Page 68 of Prince of Demons
“…And that I don’t currently have access to it, because… someone agreed to turn me… and people like me… into demon broodmares?”
“Simplified, but yes, in its essence.”
“But now you have the key to unlock my ‘potential’ and turn me into a light-blasting badass?” Georgia lowered her fingers from her temples and stared at the goddess by her side. “Do you know what a pyramid scheme is? Because you very much sound like you’re trying to recruit me for one of those.”
The goddess’s smile turned into a mischievous grin. “You’re a little sassy, aren’t you? Good for you. And you’re not entirely wrong, of course. Helping you isn’t an altruistic endeavor. The demons have always been… problematic. It’s in their nature. They fight divinity on primitive instinct alone. But with the new king’s mating, some of us have seen a… let’s call it a spark in the darkness.
“You see, he loved his mate so much, he went against the evil core within his very nature to set her free. And with that one act of true love, he reawakened the magic we all thought lost.”
Georgia blinked. “So… Okay, you’re saying the king—Kesh’s brother?—loved his wife so much, she can now do magic? That’s… cool. But I’m not sure what that has to do with me?”
“You’re like her, Georgia. You have that same spark just waiting to be ignited. And here you are, under the protection of the brother to the first demon in history to choose love over possession… Fate weaves her web rather obviously sometimes, don’t you think?”
“Wait… wait, wait, wait.” Georgia stared at the smug-looking goddess. “Are you trying to insinuate I need to mate Kesh?”
“Well, him or his father, yes.” Suzanne smiled brightly. “That bloodline… Fate has touched their lineage. Whichever one claims you will be fine.”
“Whoa, hold up.” Georgia pushed down the wave of nausea at the suggestion of being ‘claimed’ by Kesh’s scary father. “Even if we ignore for a second that he’d apparently kill me if he… you know. I don’t love him. And he certainly doesn’t love me, either. Whatever happened to give the queen her powers, that’s not… that’s not something that will happen for me. I’m not like her—at all. I’m just…”
“A sad gray mouse?” Suzanne finished off for her, eyebrow arched sardonically. “A helpless little victim, content with bowing your neck and taking whatever scraps your demon overlords decide to throw at you?”
Heat flooded Georgia’s cheeks. The mocking words echoed Kesh’s opinion of her uncomfortably. Refreshing anger rushed through her veins. “That’s real easy to say, but it’s not like I can just wave my hands and be something I’m not. He says I’d die from being ‘loved’ by a demon lord.
“And again—I don’t love him. I can’t just start loving a demon who’s treating me like an inconvenience that needs to be pawned off because it suits some random goddess’s schemes. Which, by the way, you still haven’t explained. Why do you care what demon takes me in the end? And why should I care about your plans? It sounds an awful lot like you want to use me just as much as the demons do. How are you any better? At least they gave me my brother’s life in return.”
“Oh, I don’t think you have any idea what you are, little firecracker. But you will. All you need is a little… push.” Suzanne gave her a wicked grin, her eyes lighting up with an otherworldly glow as she leaned in.
Some of Georgia’s anger withered, unease creeping up her spine. “Wait, what are you—hey! Stop that!” Her voice rose to a sharp squeak as the goddess without delay pushed her down onto the mattress and slipped a hand underneath her skirt. Slim fingers brushed against her sex, then slipped up between her folds, violating and intimate. She kicked out, but it was too late. The goddess found the metal ring encircling her clit—and twisted.
Sharp, painful fire shot through her pelvis, forcing a cry from her throat as the dark magic in the ring sank deep into her flesh. And then… then came the awful, all-consuming need.
“Sorry about that. Had to be done, though.” Suzanne stood back up and brushed off her fingers.
“What… what did you do?” Georgia’s voice was a horrified rasp. Every molecule in her body throbbed painfully, her vision turning hazy at the corners. Her trapped clit swelled against the metal, angry and raw, and oh, God… she needed…
“I just gave Fate a little push. Sometimes, a drop of chaos is needed to get things moving in the right direction. Let’s see if one of the demon lords can’t help you awaken your power after all.” With a cheerful wink, she snapped her fingers, letting the golden shimmer barricading the door fall, before vanishing into thin air, leaving Georgia alone to writhe on the bed.
There was no more coherent thought; no more of anything.
Only the burning, all-consuming need eating her body alive.
35
Kesh
Hell. Such a contrite name for a brothel servicing demons, and yet, it managed to encapsulate the atmosphere perfectly.
The smell of sex and tears was heavy in the air as Kesh pushed his way through the door of Jimmy’s establishment, the groan of the hinges momentarily drowning out the female cries from within and the wet slapping of flesh on flesh.
A minor demon sat behind a desk in the makeshift reception area. He looked up, a service-minded smile on his face that quickly morphed into abject horror.
“Your Highness!” He got to his feet so fast, his chair fell backward with a loud clang. “T-this is such an honor! W-what can I do for you, my lord?”
“I’m here for Jimmy.” Kesh didn’t spare him a second glance. He strode past the desk and toward the main office, through an doorway hung with blue curtains which separated the narrow hallway from the four-by-eight rooms containing chained-up women, several in the process of being used by Hell’s clientele.
He’d been here once prior, before he became a prince. Not as a client, but to settle a contract dispute on a girl. He hadn’t thought much of it at the time—it’d been a minor annoyance in his busy schedule, nothing more. Now, though, as he passed stall after stall, the thought that Georgia almost ended up here made the tormented cries of females speared on demon cocks cause bile to rise in his throat. She’d been foolish, bargaining herself for her brother, and she had only narrowly escaped her fate. If the goon who’d brought her to him hadn’t rescued her, he’d never even have realized she existed. Wouldn’t have known to come save her.
Anger bubbled in his veins and thrummed in his temples as he pushed past the stalls to the door at the end. He wasn’t going to knock, but before he could kick it in, the door opened, revealing the same goon who’d brought Georgia to him.
