Blood Debt (The Blood Sisters Book 2) (21 page)

T
he veil
of the underworld tore and Lourdes pushed her way through. Her bare feet,
beneath her dress of torment and shame, pressed into the concrete of the
street. Her toes flexed, with
toenails
painted a forever black, and dug against the hard substance.
 

A
millennium since her eyes lay upon the sky and now Lourdes saw the glow of the
moon. There were only ever stone caverns, the bleakness of rock, but here, the
possibilities could be endless. Staring up at the stars, Lourdes felt her
breath being swept away. Just past them heaven waited for her to return home.

Time to
remind the angels she was made of fire and brimstone.

Her loyal
legion flanked her on either side. Lourdes turned her head to address them.
“Find me Vaughn. If you cannot bring him to me then bring me his head.”

“Yes,
Malady!” the demon in charge bowed and they departed, leaving her to wander on
her own and take care of business. It had been so long since Lourdes had a real
meal, her stomach craved meat.

Time for
a meal. Something young. Something fresh.

Lourdes
sneered as she started across the street, but the glow of headlights barreled
toward her. With a yelp, she jumped out of the way. A horn wailed in warning to
her.
Is someone
warning her in reprisal?

She would
find them, Lourdes gripped her hands tight together. She would find them and
then she would…

“Are you
lost?” A little voice asked her.

Lourdes
gathered up the fabric of her dress and spun around. The girl couldn’t be more
than ten-years-old and stood at the mouth of a driveway. Short blond hair
framed her face with a blue winter cap snug around her ears.

A child.
A sweet, lovely child.

Bending
over, Lourdes smiled and in the presence of her beauty, the girl shivered. Eyes
wide, she took a step back. Lourdes’s smile had been known to chill even the
worthiest opponent. “Why aren’t you in bed, dear child?”

“I
was…waiting for my dad to get home from work. He works late on Thursdays.”

Days of
the week. How quaint.

“Molly!”
The girl’s mother stood at the open front door. Plump, in jeans and a loose
sweater, she had circles under her eyes and a smidge of chocolate at the corner
of her mouth. “Please stop bothering that woman and come inside.”

Her voice
held a tinge of fear. Lourdes breathed
deeply
to take in the sweet scent and puffed up her chest. “Why don’t you invite me
in? I haven’t had a real bite to eat in a long, long time.”

Pale as a
ghost, Molly backed up toward the path to the front door, her hands gripping
the boards of the fence as she went. Lourdes didn’t want to chase her, but she
took a gingerly step forward. Each foot sizzled against the concrete and left
their impression behind.

“Run,
Molly!” The mother screamed and fumbled with some sort of device in her hand.
Lourdes didn’t like it.

Molly
turned and charged toward the door. Lourdes just missed the tail end of her
sweater as she ran by, but just the proximity of her fingers singed the corner
of the blue fabric. Safe inside, dear old Mom slammed the front door closed.

Lourdes
didn’t need to kick it in.
Instead,
she
touched the door knob and melted it so the door simply swung open. The simple
house was nondescript except for the family photos on the wall. Homey, with
toys cluttering the corners of the room. Humans lived so simple, didn’t they?
Unaware that a war was going on.

For them
and their very souls.

At least
it beat the caves of the underworld. Real
world, real damage, could be done here on the Earth. As long as the Bloods
didn’t find her. Lourdes needed to find them first and put an end to them.

The
mother gripped a fireplace poker as if her life depended on it. “I don’t know
what you want…”

Lourdes stepped
forward, the pink carpet burned in her wake. “A simple bite to eat, but first a
question.”

The
mother backed up against the wall. “You’re so…beautiful.”

“I get
that a lot.” Lourdes tilted her head with a smile and the mom’s mouth fell
open, witnessing her true demonic appearance. “How do you get around up here?
Find someone you’re looking for. I have…friends…I need to find.”

The
weasel Vaughn. The Blood sisters. Time for her to create a to-do list.

“Umm…”
Mom scratched her head and her eyes pinched together as if the question was
crazy. Lourdes’s temper fumed that someone like this would judge her.
 
“We get around using cars. If we need to find
someone, I guess we use the internet to look them up. In the old
days,
we used a phone book. Are you—where are
you from?”

“Out of
town. I’m going to need help to do all of these human things, but first, a bite
to eat.” Lourdes gripped the Mom’s chubby neck tight with her hand.

The
woman’s skin smoldered. Her eyes bulged from their sockets as she screamed. The
life energy flowed from her into Lourdes. Closing her eyes, Lourdes moaned as
smoke circled around her. Inside, the pulse of the woman’s life force plumped
up her energy level and her cheeks shined with more beauty. Eating was a fine
pleasure and one she hadn’t been afforded in the underworld. No, that luxury
had been stripped from her long ago by the angels.

Lourdes’s
fall from glory and internment in the Underworld was so long ago, but the
memory of earthly pleasures came rushing back. Glorious, beautiful, and all
hers.

She
barely had
memory
of the air or the salt
of the Earth. Free at last, she’d never go back to her prison. What was the
value of a few human souls compared to her glory and beauty? Who were the
angels to cast her, the most beautiful, for heaven for such indulgences? Humans
should’ve existed to serve them, not the other way around.

Lourdes
saw the truth no one else could and for that, she was punished for an eternity.
Lourdes opened her eyes and groaned with disappointment.

She had
taken too much. The mother had been dried out like a husk. An empty sack, like
a mummy, her once fatty frame sunken. Her skin colored
gray
and wrinkled, her eyes fallen from their sockets.

“Such a
pity,” Lourdes whispered and let the body go. Like a stack of dominos, the body
fell apart and as it crashed to the floor, it dissolved into brittle ash and
bone.

Oh well,
there would be other humans. The earth was full of them, wasn’t it?
Thump—thump—someone ran along the upper level of the home. The child. While not
ideal, she could read and write, that was all Lourdes needed.

She
gripped the railing to the stairs and her fingers charred it black. A light
from the front bay window filled the room as a machine pulled into the
driveway.

Was that
a car? Lourdes was anxious to try one out.

Time for
a new plan, Lourdes smirked and fluffed her dress. Had to look good for the man
of the household. “Daddy’s home,” She sneered as the door flung open.

Dressed
in a suit, the handsome fellow’s eyes fell
on
the corpse of his dear wife. The briefcase fell from his open hand. “What the
hell is going on?”

Lourdes
stepped into view. “Sorry about the mess, dear. Why don’t you come inside so we
can have a quick bite to eat?”

She
flipped her hand in the air, smoke billowed from her nail, and the front door
slammed behind him. He’d move and run, if he could.

Lourdes
kept him safe and sound in a stasis field, but only for a brief moment. Horror
on 42nd Street was about to be unleashed and Lourdes wouldn’t miss a moment of
it.

S
liding
behind the wheel of her 1966 Chrysler felt like going home. A personal, private
moment that Jessica gladly shared with only her sister. She slipped the key in
the ignition and reflex took over. A slight pump of the gas, a twist of the
key, and the old girl turned over like the day it rolled off the line. Hearing
the familiar purr to the engine made everything right in the world, at least
for a few seconds.

She
wanted to hold onto the quiet moment. Jessica gripped the steering wheel,
feeling every crack and mark. Each of them told a tale, stirred a memory.

Some of
them of Amanda, but it was the ones about Dad that Jessica searched for. Hoping
those ones would rekindle her courage and the will to push forward despite the
odds against them.

To her
dismay, it didn’t quell her fears. Gazing over at Amanda, Jessica bit her lip.
“What if I can’t do this?”

Her
sister held a silver glove in her hand, one that Amanda said belonged to this
Vain woman and would lead them to Duncan. “You’re Jessica Blood. You can do
whatever you set your mind to.”

If that
was true, she didn’t feel it. “Right now I don’t feel much like her.”

“I know,”
Amanda sighed, “and if things went the way they were supposed to, you’d have a
month off to sip tea, write in a journal, and express all your feelings while
we gaze out at the rolling ocean. But that’s not our life. Our life is this.
Killing demons and saving people.
We have
to save Duncan. I think it’s worth trying, don’t you think, to save him?”

Amanda
chosen her words carefully to motivate her and Jessica had to admit it worked.
She blinked back tears. “When did you become such a hard ass?”

“When I
had to…save my sister. Let’s get Duncan and let’s try to end this thing properly.
Make it so Vain can’t hurt anyone else again. She’s the one who captures the
girls. She needs to be finished, Jess.”

Jessica
shifted the car into drive. After a slow creep, she pulled out of the church
parking lot and hit the open streets. Breathing out a long sigh of relief, it
did feel better to be in the car. Driving toward a destination that had nothing
to do with what Lourdes wanted. Death and destruction had been her game, now
Jessica wanted to do some saving. Maybe for a
while
she could forget what happened to her and focus on someone else.

“He told
you all that about Vain? His sister, everything.” Jessica swallowed hard. “I
wish he had told me. I wish he had told us and we had gone with him to find
her.”

“So did
he, in hindsight. He was trying to protect us from getting on Vaughn’s radar.
Turned out we ended up on it anyway.” Amanda chewed on the inside of her lip.
“He wanted to tell you, I think we just ran out of time.”

Jessica
remembered that night at the cabin, before the demons attacked with the angel.
Duncan had been ready to tell her something and that was probably it. She
wished Duncan had told her, instead of hearing it second hand from Amanda. Of
course, maybe if Jessica hadn’t been such a bitch….

“We’ll
get him back from Vain,” Jessica said it aloud to bolster her own confidence
more than anything. “We’ll get him out and then we’ll see what happens.” Her
stomach rolled at the notion of seeing Duncan, worried he might decide to walk
away from them. That wasn’t what Jessica wanted, hell a few weeks ago it wasn’t
even a possibility.

But now,
the very idea of life without Duncan Jasper, made Jessica sick.

“What
happens? Jess, you should have seen him. Everything he did to help us get you
back and protect me. He was my knight in shining armor. He helped me get off
the drugs, watched over me like a true hero. Just like you, he’s a hero, and
just like you, he doesn’t see it.”

Amanda’s
words cut deep. “Well, maybe after this we can take a vacation. I’ve always
wanted to sit on a beach and sip a drink with a little umbrella in it. They
don’t serve those in hell you know,” Jessica said.

Her
sister shook her head. “Maybe I can play some shuffleboard and sing some
karaoke.” Amanda turned the radio up and started singing along with the next
song they played.

Jessica
cringed at the sound, it would surely shatter the windows on the old girl, but
inside everything felt right. They were headed to get Duncan; Jessica had her
sister—the one person who could make a rescue feel like a party.

But the
sense of dread grew. There’d be no rest, no vacations. Jessica would bet her
soul on that.

*****

Empty
tank of gas and empty bellies, Jessica and Amanda pulled over to refuel. The
ground was slick and rain echoed through the car’s cabin. Amanda counted her
money. “We should’ve asked for some before we left the church. We have enough
for half a tank of gas, or to eat; we can’t do both.”

Jessica
thought about it. “We can eat after we rescue Duncan,” she suggested with a
shrug.

“Maybe we
can find a few quarters on the ground and share a hotdog.” Amanda opened her
car door and Jessica followed after her. It wasn’t the worst plan. They had
shared less food than that before and managed to survive.

Over by a
pickup truck, Amanda did manage to find a quarter. “Shiny,” she held it up
under the lights so Jessica would see before putting it in her coin purse. When
the burly man fueling his truck grabbed Amanda by the wrist, she gasped. “Hey!”

“You
found something I dropped?” He snarled and his unshaven face practically right
against Amanda.

Jessica’s
protective urges seized control. One way or another, that buffoon was letting
Amanda go. “Get your hands off my sister. If she took something of yours,
she’ll give it back.”

His eyes
narrowed. “Yeah?” He glared at Amanda, his jaw edging back and forth. “You got
something to say, pretty lady?”

“I’m
sorry,” Amanda tried to pry his fingers off her wrist. “I didn’t mean to take
your quarter. We’re just short on money and we were trying to come up with some
extra cash—.”

The man’s
entirely demeanor changed. He let Amanda’s wrist go and took off his hat in
respect. “Oh man, I know tough times when I see them. I’ll head inside, grab
you guys something to eat. Your car’s on pump two, right?”

Amanda
nodded with a slight jitter in her eye. “Thank you, kind sir, but that’s not
really—.”

“Think
nothing of it.” He hurried inside, the bell jinglingly as he pulled the door
open. Jessica just stared after him with her mouth fallen open.

What the
hell had just happened? Did they just meet Santa Clause as a truck driver?
“Well, he must be the nicest guy—.” It wasn’t like them to have such good luck
and from Amanda’s fallen expression, Jessica suspected something else was at
play.

“I didn’t
mean to,” Amanda whispered. “I didn’t mean to push him like that. He was just
hurting my wrist so I…”

Jessica’s
eyebrows came together. “I don’t think I’m following you.”

“My
powers,” Amanda cast a glance over her shoulder to make sure no one was around.
“They’ve changed a lot since Vaughn. I can read minds
sometimes,
as you know, and I can…influence people. Just once or
twice, mostly when I’m upset or in a jam.”

Jessica
stared at her sister. Was this a blessing or a curse? Should she be terrified
or grateful? Everything Aunt Gwen told Jessica as she grew up ‘protect Amanda,
protect her purity at all costs, we don’t know what will happen to her power’
looped inside her head.

More was
going on than they were told, that much was clear, but Jessica didn’t have time
to worry. Not with Duncan captured by the sworn enemy.

“You’re
not mad at me, are you?” Amanda’s eyes widened like a stray puppy dog.

Jessica
shook her
head
but didn’t say anything.
No, she wasn’t mad. How could she be mad? Was she terrified at what this meant?
You betcha. How could Amanda change so much, in only the span of a few days?

The man
returned with a box of food for them. Hot dogs, sodas, chips, and even some
fresh fruit. Amanda took it from him with a delicate curtsey. “Thank you so
much, Sir.”

He waved
her off with a good natured laugh. “You girls looked like you could use a good
meal. You can gas up now too. The
pump
has enough on it to fill that beast of a tank.”

Amanda
kept talking, but Jessica used that moment to escape over to the car. She
wasn’t big yet on
human
conversation,
pumping gas into the car was more her speed. The gas cover hid behind the
license place, so Jessica squatted and held onto the hose aware that a shadow
crept behind her.

“You
should announce yourself before sneaking up on someone.” Jessica spun and came
face to face with the glower of a police officer.

The cops.
Jessica gulped and her heart raced. “Officer, what can I—.”

He spat
what must have been a wad of chew onto the ground. “This here car is wanted in
connection of a crime, did you know that?”

“A recent
one?” Jessica cringed. She didn’t know that. How would she know anything like
that, she’d been held captive in the underworld?

The cop
nodded. “Murder at a hospital down in Kansas. Not just a murder, but several
dozen. Calling it a massacre. You wouldn’t know anything about that, would
you?”

“Me?
Well, listen I’m sure we can clear this up.” She thought about what happened to
Ron and all of the Black Scorpion gang members that were gutted like fish.
Jessica had done that, and for that crime, she deserved to pay. Sure, she had
been under Lourdes’s control, but Jessica owned that guilt. It was hers.

She
remembered the screams and the heavy smell of blood. The horror on their faces
and how it felt to slide her blade into their skin. It never went in as easy as
you thought it would. Popping of cartridge and bones, Jessica thought she might
never forget that noise as she’d slaughtered men who had pledged their lives to
help her sister.

Demons
were one thing. Possessed humans were even
expendable,
if a dire situation arose, but what Jessica did? No, there was no excuse. No
excuse at all.

The cop
put the gasoline hose back for her and in his other hand twirled a set of
handcuffs and his intent was clear.
 
He’d
take her down to the station, and she’d probably never get out again. That was
what Jessica deserved.

The cop
went for her wrist. “You’re under arrest, little lady.”

But
Duncan was in trouble. He needed her and didn’t deserve being abandoned over a
little thing like her conscience.

“I can’t
let you do that,” tears shined bright in her eyes. “I’m sorry.” `She grabbed
his wrist and yanked him close. Eye wide, he flung toward her and Jessica
slammed him under the chin with the open palm of her hand. “Amanda, it’s time
to go!”

The
officer’s feet skidded on the wet pavement so when Jessica kicked him in the
gut he fell over to his back. No one rushed to his aid so she took a moment to
handcuff the cop to a pole.

And stole
his gun.

“Wait!
 
Stop!” he screamed after her, but Jessica
slid into the ‘66.

She
stowed the gun inside the
glove box
as
Amanda slammed her door shut. “Always good to have more ammo, but we’ll need to
ditch the gun,” Jessica said as she peeled out of the gas station.

“Twizzler?”
Amanda offered her with a sad smile on her face.

Jessica
took it and took a bite. No one would ever mistake her for a good person. No
one. Especially not herself.

****

Empty
tank of gas and empty bellies, Jessica and Amanda pulled over to refuel. The
ground was slick and rain echoed through the chamber of the car. Amanda counted
her money. “We should’ve asked for some before we left the church. We have
enough for half a tank of gas or to eat, but we can’t do both.”

Jessica
thought about it. “We can eat after we rescue Duncan,” she suggested with a shrug.

“Maybe we
can find a few quarters on the ground and share a hotdog.” Amanda opened her
car door and Jessica followed after her. It wasn’t the worst plan. They had
shared less food than that before and managed to survive.

Over by a
pickup truck, Amanda did manage to find a quarter. “Shiny,” she held it up
under the lights so Jessica would see before putting it in her coin purse. When
the burly man fueling his truck grabbed Amanda by the wrist, she gasped. “Hey!”

“You
found something I dropped?” He snarled and his unshaven face practically right
against Amanda.

Jessica’s
protective urges seized control. One way or another, that buffoon was letting
Amanda go. “Get your hands off my sister. If she took something of yours,
she’ll give it back.”

His eyes
narrowed. “Yeah?” He glared at Amanda, his jaw edging back and forth. “You got
something to say, pretty lady?”