Page 36 of Prince of Demons
"The prince!" he heard one of his men call over the battle, relief in his gruff voice. "The prince is here!"
"Here he comes, to save the daaay," Mallorn hummed under his breath, a sly grin on his lips as he twirled his axe, easily decapitating an enemy demon without falling behind.
"Shut up," Kesh growled, scanning the battlefield for Lord Aran. Mallorn had been his friend and second in command long before he'd gained his royal title, and as loyal as the lesser demon was, he also wasn't the least bit impressed with his old friend's new status. A trait Kesh normally appreciated—when he wasn't, in fact, there to save the fucking day. "Where the fuck is Aran?"
"There." Mallorn pointed with his axe. Up on a hill, pinned between the two enemy lords's foul magic, a large, vaguely familiar demon knelt in the mud surrounded by mutilated corpses, his own magic barely a crackle in the air around him. The centuries-old Lord of Maine, brought to his knees.
"What the shit?" Mallorn muttered by Kesh's side. "What the hell is going on? Even two to one, Aran is fucking powerful as shit. He should have been able to hold out for days."
"I guess I'll ask him if we manage to save his ass," Kesh growled, unsheathing his sword as he focused on the nearest of the two enemy lords. "Let's go."
17
Georgia
Stay, he'd said.
Georgia wasn't entirely sure why the big, scary demon prince had felt it necessary to remind her not to leave the safety of the helicopter and go wandering around this close to an honest-to-god demonic war, complete with giant swords and plumes of magic. She was perfectly fine hiding in the metal carcass of the chopper, thank you very much!
From her vantage point inside the aircraft, she had enough of a view of the battle to know it was no place for a human. A thought she tried not to dwell too hard on, considering the many houses off in the distance. Hopefully the citizens of the little fishing village they'd landed in had all managed to flee.
Shaking, she pressed her back against the wall of the helicopter and wrapped her arms around her knees, trying to ignore the screams and growls and clashes of metal outside.
All she had to do was stay put. Either Prince Kesh would win this nightmarish battle and come fly her back, or... Or he wouldn't, and she could try to sneak off in the aftermath and hopefully escape back to a world where she could pretend she didn't see demons, and no one called her 'Breeder'.
A loud crash from the distance made her jump, and she peered out the window, heart in her throat.
On a hill in the distance, four larger-than-average demons were locked in battle, dark magic blazing around them. Through the sparks and plumes of darkness, she recognized the prince's huge form swinging his sword at one of the other burly demons, while firing dark magic at a second. From the looks of it, he was trying to protect the fourth demon on the ground.
A twinge of something tight and uncomfortable in her gut made her pull her eyes from him.
Not my circus, not my monkeys. In fact, if the prince happened to get killed, all the better for her and her chances of escaping the lifetime as a broodmare she'd signed up for in exchange for Larry's recovery.
Determined, she flicked her gaze to another part of the battlefield, where two groups of smaller demons were fighting each other. She had no clue which side was which—apparently demons didn't believe in color-coordinated uniforms. She also didn't have the faintest idea why European demons were trying to invade Maine. Were demons just late on the whole War of Independence?
Georgia cast another look back toward the houses. How the winning demons planned on keeping the humans unaware of a full-scale battle was beyond her, but she'd seen them weave their filthy magic around people's minds enough times to know they were capable of distorting reality for the majority of the population. Judging from the immense power cracking through the air from the hilltop where the prince was currently fighting, he'd be strong enough to make an entire town getting leveled to the ground seem like a gas leak or whatever.
"Mama!"
What... the hell was that?!
"Mama!"
Heart in her throat, Georgia scrambled off her seat and rushed over to stick her head out of the helicopter's open door, drawn by what sounded all too much like a small child crying. And there, in the middle of the battlefield, between warring demons and magical explosions, stood a little girl. A human girl.
Everything inside Georgia went tight and cold.
“Oh my God! Oh my God, no!" Without thought, she hurled herself out of the helicopter and ran.
By some miracle, she made it to the kid without getting blown to pieces or losing her head to a wayward axe swing. She didn't pause for a second—simply scooped up the girl, turned around, and began running back toward the helicopter.
"It's okay, honey, don't worry. Let's get you out of here," she gasped as she ran, trying to settle the child on her hip to carry her weight. The girl looked to be maybe six or seven, small enough to carry but not light enough to do so at a full sprint without significant strain.
Small, slim arms wrapped around her neck, and Georgia felt the girl's tears soak through her dress. "Mama!"
"I know, honey, I know," she panted, trying to keep her eyes on the fight around them as she ran. "We'll find her, I promise. But first, we've gotta get you safe, okay?"
Out of nowhere, a demon's massive body landed right in front of her, the monster grunting as his shoulder impacted with the ground. Georgia shrieked and came to a skidding halt, clutching the girl in her arms tighter. Shit, shit, shit!
