Blood Debt (The Blood Sisters Book 2) (13 page)

T
he air
above ground was cool against Jessica’s skin. Something she had forgotten about
during her time in the underworld. The veil of twilight fell upon the Earth as
Jessica advanced toward Amanda.
 
In the
back of her
mind,
an old conversation
played on repeat. It was her own voice to her sister Amanda, telling her where
to go. Where to hide.

But why
would Amanda listen? She didn’t want to get caught, did she?

Jessica
was determined to fetch Lourdes’s prize. Her skin burned hotter the closer she
got to Amanda’s location. The tattoos on her neck and back lighting up, as if a
match was lit beneath her skin. Carved like an old jack lantern, her skin
glowed against the dark sky as she started up a hill. On either side of her
were two of Lourdes’s best demons. For insurance, and also to ensure Jessica
didn’t fail.

Her red
eyes swept along the landscape until they fell upon the church. With its giant
steeple scraping against the sky, it was like a beacon and a warning at the
same time. This place, Jessica was sure, was where Amanda was, but there was
something about this place, wasn’t there? A secret harbored from her past.
Jessica couldn’t recall what it was, but the church seemed to glow golden light
around the edges.

Holy
ground, but not something unique
to
this
church, was it?

“Move
slowly,” Jessica ordered the demons flanking her. They were tall and
non-descript, each in their own leather jacket, billowing brown hair and
holstered guns. From a distance, they appeared human. It was only if you got
closer that the illusion faded. Instead of shifting eyes, there were maggots of
decay churning in their sockets.

Making her
way down the hill, Jessica watched the street for traffic and anyone that might
ambush her. There was no sign of people, no sign that Amanda had backup
watching the street. It wasn’t like a Blood to get
themselves
trapped inside.

Did
Amanda travel alone? What happened to Jasper?

Duncan.
Jessica’s heart flattened inside her chest to think just his name, but when she
envisioned his face—the curve of his jaw and that quirky smile—Jessica stopped
dead in her tracks.

Keep going,
Lourdes’s
voice urged her to continue on.
Don’t
stop when my prize is so close and the information you are so desperate to
have.

The
sidewalk was lined with soft grass when as Jessica’s boot flattened it, the
green blades withered to brown. What was once filled with life turned to death
and decay in her presence.

Up ahead
was the grand steeple church and there was no
sign
of anyone.

Odd. No
guards? No one watching the entrance? It smelled like a trap, but Jessica couldn’t
retreat. Her feet pounded up the marble staircase and she placed a gloved hand
against the brown ornate door. It’s pattern so intricate that it had to be for
something other than decoration.

Even
through the leather, Jessica’s hand sizzled. She pulled it back and memories of
this place trickled through the wall Lourdes had built up in her mind. A sweet
girl’s voice screamed out in terror echoing from so long ago, “Get down,
Mandy!”
 

Now she
was here to hurt her? How could she—.

“
Pull the door open,
” Lourdes’s voice
rang through her mind. “
Go get her,
Jessica. You think too much.
”

The demon queen’s
words weren’t wrong.

Jessica
pulled the door wide and stepped into the church foyer. When her boot met the
carpet, the smell of the place reminded her of something. Inside it was warm
and the glow from memorial candles danced against the darkness. So far there
was no sign of the enemy. Jessica glanced back at her demons and signaled them
on with her hands. “Stay close. We don’t know what they have planned.”

She
walked down the aisle. On either side, she was flanked by pews. Up ahead the
white altar was illuminated by a golden glow and a woman stood in front. With
the bright lights behind her, the woman’s face was indiscernible, but her feet
were bare and soiled. She stood with her head bent down, as if in prayer, the
silhouette of her hair, bouncing cheese curls.

It was
Amanda. She was so close that Jessica could smell her. Taste her. Jessica’s
steps slowed, the tattoos on her neck and shoulders burning so intensely that
she shuddered in her place. With a hiss of a breath, Jessica
wobbled
to one knee. She gripped the edge of a
pew to steady herself and Amanda nearly left the alter to help her.

She saw
the way Amanda’s face twitched and the way her leg moved forward, but Amanda
fought the urge.

Jessica
thought dear sister would help her, but Amanda didn’t. Disappointed? A little.
She thought
baby
sister would charge for
her. Standing
upright
, Jessica saw the
gleam on the carpet from the windows, but outside it was dark. So what made the
windows shine so bright? What sorcery was this?

“If you
want me,” Amanda’s voice echoed like notes from a bell through the church
chamber. It was stronger than Jessica gave her credit for. “You’re going to
have to come get me.”

So little
sister wanted to fight? Wanted Jessica to get close? Why?

Then
Jessica remembered through the fog of Lourdes. Jessica sneered to her two demon
pets. “Take out the windows.”

Before
the demons were able to open fire, Duncan and some priest stepped out from the
shadows. Guns ready, they
mowed
down her
demons before they had a chance to change position. The demons’
gunfire
went wide, and two windows were
shattered. The church itself groaned as if in pain as the windows were broken.
The multi-colored glass fell in shards against the carpet. Jessica’s boots
crunched the pieces beneath her and she threw her hair back with satisfaction.

It was
better than nothing. Jessica could avoid the rest of the windows. She turned
and stared right into Duncan’s eyes. They were hard, steeled against her as if
he didn’t even care, so why should she? “Going to fight me, baby?” her voice
drawled
, flirting with him.

“We’re
just here to make sure you don’t escape, that’s all,” Duncan said, but he never
lowered his gun. “You guys have a dance to do, so I say you get to it,
darling’. Go see your sister.”

Jessica’s
heart ached to see him, hear him, yet he was unattainable. Again. Wasn’t he
always?

Amanda
couldn’t defeat her. She had the fires of Lourdes burning in her soul. It was
Amanda that would end up burning, so why did everyone have such faith in her?
Because they were in this church? With the demon trap in the basement?

“Did you
really think I wouldn’t remember?” Jessica extended her arm and flame shot from
her hand, forming a sword of burning ash. The fire flowed up her
arms
and shot down her legs like a firestorm.
The
rage
of the flames made her skin
tremble and sweat flowed from her brow. “You’ll join me in hell tonight.”

“You only
brought two demons with you?” Amanda asked, a slight edge of taunting in her
voice.

“Who said
I only brought two.” Jessica advanced with wide steps as the windows all around
them shattered. Like scurrying little bugs, demons crawled into the church,
ready to take Amanda straight to hell and it was Jessica’s orders they were
ready to follow.

“Mandy!”
Duncan’s voice rang out in fear and Jessica’s heart quivered for a moment to
hear him so worried about someone—someone that wasn’t her.

“Stay
back! Keep the demons at bay, but stay back.” Amanda’s hands were both glowing
gold, but that was impossible. She wasn’t able to generate power in both hands.

“Ready
yourselves!” Jessica stood steadfast, gripping her wrist to steady the sword as
her foot met with the carpeted
cushioned
steps leading up to the dais.

Time to
take what she came for.

 
Amanda slammed her open palms onto the top of
the altar. It came alive and threw white sparks in all directions. The
electrical current traveled in all directions; to the four corners of the
church, up the arc behind the altar and across the crucifix; it raced up the
walls toward the ceiling. Charging straight into the chandelier right above
Jessica’s head.

It began
to shake and a groan of power built up, glowing evanescent. The hum was
building, charging something that wouldn’t be able to contain it for much
longer. Jessica didn’t have much time. She darted out of the way. The flaming
sword vanished deep inside her body and she charged at Amanda with outstretched
hands.

Amanda’s
face was set like stone, her eyebrows furrowed
tight
like a Neanderthal, but she didn’t flinch. Not the little girl that Jessica
remembered her being. Where was the
fright
,
the vulnerability?

That was
the trap, wasn’t it? It was too late to stop herself,
Jessica’s
hands slammed into Amanda, as Jessica seized her throat,
a flow of power traveled from sister to sister. Jessica groaned as Amanda’s
energy traveled through her skin. Lourdes, deep in the underworld, screamed
too, sending torment through Jessica’s body.

Amanda
moaned and they both fell to their knees together. Demons charged up the steps
and around the sides. They closed in on Amanda like a football huddle, but
their advance
stayed
. The chandler
erupted in a brilliant display of light. Electricity flowed freely through the
church, racing along the ground in search of its prey.

Hungry it
floated back and searched through the interior walls of the church, looking for
its targets. It lit up the demons
like
the fourth of July and they crashed to the ground before their bodies exploded
into green mist.

Jessica
was rolled over on the ground by her dear sister. Amanda’s chest heaved for
air. “Don’t fight me on this, Jessie.” Amanda pleaded, holding up a hand. Her
power grew between her fingers, intertwining until it formed a tightly knit
ball of swirling light.

Eyes
lidded, Jessica shook her head. “You really think you can defeat us?”

“Us?” The
quiver
in
Amanda’s voice was evident.

Outside
motorcycles hummed. More demons were about to crash their party. Amanda inhaled
with fright and Jessica took that moment to slam Amanda under the jaw with her
open palm. Amanda fell
backward
, the arc
of her back cracking on the step.

“Amanda!”
Duncan screamed and it was his voice that steadied Jessica’s hand.

“Meet the
demons outside. We have to protect the circle, Duncan!”

Duncan,
and even the
priest
left the protective
confines of the church and Jessica smirked at them. “Fools,” she hissed as the
sword grew out from her arm. Amanda’s lips were drawn together and Jessica
recognized the tired wrinkles around her eyes. “They really think you can take
me on your own? You’re barely powerful enough to toast bread right now.”
Jessica laughed a rolling mocking tone. “You’re so weak, you’re going
pasty
, girl.”

The hurt
was evident in Amanda’s eyes. To see it, a deep pang cut through Jessica’s
chest. Part of her screamed to
stop,
while the other—louder—part of her soul burned just to keep going.
 
Jessica swung her sword overhead to strike,
but Amanda was fast.

She
lifted her head and a brilliant light shot out, meeting Jessica’s sword in a
magical blow. Jessica strained to move her sword downward, to continue the
forward motion of her strike, but the light consumed her sword and then it
engulfed her. So bright, Jessica squeezed her eyes shut, but even then the
painful glow seeped under her eyelids.

Screaming
was the only thing that kept the agony at
bay. The light grew even brighter and a definite CRACK echoed through the
church. The sword broke clear from her arm. The pain from it set tears aflame
in her eyes as Lourdes bellowed loudly.

You’re losing the battle! You’ve lost my
sword. Failure!

Failure?
Jessica had never failed, never, but as she was thrown clear into the pews, she
wore that failure. She owned it. It was hers, but she couldn’t give up the
fight. As the light faded, she rolled out. Her chest heaving with exhaustion.
What was that? Amanda was passive, her powers had always been to protect, to
heal, so what the hell was that?

She
cradled her hand. The skin was still charred and brown from the sword. Broken
off, the place it had fallen on the carpet was singed black. Amanda now stood
in front of Jessica, her hair stringy and covering her face. Her limbs shook
and fatigue dulled her eyes.

“You were
wrong about my power. I hid from the pain for so long, I turned a blind eye. I
crept from the power because it was too strong, but I’ve learned to embrace the
pain.” Amanda nodded her head. “Just like you, big sister.”