by Jill Cooper
“I need to know how my…friend is.” Jessica crossed her arms and her hips pivoted to the side.
“She’s fine. Now, sit.” His eyes narrowed.
“Fine? What does that mean? Listen, she’s sick, so if you don’t mind…” Jessica pushed past him, but he grabbed her by the arms and forced her into a chair.
A tough guy, huh? Jessica could work with that.
“Get out of that chair and we’re really going to have a problem.” He slid out the chair on the other side of the table and sat down. “Want to tell me what business you have in Vegas, Ms. Blood?”
Her reputation preceded her it seemed. Jessica’s ass wiggled in the chair. “Oh you know, the same as everyone else. Little buffet, little gambling. Lots of ass kicking. Should I start with yours? How’s my sister?” No need to keep up the pretense if he knew who they were.
The security guard laughed. “The two of you are trouble. That much is easy to see, but you’re the one who grabbed my fellow officer’s gun. So why don’t you tell me why you did that. Do we need to call the cops? You’re wanted in connection with a murder over five states away. Some massacre at a hospital. I’m sure they’d love to get their hands on you.”
She sighed. He referred to Ron Wax breaking out of the psych ward and everything went to shit for Amanda and Duncan. All of which, Jessica wasn’t even around for. She always got blamed for things that weren’t her fault. “Technically,” Jessica bit her fingernail, “it’s my car that’s wanted in connection with a murder. I was in Hell at the time.”
The security guard did a double take and Jessica couldn’t suppress her smile. “Or the underworld,” Jessica said, “It’s hard to keep it all straight, isn’t it?”
“You screw with a casino like this? We’ll make your life hell. You think you’ve been there, well you haven’t. So now answer the damn question or we’ll ride you straight out of town, sweetheart. If I have to call my boss and have him come down here, you’re going to regret it.”
“My sister’s sick,” Jessica said lightly, quietly. Just the words put a lump in her throat. “I just wanted to get her out of your casino as fast as I could.”
“So, what, drawing a gun is easier for you than calling an ambulance? Asking for help?”
Jessica threw her arm on the back of her chair as she leaned back. “You’ve seen my rap sheet. I’m guessing you only know that because you’ve already called the cops. Is that right? They’re on their way to pick us up?”
Her stomach sickened at the thought.
“Bingo. And you’re not leaving this room until they get here.” He grabbed her wrist and swung his handcuffs around on a finger.
Jessica tugged her wrist, her heart pounded. “Get your mitts off me, you baboon!”
No matter how she resisted, he handcuffed Jessica’s wrist to the table leg. “Might want to think of an insanity plea. You’re not playing with a full deck, sister.”
As if she didn’t know that? She snarled and yanked on her wrist to test out the handcuffs. Yup, they were still metal and they still worked really well. “Stay away from my sister. Just leave her alone. Let her go.”
“Leave her alone?” The security guard stood and pushed his chair in. “Honey, she’s more messed up than you are. Way more messed up.”
Damn it, what did that mean? How bad was Amanda?
Once he was gone, Jessica crouched down to her knees and yanked her wrist as hard as she could, with both hands. She had to get free. She just had to.
Chapter Fourteen: Amanda
The twisted grottos of the underworld were dank and covered in a red, unnatural moss. Inside the hollow caverns, screams of torment echoed. It's what nightmares are made of and Amanda couldn’t stop the flashing visions of it invading her mind.
She gripped her hair and leaned on the metal table she sat at. The security room she was locked in seemed foreign and make believe. It was the underworld that seemed real, even with its twisted screams, something about it called her. Warmth and comforting.
It wanted Amanda to enter its dark embrace.
“Please,” Amanda shook her head with a groan, “make it stop. Make it go away.” She sobbed and the more time she spent with the visions of the underworld, the more the stain of Lourdes crept up her arm. It spread like a slow poison over her shoulder. Burning like lava, she groaned with a clatter of her teeth.
Amanda gripped her shoulder and just begged for it to stop. Begged that it’d all be a bad dream.
I just want to be a person. I just want this all to go away.
Her cries unleashed a power surge in her brain. Her mind rushed through the underworld caverns until she reached a sad man with an overgrown beard. His green eyes haunted with torment like Jessica’s because he was their father. Strapped to a board, demons tortured him. They cut him, they bled him. When Dad’s back arched so he could scream in pain, the demons laughed and they just kept on pulling skin from his body.
“Daddy?”
Some part of her must have been in the underworld because Dad heard her. He gasped and whipped his head to the side. His eyes searching high and low for whatever called him. “Get out of here,” he panted in pain. “Jessica, Amanda if that’s one of you girls…”
Amanda went to stroke his skin, for all the terror he must have faced. “I’m going to save you. I’m going to find a way to get you out of here.”
Dad shook his head, tears leaking from his eyes. “You leave it alone.” He screamed, his mouth full of dark stained teeth. “You leave it alone!”
Just like that the visions of the underworld left her. Amanda gasped as her vision returned to normal. The promise of what was in the underworld, still held firm in her heart, but she could no longer see it. She remembered each piece of twisted rock and every scream lashing out in horror. The most important being Dad.
Dad, just thinking his name broke her heart. It festered like a scab long picked over.
Ten years. He had been there for a decade. Meanwhile, they saved everyone, but couldn’t save him. But maybe Amanda could. Maybe she could save him if she could get out of the casino. If she could just get her head together. Together? Please, her mind was jumbled like a tossed salad.
She didn’t know what to do. She didn’t know which way was up. Amanda needed Jessica. Big sister would always give her the best advice. She would tell her what to do.
Amanda sniffled back her tears as the door opened. A security guard strolled in with a box of tissues. He seemed nice enough with neat brown hair, but wore a scowl on his face. A three-day binge and a hangover would do that to a person. She had never been drunk personally, but she had seen enough drunken people to know it wasn’t pretty.
Why did people torture themselves like that? Why put themselves through something that would only hurt in the end?
The security guard, whose name was Alan, slid his tissues onto the table and took a seat across from Amanda. “Are you okay, Ms. Blood? I saw you crying from behind the glass.” He pointed to the two-way mirror.
Amanda grabbed a tissue and dotted her eyes. “And I saw you guzzling down four-day old Chinese food as you watched. It made me kind of sick.” She glanced up into his eyes with a penetrating stare. She watched his face drop, while fear crept in from all sides. Was it her words or her appearance that was so scary?
Did Amanda even want to know?
He leaned on the table and interlocked his fingers. “There’s no way you could know that. You Sherlock Holmes or something? Smell it on my breath?”
“Must be your greasy fingers.” Amanda wadded her tissue into a ball. “I’d like to see my sister.”
“Funny, she’s worried about you too. You guys are tight as thieves. Maybe a little too much like Bonnie and Clyde.”
So he had seen their rap sheet? How did he access it? The answer seeped into her from his brain. He called the police.
Crap.
Amanda’s nerves hit the roof. “I don’t know what you’re trying to say…”
“I�
�m saying as soon as the police get here, she’s going away for a really long time. Down the river and you too. Far as I can tell, you’re just a notch beneath her.”
“We’re good people.” Amanda’s eyes widened. “Some bad things happened to us, but it’s not our fault.”
The security officer leaned back in his chair. “Uh-huh. Tell me another one.” His eyes raced over her arms and over her neck. You have a skin condition, or something?”
Insulted, Amanda gasped for air. She fingers glided across the surface of the table until they rested on the flesh of his hand. Warm enough, it grew hot under her touch. Flexing out her fingers, a surge of electricity passed from her onto him. Like a racing charge, it sunk beneath his skin.
“We’re good people,” Amanda said more forcefully, with a tilt of her head.
The security guard slumped in his chair and his arms relaxed. “Well, of course you are. Some bad things happened to you.”
Amanda nodded with a slight smile. “And now, before the police get here, you’re going to take me to my sister. All right?”
He stood and took a pair of keys out from his pocket. “Come with me, but some of the others might stop us. They won’t understand.”
Under heavy strain from the weight of her legs, Amanda stood. “Well, we’ll make them understand, but no guns. Okay? I don’t want anyone to get hurt.” She was sick of watching people die. Amanda didn’t want to be the reason for any more death and destruction.
The security guard nodded. “That black stuff on your shoulder, it’s creeping over your face now. Maybe you should see a doctor when this is through.” He headed for the door like his words meant nothing, but Amanda’s heart thumped extra hard and skipped a beat.
Gingerly she touched her face with shaking fingers and could feel how the stain of Lourdes had risen on her cheek like a burn. It branched out and grew along her flesh and soon, it’d consume her.
It would. Amanda was out of time.
No. It couldn’t be true…A wail built in her chest and along with it all the grief of all the things she’d never get to do. Vacation with Jessica. Laughter.
Marriage. Children? It was all going to be over just like that? As if she didn’t have a life she wanted to lead? She did. Amanda ached for it so bad.
That pain built like a tornado inside her chest, but Amanda couldn’t give into it. She just couldn’t. The angel, Miriam, would come for her soon and as promised, Amanda would have to go with her. She would have to, but first she had to set Jessica free. Get her to Duncan. Then Amanda would be free to accept her destiny.
“Are you coming?”
Amanda’s head whipped around at the sound of his voice. “Sorry,” she muttered and picked up her pace. Each step was like stepping on needles. Shooting pains traveled up her heels and ran up her legs. The poison of Lourdes was more than annoyance now.
It was all consuming.
Out in the hall, the vibes of evil ebbed and flowed with vibrations. It transferred to the floors they walked on, the wall reverberated with it, the ooze of corruption and greed leaked all around. Even the security guard that worked there, wisps of his soul were being yanked away.
Piece by piece, by the powerful totem of the Wild Aces Casino. This place was pure evil, grabbing energy and magic to fuel Sin Town. People would be saved if the whole place was leveled and that’s exactly what Amanda was going to do.
One step at a time. First she freed her sister and…then Amanda would say good-bye.
They crept over to the security room where Jessica was being held, but the security officer’s hand hovered over the doorknob. With a slow headshake, the words droned out of him, “I shouldn’t be doing this. She’s dangerous. I can’t just let her go.”
Not now. Amanda couldn’t wait any longer. She gritted her teeth and slid her hand over his arm. With a squeeze of her fingers, she could control him. Amanda knew—He shoved her hand away and backed up.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” He reached for his radio, but Amanda couldn’t let that happen.
She slammed the palm of her hand against the side of his head. She didn’t mean to use so much force, but a new buildup of power festered in her stomach. It rumbled like a bowling ball, picking up steam and the black veins on her hand bled onto his skin. It grew along his skull, beneath his hair and extended until it met his eyes.
They opened wide with fright and went white. Shimmering like giant cones of light, his mouth fell open. Amanda didn’t think what she did was permanent, God she hoped not, but she was out of time.
“Open the door.” Amanda ordered.
Bits of drool leaked out the corner of his mouth, but he did exactly what she asked. Now they were getting somewhere.
Chapter Fifteen: Jessica
C’mon, c’mon. The damn thing had to snap off.
On the floor, Jessica had her back against the wall and her feet propped against the table leg. She pushed until her strained face turned red, but except for a sore wrist, she had nothing to show for it. Not like she expected it to work, but she needed a miracle.
For once, Jessica would like something to go their way for more than two seconds. Just once.
The door banged against the wall as it opened and Jessica glanced up with surprise. The security officer who gloated to her stepped inside and Amanda was with him. She had the palm of her hand flat against his head.
My God. “What did you do to him?” Jessica snarled with disgust and the judgments flew, but his face…it just wasn’t his face, was it? She fought the urge to throw up at the sight of her corrupted sister.
Mercy. Amanda’s face. The black veins of Lourdes had swept over Amanda’s shoulder, creeping up her neck and over her cheek. Her sister’s beautiful face. Once she was as sweet and humble as a fairy. And now Jessica’s heart smashed into a thousand pieces. She could barely bring herself to even look at her sister. It just hurt too much.
Amanda’s chest rose and fell. “What I had to do. Come on, we have to get out of here before the police arrive.”
Jessica’s mouth opened to tell Amanda she was handcuffed to the table, but Amanda waved her hand in the air. Jessica felt an electrical pulse blow through like a storm and her chains clicked. The handcuffs fell away from Jessica’s irritated, red wrists. She rubbed the itch away, as she stood and approached her sister.
“What’s the plan?” Jessica asked, but tension rose in her chest. There was so much she wanted to say. So much she had to say, but now wasn’t the time. She knew that, but her sister…had Jessica already lost her?
“He can get us out.” Amanda’s eyes flicked to the security officer.
Jessica shook her head. Over her dead body. “You shouldn’t be using your power like this. It just makes what is happening to you worse.”
Amanda pursed her lips. “We don’t have a choice, Jess. We have to get to Duncan. We have…” Tears welled in her eyes and Jessica got it. She understood that Amanda owed him, but this was beyond what Duncan would want to accept.
“He’d never want you to do this to yourself. And this guy? If he helps us, he’ll be in the line of fire if the police get here first. We can do this on our own.” No more human deaths. It was Jessica’s new mantra. She had seen and caused enough.
Amanda’s arm slowly lowered to her side. “Fine.”
As she said it, the security officer slumped to the ground. Chin to chest, blood leaked out his ears. Jessica’s heart pattered as she checked him for a heartbeat. Luckily, for them, he was still alive. “You could’ve killed him.” Her eyes cast condemnation.
“He’ll recover. What I did to him was temporary.” Amanda stepped over his body to get back into the hall. “And yes, I can hear your thoughts, so if you would stop with the judgment, maybe we could actually do what we came to do.”
Jessica gripped Amanda’s arm and spun her around. “Listen to yourself. This isn’t you. It’s her. Lourdes. Her corruption. This isn’t you.”
“And I have to stop?” Amanda too
k a deep breath and shook her head. Jessica hated to see so much grief on her face. Hated it. “You think I don’t know? But if I stop now you’ll never get to rescue Duncan. It’s consuming me, Jessica. I don’t have long.”
She talked like she was dying and maybe she was on some level, but Jessica couldn’t stand for that. All the years she’d kept Amanda alive weren’t going to be for nothing. They defeated the queen herself and now Jessica would lose her sister? Now?
Maybe Amanda was already too far gone to save. Bile rose in Jessica’s mouth at the mere thought.
“Then we go upstairs to get the Ruby Heart. We get it, we use it, and we save you.”
Amanda sighed. “You don’t even know how to use it.” She sounded so tired and exasperated. It wasn’t like her at all. Where was the optimistic champion for good? Where was it? Jessica needed that to keep her going. Not this hollow excuse for her sister.
It all snapped into place.
“You never intended for me to save you, did you?” Jessica narrowed her eyes. “All this time you’ve resigned yourself to being the new queen of the underworld, haven’t you?”
Her eyes flickered with grief. “I just wanted to see Duncan safe before I go. Before everything that I am…” Amanda’s lip quivered and she tried to hide it by biting them, but Jessica saw the emotion. The tears.
She was going to fix it.
Jessica took her hand and held it tight. “This is it. The last hurdle, the last yard, some damn sport metaphor we don’t understand because we’ve never had time to relax and do normal things. But this is it, Amanda. After this one last push, we’ll be done. You’ll be safe. We don’t have to keep fighting, but I need you to believe in me. Can you do that?”
“I’ve always believed in you, Jess.” Amanda’s voice cracked. “But it’s moving too fast. The only reason it hasn’t consumed me completely yet is because of my healing power. But even that can’t keep up. Not much longer. I couldn’t heal a dead flower if I tried.”
“Enough talking.” Jessica forced the words back and swallowed all her negative emotions back. “And more walking.” She yanked on Amanda’s hand until she followed her down the hall.
