by Jill Cooper
The angel’s feet hovered above the floor, but Amanda couldn’t keep herself upright anymore. Her arms drooped to the ground. Her power fizzled, like an electrical pulse that had lost connection, drained, like a depleted battery.
Amanda rested her head, her eyes slowly blinking. Sleep…yes, that’s what she needed. That’s what…no, wait to sleep here was suicide, but her limbs wouldn’t work. Nothing would work again, not without help.
The angel extended a perfect hand down to Amanda and she smiled with complete gratitude. “I will clear the way for you, precious child. Make a path so no beast shall harm you. But first, a special gift.”
She stroked her wings with a tender hand and from its bountiful feathers; she pulled out a single speck of dust. IA golden amber, it glowed as if pulled from the sun itself. Bending over, the angel placed it in Amanda’s open palm.
Amanda stared at it with lidded eyes. The spec warmed her skin and her face as if Energy flowed from that little speck, a halo of truth and re-birth, growing in size until it encompassed Amanda’s hand. She tightened her hand around the pinprick of dust, able to feel its healing properties deep in her chest.
And the whisper of her power grew like a chant at a football game. Almost like having a warm bowl of chicken noodle soup and it smelled like nutmeg. The most comforting smell, it engulfed Amanda’s life essence.
The angel smiled. “It won’t heal you, but it will nourish your soul. Give you what you need to heal yourself.”
“I don’t know how to thank you,” Amanda whispered, resting her head on her arm.
“What you’ve done for me is thanks enough. Now I have something to set right. I have to earn my place back in heaven one way or another. I’m going to start by stopping Vaughn. I will clear his demons from this earth, and send Lourdes’s pawn straight back to the underworld.”
The angel stretched back up. Her golden wings pounded together with a thunderous flutter and her body shot up through the ceiling.
“Wait,” Amanda’s voice cracked and her eyes closed as debris fell from the sky, but she was still so weak. She still was unable to heal herself. “Not…Jessica.”
Run, Jessica. Run.
31: Jessica
Jessica stared into the face of the enemy and it stood steadfast. All the while alarms and whistles went off in her head, like a sonic boom that couldn’t be silenced. It drowned out all of her own thoughts, emotions, and all that was left was Lourdes.
Her body wanted to respond. Needed to respond. If for no other reason then to shut the noise off for a little while.
Lourdes wanted this one destroyed almost as much as her heart yearned for Amanda. This one, Vaughn, had crossed Lourdes one too many times. He didn’t respect the hierarchy of demons. He destroyed, and then took the pieces, so they fell under his reign.
Vaughn didn’t see Lourdes as queen. Could that be exploited?
Maybe, but Jessica wasn’t ready yet to align herself with a demon. Especially not one who had hurt and taken Amanda. She stood, quiet and still, the sickness of corruption stretching deep inside of her. It drowned out everything else, even her sense of smell was muted and her vision flashed with a red haze. that slinked through the room.
Vaughn sneered and touched her face with a single finger. Leaning in, he sniffed hot air against her cheek. Jessica shuddered to be so close to him. Her fingers twitched with the desire to kill him, squeeze his life out with her hands. “The stench of Lourdes is all over you. Are you now her faithful servant? Or something more?”
The truth was it was less. Far less. “If you’re going to kill me,” Jessica said, “make it a blade. Sever my head, keep it in a chest, I don’t care, but let my sister go after you do it. You can’t keep her here anymore.”
Vaughn laughed. “And why not?”
Jessica swallowed as she admitted the truth. “Because I won’t stop coming, I won’t stop getting up until you do. So put us both out of our miseries and let her go!”
Vaughn raised his hand to slap Jessica across the face, but a thunderous explosion out front caught his attention. Jessica gasped as the ground shook. What was that? Was Lourdes here? Had she found a way out of the underworld?
Whatever was going on, Amanda would be in even more danger. Jessica needed to get her to safety, but she was terrified. What if she hurt her sister? Could she resist the screams and bells in her head long enough to help her? Would the searing pain from her singed flesh burn her desire to save Amanda away?
“I’m going to have to check that out.” Vaughn spun, and his cape flowed out behind him. “I must say, having you as a servant of Lourdes opens a world of possibilities for us. Get her ready to move, but don’t let her near Amanda. Keep the sisters separate.”
Jessica closed her eyes and let his words roll off of her. Everyone now wanted to use her? Was she nothing more than a pawn? How had that happened to a Blood? Wasn’t it they who were supposed to make the demons pay? If it was possible to kill herself, Jessica thought she’d do it right then. End it all so, at least, she couldn’t destroy those she loved, or hurt other people. So far, she had just taken out demons, but if it came down to hunting and hurting humans…
That would be the last straw. She wouldn’t be able to handle that sort of guilt.
Vaughn’s henchmen closed in around Jessica. The heat from their bodies surrounded her, just as their stench did, but she was scarcely better than they were, now. All the while the back of her mind itched. Begging. Pleading. Time to go find Amanda. Time to end it all.
The warmth of gunfire interrupted her internal tug of war. One demon was downed beside her and then another. Jessica ducked, and grabbed one of their fallen guns, as the smell of gunpowder permeated the room. She swept her weapon across the area she was sure the shooter hiding and slowly made her way down the catwalk.
Someone had helped her, but that didn’t mean they were an ally. It could be a demon sent by Lourdes to make sure she finished the job. Panic seeped from her chest, but then he stepped from behind the podium.
It was him.
Duncan.
Oh God, her heart wavered with a vibration of love and despair. She didn’t want him to see her like this—in a way she couldn’t be fixed. He advanced on her slowly, but his weapon lowered and there was a look of fear mingled with relief in his eye.
Relief? To what, find her alive? If he only knew. God, if only…
Her jaw tensed and Jessica backed up. “Stay back,” she warned him, but he advanced. Didn’t he see what she was now? What Lourdes turned her into? How could Duncan look at her like he knew her?
A demon would be bad, but a mind controlled minion was even worse. Worse because Jessica felt and saw what she was doing, but just couldn’t stop it. She didn’t like it, but she did it anyway. Like a waking nightmare, Jessica was helpless to stop it.
Jessica’s back edged up against a table. “I said, stay back!” The anger pulsed through her jaw, clenching it tight. She raised her gun and pulled the safety back. She didn’t want to kill him. Her arms shook as she tried to refrain from pulling the trigger, but the call to do so in her heart was so strong. Like a full on gallop of horses driving her on, and she was desperate to cling to what humanity she had left.
This, she couldn’t do this.
Pull the trigger. End him, Jessica! Return with my prize.
Her soul wept even though her body couldn’t. Even though the ink on her arm was tingling, the heat beginning to build, she resisted.
Duncan held his hands out as he drew close to her, Jessica could smell his aftershave mingling with sweat. His hair was wet and his face splattered with blood, but his eyes shone through it all. Handsome as ever, the concern in his eye softened him in a way Jessica hadn’t yet seen.
His voice was soft and had conviction. “I don’t know what’s happened to you, Jess, but I know you’re not going to shoot me. We’re going to get Amanda, we’re going to get out of here, and we’re going to figure this thing out. Together.”
I
t was everything she ever wanted. Everything she ever wanted to hear. Part of her hated Duncan for waiting until now to say it. When she had no future.
Tears marred her vision, but it was the heartbreak that crippled her. Jessica’s chest heaved as she sobbed, and she couldn’t hold the gun up anymore. The barrel fell to the ground, as her shoulders rounded and Jessica fell apart.
Lourdes shrieked even louder, but something about the moment allowed Jessica to block it out.
Duncan gripped her shoulders, but he couldn’t know. He couldn’t understand. His eyes were dark and compassionate, but he didn’t know how rotten her core was. Like a disease, hollowing her from the outside in. She would suffer and die, but only long after something deep inside of her was rotted away.
“Let me help you. Whatever’s been done to you, don’t shut me out, Jess.”
Help her? It wasn’t like she was on an all-night bender. Wasn’t even like she murdered someone. This was so much worse. Jessica lifted her shirt so Duncan could see the mark, see how she was branded. “My body isn’t mine anymore, and my soul? I don’t even want to know. The ink I was so proud of is working against me. Keeping me in line.”
“Lourdes,” Duncan whispered the name with wide eyes. “How…just…we’ll save Amanda and we’ll deal with this. She’ll fix you.” He said the words like he meant it, felt them, but he wouldn’t be able to keep that kind of promise. Jessica knew, and she wouldn’t hold it against him.
To him it was truth. She’d love him for that, but…
There was no way. No way.
“I can’t get anywhere near Amanda.” Jessica gritted her teeth. “Duncan, please, you have to get her out of here before I hurt her. Or worse, before I take her to Lourdes.”
Duncan shook his head. “You couldn’t, Jess. I know you. You would never—”
He wouldn’t listen to reason and it roused anger inside of her. Why couldn’t he just high-tail it out of there and find Amanda? Leave her and just go. “I can.” Her voice was haunted and afraid. “Even you, I want, I need to kill you.” Jessica touched his face. “You have to get out of here. Free my sister, get her to safety. Tell her I love her.”
Finally, a rise of anger in the way he took a sharp breath. Duncan’s eyes narrowed to pinpricks. “That’s not something Jessica Blood would say, ever.” He took a sharp breath. “You stay, you fight. That’s Jessica Blood! That’s the woman—”
“You love?” Jessica’s nose flared as she struggled not to cry. “Now you can say it? Now?” She grabbed him by the collar of his jacket and pushed him away. Jessica wanted to punch him, do so much worse, but she steadied herself. “You get my sister out of here. You keep your promise, Duncan.”
He charged her and Jessica braced herself, but he didn’t knock her over. Instead, he took her face in his hands, and as his eyes glistened with tears, he kissed her. It was so deep, so loving, that Jessica lost herself. For a brief moment, Lourdes wasn’t in her mind at all.
“This isn’t over,” he said with strength as he stroked back her hair. “Do you get me? This isn’t over!”
But for her, it was. Jessica knew it as screams of torment filled her mind, coming from Lourdes. A sonic boom caused them both to look up and a golden halo was filling the day’s sky.
“Get her out of here.” Jessica said and backed away, tearing herself away from the one man who ever really understood her, other than Dad. Whoever really understood…and that was why Jessica had been so mad when he left. That was the real reason she’d trashed his bar.
“Jess—” Duncan’s voice trailed off as someone ran behind them.
Jessica’s heart stilled to see Amanda scampering after her in such an incoherent way. Her movements were disjointed, as if she were confused. Whatever had happened, her sister was clearly depleted of energy—maybe even life. Her face was harrowed, and Jessica couldn’t stop herself from running over to her.
Jessica’s limbs tingled with ink, but the burning sensation wasn’t strong yet. Just a warning, letting her know that Amanda was close.
In that brief moment, she forgot everything. Forgot about Lourdes and only cared about Amanda’s suffering. They might as well have been kids away, because that’s how scared Jessica was and she hadn’t felt that emotion so strongly, in a long time.
“Amanda!” Jessica screamed and fell to her knees, cradling her sister’s head in her hand. What was the matter with her? What had happened? Holding her was like holding a rag doll and, Jessica’s fingers clenched around her.
End her. Bring her to me.
No, no. Jessica wouldn’t. She could see her young face, all the images of them as children. I’ll protect Amanda to the end. How many times had she said that? How many?
Now to be her undoing? Jessica would happily burn for eternity in hell. Bear any punishment, but end that sweet life?
Never.
Amanda’s arms were limp and her head rolled backward as she fell to the ground.
“Amanda!” Jessica squealed and gathered up her sister, but her eyes weren’t right. They were flighty—gazing back and forth like she couldn’t see anything at all. Her lips were chapped and they were bleeding profusely, almost beyond repair.
What did Vaughn do to her? That monster. He would pay for what he did later, but for now Jessica just watched, as Amanda’s dilated eyes took her in. She sucked on her bottom lip and a burst of laughter came from Amanda’s mouth.
Amanda touched Jessica’s face with trembling soft fingers. Where ever that sweet goodness touched her, Jessica felt searing hot pain, but silently she endured it.
“I knew you’d come. I knew you couldn’t hurt me.”
Her words were slurred and her pupils dilated to stardust. Jessica’s stomach sunk; Amanda was stoned out of her mind. She was on demon drugs. The realization festered until hatred for Vaughn was all that was left. For a moment all too brief, it blocked Lourdes out.
Jessica would hunt him. She would find him and end him. She glanced up at Duncan. “You protect her. You keep her safe. For once, listen to me, Duncan.”
Duncan squatted beneath them both with a nod. “I will.”
Lourdes was angry, God, she was so angry. Jessica could feel it growing inside her, it built up in her, bombarded her from everywhere. Soon, it would mute her own thoughts and feelings. The rage would consume her until it was the only thing she could think and feel.
Tearing herself away from those most important to her, Jessica stood. The only way to protect them and keep them safe, was to leave them. Lourdes would have her pound of flesh later and Jessica feared she’d pay with more than just her life, but leaving them now was the right thing to do. Maybe Duncan had been correct about a few things; things that Jessica had never considered.
Amanda clawed for Jessica’s ankle, but Duncan gathered his arms around the younger Blood. “No!” Amanda’s voice screeched with pain. “Jessica!”
Glancing back at them, Jessica saw the terror on Amanda’s face as something circled above them. It was beautiful and holy. l It was like a person and a dove, all wrapped up in one. Oddly, it smelled like nutmeg, and that made Jessica think of her mother’s apple pie.
Sorry, Mom. I failed. I’m so sorry.
You fool! You will pay for your betrayal!
Jessica heard Lourdes’s anger echoing in her head, but she hadn’t betrayed the most important person. It wasn’t Amanda or even her parents, it was herself.
“Take care of each other.”
Duncan took Amanda in his arms, but she fought against him. Her arms outstretched, reaching for her big sister. “Jessica!” The look in her eye was one Jessica hadn’t seen in a long time. It was the same look she had in the mental hospital, years before, when Jessica lied to keep Amanda safe.
It was a look of betrayal. Of Abandonment. What was left of Jessica’s heart felt as if it’d been torn from her chest and stomped on. Aunt Gwen, or something using Aunt Gwen’s body, had done this to them.
Tears rolled down Jessica’s cheeks. “I
’m sorry, baby. So sorry.”
Amanda’s face twisted at the sight of Jessica’s tears. “Jessica doesn’t cry.” With defiance her nostrils flared and anger reddened her cheeks. “I cry! I need help. Jessica fights! She wins!”
Once. Baby sister was so angry with her, Jessica was sorry that this was the last they’d see of each other. If they were lucky.
Jessica hollered in pain as the burning on her back became too much. She crashed to the ground, in the fetal position; her body curled small, then stretched out, trying to escape the burning. The smell of her charred flesh.
The ground beneath her glowed red, forming a circle around her body, then the shimmer grew, climbing up her legs as if she was in a river made of lava. Jessica gasped as the burning fire engulfed her body, charring the flesh from her bones. A moment later there was nothing anyone could do about it.
Not even an angel.
The ground swallowed her whole.
32: Duncan
Jessica returned to the Earth. The redness faded and was replaced by the grimy floor of the club, as if nothing had happened. As if a portion good in the world hadn’t just been ripped away. Duncan felt numb, but there were demons outside and soon they’d return for Amanda. Soon they’d want to put an end to this party and now it was up to him to protect her.
He had a promise to keep, but his heart…oh man, his heart might have just been incinerated with her.
Amanda broke free from him and scurried to the spot Jessica had just been. “Jessica!” Amanda screamed and clawed at the floor as is she might be able to dig her out. Like she could get her back, could find her buried under the floor.
Where Jessica was, no human could follow, at least not easily. At least not with a round trip ticket. When humans went to the underworld, they didn’t come back.
Duncan rushed to Amanda and cupped his arm around her waist. “We have to get out of here.”
