to raise my head. And then wished I hadn’t. Thad was held between two shadow demons, not looking any better than when he’d been dragged from his cell however long ago. As soon they halted next to me in front of the throne, his body started to shake. Severn slapped a hand against the throne.

“What’s wrong, my liege? Did your mother never tell you what to expect once you came into manhood? The physical changes that would wreck your body, forcing you to acknowledge your heritage? We learned here that you can’t hide as a human once you reach a certain level of maturity.”