Текст книги "Prince of Demons"

Автор книги: Nora Ash

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18

Georgia

The second the demon disappeared out of view of the helicopter, the child in Georgia’s arms stopped trembling and looked up. “Is the mean man gone?”

Georgia gave her a small smile. “Yes, honey. The mean man’s gone for now. But don’t worry, I won’t let anyone hurt you. I’m Georgia. Can you tell me your name?”

“Suzanne.” She looked up at Georgia with big hazel eyes. “You saved me. I was so scared, but you saved me.”

“Of course I did,” Georgia said softly, brushing her long hair gently. “And once all those big, scary men are done fighting, we’re going to find your mama, okay? Can you tell me her name?”

Suzanne blinked up at her. “Mama.”

Sighing internally, Georgia smiled gently. “Okay, honey. How about your daddy? Or the street you live on?”

“There’s a swing in our front yard," Suzanne said brightly. Then she reached into the pocket of her dress and held out her clenched little fist to Georgia. “Here.”

Slightly surprised by the change in the girl’s focus, from crying for her mother to handing out pocket treasures, Georgia accepted the stone placed in her palm. It was a semi-opaque, milky-white crystal, roughly palm-sized and polished to a smooth oval shape. A faint glow seemed to emanate from within it.

“Oh, wow… That’s so pretty, sweetheart. Where did you get this? Don’t you want to keep it?” The stone felt warm in her hand, and she could almost make herself believe she felt a faint pulse from it against her skin.

Suzanne shook her head firmly and reached out to close Georgia’s fingers around the gem with surprising strength, her voice taking on an odd, grown-up tone. “It was meant for you, Georgia.”

“That’s so sweet of you, but I’m sure whoever gave this to you would want you to keep…” Georgia’s voice trailed off as the kid’s bottom lip began to tremble, her already large eyes growing wider and sadder.

“It’s for you. Don’t you like it?” Suzanne sniffled, tears seemingly summoned out of thin air threatening to spill down her cheeks.

“No, no, of course I do. I love it,” Georgia hurriedly said, slipping the odd stone into her pocket to placate the traumatized child. It looked way too valuable for a child to be handing out to strangers, but hopefully she could discreetly slip it back to her mother, if they managed to find the woman alive. When. When they found her. “Thank you so much—it’s so sweet of you to give it to me.”

Mollified, Suzanne cuddled up closer against her.

Georgia sighed softly and held the girl against her chest, automatically rocking her gently on her lap. The feeling of her in her arms reminded her of holding Larry like this when he was small. She'd still been a kid herself, but the memory of that overpowering love she'd felt for her brother since the day he was born made her smile softly into Suzanne's dirty-blonde hair. All this—the fear, the demons... the prospect of birthing demon offspring? It was all worth it because, thanks to Prince Kesh, Larry got to live a full life. And she’d make sure Suzanne did, too. As much as she could, after witnessing something as traumatizing as a demonic battle horde descending upon her sleepy town.

"I'm so sorry you had to see all this," she whispered to the girl snuggling against her, as she ran her fingers soothingly through her hair. “You must have been so scared. But don’t worry, we’ll find your mama, and everything will be alright.”

Georgia knew she shouldn’t be making promises she wasn’t sure she could keep, but the weight of the trusting child nestled against her made iron will rise along her spine. Whatever it took, she would make things alright for this girl. Demons had ruled her nightmares since she was younger than Suzanne—she wasn’t about to let them ruin this little girl’s life, too.

She sat in silence with her arms around Suzanne for what felt like hours. The sounds of battle quieted to eerie silence, broken only by rough shouts now and then.

The slow, even breathing from the little girl on her lap made her assume she’d fallen asleep from the trauma weighing on her young mind, but when she suddenly popped her head up, her wide, fearful eyes were alert and free from the drowsiness of sleep.

“Don’t let him hurt me.”

Georgia frowned at the pleading tone, tightening her arms with the instinct to protect the small child. “Don’t let who hurt you, baby?”

Before Suzanne could respond, the sound of heavy footfalls reached them from outside the helicopter. Georgia stiffened, twisting her head toward the window just in time to see the horned prince rip open the door and jump in.

He looked pissed.

Covered in blood and soot and chunks Georgia had no desire to study closer, he glared down at her clutching Suzanne tight. Even with the huge sword sheathed on his back, he still looked every ounce the demon warrior, and she couldn’t fault Suzanne for whimpering with fear and pressing closer into Georgia’s embrace, despite the girl not being able to see his monstrous features.

“What. Is. That?” He pointed at Suzanne’s cowering form. “I told you not to leave the fucking helicopter! Where did that come from?!”

“She can’t find her mother,” Georgia said, twisting her body to shield the girl from the prince’s angry stare. “I couldn’t leave her out there—she would have gotten hurt.”

Kesh’s black eyes widened with outrage. “And so you thought disobeying my orders and putting yourself at risk was the smart thing to do? Don’t answer that. Of course you did. You haven’t seen a wretch you wouldn’t martyr yourself for in a second, have you?” He scrubbed a large, clawed hand over his face. “I don’t have the fucking energy for this. Get rid of her—I need to get you home before you leap in front of a train to save a rat.”

“I can’t just leave her. She’s too young—I need to find her mother.” Despite the waver in her voice in the face of the prince’s clear agitation, she set her chin in defiance. “Is it safe out? I’ll be quick. You can wait here⁠—”

The metallic clang as Kesh’s meaty hand slammed against the side of the helicopter made both her and Suzanne jump, and she clamped her jaw shut.

“Are you insane? Do you not understand that I would rather fucking die than see you hurt, you insufferable human! No, you don’t get to fuck off on your own, like some idiot with a death wish! Now get rid of the girl, or I will do it for you.”

The prince’s anger was a near-tangible thing, the scent of aggression in the air thick on her tongue. Every instinct in her screamed to cower and obey, before his fury became violent. But she couldn’t do that. Not when a small, defenseless child needed her. “Please. I… I can’t leave her before I’ve found her mother.” She covered Suzanne’s ears. “Please, Kesh. I… I’ll make you another bargain. Just don’t make me leave her to die.”

The prince narrowed his eyes to slits. “You’ll make me another bargain?” he repeated, something akin to disgust in his voice. “And what do you have left to sell, little one? I already own you. That’s the problem with sacrificing a piece of yourself every time your heart bleeds. Very swiftly, you run out of assets to trade.”

Georgia swallowed thickly, the truth of his words making her gut tighten. “I…” She paused. He was right. For Larry, she’d bargained her body first, then her compliance. For the nameless woman in the abandoned building, she’d traded her energy. She opened her mouth to offer him the same for Suzanne, but his angry glare made her think better of it. She’d have to offer him something he couldn’t get elsewhere. Something he couldn’t just demand from her, either. Something he needed but would never think to ask for.

She looked up at him, at his battle-worn armor and streaks of dirt and blood littering his scaly skin. The idea struck like lightning—preposterous and obscene, but… if there was one thing a prince of demons wouldn’t think to ask for…

“I’ll take care of you,” she whispered.

“Excuse me?”

“I’ll take care of you,” she repeated, more conviction in her voice now that he hadn’t immediately dismissed it. “You’ve fought. You’re injured. Tired. When we return to your home, I’ll take care of you. I’ll bathe you, dress your wounds if they need it… Help you relax. And if you need to consume more energy, well…”

The prince stared silently at her, his expression unreadable, and her gut tightened with panic, certain he’d deny her request.

“If you make me leave her alone and defenseless, I’ll never forgive you.”

She wasn’t sure what part of her had the audacity to snarl a toothless threat at the monster—possibly wherever blind desperation was stored—but it made Kesh arch an eye-ridge.

“You’ll never forgive me?” he repeated slowly, as if he couldn’t quite comprehend the ridiculousness of her threat.

Despair wormed its way through Georgia’s desperate fury at his disregard for a child’s life, but pleading had gotten her nowhere. She clung to her anger, jaw set tightly as she glared back at him. “Never,” she echoed.

Kesh held her gaze for another uneasy heartbeat. Then he huffed what could have been a laugh but entirely lacked the mirth and jumped back out of the helicopter. “Fine. Get the girl. But, little Breeder, once she’s been deposited with her own kind, I’m gonna collect on your bargain. And I don’t think you’ll enjoy it.”

19

Kesh

Forgiveness.

He'd made a lot of bargains with humans over the years. Not one had ever had the audacity to try to trade him their forgiveness, as if a demon would have even the slightest interest in such a ridiculous concept.

And yet…

He glared at the Breeder out of the corner of his eye as she walked by his side, the little spawnling on her hip. The creature was too heavy for Georgia to carry comfortably, but she refused to let it walk across the crumbling sidewalks on its own perfectly functioning legs.

He didn't care about her forgiveness. She wasn't his and would be out of his hair soon enough, off to breed some other unlucky bastard sons. He had no need to make her sweet on him.

But…

An image of Georgia flooded his mind. One of her clutching the child protectively, in defiance of his demand to abandon her. He clenched his hand to tamp down the roil of emotion attempting to force its way up his esophagus.

She will be a ferocious mother.

She was going to be the kind of mother who’d move heaven and earth for her children. And as much as it infuriated him that she kept fucking sacrificing herself for anyone and anything that crossed her path, in that one moment, when she'd looked up at him with fearful defiance, she reminded him of what he’d never had.

He forced down the ache of unwanted memories. Georgia was a Breeder, like his mother had been, but if he started confabulating the two, this wouldn't end well. Not for him, not for her, and certainly not for the kingdom his brother needed him to focus on defending.

“How much farther?” he growled. Not that Georgia could answer—she had as little knowledge of the location of the child’s home as he did, but annoyance at this ridiculous venture of returning the spawnling to her parents was far better than letting himself get dragged under by thoughts of his mother. There was every chance the kid’s mother was one of the humans who didn’t make it through the stray blasts that hit the populated areas. And then what? He highly-fucking-doubted Miss ‘Can’t-Abandon-A-Child’ was going to accept the reality that this kid was a lost cause. And he was not bringing home a human child to raise as a fucking pet. Not fucking happening.

He glared at the small girl, anger already boiling at the thought of the fuss Georgia was going to kick up if the kid’s mother was dead. Why couldn’t she just have perished on the battlefield? What kind of human child survives a demon battle just long enough to make his life difficult? He’d never been fond of human spawn anyway, but this particular child made his fingers itch with violence. She had her face buried in Georgia’s shoulder, refusing to meet his gaze, but there was something about her that just… made him want to snap her frail little neck.

Only the thought of having to deal with Georgia’s inevitable meltdown, were he to follow that urge, made him clench his hands by his sides, tempering the impulse.

“Do any of these houses look familiar, baby?” Georgia cooed at the child on her hip.

The girl twisted her neck to look at the houses. After a moment’s contemplation, she pointed a finger at the yellow-painted door of a relatively unscathed home. “That one.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful! Your mama’s gonna be so happy to see you!” Georgia chirped, relief plain in her voice as she immediately changed direction to head up the garden path.

“Wait.” He clasped a hand to her shoulder and pulled her and the child behind him. “There’s enough magic restraints on this village to make humans… unstable. I don’t want you face to face with one before I can ensure they’re not a threat.”

“What do you mean ‘magic restraints’?” she asked, and only then did he realize he’d justified his actions to her, clearly giving her the impression she could ask fucking questions. Fuck’s sake.

He briefly considered telling her to pipe down and just follow orders, but he really couldn't be arsed with the inevitable flood of guilt and other squishy, uncomfortable emotions he knew she'd cause with that frightened-yet-stubborn look he'd already learned to loathe. Fucking Breeders.

“Lord Aran had the wherewithal to cloak the village in restraining magic before the battle began. It keeps the humans docile and mostly unaware of what’s going on around them, so we don’t suddenly have the human military attempting to intervene, or clips of magic spreading on the Internet. It’s standard procedure when we have to break our human disguise on a larger scale.”

“Oh.” She gave him an uncertain look as she instinctively clutched the child closer. “And Suzanne… Is she also under this influence?”

He eyed the spawnling, who still had her face buried against Georgia’s shoulder, refusing to look at him. “Yes. But it wouldn’t hurt to give her an extra dose, seeing how she was apparently wandering around in the middle of the battlefield.”

Despite his reluctance to touch the grimy kid, he reached out to press two fingers to her temple, to ensure his magic laser-focused on her feeble little mind. But Georgia took a half-step back, mouth already open to protest.

“I’m not going to harm her,” he growled, irritable and ready to be done with this whole farce. “What do you think is best for her—mild confusion and a long nap, or the risk of real memories surfacing in a couple of days, causing a lifetime of trauma?” He didn't give a shit if the kid had a psychological breakdown, but judging from Georgia’s softened stance, presenting it as being in the child’s best interest did the trick.

Human religion spoke a lot of the sins that could lead them astray: Greed. Lust. Envy. And sure, more than one hapless human had signed a bargain with him over the years, motivated by mortal sin. But their real weakness? The easiest thing to exploit?

A tender heart.

No doubt Georgia had been manipulated and exploited for hers plenty before she ever met him.

“Let’s get you back to your mama,” Georgia whispered softly to the child clutching onto her for dear life. Then she nodded to Kesh.

The kid stiffened noticeably when his fingers connected with her temple. A wave of revulsion ran through him, and a snarl curved his lip, but the look of hesitant trust on Georgia’s face made him reluctantly temper it down. Ignoring the urge to unleash a blast of dark magic strong enough to splinter the pitiful thing’s skull, he sent a single thread into her brain, carefully calibrated not to cause harm.

A strange, slimy sensation crawled up his fingers and into his arm, but Suzanne went instantly lax. Out cold.

“Is she okay?” Georgia asked anxiously.

“I already told you she would be,” he growled, irritable from the lingering buzz of discomfort in his fingertips. Without another word, he stalked up to the front door and gave it a hard rap of his knuckles.

A moment later, a woman opened the door. Her eyes were glazed with the effect of Aran’s magic. She stared dumbly up at him, mouth half agape. Thankfully docile.

“We found your child.” He took a half-step to the side, allowing Georgia to come forward with the sleeping Suzanne in her arms. “Take better care not to lose her again.”

“My child?” the woman repeated slowly. “I don’t have a child.”

Georgia gave him an alarmed look. “How can she not remember her child?” she whispered, tightening her arms around the sleeping girl. “We can’t leave Suzanne with a woman who’s so drugged on magic she can’t even remember her own daughter.”

Kesh narrowed his eyes at her, already sensing where this was headed. “She’s not a fucking pet. You’re not keeping her,” he growled under his breath. Forcing down the disgust at touching the child, he reached out and easily plucked her from Georgia’s arms before shoving her into her mother’s. The woman automatically held the sleeping girl against her, blinking stupidly up at Kesh.

“That’s your daughter. Her name’s Suzanne. You will care for her and make sure she doesn’t wander off again.” He followed the command with a push of magic.

The woman looked down at the child, surprise and delight weaving through dazed confusion. “Suzanne, where have you been? Come, baby, let’s get you to bed.” Without another look at either Kesh or Georgia, she turned around and disappeared into her home, the sleeping girl safe in her arms.

“There.” Kesh placed a hand on Georgia’s shoulder. The sensation of her body under his palm sent a buzz of pleasure through his skin, washing away the remnants of disgust from touching Suzanne. “The kid is with her mother. My end of the bargain has been fulfilled. And now, little Breeder... Now it’s your turn to keep yours.

20

Georgia

The ride back to Prince Kesh’s penthouse was tense.

The knowledge that she would be performing her end of the bargain once they landed had tension knotting in her stomach, not helped by the hard glare the prince had given her before he focused his attention on piloting the helicopter.

Thankfully, the loud thrumming from the machine made conversation impossible, so she didn’t have to begin buttering him up just yet—nor talk with his second in command.

Mallorn hadn’t stopped staring at her since they returned to the helicopter, his expression something between reverence and an uncomfortable dose of raw lust. All in all, Georgia was more than happy to spend the helicopter ride with nothing but machine noises filling the silence.

When the prince put the helicopter down on the roof of his penthouse, darkness had long since fallen, and Georgia’s stomach was twisting with hunger—a feat she hadn’t thought possible only this morning, when the demon lord had force-fed her until she was full to bursting.

The moment Kesh cut the helicopter’s engine, a particularly loud rumble made Georgia press a hand to her stomach.

“You’re hungry,” Mallorn said, with an urgency suggesting this was the greatest crisis ever to arise in his lifetime. He got to his feet and placed a clawed hand on her arm, which made her tense on instinct. “Come, little one. Let me feed you.”

“Mallorn.” The prince’s snarl rumbled through the air, low and threatening.

“When did she last eat?” Mallorn countered, an air of outrage to his voice as if forgetting to feed the human during an honest-to-god battle was entirely unacceptable. “Humans are frail, especially the females. They need nourishment several times a day.”

Kesh’s eyes widened at his subordinate’s challenge, then narrowed. Mallorn must have been able to see the impending storm coming too, because he quickly softened his tone. “Look, you have a war to win and a territory to run. It’s understandable that details like feeding the Breeder will slip your mind from time to time. Let me take over her care. I’m much more accustomed to human companions than you.”

“No!” The word was out of her mouth before she could process why the thought of being alone with Mallorn seemed infinitely more terrifying than being under the prince’s dubious care. They were both monsters—it shouldn’t matter which of them was in charge of her, because both scenarios were nightmarish.

Mallorn gave her a wounded look that was almost comical on his demonic features, and a twinge of guilt weaved its way through her gut.

“I—I’m sorry, I⁠—”

“Enough!” The prince gave her a glare that made her mouth clamp shut before she could finish her stuttered apology. Seemingly content with her swift obedience, he turned his glare to Mallorn. “The Breeder is mine to care for. Mine. Get your hand off her, and don’t ever challenge me on this matter again.”

Mallorn’s face stiffened, and from the tension in the air, Georgia got the distinct impression something significant had just shifted between the two males.

“As you command, my prince,” Mallorn said stiffly, bowing his head as he took a step back, removing his hand from her arm.

“Brief my brother on what transpired in Maine, and make sure our men are taken care of. I will debrief them tomorrow, once I’ve had a chance to talk with Kain myself.” Shifting his attention to her, Kesh flicked two fingers—a command to come to him. As if she were a dog. “Let’s go, Breeder. You need to eat—and then, you have a bargain to fulfill.”

Georgia stepped toward him, managing not to wince when he put an oversized hand on her shoulder and began steering her toward the stairs leading from the roof of the building to his penthouse below. As the door closed behind them, she glanced back over her shoulder. Mallorn still stood by the helicopter, watching them with burning eyes. His hands were clenched into fists by his sides.

The prince didn’t force-feed her this time. Not that it made the experience of eating under his watchful glare particularly more pleasant.

It wasn’t that he’d displayed a delightful temperament up until now, but he seemed in a worse mood than ever as he stared at her eating the leftovers from that morning. Nostrils flaring when she swallowed a bite, sharp claws drumming dangerously against the countertop when she took breaks, but he stayed silent. Silent and broody.

“So… why did the European demons attack a fishing village in Maine…?” she finally asked, when she couldn’t take the looming silence any longer.

Kesh’s glare turned even darker, which she hadn't thought was possible, and she instantly wished she’d stayed quiet. But much to her surprise, after a moment, he said, “Their crown prince attempted to steal my brother’s mate. He had to make sure she’d be safe, so he killed the European prince and took control of the Americas from them. They were… displeased. They’ve been poking at our defenses ever since, looking for weaknesses. It won’t be long before they launch an all-out war.” He gave her another look through narrowed eyes. “Which is what I should be focusing on. Not babysitting you.”

Georgia didn’t point out that she’d be happy to get out of his hair if he wanted to release her from their bargain—she’d tried that once before, and right now seemed to very much not be the right time to push that point.

“I… guess I can understand why that would be frustrating,” she said instead.

Kesh raised an eyebrow at her. “You’re not apologizing? That’s a first.”

She blinked. “Um… I’m sorr⁠—”

He interrupted her with a curl of his lip, showing a hint of fangs. “No. Don’t you fucking dare. Why does it take so little for you to prostrate yourself?”

“I thought you wanted me to…” She trailed off, heat rising in her cheeks as his stare made her think about his question. “I… I don’t know,” she admitted softly. “I just don’t like upsetting people.”

“You’re a doormat,” he said, voice cold and dismissive. “You’ve spent your life making yourself as small and inoffensive as possible, and what has that gotten you? Nothing. Less than nothing.”

“You don’t know me or my life,” she protested, a hint of anger worming its way through her innate fear of the demon.

“Oh, but I do,” he huffed, a disgusted look on his harrowing face. “You were the quiet girl growing up, always doing what was expected of you, but never claiming the spotlight when you excelled at anything, right? Wouldn’t want anyone to think you were too proud, or thought yourself better than them. And you were praised for it, weren’t you? Little Georgia, always putting others first. So self-sacrificing. Such a saint. Such a nice girl.

“And here you are, fully grown, and you still haven’t fucking clocked on that while you were busy putting yourself last, everyone else put you last as well. I don’t have to know your life to know that you’re so used to being taken advantage of, you wouldn’t feel safe unless you were somehow sacrificing for others.”

“You don’t…” Georgia opened her mouth to rebut his harsh characterization of her with another assertion that he didn’t know her or her life, but her voice died as his words sank deep underneath her skin, burrowing into the most vulnerable parts. Memories flooded through her mind—going without dinner now and then as a young teen, when Mom was struggling as a single parent and there wasn’t money to put food on the table for everyone. Mom had to have energy to work, and Larry was a growing boy. So she’d gone to bed hungry. Sacrificing her GPA to work more hours as an older teen, so she could contribute to the household. Walking to work for months, because Mom suggested the single mother living next door needed the rundown old beater she’d managed to scrape and save for more than Georgia did herself. Not taking that art scholarship to an out-of-state college, because that would have left Mom and Larry to fend for themselves.

Memory after memory flickered through her brain. She’d never questioned it—the habit of stepping aside for others who might have more need—and she couldn’t deny the stab in her gut at the prince’s derisive tone as he called her a nice girl.

“Well, excuse me for being a good person,” she finally huffed. “I’m sure the concept is alien to a demon, but it’s a basic, vital part of humanity. We can’t all be self-absorbed assholes. I was raised this way. I’ve done nothing the rest of my family wouldn’t do in a heartbeat, and I almost pity you that you’ll never know what it's like to have people you would do anything for.”

Kesh only snorted at her defensive tone. “Oh, I’m sure your people would definitely sacrifice themselves for you if only they got a chance… But wait! Why were you the one bargaining your body to save your brother’s life? Why didn’t he seek one of us out? Why didn’t his mother? His father?”

Two hot spots bloomed on her cheeks with anger at his persistence. “Because I’m the only one who can see you. They don’t know you exist.”

“No?” The prince raised his eyebrows in mock surprise. “So when you were a little girl and cried whenever you saw a monster, what would they do?”

“They’d…” She hesitated, the heat in her cheeks intensifying. “I was a child. What were they supposed to think? That demons were real, but their daughter was the only one who could see them?”

“So they dismissed us as figments of your imagination?”

“Of course they did. Like I’m sure most sane parents would,” she snapped. She wasn’t aware she’d wrapped her arms around herself until she saw the demon’s dark gaze dip to take in the protective gesture.

“And when you grew older and still saw us…? They had you speak to a psychiatrist? Like most sane parents would?”

The way his dark eyes taunted her, she knew he already knew the answer to that. She just glared at him.

“Well?” he pushed. Forcing her to say the words.

“No.” It came out like a soft whisper—not at all as assertive and unbothered as she could have wished.

“Tell me, then. What did your supportive family do? You know, the people who would sacrifice for you, just like you have for them.”

“We didn’t have that kind of money. And Larry was still little and needed a lot of attention.”

“Georgia,” he interrupted her, voice sharpening as he crossed his arms over her chest and speared her with a look that made her lungs tighten. “What happened when you told them you were still seeing monsters?”

“I… had a new P.E. teacher. A demon. He was… mean. Scary. I told my mom I didn’t want to go to class. She asked why. I told her he was a monster.” She exhaled softly as the echo of terror from that moment reverberated through her. “She… didn’t have the capacity to deal with it. She and Larry’s dad were going through a rough patch, and…”

“What happened, Georgia?” Kesh repeated, his voice as commanding as before, if perhaps a fraction softer.

Why was this so hard to say? She understood why her mom hadn’t been able to deal with it. And it was so long ago. So why did admitting out loud what had happened when she went to her mother for help still hurt? “She… told me I was too old to believe in boogeymen. And that she didn’t have the energy to deal with my drama. That if I didn’t like P.E. to eat less candy and start jogging. And to never bother her with it again.”

“And let me guess—you never did?” he asked. He spoke more softly than before, but something in those dark eyes made the hair at the back of her neck stand on end.

Wordlessly, she shook her head, eyes lowering from the intensity of his stare. Her skin prickled, something numb and unpleasant stirring in her gut at the opening of old wounds. Mom had done the best she could with what she had. Georgia knew that.

But it still hurt to remember.

“How old were you?”

“Eight,” she said softly.

Silence fell between them. Though she didn’t look up, she could still feel his eyes on her. Feel the judgment in them.

“She really trained you well, didn’t she?” he said quietly. Disgust laced every word. “Taught you that your pain and fear mean nothing if they get in the way of her convenience. Or, let me guess, in the way of her Golden Child? I think you know, deep down, that even if she’d believed in our existence, she wouldn’t have sacrificed herself for your brother’s life. She’d have expected you to do it. Just like you’ve been trained to do.”

“That’s not true!” Georgia glared up at him, anger and hurt giving her the strength to meet his disturbing eyes again. “She gave up everything for me and Larry. She wasn’t perfect, but at least she stuck around. That’s a hell of a lot better than what my dad did. And why do you even care? What is my upbringing to you? Didn’t you say you had a war to focus on, rather than the massive inconvenience that is me?”