"'Recognition from my demon friends.'" He made an amused noise. "You're using the word friend a little liberally. All that I'm gaining from this is the chance to postpone the inevitable, which is that my mother will kill me, and all of my true friends will lose their relatively cushy life. You misperceive me. But what can I do? Return you all to the wilds and... and be alone?" He almost sounded terrified by the prospect. "And even if I did, how could I possibly get all of you out of the city without drawing attention?"