by Jill Cooper
Duncan scowled and crossed his arms. “I’m not sure how to process all of just what you said.”
Jessica nodded. “Well, join the club. I’ve lived through the last few days and I don’t know how to process it.” She slammed her hand on the steering wheel. “Everything Gwen did, everything I did, everything my parents did, was to save her. Don’t you get it? If she falls now, it was all for nothing. All the pain, all the suffering. It’s for nothing.”
“Okay, Jess.” Duncan’s voice was soft as he reached her and stroked her hair. His fingers entangled in the red strands, he scratched at her scalp and slid closer. “Okay,” he whispered and kissed her cheek. “Whatever you decide, I’m with you until the end, but if you think I’m not going to follow you into that hole, you’re wrong.”
A tear slid down her cheek. “You’d do that for me?” Jessica asked.
“Girl, don’t you know by now I’d do anything for you?”
Maybe she should’ve known or maybe something about her made that impossible. She wasn’t born a broken person, Jessica knew that, but life had made her that way. Jessica gave him a shining smile, one that broke through the darkness of her heart. “As long as Gwen got her hands on the Ruby Heart when we were in Vegas, we can save her. We just have to get to the church before she wakes up.”
Duncan held up a small canvas zipper bag. “Mike gave me reinforcements. We should be able to get Amanda inside and locked up before she even knows what hit her.”
“Will the church let us in?” Jessica asked.
Duncan’s face twitched into a roguish grin. “We’ll make them.”
Chapter Twenty: Jessica
They drove straight through, with barely a bathroom break. Instead, they ate granola bars, gassed the car up when they had to, and just kept on going. Night turned into day and into night again. By the time they reached the church door, Amanda was stirring for the sixth time and Jessica was forced to inject her with the last of the sedative. “No,” Amanda muttered, with her eyes closed and rolled her head against Jessica’s shoulder.
“It’s working less and less,” Jessica said as she threw the empty bag into the backseat of the car. Inside she was weak and had been snared with sadness so deep, it felt like depression. Her will to fight had diminished on the long drive. Now Jessica, well, she just felt tired.
“C’mon,” Duncan wrapped his jacket around Amanda and placed it over her head. Then he hefted her up, into his arms. It was endearing for Jessica, to watch how much he cared for her. She wanted to tell him she knew about his sister and everything he’d lost, but now didn’t seem like the best time.
This church was more secluded than the others. An adobe church with an iron gate. The coast was clear as they raced up the stairs. The doors were unlocked, but no one was around to greet them as Duncan stepped across the threshold.
The church inside looked similar to the one in Vermont, except the windows weren’t blown out. Duncan’s jacket kept Amanda safe as they hurried through, past the church’s windows. Jessica followed Duncan into the basement and they placed Amanda inside the cage. All around were bibles and candles. Jessica reached for a candle to light for luck.
“Latch it,” Jessica said as Duncan did. Maybe she didn’t need to say it, but she felt better having done so. She breathed a sigh of relief and ran her hands through her hair. Finally, she could breathe, but maybe just for a minute. Maybe just for a scant second, she could relax and think about their next move.
Duncan’s eyes met hers and she melted into them. “Whatever Vain did to you,” Jessica said, “I’m sorry.”
He shook his head. “Darling, it was nothing compared to what you were going through. Later, we can go in detail. Let’s deal with this first.”
Jessica nodded. Okay, she could do that. She could…
A rush of footsteps down the stairs caused her to pause and she backed up when she saw it was a priest she didn’t recognize. It wasn’t Mike, but another priest who spoke with a thick Spanish accent.
“You have no right bringing her here.” He pointed at the cage. “You have any idea what it is she will bring to this place? Look at her!”
Jessica’s temper rose and her eyebrows arched to match it, but it was Duncan who spoke. “This is exactly the reason this place was crafted. Built. To save souls. Why is her soul unworthy?”
The priest scowled. “You will bring commendation on us all, my friends. You stay one day, but after that you go. And I will deal with her. Put her in the pit, right where she belongs.”
“Over my dead body, and trust me, I know dead. Been dead a few dozen times already.” Jessica said with a snort and crossing her arms.
Duncan cast her a look. Well, at least that hadn’t changed and that was something Jessica was comfortable with. “Give us the church for a few days. I promise we’ll leave it in the same condition in which we found it,” Duncan said.
The priest snorted. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.” He stormed back up the steps and Jessica had to agree with him there.
“He has a point.”
“Yeah, well,” Duncan slid his hands in his pocket and pulled out a toothpick. “I had to get rid of him somehow. When she wakes up, she isn’t exactly going to be complacent.”
“Will the cage hold her?” Jessica asked.
“For a little while.”
Gwen’s voice surprised Jessica and she whipped around to see her aunt and Mike coming down the stairs. “Where’re Hannah and Ron?”
“Ron is getting her acquainted at the rectory. We have hope they’ll be able to help get her settled or give her a place to stay while she tries to contact her family—if she has any left.” Mike’s eyes cast over to Duncan, but not Jessica.
He wouldn’t look at her. Why?
Jessica turned to Duncan and saw a look of worry in his face, but he smiled when he glanced at her. “Are you guys communicating by secret guy looks, or something? What’s going on?”
Gwen sighed. “Jessica—.”
“Where is it?” Jessica demanded. The air in the room was all wrong. If they had what they needed to help Amanda, the air should be relaxed. Instead, the room was as tense as anything Jessica had ever felt. . She felt more at ease facing a horde of demons than this.
“Where is the Ruby Heart? You said it was at the Wild Aces Casino. So, did you get it?” Anxiety reached a pinnacle, like an explosive storm about to hit. Jessica wanted an answer and that was all. A simple, straight answer. Why were people incapable of giving her that much?
Gwen reached into her pocket and pulled out something wrapped in white fabric. Her hands shook as she uncovered what looked to be a white shard crystal. It was glowing, but clearly wasn’t shaped like a heart and wasn’t ruby colored at all.
False advertising or something worse?
“What is that?” Jessica asked, with a shaking voice. Why was she feeling so upset? That couldn’t be…
“I tried.” Gwen pushed her lips together to keep the quiver from overtaking her mouth. “I tried, baby, but Amanda—.”
“Where’s the Ruby Heart?” Jessica asked and nearly stomped her foot. She was growing so angry and that thing Gwen held couldn’t be what they were after. It just couldn’t, because it was all wrong.
Gone. Broken. Dreams fading away.
Gwen stared down at the crystal shard and Mike stood up, placing his hand on Gwen’s shoulder. “She can’t tell you because this is it, Jessica. Amanda came upon us fast. We couldn’t save the Ruby Heart. Amanda…she…crushed it.”
Jessica shook her head. “This can’t be it. You…” She ran a hand through her hair as her emotions flared. She was spiraling out of control, her eyes falling to the cage where Amanda slept.
The Ruby Heart was destroyed.
Amanda cannot be saved. You cannot take her place.
The fight is over. It’s gone.
She lost. After everything Jessica had done, she had finally lost.
Like listening beneath water, she heard Mike rush o
n, in explanation. “Amanda shattered it. She doesn’t want to be saved. She wants…”
“I know what she wants!” Jessica hollered at them louder than she meant to. She grabbed at her hair, feeling her heart spiraling into the pit of her stomach. “You were supposed to grab the Ruby Heart! You were supposed to help us!”
Tears flowed freely from Gwen’s eyes and her lips puckered. Had Jessica ever seen her lose it like that, to emotion? Gwen grabbed at Jessica’s hands and squeezed them. “I failed. Again, I failed, but I tried Jessica—Amanda was too powerful for me. I couldn’t do anything.”
Gwen sobbed and Jessica pulled away from her. This was all wrong. Couldn’t be real. Her aunt wasn’t weak like this. She was strong. A warrior and Amanda—.
No. No. It wasn’t true. It couldn’t be. Amanda wouldn’t give up just like that. Jessica wouldn’t let her. She….
Her limbs trembled and Jessica felt her legs go weak, but Duncan caught her up before she fell to the ground. He wrapped his arms tightly around her torso. “I’ve got you,” he whispered against her ear. “We’ll figure this out. We’ll get through this.”
Like how he figured out how to save his sister? Like how she figured out how to save Amanda from Vaughn and instead sent herself straight to the underworld? Like how she figured out Aunt Gwen was possessed?
Sometimes you just lost. Sometimes you didn’t just lose. Sometimes you burned.
“What do we do?” Jessica asked. She felt like gagging on her own vomit, so how was it she was still talking? Still thinking and trying to formulate a plan. Didn’t she know when she had been beaten? Didn’t she know how to stop?
“There’s still hope. Not much, but I believe there is still power in what is left of the Ruby Heart,” a chunky, heavy set man ran down the steps, struggling to catch his breath.
Jessica sneered at him for interrupting. “Who’s the chub?”
Gwen frowned as she wiped the tears from her face. She cleared her throat and stood closer to Mike as if being near him was some sort of comfort. “This is Archibald. Archie, as known by his friends.”
“So, she can call me Archibald.” He flicked his suspenders. “The great Jessica Blood doesn’t disappoint, it seems.”
“She’s not feeling so great>” Jessica finally pulled away from Duncan and his eyes held concern and many questions for her. She nodded she was all right, as much as she could be.
“So, Archie,” Jessica said catching Duncan shaking his head at her, “why don’t you explain what you mean?”
Archibald took a deep breath. “The Ruby Heart has a center. This, I’m gathering is it. Its power isn’t as strong, but it can be harnessed.”
“Great,” Jessica said and felt her spirits left.
“Except I don’t know how. I’ll have to consult my books, except they were destroyed, so I need to confer with a friend. About three hours from here.”
Three hours? So much for Jessica’s lifting spirits. “Can’t you call him? We’re surrounded by phones. We all have them.”
Archibald and Mike exchanged a glance that didn’t warm Jessica’s spirits. They were keeping something from her—that much she was sure of. She didn’t like it one bit. “Will someone please, give me a straight answer about what is going on?” Her teeth gnashed together.
Mike glanced at the ground. “It’s best you don’t know. It’ll keep you safe. That’s all I can tell you, Jessica. But Duncan will speak for my character. I won’t let Amanda down. My word, you can count on.”
If that was the best they had to offer, Jessica would accept it. She could, after all, accept Mike’s word. She couldn’t say why, but she just knew his word was his bond. “All right.”
She didn’t want to agree to it, but saw little choice.
“We’ll take him,” Gwen said. “We’ll take him and we’ll be in touch as soon as we know anything, Jessica.”
“You promise this time?” Jessica’s comment bit hard, from the way Gwen’s face fell and she felt like a heel. “Sorry, just…sorry. I don’t mean anything I’m saying right now.”
Mike nodded. “Apologies in this situation aren’t necessary.”
“Speak for yourself,” Gwen said with a sardonic grin. “We haven’t lost yet, so don’t go giving up on us. You’re the best chance this girl has. Without you as a champion, she’d be dead a million times over.”
A champion. Her?
Jessica didn’t voice her self-doubt. She just hugged her aunt. She really hugged her. “Hurry back,” she whispered.
Gwen smoothed Jessica’s hair back and Jessica harkened back to those early days, when she was so desperate for Gwen to hug her. In those days, the hugs had never come. Jessica knew why now, she understood, but back then it just made her angry. Bitter.
She gazed at Amanda, sleeping in her cage. Amanda, for better or worse, was the glue that held the family together. Now they were coming together to save her, one last time. Without her, Jessica didn’t think the family stood a chance.
When her Aunt pulled away, Jessica tossed her keys to her.. “Take it. It’s faster than yours.”
Gwen caught the keys with ease, but gave them a stare. “I’ll take good care of her.”
Jessica nodded. “Not a scratch.” She gazed down at her sister and felt the beginning of a sob coming on, so she knelt by the cage. Through the bars, she touched a soft tendril of Amanda’s hair and blocked the rest of the cold, harsh world out.
Remember when it was just us? Remember when it was cold ice cream on hot days and Dad would chase us down the pier, to the river? Remember how Mom would sing and you would rock on that old wooden horse in your room?
Hang onto those good memories, Mandy. Hang on and fight. Come back to us. Please.
“Please,” Jessica whispered out loud and wiped a tear off her cheek.
Duncan was squatted down low beside her, his hand on the small of her back. Just his presence was enough to warm her. Jessica was worried he hated that this was what he came back to. He needed to heal, didn’t he? Recuperate after everything Vain put him through so why was he still here?
He kissed the side of her head as if he didn’t care—as if this was exactly what he wanted to be doing.
“I hope she can still hear me,” Jessica said. “I told her to keep fighting. To remember when it was good. Sometimes when you forget how good things can be, you want to stop trying.”
Duncan covered her hand with his. “Is that what it was like for you? In the underworld?”
Jessica didn’t mean to get into that now, but she felt the need to unburden. Her eyebrows arched. “Worse. The only way to get out was to give up. I never thought I’d have you again. Or her. And now…” Jessica’s voice trailed off because there was nothing she could say. Nothing that would make any of it better.
Her grief ran deep and Duncan seemed to understand. “I gotta say, I didn’t expect our reunion to go like this Jess.”
Wasn’t that the understatement of the year? Still, Jessica felt guilty, but her life was what it was. How could she apologize for that? Duncan was the one who seemed to want to be part of it and he could walk away whenever he wanted. That either made him a saint, or crazy.
“But to be here and help you through this? Help her through this?” Duncan shook his head as his eyes fell to the cage. “It’s all I can ask for.”
“Thank you,” Jessica whispered and took his hand. “You don’t know how good it feels to hear you say that. To be accepted for who I am? I never expected anyone to want to share my life.”
“Your life is my life, Jess. We have to start thinking as a unit or we might never get out of this.” He kissed her hand and his lips lingering against her skin.
Shivers like a wave raced up her arm. For a brief moment, she thought of Amanda. What if Amanda never knew love like this? Someone who cared for her, who wasn’t her own sister? Jessica’s heart would break if . She snuggled against Duncan’s shoulder and closed her eyes.
It was calming. Comforting, and it stilled her
heart. Until he bent over in a hurry and tilted her head up toward his. First a soft kiss welcomed her in and Jessica’s heart soared. She had forgotten how fast her heart could beat. The warm solace of being with him, his hot breath against her skin, it made everything perfect for that single second when Jessica forgot who she was—what she was doing. She was just with him.
And it was perfect.
Until the door burst open and the moment was torn away by harsh reality.
Ron stood in the doorway, his hand resting on the hilt of his gun. “We have trouble, and it ain’t the good kind.”
Typical.
The kiss broken off, Jessica glowered at Ron. “What now?” She grabbed her shotgun from the corner of the room and they followed Ron out into the church sanctuary. Ron nodded his head toward the front doors and Jessica saw brilliant golden wings filling the threshold.
She raised her weapon defensively, but Duncan rested his hand on the barrel with a shake of his head. “It won’t work with them.”
Them?
Jessica didn’t lower her gun right away. Not until someone broke away from the pack. The woman with the glowing wings was beautiful. She wore an elegant white robe, her hair shimmered red behind her and her cheeks shone as though covered in glitter. With a slight smile she extended a dainty and elegant hand to Jessica.
“We are not your enemy, Jessica Blood, and you cannot stand in our way.”
More women stepped out from the golden light hanging around the door. They started to circle and close in on them and Jessica feared the worst. She snarled her lips. “Who the hell are you?”
The woman smiled with a bow of her head. “We are the host of heaven and we have come for Amanda Blood.”
“Over my dead body,” Jessica raised her gun.
Chapter Twenty-One: Jessica
