Page 7 of Prince of Demons
Lewin took a few steps back and raised his hands. “Calm down, man. If I was interested in that, I wouldn't have brought her around here, eh?” He flicked his gaze from Loyt to Jimmy, once he’d made sure the bodyguard wasn’t pursuing him. “But, I mean, she is a Breeder. Surely, she’s worth more than that whore I broke. It was an accident, after all.”
Jimmy narrowed his eyes. “Really? You have the balls to bargain? You should count yourself lucky I don’t have your head mounted on the wall.” Then he sighed and made a gesture at one of the big goons. “But I suppose, with the understanding that no one hears so much as a whisper from you… Irral, get our friend here ten grand from the vault.” He eyed Georgia. “And a ring for the girl. The sooner she gets broken in, the sooner her cunt will make us rich.”
“You’re all insane.” The snarl in Georgia’s voice wavered, breaking to a whisper. “You can’t do this.”
“Come now, princess,” Jimmy said, his round face breaking in a smile that was possibly supposed to be warm but only made her skin crawl. “It’s not gonna be worse than what old Lewin would have done with you. Did he really convince you all he’d want in return was a sip of bodily fluids now and then?
“Do you want to know exactly what he did to one of my prized whores the last time I let him have a go at her while she was on her monthly? He ate her labia and sucked out her uterus as if it were an oyster. If Loyt hadn’t gotten to her in time, he’d have eaten her whole reproductive system while she was still alive.”
“Oh, my God.” Bile rose violently up her esophagus, and she swallowed hard to keep it down.
“Nasty creatures, his kind,” Jimmy continued, ignoring an indignant huff from Lewin. “I won’t let anyone as, ah, unrefined near your precious cunt. Only demons who’ll understand your worth and treat you right. Worship and sex—most humans bargain their souls to get what you have to pay. You’ll see, it won’t be so bad. Once you get used to it.”
Despite the demon’s attempts to reassure her, the echoed sobs and cries from the surrounding warehouse made her ball her hands into fists, her heart hammering out of rhythm in her chest. Every cell in her body screamed at her to flee as fast as her legs would carry her, but when she glanced at the door, it was blocked by Loyt’s huge frame.
She couldn’t escape. And if she tried… She looked back at Jimmy, suppressing a shudder of revulsion at the thought of what he might do to her if he decided playing nice wasn’t working.
Perhaps… Perhaps if she let him believe her meek and pliable, he’d lower his guard? Once he trusted her to have accepted her fate, she could find a way to escape. After she’d made sure her brother was healed.
“What about Larry?” Georgia whispered, her throat tight and dry. “You have to save him first. That’s the bargain, right? You can’t do anything to me until he’s okay.”
“Larry's the brother?” Jimmy glanced at Lewin.
Lewin nodded. “Yeah. Cancer. A particularly nasty one. Too strong for me to cure. Shouldn’t be a problem for someone with your power.”
The pimp hesitated for a brief moment, but then huffed and waved his hand. “Fine. Guess it’d be too much to ask for our golden goose to come without a few challenges.” He nodded at Georgia, grabbing a pen and Lewin’s wrinkled contract. “Once you’re ringed, I’ll take care of your brother, Breeder. It’s what you wanted, isn’t it? Or is he not worth a bit of time on your back, hmm?”
Georgia stared mutely at him as he added a few lines to the contract she’d signed, waving over Lewin to add his initials below the crimson words that sold her as a whore for demons.
She’d been seven years old when Larry was born, and from the moment she lay eyes on his squinty little face, she’d known it was her job to protect him. Always. And she had. Her mom had even trusted her with some of the night feedings, the diaper changes—and rocking him to sleep when he was fussy, because no one else could calm him as quickly as she could.
A few years later, when Mike left and their mother retreated to her bedroom to grieve, Georgia was the one to cook dinner and make sure there were clean clothes. Once she got her license, she took him to school and lacrosse practice, and when Mike got married and had kids with his new wife, she was the only one who got to see how much that hurt her baby brother. She’d rocked him like she'd done when he was a baby, and he’d told her she was all the family he needed.
If this creep of a demon gave her a way of saving his life… It shouldn’t matter what she’d have to pay.
Irral returned moments later, a roll of bills in one hand and the other closed into a tight fist. He lobbed the bills at Lewin and handed whatever was in his other hand to Jimmy before he looked at her.
Georgia blinked. If she wasn’t mistaken, there was reverence in his black eyes.
“Nice.” Lewin flicked a thumb through the wad of cash and nodded at Jimmy. “See ya around, Jimmy. Breeder.”
Georgia glared at him as he exited the room with a joyful whistle, but he didn’t so much as glance her way. To him, she was truly nothing but a piece of meat to be bargained or… or eaten.
“What’re you gonna do with her, boss?” Irral asked, and when she looked back at him, he was still staring at her as if she were some kind of prophet reborn.
Jimmy sighed and pushed away from the table, getting to his feet. “Well, she’ll need to be ringed before we put her to work. A crying Breeder’s gonna be a turnoff for some of the clientele.”
“Boss… Are you sure you want to whore her?” Much to her astonishment, Loyt sounded more than a little reluctant. “She’s supposed to be… sacred.”
Sacred? Georgia looked at the big brute. The grim look on his demonic features made her heart skip a beat. If he thought she was sacred?—
“Please. There’s nothing sacred about Breeders. So they can push out horned babies, big whoop. Don’t tell me you two knuckleheads are gonna be a problem just because her pussy smells good, hmm? You’d make shitty fathers anyway, so don’t be getting any ideas with my merchandise.” Jimmy gave them both a stern stare.
“Of course not,” Irral said quickly.
And the sliver of hope that either bodyguard might help her escape turned to ash when Loyt shrugged and added, “Just thought you’d like to consider what’ll happen if someone runs their mouth in the wrong place. But I’m sure you’ve got a plan for what to do if the Prince shows up after hearing a rumor that we’re keeping a Breeder on the premises.”
Jimmy scoffed. “The Prince is busy with the war. If he heard about her, he won’t be hauling his ass off the battlefield to rescue one pathetic little Breeder. But he won’t hear anything. I’ll draw up a contract for anyone who wishes to buy a round on her. She’s staying a secret—no one will be able to breathe a word of her existence without turning inside out. Now stop fretting like a couple of old maids and get her to the prep room. The sooner she gets done, the sooner she starts earning her keep.”
