Blood Lust (The Blood Sisters Book 1)

by Jill Cooper

The hallway was narrow, with dark walls covered in frayed Harley posters and a few pinup models. A wooden slat table took up space on one side, topped with a bronze lamp. The shade had been lost some time ago and now its light was cast brashly on a collection of weapons. Mike picked up the semi-automatic rifle, and slung its strap over his shoulder.

  A favor done, was he ready to move on already? Duncan had hoped Mike would stay and see them through the coming storm.

  Duncan crossed his arms, unable to get a read on him. Mike’s face was set like stone and if he felt anything at all for Gwen’s condition, it didn’t show. “Well?”

  “It’s got her hard,” Mike’s eyes gazed past, Duncan, to stare at the door where Gwen was. “Twisting her like a tree root. The longer it is inside of her, the larger the roots become. Harder it will be to get it out.”

  “Can you do it? Can you exorcise her while we do this thing to get Amanda back?”

  “With time. Days. Weeks,” Mike wiped his mouth clean of spit and gazed back at Duncan. “It might kill her. Might kill me too, kid. That beast in her isn’t a lower demon. It’s strong. I fear it might be one from Lourdes’s inner circle. Her best bet—” His voice trailed off with grief lingering around his words.

  “Amanda,” Duncan whispered.

  Mike gave a slow nod. “It’s her only hope. It’s our only hope, Duncan. But if Amanda is damaged by Vaughn…you need to get her out and it needs to be now or we might never get her back the way we remember her.” He gripped Duncan’s arm.

  And without Amanda, the world might as well stop turning, that’s how Duncan felt. Without the good that she possessed…The thought of Amanda being harmed by Vaughn made Duncan feel physically sick. He tried to center himself, forget how much he cared about her. Mission, Duncan had to work the mission. He couldn’t let his feelings get in the way of rescuing her.

  Mike’s voice was soft and compassionate. “Make the call. Setup the exchange for Amanda’s life with Vaughn. And then maybe we can all make it another day.”

  Another day. Another week. Was that all there was hope for?

  Duncan would take it one thing at a time. First rescue Amanda, then worry about Lourdes. Then worry about Jessica, but to know where Jessica was and not act—

  “She’d kill you if you went after her before you save Amanda.” Mike gave a sly grin as he headed toward the main level stairs. It had been years since Father Mike had seen the Blood sisters, but Duncan knew just what an impression Jessica could make on someone. She made a damn impression.

  Burning right on his soul. One you never forgot no matter how long you lived.

  The Bloods were special. The best. Didn’t deserve their hellish life. “Will you be there, Father?” Duncan asked, his hands clenched together. “Will you ride with us?”

  Mike edged the door open and turned so Duncan could see his profile; at how strongly his jaw was set. He didn’t respond, didn’t need to. He was ready. He’d be there.

  Duncan couldn’t think of a more powerful ally to face a legion of angry demons. It was time to set things in motion, time to get Amanda back.

  25: Jessica

  Jessica had been fifteen-years-old when Aunt Gwen finally revealed herself. She came to get them out of the system, barely in time to save their lives. It had been three weeks, but still the bruises on Jessica’s face hadn’t finished healing. Her spirit so worn that even the bounce in her curls had faded.

  In the bathroom, the water ran from the tap and Jessica gripped the sink. The mirror reflected the hot tears stinging her eyes. A sob that hurt so bad was stuck in her chest, though she was desperate for it to be free.

  A knock at the door interrupted her sorrow. “Jessica, it’s time to move.” It was Aunt Gwen’s voice, someone Jessica was supposed to trust, but didn’t yet.

  Jessica wiped her face, but it was red and splotchy. Gwen opened the door and studied her. Embarrassed, Jessica edged away to hide.

  “What’s the matter? It’s time to go, didn’t you hear me?”

  “Those people,” Jessica scrunched up her face. “All those people at school, they think I’m a…murderer. They think I killed my parents. That I like doing…” Jessica slapped her jeans and wasn’t sure how to put her rap sheet into words. “…what I do.”

  Aunt Gwen sighed and took in the sight of her. “I see. So the words of these strangers, you take them to heart?” She sucked on her bottom lip. “As I see it, you’ve been keeping your sister safe for two years. You’ve done what you needed to do, and that is nothing to cry about. There’s no shame in that, Jessica Blood. They can’t know what we know. It keeps them safe, but it also means we’ll never have their respect.”

  Jessica nodded, her heart sinking even further.

  “You’ll always be different, hmm? Is that it?” Gwen pushed Jessica’s hair off her shoulders, but stopped short of wiping her tears, of hugging her. “You’re young, I know. I’m sorry this life came at you so early, but I’ll teach you the one thing I failed teaching my brother.”

  Her father. Dad. Jessica almost cried on the spot, but she had a feeling Aunt Gwen wouldn’t like that very much. So she sucked it back; she had to learn to be tough. “What’s that, Aunt Gwen?”

  Her lip twitched in a half smile. “How to fight. Now let’s go. There're lives we have to save and we have to keep on the move if we’re to protect Amanda, don’t we? Let’s not waste time shedding tears for the dead.”

  Jessica nodded and followed her out of the bathroom. “Where is she anyway?”

  Gwen snorted. “Probably off healing a puppy. That sister of yours…”

  The memory faded and all that of Aunt Gwen with it. Jessica had been betrayed by the woman who had taken her under her wing, taught her everything she needed to know. Now she was trapped in the mouth of hell and without help, she might never escape its vengeful wrath.

  Jessica swayed to the side as her leather jacket was ripped off her arms. The demons threw her to the ground and she landed in a puddle of water, which had formed by drops from the rocks. The pain traveled up her face and took her mind off her aching back and ribs. The demons assaulted her, beat her, but she wasn’t going to give them the satisfaction of a moan.

  Or a groan.

  It was as if her flesh was being torn from her body. Weak, tired, Jessica didn’t have much fight left in her. The only thing keeping her sane was the thought of Amanda. If she didn’t get out of here, if she didn’t manage to stay alive long enough to figure this thing out, Amanda would be dead

  .

  Her sister dead? Never. Jessica wouldn’t allow it, still her bones ached for comfort. Her limbs shook under the muscle strain of merely surviving.

  The demons wouldn’t leave her alone. They pawed at her like she was a piece of meat, cuffing her to chains anchored to the stone wall. Jessica bit her lip and drew blood to keep from calling out in pain, for mercy, something. Collapsed on the ground with her arms stretched above her head, she didn’t say or do anything.

  One of the demons headed to the rear of the cavern, toward a spoke wheel rigged up to her chains. Jessica laid her head against her shoulder, ignoring the racing pain in her arms as the demon spun the wheel. Slowly, the chains started to retreat further up the stone wall, Bringing Jessica up to her feet.

  No matter how her legs called out in pain, she had no choice but to stand, no choice but to go up on tiptoe. It was that or her limbs would be torn from their sockets; that was a pain Jessica knew she couldn’t tolerate.

  She winced as the wheel turned one more time, the chains clanking together, the tips of her boots lifting just off the cavern floor. Jessica leaned her head against the cool chain, trying to block out how the room spun. The tension on her arms made them tingle and she couldn’t draw a deep enough breath to sustain herself.

  Not while she was strung up like laundry. Her lungs were on fire begging for a full dose of oxygen, in order to get one, Jessica needed to pull herself up. Already her arms were tired.

  It was impossible. J
essica couldn’t get free from this. Who was she, Wonder Woman?

  I’m sorry, Amanda. I’m so sorry.

  All she had promised, empty. All their secret whispers and hushed talks for nothing. Everything they had survived, Jessica couldn’t grasp how it had come to this. Amanda deserved to go free, didn’t she? She didn’t deserve to suffer.

  To think, Jessica had thought she might get the happiness she craved. To go off with Duncan, even if it was for only a little while—when had Jessica become a fool?

  The demons picked something up and Jessica was too terrified to look. Her chin wobbled and her heart pounded with fury in her ears. Temperature up, the suspense was almost too much, but there it was.

  A strike from a wooden plank against her bare exposed back. Jessica sucked in her breath, and hung onto her chains as she swayed back and forth. Count sheep, count something. Anything to keep her mind off of the pain—

  Flogged from the front, a whack on her stomach and it sent her soaring backward. The air was forced from her lungs and Jessica’s vision spun, images of Amanda flashed in her mind; young, perfect, and naïve in a sweet floral dress.

  How could Jessica give up on her?

  Jessica’s breath caught in her throat as the demon behind her caught her by the waist band of her jeans. He shoved her forward and her body swung toward the demon at the front who like a coward, clocked her across the jaw.

  Her nose scrunched and her head snapped backward. Blood sprayed and filled her mouth, warm, salty. Jessica spat it out at the demon because there was nowhere else for it to go. Still, covering him in her blood brought her slight satisfaction.

  He grunted, as if she acted in defiance, grabbing her by the waist, yanking her close. Pain raced up her arms, her fingers tingled and Jessica’s gasp echoed in the chamber. “Want to beg for your life? “the demon demanded.

  Jessica’s lip curled, with as much hate as she could muster, she answered. “Go to hell.”

  But her energy was waning. Her spirit wanted to give up, Jessica was hanging on by her fingernails.

  “We’re already there, sweetheart.” The demon laughed and let her body go.

  Thankful for the relief, Jessica took a deep breath, able to freely breathe again. A small reprieve was better than no reprieve. “Why don’t you unhook me and we’ll see what you can do in a fair fight?”

  The demons glanced at each other then laughed. Jessica’s temper fumed and she struggled to keep her composure. “Cowards,” she hissed, grabbing the chains and pulling herself up. Her shoulders were in agony, but it made her arms sing, thankful for the small break.

  Jessica’s ears picked up a noise from behind. She turned her head towards it, as a whip crackled through the air and landed on her back. The skin split open and it burned, it burned so badly, Jessica dropped her chains. Another lash split her back open and she groaned without meaning to.

  “Did we say you could pull yourself up like that?”

  The whip flew again. Flashes of bright color filled her vision and Jessica wasn’t sure she was still conscious. Her body was floating, almost as if she wasn’t in her body at all anymore. A vibration, a knocking?

  Something pinched her face and Jessica’s eyes snapped back open. Her heart was racing and she gasped for breath. A woman smiled at her, with dark, pure black eyes. Her skin was olive colored, like a cup of coffee with cream, her hair a spiral mess; resembling thorns. Horns grew through the jumbled thicket, green and pointy at the top.

  But somehow she was beautiful. Her skin was perfect and smooth, her cheekbones high and elegant. There was something regal about her that dared you to defy her. Like a hologram card that changed as you tilted it, she was between beauty and evil.

  This was Lourdes. The woman Jessica had been waiting to see, but now she shook in her presence. This could be the end of her, the end everything the Bloods stood for, and there was no way out.

  Mom’s dying face flashed in Jessica’s mind. “Keep her safe, Jessie. Protect Amanda.”

  She tried, oh God, how Jessica tried.

  “That’s better.” Lourdes’s head tilted to the side with a smile. Her hand stroked Jessica’s face; the touch chilled Jessica with a shiver. “It’s been a long time coming, Jessica Blood.” Her posture was rigid, a like royalty, as she walked behind Jessica, the train of her black dress flowing along the ground behind her.

  Tormented, screaming faces were engraved in the fabric. They changed and shifted. Jessica saw many faces and it stilled her heart. Was that her fate? Was that what was in store for her if she didn’t find a way out of this mess?

  Duncan…. Jessica tilted her head up to the cavern’s ceiling. If only he could find her, maybe together they could—could what? Overthrow the underworld? Jessica was kidding herself. Her hope, no, there was no more hope. There was only….

  Lourdes ripped the back of Jessica’s shirt. She gasped at the sight of Jessica’s back, taking in her bruises and age-old scars. “Suffering. You’ve suffered so much, Jessica. And for what, to protect your sister?” She dragged the words out like they were vile.

  Jessica steeled herself, and biting her lip, refused to let Lourdes’s words sway her. They would be lies. All of them, nothing she said would be the truth. She shuddered as Lourdes’s sharp fingernails traced down her back. They raked across sensitive skin, thanks to the lashes she received, and she trembled. The strain of staying in control caused Jessica’s limbs to quake under the pressure.

  Lourdes let out a deep long breath. “So many tattoos. So many of my fallen soldiers represented here. The different clans, different warriors, and for what? So your sister could be free? She has been destined since the dawn of time to set me free?”

  Jessica’s anger vexed inside of her. “Never.” She sneered, as Lourdes made her way to the front again. She shouldn’t have engaged her, but she couldn’t keep quiet any longer. “My sister is right and is all that is pure. You’ll never have her.”

  “Oh, I will, Jessica. In fact, you’re going to go get her for me. You’re going to fetch your sister and bring her straight here.”

  Jessica snorted and laughed. It was a good, solid laugh. Really, the best laugh she’d had in days, maybe even weeks. “The idea that I would betray my sister for anyone is ridiculous, but to do so for you? Please.”

  Lourdes smirked. “There are rewards I can give you.”

  “There’s nothing you have that I want. You’re attempt to sway me is pitiful. Just kill me. Torture me for eternity if that’s what you want, but I’ll never give you my sister.” Jessica whispered the words for effect; she just hoped it would work. She hoped to anger Lourdes enough that the queen would kill her outright.

  Lourdes’s smile fell into a straight line. Her pinched nose turned up like a pig’s. “The underworld is a big place. There are people here, trapped, like you are. Some of them could be…made to suffer less if you…cooperate. Any interest in seeing Mother again? What about Father?”

  Jessica’s face fell slack. Sweat dripped from her brow and if it was possible to feel your heart slow down, she just did. It was a lie. A manipulation. It wasn’t possible, her parents were good people, why would they be here?

  “All that pain, all that time you’ve been saving your sister, did you ever stop to think that your parents would pay the ultimate price for saving you that night? Why was it we couldn’t find you or Amanda, even though my demons were already in the house?”

  Don’t engage. Don’t talk about it. But Jessica was desperate, like an itch climbing up her leg, she was desperate to ask, desperate to find out more. Was it true that Mom was here? Dad? She needed more. Lourdes might have thought she was torturing Jessica, but instead she lit a fire beneath her.

  Jessica would get free. She would find them and if there was anything left of them, she would free their souls at the very least. Even if it meant losing them forever. The torment of the underworld—her parents didn’t deserve that.

  Lourdes stepped up closer and Jessica turned her nose away.
The stench of death and decay that hung on Lourdes, burned Jessica’s nose. “It wasn’t until puberty set in and Amanda’s powers manifested that we were able to really track her again. Did you ever wonder why?”

  Jessica couldn’t look at her. Wouldn’t look at her because if she did, Jessica might play right into her game, but it was damn hard. She wanted to know. That question had left her wakeful at night more than once, more than twice. The answer would fill in so many gaps, Jessica’s heart yearned to know.

  If she was going to find out, it wasn’t going to be from the queen of the underworld. She’s a twister of words. Evil. Jessica kept her eyes on the ground.

  Lourdes backed up, a sneer on her face. “No matter, then Jessica. I’m not through with you. I’ll never be through with you. A fighter like you? Perfect for my army. A legion will follow you and Amanda will be mine.”

  She walked away, toward the wall and Jessica looked up out of curiosity. Was Lourdes not part of the conversation they just had? Jessica wasn’t going to do anything for her, but when Lourdes turned back around she was holding a flaming poker. In the center, a branded circle with the face of evil glowed at Jessica.

  It mocked her and everything she believed in.

  Jessica reared backward, grabbing the chains. “What are you doing?” The demons steadied her so she couldn’t get away, and panic, real panic set in.

  “Don’t worry,” Lourdes hissed her mouth full of fangs. “Having your soul stripped away only hurts…well…forever.” She lifted Jessica’s shirt and pressed it right against the side of her waist.

  Jessica screamed, no matter how much she didn’t want to, she couldn’t keep in her reaction to the pain any longer. Tears flowed from her eyes until Lourdes removed the branding iron. The chains were unhooked from the wall and Jessica crashed to the floor. She caressed her injury, able to feel where the heat penetrated her skin.

  Only it wasn’t staying in one place. It was growing throughout her body. What—what did that bitch do to her?

  Jessica leaned her head back and moaned. Something was different inside of her. It was clawing, like a disease, a parasite moving through her body. It wasn’t a demon, but it was a sickness—a mold. Jessica was losing part of herself.