Page 41 of Prince of Demons (Demon’s Mark #2)
Kesh
H ell. 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.
He was missing an eye, but the good one widened in shock at Kesh’s appearance.
“Y-your Highness,” he stammered, swiftly stepping aside. “Jimmy, it’s?—”
“Prince Kesh!” The heavy-set demon in a pin-striped suit at the desk inside got to his feet with surprising agility, a servile smile plastered on his punchable face. “What an incredible honor! Loyt, fetch the bottle of 1973 sherry from the vault. The one flavored with divine tears.”
Another demon of the same stature as the man who’d brought him Georgia—also with a missing eye—moved toward a back door.
“I’m not here for a social call.” Kesh didn’t so much as glance at the two goons, his gaze locked on the pimp’s as he ordered, “Get out and stay out. This is a private matter.”
They obeyed without a second’s hesitation, not waiting for confirmation from their boss.
Jimmy hid his obvious annoyance with another smile. “A lowly businessman has a private matter with the Prince of Demons? I am most flattered, my lord, but I am uncertain to what this matter could possibly pertain?”
“Don’t try me,” Kesh growled. “I don’t have patience for your bullshit. You tried to whore a Breeder. A Breeder. I should cut your head off and mount it as a warning to anyone else who ever gets the idea that they can desecrate our most sacred, most valuable assets!”
The pimp’s smile tightened. “I’m sure I don’t know what yo— ghh!” His attempt to feign ignorance was cut off with a wet gargle when Kesh snatched him by the throat and squeezed. Snarling, he lifted the heavy demon up by his neck and brought him to within an inch of his face.
“I specifically recall telling you I have no patience for bullshit. Lie to me one more time, and you will spend the next three months having your ass whored far more brutally than anything that’s ever been done to any of your human sex dolls’ cunts. Do you understand me?”
Jimmy managed another gargling sound, but from the look of panic in his beady eyes, it was a rattle of confirmation.
Fighting back the urge to squeeze just a little harder and snap the miserable fuck’s neck, Kesh released his grip with a warning growl.
Jimmy stumbled backwards, clutching at his throat. He fell against the desk, gasping for air.
“You not only tried to whore the Breeder—you took out a contract on her.” Despite the fury and murder-lust pounding in his veins, Kesh kept his voice low and even. The threat in it was still clear. “You know the punishment for harming a Breeder is death—slow, painful death.”
“My lord, she wasn’t harmed,” Jimmy wheezed.
“The girl was desperate. She bargained herself before my associate even knew what she was. I swear to you, it was my intent that she be treated most respectfully and live a life of luxury and pleasure. I even ringed her, at great expense! Now, did I… circumvent the rules by accepting her into my employ? One could argue as much, but I never intended harm to befall the precious little?—”
“Enough!” Dark power erupted out of Kesh’s palms, shattering the table beneath the other demon.
He stumbled backwards, but managed to stay on his feet, sweat beading on his forehead as Kesh stalked forward and snatched him by the throat again.
Instead of pressing on his windpipe this time, he dug his claws into his sweaty neck flesh, drawing acid-green blood.
“Every word out of your mouth makes me want to feed you your own teeth!”
“A-apologies, my lord,” Jimmy rasped, but despite the subservient tone, Kesh saw the calculating expression in his eyes. “How can I atone? Surely, there is something I can offer the Prince of Demons in return for his mercy. Or, I suspect, I would already be dead, no…?”
Kesh narrowed his eyes to slits, his claws digging in a little deeper.
Jimmy winced but kept quiet. The shrewd fuck knew how to play the game all too well.
“Her contract. As you are well aware, unless she’s the one killing you, her contract will simply pass to your beneficiary upon your death.
So I will make you a onetime offer: resolve her contract immediately, and you will survive your punishment.
Resist, and you will die screaming as your own men fuck your entrails out of your bloodied, gaping asshole, and I will make your beneficiary the same offer. Do we have an agreement?”
“Your Highness drives a convincing bargain,” Jimmy rasped. “Ah, may I enquire as to what my punishment will be if— when —I comply? Surely, full cooperation will grant some leniency?—?”
“You will live. That is all you need to know.” Kesh released him from his grip once more and folded his arms across his chest, his magic billowing around him, itching for violence.
The cries from the whores still rang through the warehouse, making the image of Georgia strapped down in one of the claustrophobic booths dance for his inner eye.
He may have to let the pimp live, for now, but his punishment… Kesh was going to enjoy it.
“Right… right.” Jimmy rubbed at his neck, his acid blood coloring his fingers. “I’ll fetch the contract now.”
“You do that.” Kesh watched with narrowed eyes as he scarpered into the adjoining back room.
“It’ll just be a moment!” Jimmy called out from the backroom. The sounds of a filing cabinet getting yanked open and frantically rifled through followed.
The sharp sound of his phone’s ringtone made Kesh momentarily shift his focus from the pimp. He frowned when his father’s number showed on the display.
What in the world…? He never ca?—
Icy dread shot through his veins when he realized that the only reason his father had for calling him was if there was a problem with… with Georgia!
“What?” he snapped the second his thumb swiped over the answer-button. “Is she alright?”
“There’s been an attack. The goddess from Maine. She was here. She touched the Breeder ? —”
Everything inside Kesh went tight. Painful. There was nothing in existence but fear so powerful he didn’t know how he would be able to breathe. But he did. For her.
“I’m coming.”
Letting contract be contract, Kesh stormed out of Jimmy’s office, out of Hell, his only thought that if Georgia was hurt, nothing would matter ever again.