Blood Debt (The Blood Sisters Book 2)

by Jill Cooper

  Duncan put Amanda’s hand to his face and kissed it. Slowly, the door latched behind Mike and Duncan was alone with his own thoughts. None of them kind, none of them pretty. That girl, Amanda, she just had to pull through. Had to.

  Kindness settled on her face in the most angelic way. Her breath rapid and pulse racing as Duncan placed two fingers against her neck, but the fever was breaking. Her hot skin was a little cooler, her complexion not so rosy. If anyone could pull through this, it was a Blood.

  Duncan had to just hope it was before Vain found them again. Evil as Vain was, she had a score to settle Duncan could understand. The truth was, everything Vain wanted to do to him, he had coming.

  In a big way, he had it coming.

  8: Amanda Blood

  With each gasp of air Amanda took, her eyelids quivered, as though REM sleep had taken her, but it wasn’t sleep.

  It was fire.

  All around her, it consumed, to the cavern walls at her sides and straight ahead, a curtain of fire cut her off from the exit. Barefoot, her skin was cut and scraped on the jagged rocks. Dirt was stuck beneath her trim toenails and the hem of her blue dress was singed from the flames. This was the underworld, the mouth of hell some people called it. Amanda had dreamt of it before but had never been trapped. She had never feared for her life like she did now.

  Fingers coiled into a tight fist, sweat clung to her brow as she spun in a circle, looking for a way out. The only way out was through. How many times had Jessica told her that? Amanda feared, in this case, it was true, but through the flame?

  She’d die. She’d be consumed.

  If only Jessica was here. If only…

  The clang of metal beat in the distance, like a drum. It was a demon, trapped behind the metal wall. Amanda was terrified that it’d get free. It’d tear through her to get topside and all those people, they wouldn’t just hear about the war with demons. They’d be fodder, way worse than they ever had been before.

  So Amanda ran, straight toward the curtain of fire, but she stopped short. Right in front of it, so the wisps of flame danced against her skin. Tickled her nose and singed a piece of hair.

  She couldn’t do it. She just couldn’t jump through it.

  What was she without Jessica?

  “I’m sorry,” Amanda’s chin quivered as she backed up, but the circle of flame grew hotter. Closing in on her as if she was its target. Soon, there’d be nowhere else to go. Amanda had to take a chance with the dancing flames, but she was terrified. She had never been the brave one. Never!

  The fire shimmered, and in that dancing flame were eyes. A nose. Through the flame Jessica’s face materialized. No, it was crazy. Absurd, but the face pushed through the flame and her scar, her beautiful scar, was visible against her peach complexion. The red flame coiled like hair around her face.

  “Jessica,” Amanda’s heart called out more than her voice. The longing ache in her heart, so much worse to bear. Seeing her sister like this? A prisoner of the underworld? This wasn’t the fate of the mighty Jessica Blood.

  Jessica’s face was set like stone, but her eyes flickered back and forth, like burning embers of hell. “I’ll send you safe passage through the flame. It’s the only way.”

  Amanda shook her head, her fingers cinched around each other. “I won’t leave here without you.”

  “You have work to do and you know it. Pull your head out of your ass, Amanda. If you die here, there’s no chance for either of us. You know that.”

  “I’m scared.” Amanda’s voice reverberated with so much truth it shook the cavern walls.

  “I know,” Jessica said softly. “Parts of your soul are fractured, like a broken mirror. Those parts are here. Those parts can hear me.”

  Quietly, Amana nodded.

  “We can’t let Lourdes keep them. There’s somewhere you need to be. Somewhere to make your stand. Become whole again and save me.”

  The idea that it was possible gave Amanda hope. Just a glimmer, but it was enough to excite her. She took a deep breath. “Why there? Why do you want me to go there?”

  “Now, that’s the question you should have been asking. That’s the question I’m here to answer.” Jessica’s hand extended through the flame and she placed two fingers against Amanda’s wrist.

  Amanda sucked in her breath hard as Jessica’s touch burned her skin. Smoke and steam rose up from her flesh. When Jessica removed her fingers, a red seal burned her delicate pale skin. With moist eyes, Amanda glanced up at Jessica’s burning face.

  Guess her time was up.

  *****

  “Keep up, Mandy. We’re almost at the church!”

  But Amanda, only thirteen-years-old, could barely keep going. Scared and barely able to breathe, her mind swarmed with images that weren’t natural.

  Flashes of grizzly faces painted on the night sky. With their outstretched claws, they were closing in on them. Even if they were only mist, they reached out for them. So much pain, so much self-doubt; that was what they brought with them.

  Jessica wouldn’t let Amanda slow down. Her older sister by two years, Jessica clamped her hand on Amanda’s wrist. They reached the top of a hill covered in trees. The city lights and streets were visible against the looming darkness. Just across the street, a steepled church with bright stain glass windows lit up like morning service.

  But the truth was starker. It was the middle of the night and the Blood girls had been running for miles through a treacherous forest. The mountains of Vermont were must different than their home in Nebraska. Amanda didn’t like the landscape or how hard the paths were to climb.

  Amanda’s chest heaved as she struggled for air and her thighs burned, she bent over and grabbed them, but Jessica wouldn’t let her rest. She grabbed her collar tight and pulled her along. “C’mon!” Jessica screamed and charged down the hill straight toward a town. Amanda had no choice but to follow, but unable to keep her footing, she crashed to her knees.

  Behind her, the sound of charging animals made the hairs stand up on the back of her neck. They were no animals. Over the last few months, Amanda had come to realize that there were monsters out there. Demons. Every one of them wanted her dead. If they could find her, they would just kill her.

  Jessica helped Amanda up with an exasperated sigh. “You’re not helping me here, Mandy. We’ve got to get into that church!” She pointed across the street toward a cluster of buildings and residential homes. Between them all, standing tall, was a church as the swinging street light blinked yellow.

  Amanda was trying. She really was. Sucking on her bottom lip, Amanda promised herself to do better. Her feet pounded up the marble staircase and Jessica advanced ahead. With a giant groan of hinges, Jessica forced the church ornate door open. “Quick!”

  Running inside, Amanda helped Jessica push the door closed. Inside smelled of incense and everything was warm as fire. The floors were marble and a sea of pews were laid out behind Amanda. A cathedral ceiling vaulted behind the altar and marble statues framed it on either side. But as far as people went? Amanda saw and felt none.

  “Further inside. C’mon.” Jessica nudged Amanda’s arm and for the first time, Amanda really looked at her. It had been months since they had last seen each other.

  Jessica wore baggy blue jeans and a blue flannel shirt that was two sizes too big for her small frame. Her red curls were long and unkempt. Her face, while free from the scar she’d have in a few years, sported a black and blue shiner around her eye. Amanda moved to touch it, but Jessica jerked her head back.

  “We don’t have time now. You can heal it later.”

  Amanda’s hand stayed suspended in mid-air and her face scrunched into a scowl. “Where’d you get it?”

  “Does it matter?” Jessica asked as the door at the front began to rattle.

  “It does to me.” Was it Jessica’s foster parents again?

  Jessica tucked her hair behind her ears. Amanda saw the hospital bracelet on her wrist, but hadn’t known Jessica had been i
n the hospital. Was she sick? Her stomach turned, to think Jessica went through so much, yet, Amanda knew nothing of it. Instead, Amanda was in this city about to what? Get adopted?

  It was the worst thought ever. Amanda was a Blood. She’d always be a Blood!

  Those people were nice, but now…now they were dead. Because of her. Because of what hunted her. Amanda was sorry that good people were drawn to her, almost more sorry than demons were drawn to her.

  Jessica reached into her waistband and pulled out a revolver. Amanda’s eyes widened to see it. “Jessie…”

  “They’re getting through.” Jessica’s clenched her teeth together, but still her lips quivered. Her hands shook as she raised the gun and pointed it toward the entrance. Her hand couldn’t hold the gun straight so Jessica clamped her other hand on top to steady it.

  Amanda could feel Jessica’s fear, and her own panic rose with feeling so much emotion at once. It was still new to her and her powers were just starting to grow. The future was going to be scary no matter what happened next.

  If only Mom was there. If only….

  The door rattled and shook. The hinges began to give away.

  “We could sneak out the back….”

  Jessica shook her head. “They won’t leave you alone. They’ll just keep coming. They’ll kill you like they killed your new parents.”

  Her words cut Amanda like a knife. Amanda didn’t want new parents. Didn’t Jessica know that? Did Jessica hate her?

  “Jessie…” Amanda tugged on Jessica’s sleeve to get her to move. But, Jessica held her ground with a tense jaw. Amanda’s lip quivered as the church door splintered and burst open.

  Jessica squeezed the trigger and her eyes shut at the same time. “Get down!”

  Amanda threw herself down to the ground behind a row of pews, but the demons were still coming. They were still charging forward. The bullets weren’t doing anything! “Jessie!” Amanda cried in panic. Her sister was going to be killed.

  All because of her.

  Jessica yelped and backed up as the demons got closer, but as they passed the last stain glass window, a beam of light passed through the glass and touched their skin. The monsters lit up like Christmas trees. Demonic groans of pain filled the air, as they fell to the ground and dissolved into ash right in front of the girls. Amanda couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

  But one of the demons wearing a leather biker jacket, hadn’t been killed. He had been singed, but he kept coming. Growling, as his fangs dripped with saliva, he reached for Amanda.

  “No!” Jessica screamed and grabbed at his meaty arm.

  He swatted her away like she was a fly, his claws tearing through the soft skin of her cheek.

  Amanda gasped and scampered backward on her butt toward the altar. She had to run and get away, but what about Jessica?

  Jessie!

  Amanda scrambled toward the back of the altar when she heard a shot. With a groan, the demon pulled a dart from his neck and fell to the ground. Her eyes wide with terror, Amanda lay against the wall as a woman came into view.

  A woman with short red hair covered up by a yellow bandana. She wore a WWI style trench coat and gave Amanda a sideway grin. “Don’t you look just like your mother,” she whispered.

  Of course, it had been Aunt Gwen. Amanda hadn’t known it then, but her life would change in ways she couldn’t even imagine.

  “Help me drag this brute downstairs. We need to get him into the demon trap before he wakes up.”

  Demon trap?

  It all became crystal clear to Amanda why this church. Why Jessica wanted her to go back after all this time. Jessica had a plan to be free of Lourdes control, her mark. And for that plan to work….

  Amanda was going to be bait.

  9: Amanda Blood

  “Bait?”

  Duncan ran his hands through his hair and stared at Amanda with his jaw slack. He gave a shake of his head and a big exhale. He glanced at Mike, who stood there with his arms crossed, studying Amanda’s face. “Help me out with this, would you?”

  Amanda didn’t have to be an empath or a mind-reader to figure out things weren’t going her way. She fumbled with the cardboard container filled with breakfast they had grabbed from the food truck. Two glazed donuts, coffee with extra sugar, and a side of warm garlic hash browns. It should’ve been enough to warm her soul, but instead, she felt cold. Duncan and Mike weren’t on her side.

  And she really needed them to be.

  Their eyes were hard; their gazes unkind. If Amanda didn’t know any better, she’d think they didn’t want to get Jessica back.

  “I’m not a child,” Amanda interjected before Mike got a moment to speak. Her fingers coiled around the red and white paper cushioning her donuts like a precious commodity. “One way or another and I’m getting to that church. Granted, I’d like to have a little backup, just in case things go wrong.”

  Duncan’s eyebrows rose. “Incase anything goes wrong? Darling, you’re talking about a written invitation for wrong. You’re talking about blaring over the loud speaker where you’re going and telling the demons exactly where you’ll be.”

  That was the point. That was the plan. Couldn’t Duncan understand? “She can sense me all the time. So what’s the difference?” Amanda bit her lip and implored him with her eyes.

  But Duncan raged and all he felt was frustration. Slapping his hands on his thighs, he stood from his chair and paced to the other side of the room. Mike followed him with his eyes before taking Duncan’s vacant seat. He leaned forward but didn’t bother to uncross his arms. “What makes you think this was Jessica’s plan? What makes you think it wasn’t a hallucination, a trick from Lourdes?”

  “Because of what I felt. She was there.” Amanda’s nose flared and warmth spread across her freckled cheeks. “Lourdes will make her come after me, it’s just a matter of time before Jessica can’t resist any longer. So let’s make it on our terms. On Blood terms.”

  Mike’s eyes flicked back to Duncan, who was a basket case of nerves. As usual, Amanda couldn’t get a bead on Mike. “I’m not saying we agree with you, Amanda, but if we go there and set up as you’ve asked, what makes you think you’re up to the job? What makes you think you’re strong enough to heal Jessica?”

  For the first time, Amanda felt her own doubt. Glancing down at her wrist where the mark still lay, her spirits weakened. Mike must’ve sensed it because he put his hand on hers.

  “You crumbled at the hospital when the demons closed in. You went unconscious and we could barely get you out of there,” Mike’s eyes came alive with a glint of passion. “In here, you were seizing and Duncan could barely hold you down. So you tell me why we should allow you to put yourself in harm’s way? Let me remind you, Amanda, it might not be Jessica’s plan.”

  Amanda got what he was saying, but she held a steady breath; rife with determination. “I know what I know. As sure as I can feel what you’re feeling right now. The same way I can feel the weight of responsibility on Duncan, I feel it all simply by existing.” Amanda rose from her chair and put her cardboard box untouched on the bed. “I felt it in my dream. It was real and it was Jessica.”

  She paused to let her words sink in, but she turned from Mike and scrutinized Duncan. His heart pounded and he tried, in a way, not to feel anything as their eyes locked. “Jessica is hurt, hurting bad. She can’t fight Lourdes forever. As I already said. Shouldn’t we face her on our terms? This church is warded. This church has systems in place that give us the edge. This is what we’re meant to do. Someone has to free Jessica from Lourdes.”

  “At the expense of you?” Duncan paraded right up to her and pointed his finger. “You think that’s what Jessica really wants? You think if she was in her right mind, she’d ever make it so you were bait?”

  Amanda’s forehead crinkled. “No. She’d never want me harmed, but she only has one shot at this. We might only have this shot. If we fail to capture her, or I fail to cleanse her, we might never see her a
gain.” Her eyes fell to the ground, “At least not a Jessica we’ll remember. You have to know what’s at stake, Duncan.”

  “You think I don’t know?” Duncan whispered with fury. He gripped her shoulders and bent over to meet her eye level. “You think I don’t want her back, damn all the costs? Well, not you, Amanda. Not you.”

  She hadn’t known he felt or loved for her that strongly, but Amanda wouldn’t quit. She wouldn’t give in. “Then give me backup. Help me. Don’t make me do this on my own. I can try to control the emotions I get from demons. I could never do it before. I always relied too much on Jessica, but now I have a reason. A good reason. To really try. I can be stronger. If you’ll help me.”

  Duncan turned to Mike for help. “Help me out here, would you?”

  Amanda couldn’t help a small smile. “He’s already made up his mind.”

  Mike wiped his face. “You know what I want for lunch too?”

  A BLT with extra mayo but Amanda thought not to say it. “We better get ready. I’ve never led before. Jessica always does that. I need her back, Duncan. More than I can say. It isn’t just about surviving for me. It’s…” Amanda thought, her eyes ticking back and forth, “it’s about living.”

  Without Jessica her life was worthless. Is that what she was going to say? Is that how she really felt? In a lot of ways, yes. Amanda always had her. She didn’t know what to do without her.

  “Then you better eat up, let Mike and I get the car ready. It’s going to be a long drive.”

  The drive was long, but Amanda thought the road was going to be even longer.

  *****

  Bait. Who knew she’d ever agree to such a stupid plan.

  Amanda ate her breakfast and slurped on her coffee. When that was done, she used the washroom to freshen up. Her cheeks were splotchy like she was recovering from a prolonged sickness and the sparkle in her eyes was dull. Amanda didn’t like seeing the effects of what Vaughn had done to her. She wasn’t much into repressing her thoughts or feelings, but being high on demon drugs, well, she’d just like to forget it all.