Blood Debt (The Blood Sisters Book 2) (6 page)

“I’m
coming for her. I won’t be stopped. You have to stop me.” He said it once and
then as if on an automatic loop, he just started saying it again.

And
again.

Duncan’s
face sank as low as his spirit. It came off him in a bundle of waves, but he
didn’t see what Amanda did. For all intents and purposes, he was alone, but a
black haze of smoke misted around Ron. It almost took form, with long
tendril-like
fingers snarled around his form.
Purple eyes blinked in the middle and whatever this was, it was no simple
demon.

It was a
curse. A mark left on his soul.

Duncan
started toward the bed. Amanda touched his arm. “There’s something at work here
that is dangerous. It has a hold on him. Be careful.”

He gulped
and Mike opened his bible. Making the sign of the cross, he started to read a
passage. Duncan strolled over to Ron and sat down on the edge of the bed with
him. Ron rocked back and forth harder, faster. His face scrunched as he fought
the urge to cry.

“Ron,
buddy,” Duncan’s voice threatened to reveal his true pent up grief. “What
happened at the bar? I know this wasn’t you, so why don’t you tell me…”

Ron’s
eyes squeezed shut and he only repeated what he had said when they first
stepped into the room. “I’m coming for her. I’m not going to stop. You have to
stop me.” The more he said it, the more urgent his voice sounded.

Duncan
glanced over at Amanda for guidance. “Any ideas how to break through to him?”

Amanda
didn’t, but then she stared straight into Ron’s face and saw the terror. The
way his eyes ticked left and right. The buildup of anxiety, frustration,
loneliness. He wanted to speak, Amanda was sure of it, he just couldn’t. Not
with the mist of the curse strangling the life out of him.

“I’m
coming for her. I’m not going to stop. You have to stop me.”

Her hand
extended toward him and Amanda stepped out of her shoes. Her feet firmly
against the cold gray linoleum and they screamed with relief. She took a step
forward. Duncan stood and met her before she could touch Ron, using his body as
a shield for what she was about to do.

“You sure
about this?” Duncan asked.

Amanda
nodded. She was sure.

“If you
touch him, it could be bad, girl.” Duncan shook his head. There was doubt
there, worry. Would Jessica be happy with the way Amanda kept putting herself
on the line?

“There’s
only one way through this,” she said as Mike gathered around and they formed a
protective circle around her. “The cop out there is growing restless; we don’t
have time to argue about what’s the best for me.”

Mike
sighed and rubbed his face. “If there’s trouble, we’re pulling you free, all
right?”

She
appreciated it. Amanda sat down on the bed beside Ron. His eyes took her in
like a scared child taking in a vision of Santa for the first time. Friend or
foe? Amanda raised her hand, her fingers trembling at the thought of touching
him. Of feeling the evil that circled him; of getting close enough to touch his
soul.

“I’m
coming for her. I’m not going to stop. You have to stop me.”

“Sssh…”
Amanda said gently, closed her eyes and laid her hand against the flesh of his
skin, just under his sleeve.

Aware of
her pulse and her breath, Amanda’s vision flashed brightly. She stood inside
the basement where Ron first encountered Jessica. Her sweet sister, with an
unnatural sneer upon her face. Her red hair hanging like vines in front of her
face, the red glow of her unnatural tattoos reflecting off the walls.

She
grabbed Ron’s throat and she said the words to him that Ron now couldn’t stop
repeating. “I’m coming for her. I’m not going to stop. You have to stop me.”

It wasn’t
a threat. It was a warning. Something Jessica begged from the very depths of
her soul. Oh, how Amanda wept for her.

As she
came to, Amanda’s brow peaked and sweat covered her forehead. She had been
taking deep, shallow breaths through her mouth that she hadn’t even meant to
take. Mike was on his knee beside her and Duncan stood behind, his hands on her
shoulders.

“You were
crying out,” the worry in his voice was thick, slathering, and rich. All of
which made Amanda think of hot fudge, and boy right now, suddenly she was
starving.

Starving.

Glancing
down at her hand, Amanda saw her hand was glowing. Had she started healing him
without realizing it? The thick black misty around Ron was gone, and he blinked
his eyes. With a
quiver,
he licked his
lips. “Amanda, is that you, kid?”

His voice
was
hoarse,
like he hadn’t spoken in days,
but the curse was broken. He could talk again. Relieved, Amanda sighed as
Duncan and Mike gathered around, grabbing Ron’s shoulder.

Patting
him on the back.

“What do
you remember?” Duncan asked.

A surge
of pain. A clutching in his chest. Amanda answered for Ron because he couldn’t.
“He remembers all of it.” She contemplated. “He saw her. Jessica.”

“She
killed them all.” Ron’s voice shook. “Killed them all and then she knocked me
unconscious. Dragged me around. Placed the knife in my hand and then…” his
voice wavered, “and then…”

He
couldn’t finish or wouldn’t. Amanda didn’t know which it was, but she was
desperate to know where Jessica was. Where she was going. They needed to find
her, free her. Amanda gripped Ron’s hand.

“Please…”
Amanda begged. She wasn’t above begging. She had no pride when it came to
things such as this. “I have to find her.”

“Return
to the town where you moved to with your would-be adoptive parents. Do you
remember the place?”

How could
Amanda forget? It was there that she turned her back on a normal life forever
and embraced the Blood life. She had been only a teenager, but that decision
had been so powerful. So life changing. How could Amanda forget? And why would
Jessica want her to return there…why?

“Three
states away, it’ll be a long drive.”

“There’s
something there. Jessica…she needs you there and fast. She’ll be able to sense
where you are. Where you go. It has to be there where she finds you.”

“Why?”
Amanda asked, so desperate to know.

Ron shook
his head, tears in his eyes. “I don’t know, she…” Ron closed his eyes and his
body convulsed as he remembered something. “She was called away after that.
Disappeared into the ground. What the hell is going on?”

“Long
story, man,” Duncan said. “Lourdes got Jessica and they’ve framed you, but
we’ll find a way to free you, one way or another.”

“Free her
damn soul, or whatever, but you just make sure to drag her back here and have
her take my place.” Ron’s jaw clamped down. “You got me? She owes me.”

The air
in the room thickened. Amanda slid up from the bed and distanced herself from
Ron as Duncan sat closer. Mike followed her first with his
eyes
but then stepped close as Amanda fumbled
with her shoes. “He’s been through a lot.”

She knew
that.
She did, but it wasn’t Jessica’s fault
any more than it was Ron’s. Amanda tilted her head with a labored sigh. “Father
Mike…”

He held
up his hand. “Just Mike’s fine. No reason to be so formal.” For once he smiled
and Amanda found it didn’t just reach his eyes. Almost nothing did. How many
battles had he fought and lost to harden him so thoroughly?

She
thought to
ask,
but acid roiled inside
her stomach. Amanda grunted and cradled her abdomen as if she had been shot.
Something deep inside clamped and she nearly capsized, the smell of green
coming from all corners of the room. Floating and growing, rolling and
spreading.

It was
here, surrounding them like a mighty claw.

Mike
grabbed Amanda’s shoulders and called for Duncan as overhead the fluorescent
lights began to flicker like a dispatched Morse code message.

They had
come. They were here.

Demons.

D
emons.

By the
look on Amanda’s face, it was bad. Her brow was creased and she could barely
catch her breath.

With no
weapons to speak of, how were they going to get her to safety while doing their
jobs. Protect the weak? This place crawled with the weak and the demented. Easy
targets for demons to do their worst.

Take
hosts. Grab Amanda and kill anything that got in their way.

She’d be
safe.
If it was the last thing he did. “Take
cover,” Duncan lay a hand on Mike’s shoulder. Moving to the door, He peered out
the small window at the top. The cop was stationary which meant mayhem hadn’t
broken out yet.

Good
sign, but yet it was coming.

Glancing back,
he saw that Amanda was seated beside the bed. Just the top of her head was
visible, but she was rocking back and forth. There
were
a mumble and a small cry. “Something’s…wrong…” Amanda groaned
and everything in Duncan lit up on full alert. He needed to get her out of
there.

He had
never seen Amanda this bad before. Was it the drugs messing with her system?
Whatever it was, they needed to move her.

Now.

Ron
jumped down beside Amanda on the floor and put his hand to her forehead. “She’s
burning up, to holy hell Duncan. We gotta move.”

We? That
was a discussion Duncan wasn’t ready for. If they took Ron with them, they’d be
fugitives and they needed that almost less than the demons. It was hard enough
to move freely, but if they left Ron behind, he sure as hell wouldn’t be safe.
Not unless they found a way to kill every demon in the place.

A quick
glance at Mike’s stoic
face
told Duncan
they were thinking along the same lines.

Duncan
wiped the palm of his hands on his pants and knocked a rat-tat-tat on the door.

When the
officer pulled it open, suspicion filling his eyes. Duncan forced a nervous
smile. “Thanks for giving us so much time, officer. I believe we know the way
out.”

The
officer’s eyes flicked from Duncan to inside the small room. Duncan
sidestepped
to keep him from seeing too much.
If he saw Amanda collapsed on the ground…well, he’d be suspicious as all get
out. “Sure, you get what you need in there?”

“Nah,
afraid not,” Duncan offered his hand in gratitude, “but you still have to try,
right?”

The
officer nodded and the corners of his lips turned up. Maybe he did understand.
He shook Duncan’s hand with a firm grip. “Better luck next time. You better
move on out, before the doctors arrive with Wax’s medicine. They won’t think
too kindly of me if they find you in there.”

He had no
intention of sticking around.

Just past
the officer’s head was a ventilation shaft. Green smoke drifted down and it set
Duncan’s upper lip wet with perspiration—the demons were getting ready to make
their move. It was time for Duncan to make his.

Overhead
the lights flickered on and off. The officer turned slightly and
craned
his head back to see the hanging lights.
“That’s been happening off and on for the last ten minutes.”

“Must be
a short circuit,” Duncan said, “sorry.”

“Sorry?”
The officer asked with a whip of his head, but already Duncan held the pistol
taken from the cop’s hip. He aimed it at the charging demons streaming from the
elevator. Six or seven all with guns
drawn
.
Downstairs must have been a blood bath, but Duncan couldn’t think about that.

“Hey!”
The cop’s eyes narrowed and Duncan pushed him down to the ground, taking cover
to fire off defensive rounds. The demon he hit center mass struggled back to
his feet and advanced like nothing happened. The bullets were too small. He
needed a head shot.

Nothing
else would slow these bastards down.

“What the
hell is going on!” The officer struggled to stand, but Duncan kept a firm hand
on his shoulder and his boot firm against the cop’s thigh.

 
“Stay down and maybe you’ll survive.” Duncan
edged his eyes forward and heard the elevator door ding.

Duncan
was too late. Hadn’t moved fast enough. Damn it all, straight to hell. He moved
back into Ron’s room and slammed the door shut.

From the
inside there was no handle or locking mechanism. What the hell did they do now?

“I’m
okay…” Amanda’s words drifted off, but her skin was pasty white. She wasn’t
okay, no matter what she said.

“Mike,
get that small window open. Ron,” Duncan pressed against the door as someone
pushed it open, “help me with this.”

Everyone
hurried to their assignments while Amanda clung to the wall just to stay
upright.

Ron
pushed his shoulder against the door. “You know there’s no way we can get out
the window and old this thing shut at the same time.”

“What are
you suggesting?”

Ron
glanced at the gun in his hand. “Demons are in the building. Who knows how many
they killed on the lower levels as they made their way in. Time to even the
score, don’t you think?”

Give Ron
the gun so he could provide cover? Nothing about that set right with Duncan. He
started to shake his head.

“How then
is going to do it?” Ron’s lip snarled. “You? I think your place is at her
side.” He tossed his head at Amanda.

Banging
on the door echoed loud through the chamber. Duncan gritted his teeth as he
leaned in against it. Shots rang out and dinted the metal door. They were
running out of serious time.

“I got
it. I got it!” Mike said. “Someone help me get Amanda up here.

Duncan
handed the gun over to Ron. “Good luck, brother.”

Ron
gripped it tight. “On three and I’ll show those sons of bitches that no one
messes with Ronald Wax.”

Friends
to the end, they were all that was left of the Black Scorpions. Duncan was in
no rush to be the last surviving member. “One…two…three.”

He pulled
the door open and Ron assaulted the area with bullets. Duncan ran for Amanda
and gave her a boost up to the window. She moaned, but was able to pull herself
up high enough so Mike could pull her through into the fire escape.

“Hurry!”
Amanda called down to him as Mike pulled her away. “Duncan!”

Why was
she so…. Duncan’s train of thought was cut off as someone yanked on his
shoulder and pulled him back. He hit the rear wall and fell onto the bed.

It was
Vain. Her hands on her curvy hips she sneered at him. “I bet you thought you’d
never see me again. Bet you thought I died in that house.”

“I never
thought I was that lucky,” Duncan said.

Anger
rose on her face and as she swung her fist at him, Duncan’s legs shot out and
slammed her into the chest.

Gun shots
were tapering off in the hall. He had to move.

Vain
staggered back and Duncan shot out and pinned her against the wall.
 
She pushed against him, but she smiled. “I
knew the foreplay would be good, Jasper. You never could keep your hands off of
me.”

“It made
me sick.” Duncan forced his forearm into her throat. “To be with you, just to
look at you. What you do to those girls…they’re kids, Vain. Or whatever the
hell your name really is.”

Duncan
wasn’t one to punch a lady, but Vain wasn’t one. Hell, she barely counted as human.

“Let’s
go!” Mike screamed from above and threw something into the window.

A smoke
bomb. It filled the room. Duncan turned to leave Vain behind and felt her
fingers grasping at his clothing. “No, Jasper! No!”

Her
scream was raw and guttural. She didn’t want to kill him, at least not yet.
Vain’s plan had more to do with revenge and Duncan, for now, was going to use
that to his advantage.

Springing
up, he caught the window and pulled himself out. On the balcony, Duncan
rejoined Mike and a droopy looking Amanda. She was braced on the railing, but
at least she was upright.

Down
below, their car waited. Duncan slid his arm around Amanda. “I’ve got you,
girl,” he whispered as her head rested against his chest.

“Let’s
move this party,” Mike said as he left everyone down the fire escape.

*****

Outside,
Ron met up with them at the car. “Well, that was brisk.” He slid into the car
beside Mike in the back. Amanda was at least awake, even if she wasn’t chatty.

Duncan tore
open the driver side and wasted no time and getting her started. He peeled away
from the curb before Ron had finished shutting the back door.

“Hang
on!” Duncan screamed as he floored it, only to slam on the brakes to avoid
hitting an old lady crossing the street in her walker.

She
glared at him and Duncan raised his hand in an apology as beside him, Amanda
moaned. Her head rolled to the side and her arm fell to the armrest. It was
covered in black, splotchy bruises that made Duncan want to hurt Vain. Hurt her
in the worst possible way. It was his fault, she was after them and that meant
Amanda’s pain, an indirect consequence of his crappy life choices.

With the
old lady gone, Duncan slammed his foot on the gas, but not before he saw the
cop charging for his car. With luck, he was just a regular guy looking to get
back an escaped mental patient. With luck…

“No,”
Amanda was hoarse as she shook her head, her eyes still welded shut. “He’s one
of them now. He’s a demon.”

Duncan’s
stomach sank with despair.

“And he’s
coming for us.”

Great.
Then with a sudden belly flop, Duncan realized Amanda had done something she
had never done before. Sure, she could always infer by using emotions, but that
wasn’t what just happened.

Amanda
had read his mind. Pure and simple. A mind reading empath? That could be a
real
asset to their side, but what would it do
to her?

Duncan
allowed himself one glance at the frail, pixie-like woman collapsed on the seat
beside him. He was afraid of the answer. Afraid for Amanda.

Was there
any hope for her at all?

“Get me
some water,” Duncan barked the order as he lay Amanda down on the bed in the
cheap hotel room they rented just off the highway. Was it far enough away that
the demons wouldn’t be able to track them?

Probably
not, but they didn’t have a choice, Amanda…so much grief in his mouth just to
look at her.

Her face
thick with sweat, Amanda was seizing. Her head rocked back, he arms buckled,
and her knees locked. Rigid like a stone, Duncan felt powerless to do anything,
except to hold her shoulders firm. To try to keep Amanda steady, so she
wouldn’t hurt herself, but it was like watching a woman die right in front of
him.

Powerless.
Again he was powerless.

Ron ran
to the bathroom and along the way he knocked over the telephone and the door
slammed. He might have been a callous SOB charged with a crime he didn’t
commit, but even the most hardened person cared about Amanda. She was falling
apart, sick with something that made no sense to him.

What if
she couldn’t be saved?

Mike
blessed her forehead with his thumb and mumbled a prayer Duncan couldn’t make
out. He didn’t want to hear it anyway. Prayers were private and he wasn’t
exactly the praying type, but Duncan would try anything to get Amanda better.

“The
demons are gone. So why is she still like that?” Duncan asked.

Mike was
quiet and contemplative. “Has she ever been this bad before?”

Duncan
had never seen it like this before. So the answer was, “No. It’s never been
like this before. Not even when…” Duncan sighed and shook his head to keep the
memories of the past at bay. “We’ve seen some awful shit, but she’s never had a
seizure.”

Amanda
took shallow breaths, but her body lay still. Her eyes were slotted as her chest
moved up erratically. Duncan’s heart might as well have been torn out of his
chest and stomped on to see her like that. Of all people, and all the things
they had done, Amanda deserved hell the least of all.

Ron
handed Duncan a cup full of water. “What the hell is wrong with her?”

Duncan
said
a silent
thanks and dotted some of
the water along Amanda’s forehead. He’d take care of her. He’d get her better,
but the demons…what if the demons didn’t give them any peace? If they came at
them right then, Duncan wasn’t sure if Amanda would survive.

“Vaughn
shot her up full of drugs. We’re not sure how much or what type of doses he was
giving her,” Mike said.

Ron’s
eyes opened. “Shit, Amanda? When? How long’s it been since her last hit?”

“Your
guess is as good as ours. Forty-eight hours at the longest. Thirty-six at the
shortest.”