Page 6 of Prince of Demons (Demon’s Mark #2)

Georgia

W hen she came to, she was alone in the room.

Disoriented, Georgia blinked against the dull light from the singular bulb, the memory of the past few hours slow to return.

The second it did, horror followed.

She jerked upright, a small burst of relief that leather straps no longer tied her to the bench doing little to calm her.

The room seemed undisturbed, save for a bucket next to the bench. It took her a moment to gather its purpose.

Great. But why would she be spared the humiliation of having to use a grimy plastic bucket as a toilet? It wasn’t like the demon asshole who’d trapped her had held back on the indignities so far.

Her pants and underwear still lay carelessly tossed on the floor by the foot-end, but when she swung her legs over the edge to get them, something rubbed against her clit, sending a shock of sensation through her.

The ring.

Georgia hadn’t been very old when she’d realized that seeing monsters no one else could was upsetting to her mother, and so, she’d learned to hide her fear.

She wouldn’t scream when she saw the scaly demon driving the ice cream truck past her house that summer a couple of kids disappeared from the neighborhood, but she still lay awake at night, ever vigilant, in case he came to eat her and Larry, too.

It was only when she got older she realized that the demons roaming the world didn’t always look to murder their victims.

Biting her lip to keep the tears at bay, Georgia reached down to carefully spread her labia.

And there it sat. A small band of silvery metal encircled her still red and swollen clit, forced free of the hood. Entirely bared and unprotected.

This is what we want, Jimmy had said. Your helpless little cunt.

Staring at what he’d done to her, she did feel helpless. Whether or not that ring worked like he’d claimed it would, it was concrete proof that when it came down to it, there was nothing she could do to stop these monsters from abusing her however they saw fit.

Up until now, her only protection against them had been that they didn’t know she could see them for what they were. She would never be able to hide from them again.

But this was the cost of Larry’s life. She would pay it. And once he was safe… Somehow, she would find a way to escape. Whatever happened next, she wouldn’t give up hope, and she would get through it.

She would.

Moving stiffly, Georgia climbed off the bench and grabbed for her clothes.

The ring didn’t hurt like it had when he’d placed it on her, but there was no escaping the physicality of its firm grasp nor the twinges of too-much sensation against her abused clit.

Every step was a sharp reminder of what had been done to her. And what lay ahead.

Waiting for news on Larry—and what came after—was a special kind of torture.

The metallic clank of the door handle made Georgia jerk upright, a bolt of adrenaline pulling her from her quiet misery.In the seconds from the click of the door handle moving to the door swinging open, panic squeezed her lungs. She wasn’t ready for this. And what if…

What if they hadn’t been able to save him, after all?

One of the big goons stepped through the door. Irral, she was pretty sure.

“Is my brother okay?” She jumped down from the bench where she’d been sitting while she waited, forcing the question out despite her naked fear at the answer.

The demon grimaced, showing off sharp fangs. “Fuck your brother. Come with me, now.”

Georgia blinked. “What? No! That was the deal—you can’t do anything to me until he’s healed!”

He scoffed and stepped into the room, clawed hand outstretched to grab her.

She shrank back from him, eyes widening when it dawned on her that she had no way of forcing these monsters to stick to the contract.

They could tie her up in one of those awful booths, and there would be nothing she could do about it.

How could she have been so stupid to trust they’d honor their word?

“Breeder.” Irral’s voice was a low growl, frustration mixing with impatience.

But much to her surprise, he stopped his advance.

“If you don’t come with me, you’ll spend the rest of eternity with your legs spread, wishing your brother had never been born.

His death is nothing compared to what awaits you here. I promise you that.”

“Are you…” She frowned when it dawned on her what he was doing.

“You want to break me out of here? Now? Why? I thought—” She stopped as the memory of Jimmy telling Irral he’d get to have ‘a go’ with her flashed through her brain.

How he’d seemed perfectly okay with her fate.

“This is a trick? Is that it? You are going to lure me out of here so you can take what you want without your boss interfering?”

Irral bared his fangs in another grimace. “Of course not! You’re a Breeder. I may be Jimmy’s man, but what he’s got planned for you… It isn’t right. Your destiny is to birth us sons—not to lie bound on your back, servicing unworthy scum like a common whore.”

“And being a broodmare is better?” She didn’t try to keep the indignation, the horrified incredulity out of her voice.

“Yes.” He didn’t elaborate, but the look on his face as he stared at her made her swallow thickly. He might be a demon, he might be lying to her face for all she knew, but the tightness around his eyes suggested otherwise.

Georgia drew in a deep breath, trying to steady her reeling mind. She wanted to escape what Jimmy had in store for her more than almost anything. And no doubt, even if Irral planned to squirrel her away to breed her, escaping him would likely be easier than Jimmy. But…

“I can’t go with you until I know Larry will be okay. Perhaps after?—”

“Once he’s been healed, I won’t be able to get you out.

The second the contract’s complete, Jimmy owns you.

There is no escaping him after that. So we go— now —or you will have to stay here.

Forever.” Irral held out his hand toward her, his frightening features softening into something like a plea.

“Trust me when I tell you that no one is worth the fate that awaits your here, Breeder. Not even this brother of yours.”

Her pulse throbbed in her throat as she stared at his offered hand. She couldn’t choose her own life over her brother’s. It felt… so wrong to even contemplate it. But the horror creeping up her spine at the demon’s plea was hard to push down.

“Look, I am taking you to the Prince of Demons. He is the strongest of our kind on the Eastern Seaboard, and he will make sure you are protected. You can bargain with him for your sibling, if you must,” Irral said, urgency coloring his words. “But you cannot stay here. Come with me.”