Page 38 of Prince of Demons
"We'll find her later," Georgia whispered to the girl, realizing she wasn't going to win another battle of wills with the pissed-off demon right now. "I promise."
Back at the helicopter, Mallorn didn't release her arm until she was all the way inside. He pointed his axe at her, nostrils flared. "If you move so much as a muscle before Prince Kesh is back, I will personally lop off the spawnling's head and eat her in front of you. Do you understand?"
"Oh, my God," Georgia croaked, nausea filling her gut at the brutal threat. "Don't hurt her. I'll stay. Please."
The demon's eyes softened at her terror, and he let out a deep sigh. "Look... It brings me no pleasure to scare you, Breeder, but you have no idea what would happen if you got yourself killed out here. The loss of your life... it would be a tragedy in itself, but the repercussions for the kingdom... If the prince gets a Breeder killed, there'll be an uproar and we'll lose all support. So, as much as it pains me, my pretty, I'll do what it takes to make sure you stay put." He gave the child in her arms a hard look.
Georgia gulped and held the girl tighter. "Okay. You made your point. I won't leave again."
"Good." He gave her a lingering look, then jumped back out of the helicopter. "It'll be much easier to court you without having to traumatize you first."
18
Georgia
The second the demon disappeared out of view of the helicopter, the child in Georgia’s arms stopped trembling and looked up. “Is the mean man gone?”
Georgia gave her a small smile. “Yes, honey. The mean man’s gone for now. But don’t worry, I won’t let anyone hurt you. I’m Georgia. Can you tell me your name?”
“Suzanne.” She looked up at Georgia with big hazel eyes. “You saved me. I was so scared, but you saved me.”
“Of course I did,” Georgia said softly, brushing her long hair gently. “And once all those big, scary men are done fighting, we’re going to find your mama, okay? Can you tell me her name?”
Suzanne blinked up at her. “Mama.”
Sighing internally, Georgia smiled gently. “Okay, honey. How about your daddy? Or the street you live on?”
“There’s a swing in our front yard," Suzanne said brightly. Then she reached into the pocket of her dress and held out her clenched little fist to Georgia. “Here.”
Slightly surprised by the change in the girl’s focus, from crying for her mother to handing out pocket treasures, Georgia accepted the stone placed in her palm. It was a semi-opaque, milky-white crystal, roughly palm-sized and polished to a smooth oval shape. A faint glow seemed to emanate from within it.
“Oh, wow… That’s so pretty, sweetheart. Where did you get this? Don’t you want to keep it?” The stone felt warm in her hand, and she could almost make herself believe she felt a faint pulse from it against her skin.
Suzanne shook her head firmly and reached out to close Georgia’s fingers around the gem with surprising strength, her voice taking on an odd, grown-up tone. “It was meant for you, Georgia.”
“That’s so sweet of you, but I’m sure whoever gave this to you would want you to keep…” Georgia’s voice trailed off as the kid’s bottom lip began to tremble, her already large eyes growing wider and sadder.
“It’s for you. Don’t you like it?” Suzanne sniffled, tears seemingly summoned out of thin air threatening to spill down her cheeks.
“No, no, of course I do. I love it,” Georgia hurriedly said, slipping the odd stone into her pocket to placate the traumatized child. It looked way too valuable for a child to be handing out to strangers, but hopefully she could discreetly slip it back to her mother, if they managed to find the woman alive. When. When they found her. “Thank you so much—it’s so sweet of you to give it to me.”
Mollified, Suzanne cuddled up closer against her.
Georgia sighed softly and held the girl against her chest, automatically rocking her gently on her lap. The feeling of her in her arms reminded her of holding Larry like this when he was small. She'd still been a kid herself, but the memory of that overpowering love she'd felt for her brother since the day he was born made her smile softly into Suzanne's dirty-blonde hair. All this—the fear, the demons... the prospect of birthing demon offspring? It was all worth it because, thanks to Prince Kesh, Larry got to live a full life. And she’d make sure Suzanne did, too. As much as she could, after witnessing something as traumatizing as a demonic battle horde descending upon her sleepy town.
"I'm so sorry you had to see all this," she whispered to the girl snuggling against her, as she ran her fingers soothingly through her hair. “You must have been so scared. But don’t worry, we’ll find your mama, and everything will be alright.”
Georgia knew she shouldn’t be making promises she wasn’t sure she could keep, but the weight of the trusting child nestled against her made iron will rise along her spine. Whatever it took, she would make things alright for this girl. Demons had ruled her nightmares since she was younger than Suzanne—she wasn’t about to let them ruin this little girl’s life, too.
She sat in silence with her arms around Suzanne for what felt like hours. The sounds of battle quieted to eerie silence, broken only by rough shouts now and then.
The slow, even breathing from the little girl on her lap made her assume she’d fallen asleep from the trauma weighing on her young mind, but when she suddenly popped her head up, her wide, fearful eyes were alert and free from the drowsiness of sleep.
“Don’t let him hurt me.”
Georgia frowned at the pleading tone, tightening her arms with the instinct to protect the small child. “Don’t let who hurt you, baby?”
Before Suzanne could respond, the sound of heavy footfalls reached them from outside the helicopter. Georgia stiffened, twisting her head toward the window just in time to see the horned prince rip open the door and jump in.
