“You are an intelligent creature to have survived this long, and you’ve already met one like him. I am surprised you didn’t put it together sooner.”

The shadow demons released Thad, whose body had ceased trembling. He looked better, but it only made me sick remembering the price paid. I knew Thad didn’t have a choice, but it hurt to look at him.

“Draken female. Speak.”

I ignored Severn. I ignored everything except Thad’s heaving chest and the dead body only feet away. I didn’t expect the sudden blow to my stomach, which was the only reason I cried out.

“You will show Lord Severn respect!”

Severn waved a hand at the intervening demon, who stepped away from me. Severn’s fangs flashed in amusement, then hissed as Thad swept the demon’s legs out from under him and broke his jaw with his fist in nearly the same motion. Severn raised an eyebrow, holding up one hand to keep the others away.

“You care for the female?”

Stupid Thad. Stupid males. Another demon took up my chains, and I strained against them. I didn’t like that look of determination in Thad’s eyes, that same look Benedict would sometimes get before he did something idiotic that he thought was for my own good.

“You don’t give him a goddamn thing for me, Thad, your people—”

Severn made a fist at me, and my body crumpled as if smashed between two large rocks. Thad roared in anger, turning towards Severn. He convulsed halfway to the throne, falling to the ground as he went into another seizure.

“Too many revelations at once will ruin my fun, so let’s start with just one.” Severn’s gaze whipped back to me, eyes gleaming in anticipation. My heart sank. Anything that made him look like that would be bad news for me. “Don’t you know a half-breed when you see one?”

My head shot up, my realization a horrible, sinking feeling that went down to my toes. I looked at Thad, and it was like seeing him for the first time. The black hair, the black eyes.

“You met the fire born half-breed, so you should have spotted it the first time you met him. It’s a pity we don’t know which experiment he came from, though I’m sure we could figure it out eventually.”

Thad went white, just as shocked as I was. Suddenly, Severn’s story made sense. Thad’s mother had been a prisoner here. She’d escaped and married Thad’s father, meaning he wasn’t actually descended from Cantradian royalty. Thad’s voice sounded raw. “You’re lying. Whatever you’re talking about, it’s a lie.”

“Lies are for those who have time and patience, of which I have neither.” Severn’s voice was cold, yet predatory. Thad kept shaking his head back and forth, back and forth. My eyes tracked the blood running down my body, each drop seemingly frozen in time before it fell and created patterns on the cold floor.

“It’s not true, it’s not—”

“Which part? That your mother was raped by a demon? That she hated you so much she killed herself? Or that when she realized what you were she tried to kill you herself, only to be stopped by her new husband?”