The tightening in her gut climbed up to her throat, squeezing her windpipe. “No. That’s… That’s only supposed to be after I die! You can’t make me do this.”

“Now now,” Jimmy tooted. “It’s not so bad. You like sex, don’t you? Humans are usually so obsessed with it anyway, and if you are what he says you are… We’ll treat you like a princess. Don’t you want your brother healthy, hmm? Just look at Loyt here and tell me what you see.” He gestured to the big demon, the one who hadn’t opened the door for them.

Georgia hesitated, eyes flicking from Jimmy to Loyt. She’d sold herself in exchange for Larry’s life without hesitating. But she’d thought… She’d thought it’d be a gross, monthly transaction with a creepy but not too terrifying demon. Not forced prostitution to an endless horde of nightmarish creatures.

Did it matter?

If she did this, Larry would live. If she didn’t… He would die.

Since the day he’d been born, she’d known she’d protect her baby brother. No matter the cost.

She dug her nails into her palms and opened her mouth to describe the thick scales and brutish horns on the burly demon, but the same voice that had echoed in her head before she signed Lewin’s contract rang through her like someone had struck a gong.

Don’t. Don’tdon’tdon’t. Georgina. Notthis. Don’t.

Georgia blinked. Through the years, she’d come to think of that voice as her sixth sense. But it had only ever said the one word; don’t. Never more. Never her name.

And never with such panicked urgency.

“I… Don’t know what you mean,” she whispered. “I see a man.”

Jimmy sighed irritably. “Oh, you do, do you? Fine, if you don’t want to cooperate, you certainly don’t have to.” He snapped his fingers, and darkness rose from his yellow claws in a slowly twisting plume.

Georgia gasped and shrank back on instinct, but Lewin still held onto her shoulder, keeping her in place.

Jimmy gave her a nasty smile, and then the plume of dark energy began to float toward her like a thick trail of smoke.

“What are you doing?” she wheezed, eyes round and not leaving what she was pretty sure was some sort of black magic.

“Not to worry, princess. If you are what old Lewin claims, you won’t feel a thing,” the demon pimp purred. “Of course, if you aren’t… Well, then he gets to scrape his contracted whore off the floor in bits. And we’ll have a nice little chat about how you’ll pay what you owe me, won’t we, Lewin?”

“She’s the real deal,” Lewin growled, his hold becoming tighter as Georgia bucked against him, panic clawing at her throat as the plume brushed against her skin.

It was like being touched by slimy, temperate tendrils. Georgia shuddered and fought harder against Lewin to escape its unpleasant caress, but it vanished as instantly as it’d appeared.

Gasps sounded from both the burly bodyguards, one of them croaking out, “It’s true!”

“Oh, my.” There was no disguising the lecherous glee in Jimmy’s voice, nor the greed in his cold eyes roaming over her as if she were a particularly tasty piece of meat. “Consider your debts repaid in full, Lewin. It would seem you’ve managed to find me a Breeder.”

4

Georgia

A Breeder?

Georgia swallowed hard. Not exactly a classification she’d have loved on the best of days, but stuck in a demon brothel, the word twanged especially ominously down her spine.

“Look, I don’t know what you think’s going to happen here, but I can assure you I won’t be breeding with anyone of you,” Georgia snarled, somehow managing to sound a lot less terrified than she felt. “My contract was for fluids. With Lewin. Not some hell-beast pimp.”

Lewin snorted behind her, finally releasing his hold on her arms so he could trail a nicotine-yellowed finger down her cheek. Goosebumps of revulsion broke out all along her skin. “Humans. So… naïve. A bit of desperation, and you’re always ready to sign whatever gets put in front of you on blind faith alone.”

Georgia cringed away from his touch, but before she could put distance between herself and the asshole demon who’d tricked her, one of the big guys—Loyt—stepped forward and shoved Lewin off her, nostrils flared with anger.

“You’re not worthy of touching a Breeder,” he growled. “Get out.”

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?”