Blood Debt (The Blood Sisters Book 2)

by Jill Cooper

  There was nothing she could do to heal that, but the burn on her wrist she should be able to take care of lickity split. So Amanda rolled her wrist over and held her hand above it. Instinctively, the ball of light grew out from her palm. It spun, casting a soft glow in the cramped dirty bathroom.

  While her skin grew warm, the mark still remained.

  It wouldn’t heal. Or maybe she couldn’t heal?

  Amanda’s brow pinched together and she tried again, this time with more concentration. The spot where Jessica had touched her grew redder. Hotter, but it wouldn’t go away. It wouldn’t heal.

  Breathless, Amanda stopped her healing energy and rubbed her wrist. The skin felt like scales over the red mark. It seemed it was there to stay, but why couldn’t she heal it? She’d healed the girl in the café. Were her powers changing that much, or was it something about the mark itself?

  She just didn’t know.

  Amanda took a deep breath and fixed her hair. She couldn’t let Mike or Duncan know what was going on. There was no reason to worry them because Amanda didn’t have any answers. The only thing she knew was, she needed to get to that church. Needed to wait for Jessica. They’d stop her if she told them the truth and that just wasn’t an option. Amanda needed them there.

  So she did her best to force a smile as she left the bathroom. No one was there, but the television was on and it flashed a news report. Interested, Amanda stepped closer and saw a red banner rolling across the screen Physiatrist Hospital Massacre.

  Massacre. There was that word again.

  Her fingers gingerly played with the remote to raise the volume and Amanda sat on the corner of the bed without meaning to.

  “The three suspects,” the screen flashed with character sketches of her, Duncan, and Mike, though her drawing was all wrong. Amanda’s nose wasn’t plump like that. The artistic representation was closer to Jessica’s image than her own, “shot their way out with Ronald Wax, the suspect in an alleged mass murder less than two days ago.”

  Amanda hadn’t known people at the hospital died. She hadn’t known Ron had gotten out, but where was he now? Would he go after Jessica too?

  A knock raised Amanda’s head. Duncan stood over by the front door. He put his hands in his pockets and gave her a sheepish smile. “We’re ready to go if you are.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me…”

  Duncan’s head tilted toward the television. “About the demons at the hospital? Ron?” Duncan shook his head and waves of regret washed over him. “I thought you had enough to worry about. I doubt we’ll see him again. He doesn’t want to get caught any more than we want him around.”

  Duncan turned his back to head outside, but Amanda heard something else from him. She raced after him and grabbed the cuff of his jacket. “Who or what is Vain? You keep…thinking it. It’s like a bad song on loop inside your head.”

  He froze and turned to look at her, but managed to avoid looking her in the eyes. “A mistake. Something that’s come back to haunt me. For now, let’s get you to the church. I’ll explain it all when I can. Let’s just focus on what’s really important right now, all right?”

  Amanda followed Duncan out onto the gravel parking lot. Close to eleven A.M., the sunlight beat down bright enough to be summer, but Amanda was chilled. It was as if the sun was shining behind glass, and Amanda was hidden from its glow. Duncan’s lie was easy enough for him to say, but inside he was torn in two. It was eating him up inside. At some point soon, they were going to lose him.

  She saw it. She felt it in the whispers of the trees, their branches like possible choices and paths they would take. But, all paths would lead to his departure and it hollowed her out. He left once before, Amanda had thought he wouldn’t make that same mistake again.

  “I thought you’d learned your lesson,” Amanda bit her lip. She didn’t want to say she was disappointed, but her heart skipped a beat—sinking further into an abyss.

  Duncan turned on a dime and shook his head. “We’re going to go to the church. Get Jessica back. I’m not leaving. I swear to you.”

  In the car already, Mike gazed between them, his hand resting on the door. His eyes held mild interest, but he didn’t know what they were talking about. It was clear as day to Amanda; Mike grappled with his own confusion. Whatever Duncan was going through; he wasn’t sharing.

  “Your words, I wish I could say it changes anything. You might mean them now, but you’re going to leave. If we save Jessica and you leave,” Amanda sighed, “maybe I shouldn’t have pushed her to you again. I believed in you, Duncan.”

  Heartbroken. Like she just lost her puppy. Amanda turned away from his eyes and toward the front office. The lawn was overgrown and an Out of Order sign hung at the icemaker, but two men exited the office and pointed in her direction. Amanda’s breath caught in her throat. They had been made.

  The police were coming.

  “Don’t hold something against me that I haven’t done yet. You can still believe in me,” Duncan whispered. “Don’t lose faith in me. Not you too.”

  His words came close to crippling him. He felt so much pain in his heart, and his face mirrored the intensity of it. Amanda wanted to apologize for hurting him, but the men from the office stepped off the porch. Their steps hastening, while still slow enough not to draw attention to themselves—so they thought.

  “Duncan—.”

  He took her hand and gave it a squeeze. I swear I’ll do right by you. Jessica. I’d walk to the ends of the earth to save either of you. I thought you of all people, would know that.”

  Amanda’s dry lips parted. “We need to get in the car.” She glanced at the men approaching. “Now, Duncan.”

  “Shit,” Duncan muttered under his breath. He was mad at himself for not noticing. He ran toward the driver’s side of the car while Amanda slid into the passenger side.

  “They’re going to get away!”

  Amanda’s eyes widened with fear as she saw their guns drawn. A green hue encompassed them. These weren’t regular law enforcement officers. “Duncan!” Her voice pitched.

  “Hold on,” Duncan slid a toothpick into his mouth and in a matter of moments, they were peeling out of the parking lot and headed toward the highway.

  Amanda placed her hand against the window. The demons weren’t going to let them get away that easily. Already they were headed back to their cars. They’d pursue, but if Amanda had any luck left, they’d make it to the church without incident.

  Could she even pray for such an easy escape?

  She glanced over at Duncan. His concentration was intense, rivaling all else it pushed his emotions down inside, but deep under lay his loneliness. An empty crater where his heart should’ve been. What a heel she was, what a heel…Duncan couldn’t control the fate of choices, any more than Amanda could.

  “I’m sorry. Sometimes I say stupid things.” She placed her hand on his sleeve and images flashed in her mind of a burning building.

  A woman screamed from deep inside. Amanda saw a flash of her hands cuffed to a radiator and outside Amanda stood, a toothpick twirling in her mouth.

  Not her vision, but Duncan’s. And all Amanda felt was…satisfaction. Retribution, but behind that lingered grief. A broken heart forgotten by his act of revenge, whoever that woman was.

  Amanda gasped and pulled her hand away as if his skin was a searing hot plate. She hoped to never cross him as that woman had, but that type of cruelty wasn’t him. That wasn’t the Duncan Jasper she knew.

  He was talking, already in mid-sentence, but Amanda missed half of what he said. “…we work together, we trust each other. Above all else.” Duncan implored.

  Amanda swallowed hard and nodded. She needed Duncan, she wouldn’t succeed without his help and she knew the quality of his spirit—his heart.

  At least, she thought she did.

  10: Vain

  Vain couldn’t return to Vaughn empty handed.

  She hadn’t intended to kill Duncan Jasper when she stormed th
e hospital, but she’d thought, at least, they’d get a moment to speak. Issue tense threats to one another. Kidnap and torture him, maybe lofty wish, but Vain was desperate to get her mitts on him.

  Desperate.

  Vain had no direct proof Duncan had even seen her, but he did. Vain knew he did, because if he didn’t, what was the point of all those dead people strung up in body bags at the hospital?

  Her handiwork, not exactly, but her demon toys. They loved to maim and destroy. Demons did as demons do, that’s what Vain always said. The money and luxuries had been good, but none of it could comfort her, not since Duncan betrayed her and handcuffed her to that damn radiator.

  Worst of it was, Vain suspected all along, but hadn’t stopped him. Hadn’t said anything. She let his pretty boy looks and playful smile get the best of her.

  Smash.

  His pub was as dull as they came. He rightfully avoided it after everything he’d done to her, but now Vain tore the police tape down and stomped on in. The place was a pig sty. She held her head up high and sniffed a long deep breath. The smell of blood lingered even after it had been washed out of the wooden plank floor.

  Duncan had been here. Recently.

  “Fan out.” Vain removed her silver gloves and strolled around the bar. The police officers that flanked her did as she ordered. Funny, how a woman could command such demons, but it was part of her… gifts.

  She didn’t know what she was looking for, but she’d know when she found it. Always follow your instincts. Vain learned her lesson by ignoring it before. She never repeated the same mistake.

  Behind her the floor creaked and a shadow crept toward the bar. Who had decided to join their little party?

  Vain reached for the bottle of whiskey with one hand while her other hovered just over the handle of her dagger, secured at her hip. She poured a shot into two glasses. “Want a drink or am I going to have to drink both myself?”

  A crackle of magic behind her reflected off the whisky bottle. It seemed she was going to be outdone. Pity. Vain picked up one shot and threw it down her throat. Then in one swift move, she pulled her dagger free and spun around to face her enemy.

  Her dagger was torn from her hand and spiraled across the room. The woman in front of her smirked. She wore a leather trench coat and Vain could appreciate her flair for style. Her red hair was short, tucked under a bandana and her skin was splattered with a fine line of freckles. Well, if she didn’t look familiar.

  “What’s your relation to Jessica Blood?” Vain picked up the second shot and drank it down. She had seen her photo enough in Duncan’s things to know exactly who Jessica was, even if she never had the pleasure of meeting her face to face.

  Not yet, but time was coming soon. The Blood in front of her was older but fit. Beneath her loose shirt, she had all the right curves. Plump in all the right places. Vain could use a woman like that. Business was always booming for an older woman.

  Older, younger. Thinner, fatter. She had the clientele for each preference.

  “You can call me Gwen. They call me aunt.” Gwen sneered and then Vain saw the green mist lingering behind her eyes.

  Interesting, seems someone got their hooks into a Blood. They were falling like bowling pins these days. “So we work on the same side? What is it you want with this place?”

  “I work for Lourdes. We’re not on the same side.” Gwen lowered her hands to her side. “You reek of Vaughn and all that humanity has to offer.”

  Vain snorted and wished she had poured herself another drink. She might have been tough, but she certainly wished to avoid any entanglement with Lourdes. No one was stupid enough to piss the queen of the underworld off, except for maybe the woman standing in front of her. “I turned my back on humanity a long time ago and Vaughn, you don’t want to make him an enemy. He has pull with a lot of high-levels.”

  “More than the queen of the underworld herself?” Gwen sneered. “Please.”

  “What do you want? You didn’t kill me, yet, so you must want something.”

  “An alliance.”

  That shocked Vain more than anything than Gwen could’ve said. Interested, Vain poured herself another drink with an arched eyebrow.

  Gwen took her silence as a cue to continue. “I know your story. I know your history with Vaughn and with Duncan Jasper, the one who keeps Amanda safe. Lourdes wants Amanda and you want Jasper. It seems like a win-win, to me. If we join forces, our chances of success,” Gwen shrugged, “go up.”

  A demon wanted to work together? What were the odds? Lourdes really must be itching to get her hands on Amanda. Vain’s finger danced across the edge of her shot glass, and a harmonic tone sang from the wet rim. “Vaughn wants Amanda, not Duncan. I’m the one with the vendetta.”

  Gwen took Vain’s hand and gingerly licked her fingers. Well, so she was willing to dance. Fun. “You help me, you get Duncan. When you’re done with him, you come after me for Amanda. We’ll see who is tougher. A possessed Blood, or you.”

  Her words were a dare, egging Vain on. She had to admit, Gwen spoke the truth. A magically charged demon pushed the odds in their favor. Vain didn’t normally work with others, but in this case, she might make an exception.

  Vain pulled her hand free but did her best not to jerk it away. She didn’t want to send the wrong message to a potential tumble mate. “And how do we track them? Do you have means with your magic?”

  Gwen’s eyes sparkled. “Oh, I have the means. Lourdes has a secret weapon; well it’s not so secret anymore. And she’s about to crack. About to rise up and take up the sword in our favor. We simply follow her and offer…. assistance.”

  She couldn’t mean….

  Gwen tilted her head with an unkind smile. “Jessica Blood is about to awaken once more and she works for us.”

  Vain didn’t think she could miss this little party. She raised her shot glass in the air, her free hand cupping the back of Gwen’s neck. “To new friendships, now why don’t you come here so we can seal this alliance with a kiss?”

  11: Jessica Blood

  “Don’t give up, Jess girl. Keep fighting. You can find a way. You always do.”

  That voice…. It couldn’t be, could it?

  A bright light drowned out his face, but a tuft of black hair managed to peek through. Jessica couldn’t forget that voice, no matter how long it had been since she heard it.

  Jessica’s dry and cracked lips parted. “Dad?” Hoarse, her voice was barely a whisper.

  A hand reached beyond the spotlight and cradled Jessica’s charred cheek. His sleeves were rolled up and on the inside of his forearm, a tattoo. “Find a way back, Jessie. We gave everything for you girls. Don’t let it be for nothing. Don’t.”

  A wind blew and Jacob Blood, if that’s who was there, went with it. The spotlight blew out like a candle in a winter breeze and Jessica returned to the vapid darkness of the cavern.

  Oh God, Dad… Jessica wished she could hug him, one last time.

  Asleep or awake, Jessica didn’t know. Her body still burned with pain. Contorting in agony on the floor of the cavern, rational thought left her as Jessica spotted her entrails piled on the ground beside her, but somehow she still lived. Somehow everything inside of her just kept regenerating, as if her wounds were nothing.

  It would’ve been handy, if it didn’t hurt so damn much.

  A sound from outside the cave caught Jessica’s attention. She sat up with a groan and leaned her back against the cavern wall. Breathing was a relief, as she tilted her head back, as if to gaze at the sun, but there were just more stark cavern walls. The screaming and the crying echoing from remote chambers of the underworld were common place now. Maybe it was because for days Jessica’s screams had joined the chorus.

  “Oh, you’re awake.”

  Turning her stiff neck created a quick stab of pain behind Jessica’s eye. The skulking demon put a drinking cup made of stone on the ground beside her. “Drink and she’ll know you’re ready to submit. It’ll end the pain.
”

  But it would bring suffering of a different nature, wouldn’t it?

  Jessica nodded her head and turned her eyes away from the beast that topside, she would have easily killed. Never gave thought to them one way or another, had she? But this one…just a lowly servant, well, there was something about him. Or maybe it was just that Jessica was half way to stark raving mad. Maybe all those doctors had been onto something.

  “It doesn’t have to be this bad, you know.” His shoulders rounded and the demon turned with a shuffle toward the exit. Did he have a name? Did Lourdes even bother to name her demons?

  Jessica leaned forward and picked up the cup, cradling it with her two palms. “Thanks, Bernie.” Not his name, but it seemed to fit him. How bad was it that she was naming demons as if they were pets?

  The black liquid sloshed inside the cup like sludge. It wasn’t an ordinary drink, Jessica knew that. Would anything of her be left once she drank it? Would she forget the plan, the will to fight at all?

  If Amanda somehow got her message, if she arrived at the church, then did it matter? With Duncan’s help, Jessica would be captured and Amanda would cleanse her soul. Jessica had no doubts about that at all.

  This was the only way, but the idea that she might lose herself…

  No. It wasn’t time yet. Lourdes wouldn’t buy it. Too easy.

  Jessica threw the cup at the wall like she had done time and time before. Drag a horse to water, but couldn’t make him drink. She was way more stubborn than a horse. Jessica Blood was a stinking mule when it came to stubbornness, Lourdes knew that. It had to be convincing.

  Had to be.

  Gagging, her throat restricted. She grabbed her neck desperate for air. Seemed Lourdes was out of new tricks and Jessica was going to suffocate one hundred more times to satisfy the evil queen’s dark urges.

  *****