by Jill Cooper
“But how are we going to get out of Sin Town?”
One thing at a time. Duncan tried to think of something encouraging to say when he heard a burst of gunfire. There was no way it could be Jessica. No way. But still, his heart knew it to be true.
She was here.
Chapter Seventeen: Jessica
The front door shattered and Jessica Blood stepped inside the grand foyer of The Vampire Kiss. Giant chandeliers hung from the ceiling and cast prisms of light against the black satin walls. Behind the hostess podium a woman of exceptional beauty stood. Her skin shimmered like pearls cast along the ocean and each tendril of black hair coiled perfectly around the nape of her neck.
Her lips were the color of desire, like the dress of a beautiful maiden and the mere appearance of her made Jessica’s knees tremble.
“You can’t be in here,” the rare beauty huffed, but her voice was enchanted, like a child’s song.
Jessica recognized the signs of magic and a warding spell. This whole place was just one big con. She couldn’t abide that. Lifting her shotgun, Jessica fired into the chandelier. Jessica buried her head into her jacket and protected her face. Glass shards rained down from the ceiling and pelted off her clothes and boots.
The hostess cowered, feeling at her sinking complexion. Her skin sagged and her hair’s shine dulled like yesterday’s beauty pageant queen. “What have you done!” She turned and ran toward the bar entrance, but Jessica grabbed her by the shoulder and tossed her against a wall.
The woman tumbled onto a sofa. Her fishnet stockings sagged around her ankles and the blue feathers she wore on her ass were now twisted and comical.
“Stay put,” Jessica said. “Or else you might get hurt.”
“Like it matters?” the woman cried. “After what you just did, nothing else matters!”
Her heart wasn’t exactly broken up about it, because it was shattered. Already destroyed. Jessica couldn’t think about Amanda or anything else. Just had to immerse herself in her work. Forget everything else for a little while and just focus on Duncan.
Duncan. Her heart sped up with anticipation as she stepped into the bar. “Get her!” Someone yelled. “Go get her, boy!”
Jessica tucked behind the wall as the fierce barking of hellhounds broke out. Figures, Jessica thought and aimed her gun. Two huge beasts lunged, dainty diamond collars around their necks as if they were nothing more than simple house pets. But their mouths snarled with fangs and globs of white saliva dripped from their tongues. There was nothing normal about their beady red eyes that glowed straight from the pit of Hell itself.
As one crossed over the entryway, Jessica fired into the hellhound’s skull. Brain matter flew out the back, as its body fell. Probably never even knew what hit him, but the next one snarled. Crouched on its hind legs it growled and sprung for Jessica’s face.
Backing up, Jessica fired, but the hellhound’s soaring body crashed into her and knocked her down. Winded, she rolled the dead mutt off of her and gazed into the bar. Demons and humans alike were watching her.
“You killed her pets! You killed the Mistress’s favorite toys!”
An old man with wrinkled skin grabbed Jessica and shook her back and forth. He must’ve been there awhile, considering the leather hot pants he wore, and there was a collar around his neck. Have some dignity, pal.
Jessica pushed him off, but he wouldn’t take no for an answer. “You need to pay for what you did!” He snarled and snapped his jaws at her face. Humanity? No, there was little of that left. Little to none.
She couldn’t stomach killing him, so Jessica hit him in the face with the butt of her gun. When he fell backward, Jessica tripped him. The fall knocked him unconscious, which was probably the luckiest thing that had happened to him all day.
Rising to her feet, Jessica gripped her shotgun and strolled into the bar. “Anyone else want to cross me? Anyone else want to try to stop me?”
No one at the bar moved. Humans stared at her angrily, but the demons just went back to nursing their drinks. Jessica took careful steps as she moved through the bar. Her gun swept along the counter and she eyed everyone with a hardened glare so they wouldn’t think of making a move. Good boys, no one wanted to give it a go, especially not the demons. They knew her face. They knew what she’d do if they even tried.
As she approached the curtain covering the hall, a woman ran by, in heels that were way too high. Her steps were short and she swayed on her feet. “What happened?” She had been crying and the mascara ran down her face. Once, she might have been pretty, but now her skin was gray around the eyes and she had extra rolls of skin squishing around her bra.
There was also a giant bruise on her cheek. Jessica touched it turned the woman’s head. “Who did this to you?”
“A demon. Back there. When the spell was broken and he saw I was no longer beautiful, this is what he did to me.” The woman sobbed. “I can’t live like this. I can’t!”
“Sit at the bar. Get a drink. It’ll all be over soon. You’re getting out of here.”
“This is my home,” the woman’s eyes condemned Jessica. “Did you do this? Did you destroy our home?”
Hopeless. Maybe one day she’d thank her, but Jessica, wouldn’t hold her breath. Jessica pushed past the curtain and walked down the hall. One of the doors slid open and Jessica held her breath. Duncan?
No, it was just a muscle-headed demon who was way too tall and way too wide. He sneered at her and removed his sunglasses. “You see which way the wench went?”
“Yeah, that way,” Jessica thumbed down the hall, “but you’re not going to hurt her.”
“No, huh? I’m going to kill her and I’m going to find that bitch Vain—.”
“Vain’s already dead. My sister killed her.” Pain welled inside Jessica’s chest. “And now, I’m going to kill you.” Her boot lashed out and caught him in the chest, but it was like hitting a brick wall. He barely budged, as he caught her leg, and pulled her in real close.
“I think I could get used to you,” he leaned forward as if to lick her. He was despicable and filled with corruption. It slid through every pore on his face.
So Jessica blew it off.
She fell forward onto him, Jessica braced her hands on the floor so not to slip into the goo that was once his brain—for lack of a better word. Now that the maggots and beetles had been broken apart, they retreated to every corner of the room.
Standing, Jessica snatched her shotgun up. She heard footsteps rushing toward her. Not in the mood for any more standoffs, Jessica pivoted on one heel and aimed her shotgun. Her lip trembled as she gazed into Duncan’s face.
He was alive. He was here.
The joy of seeing his face again cut through her sorrow.
****
He froze with his arms up and his blue eyes sang to her soul. Her insides were so unsure, so nervous, that it took Jessica a moment to lower her gun. It took him even longer to lower his arms. Duncan wasn’t alone, a young woman was with him, and Jessica couldn’t even look at her. Couldn’t even imagine what they were doing together.
Her heart roiled with pain and the heartache of losing everything slammed into her body. There was so much she had to say. So much to apologize for. Jessica didn’t know where to even start.
But he was walking straight for her. Jessica didn’t know if she should cower or if she should run. She hadn’t seen him since she lost the mark of Lourdes on her soul and didn’t know how he’d react.
How she should act.
Instead Jessica stood in front of him and awaited his judgment—vulnerable and afraid. She’d take whatever he lashed out. He was alive, so maybe that was all that mattered. If Duncan wanted to lash out at her for all the evil things she had done, she’d take it.
Jessica could win back his acceptance if given time, but none of them had time. There wasn’t enough time. Never really was.
Hot tears stung her eyes as Duncan smoothed her cheek where the scar had ruined her perfect sk
in. He stared so deeply, like the intensity of a spotlight on a dark day that Jessica bent under his intensity. “It’s really you.” The sweet drawl of his voice was perfect—a chorus of love she hadn’t heard in way too long.
“I…” Jessica’s words were cut off as he kissed her. He took her in his arms and just kissed her. It was a promise. A never ending promise between two weary soldiers ready for something other than battle, but a future? Did she even have one?
Jessica gripped him tightly with her free hand while her other clung to her shotgun. She couldn’t let it go even while she drowned in his eyes. She mashed her cheek against his and the sweet relief of tears cascaded down. “I have so much to apologize for,” her lips quivered. “The Black Scorpions….”
Duncan took her face in his hands. “None of that was you. None of it.”
She couldn’t get off that easily. Jessica just couldn’t. She shook her head to argue, but Duncan just kissed her again as if he couldn’t keep his lips to himself. As if being apart from her was too much to bear and his unbridled acceptance was overwhelming. Her teeth chattered, but she didn’t want to leave him.
Didn’t want to stop kissing him.
“I owe you a lot,” Duncan said, “my sister…what happened when I left your side, but I never should’ve. I was a fool, Jess, A damned one.”
“She was your sister,” Jessica whispered and caressed his cheek. She wanted to remember this perfect moment. It might be the last one they ever had, but to have so much bliss, even for a moment….
Sister. Jessica’s heart clenched. “We need to go,” Jessica gazed down and Duncan took her hand. “Amanda’s…. she’s in trouble.”
Was she ever not in trouble?
“She’s becoming the new queen of the underworld,” Jessica shrugged to try to mask her pain, but it bubbled out around the sides. “We don’t have long. It might already be too late.”
Duncan’s face fell and grief washed across his features. She saw it in his eyes and the way his legs trembled. The reminder of how much he loved Amanda caused her heart to swell with even more low for him.
“We might have one shot. One. If we can get to the Ruby Heart.”
“Whatever it takes. I’m not leaving you again, Jess. Whatever happens, we face it together,” Duncan said.
“I know,” she said simply, a blush of embarrassment spreading across her cheeks.
“Can I help too?”
The sweet voice jarred her. Jessica had forgotten about the young woman who stood off to the side. “It’s too dangerous. We’ll get you out of Sin Town, if you want to leave, but then you’re on your own.”
“This is Hannah. She was one of Vaughn’s new girls before Vain ‘rescued’ her,” Duncan explained. “I would still be a slave to Vain if it wasn’t for her.”
Jessica nodded with understanding and saw the compassion Duncan’s eyes held for Hannah. He didn’t need to spell it out for her. Hannah had been raped and Vain rescued her only to pimp her out. What a true humanitarian Vain was.
“Then we’ll take you as far as we can. Vain won’t be a problem for you anymore. She’s dead.”
Duncan’s eyebrows rose and she saw what he thought, as clear as if he wrote it down on a piece of paper.
“Wish I could claim it was me, but it was Amanda.” Jessica cleared her throat to keep the tears from forming, but it was damn hard. Like an ocean wave about to breach the wall.
Duncan’s lips parted. “Amanda?” His face twisted with as confusion.
Jessica didn’t want to talk about it anymore. They had already stayed too long inside The Vampire Kiss. She led them away and she was surprised to find the bar empty. Well, that was easy, and it also meant things were going in their favor.
Which meant things were bad. Really bad.
Jessica hurried through the bar and stepped outside. She skipped down the steps and stopped where the bar’s former occupants stood. Duncan and Hannah weren’t far behind. They all stared up at the sky just past Sin Town.
The sky churned red and orange beams fired through the rolling clouds and turned them to dust. The illuminated glow spread and unless Jessica missed her guess, soon Sin Town would be consumed by whatever hellfire that was.
An explosion rocked the ground. Jessica teetered on her feet. She smelled burning ash and her heart mourned because whatever was happening, there was only one person who could’ve caused it.
Amanda.
Chapter Eighteen: Amanda
Vain was dead and Jessica was gone. With a bitter heart, Amanda turned her back to the police officers rising to their feet. Their thoughts swirled together like a spider web through her mind, but laced with a bitter pill.
Vain is dead.
The monster slew Vain.
Time to take her out back and teach her a lesson.
Who knew magic was real? I don’t want to face this woman.
Luckily for all of them, they wouldn’t get a chance. Walking toward the elevator, Amanda swiped her hand through the air and froze the police officers behind her. She was able to see their faces, even though they were behind her. Their expressions were seared into her brain and she would never forget the look of horror on their faces.
A monster? Amanda was supposed to save the world, and she would. That’s exactly what she was going to do, even if she sacrificed herself to do it.
She stepped into the elevator and pushed the button for the penthouse suite. Vain’s girls were up there and they too needed to be free of Vain…no, wait, they were gone. They had been released by someone else.
Amanda’s mind flashed out to the penthouse and found the familiar presence of Gwen, at her most cross.
I’m coming, Amanda said with her mind.
I know, Aunt Gwen said.
Amanda was surprised. How had she gotten into the Wild Aces Casino unseen? You do have your surprises, Aunt Gwen.
I know that, child. Believe me, it’s a cross I bear each day. I guess in some ways I’ve always feared this would happen, but Amanda, we can find a way through this together.
Amanda didn’t answer as the doors dinged open because there was nothing she could say. Despair was an anchor and it weighed her down as surely as a concrete block. The mirror edges around the doorframe reflected back Amanda’s true appearance and it blood her boiled. Her heart skipped a beat to see her lips ochre black.
The spread of Lourdes’s curse tightened like a net across her face and even her fingernails had grown dark and jagged.
Time was nearly up; sunset was approaching on the Earth. On her. On her life.
She stepped onto the carpet and approached the penthouse door. Each footstep singed the carpet that squished against her toes. Heat and flame rose from her skin, even if no one else would ever be able to see it.
It was as if flame burned her soul. At first it tickled and singed, but now it was like an all-consuming firebox. Inside the penthouse was her redemption, supposedly. The Ruby Heart. The one item that could steal Lourdes stain that was a festering pox across her skin, but Amanda didn’t want to be saved.
Not anymore.
She wanted to fix the world.
Twisting the door knob, Amanda was surprised to find it opened easily. The room was dark. Curtains were drawn tight against the windows, but the soft sound of a human’s breath made it easy for her to locate Aunt Gwen, crouched behind a sofa while Mike hid behind the bathroom door.
“Aunt Gwen, you can come out. Show me the Ruby Heart.”
Slowly Gwen stood and in her hand was the artifact itself. Amanda hadn’t expected it to take two hands to hold or how beautifully it would shimmer in the dark. It seemed to glint as if it rested in full sunlight. Amanda swallowed tightly as she stared into it. The glistening red surrounded her like a giant vat of Jell-o and part of her just wanted to stay.
Mike was advancing on her from the right. In his hand, a fireplace poker.
Amanda lifted her hand to stop his approach. His arms were overhead and his face twisted as he strained. H
e wanted to knock her out and his mind cursed her. So finally, she could read him.
Well, he wasn’t going to win. Mike couldn’t knock her out when she could sense everything before it happened.
“You have no one to pass Lourdes’s curse onto. I killed Vain,” Amanda said quietly.
Gwen stood firm and her jaw tensed. “Then we’ll give it to someone else. It’ll be passed onto someone else.”
“Who?” Amanda asked.
“I don’t care. Anyone.” Gwen swallowed hard. “Someone evil. Someone with nothing to live for. Someone.”
Someone? She was searching for straws just to save her, but what made Amanda so special? Maybe this choice was it. Maybe this was her gift to the world and the reason why she was created to begin with.
“Then nothing changes. This song and dance of death and corruption continues. This way, things change.”
Gwen shook her head. “This isn’t you, baby girl. This isn’t—.”
Amanda’s stomach rolled that Aunt Gwen would try something so sweet. She loved her aunt, but that wasn’t who she was. It wasn’t their relationship and never had been. “Term of endearment? Sounds funny coming from you, Aunt Gwen. But I understand why. I understand you’re trying to reach me, but I’m thinking clearer than I have in years.”
Gwen’s face flickered and she felt despair. Real and thick as the night sky.
“You think I can’t save the underworld, but I can. I can save Dad and countless others who are trapped in torment.”
“He wouldn’t want you to do this.” Gwen scowled. “He gave his life to save you, Amanda. He wouldn’t want—.”
Time for talking was over. With a twitch of her fingers, the Ruby Heart flew from Gwen’s hands toward Amanda. Gwen gasped and raised her hand to bring a lightning storm, but even that Amanda controlled.
She forced Gwen to her knees with a toss of her head. “Amanda!” Gwen’s voice shrieked out in pain. “Don’t! Please!”
