Blood Lust (The Blood Sisters Book 1) (16 page)

Jessica
didn’t know what the demons were waiting for. They pulled her to her knees and
pushed her head down. No matter how much she struggled, Jessica could keep her
head upright. On the ground, she was powerless to act except to turn her head
and meet Duncan’s eyes.

Sadness,
regret.

“You
should have left. You should have gone after Amanda,” Duncan’s voice was
mournful.

He
was right. Jessica knew that and she couldn’t say what she really wanted. It
would be too sad, too painful to admit at their end that she couldn’t just
leave him. “I don’t leave my friends.”

Friend
.
Like Jessica Blood ever had a friend.

Jessica
didn’t know why the demons didn’t just kill her already, but as Vaughn stroll
up, she understood. In his left hand was a sword with a curved blade. In the
moonlight
it glinted and Jessica saw it for
what it was—an assassin’s blade.

He
didn’t want his minions to shoot her dead. He wanted to do it himself. So he
could claim the bounty? No, Jessica thought it was for something even greater.

Pride
and recognition. He would be forever known as the demon that finally killed
Jessica Blood.

“I
have been saving this spot for you.” Vaughn traced his free hand down the left
side of his muscular pec and extended it over his sleek abdomen. “Here, a work
of art to commemorate your death and my ownership of Amanda.”

Jessica’s
vision flashed red and her nostrils flared. “Kill me if that’s what you want,
but know it’ll be your end. She’ll exorcise you so fast, you’ll be pulled
straight out of that host’s ass.”

Vaughn
laughed. “We’ll see. I always enjoyed a good game and I think she will be my
finest. Yes, when she calls out in pleasure from my bed—” He placed the blade
against Jessica’s neck, right beneath her head.

Her
fists balled up out, thinking of Amanda in this unholy thing’s bed. Jessica
couldn’t see and she couldn’t think clearly. All she knew was this bastard was
going to tarnish everything that was good about Amanda—her sweet sister.

Jessica
had to stop him.

Had
to.

“Any
last words?” Vaughn asked softly, with a smile on his lips.

She
couldn’t gaze up at him so Jessica just stared at the dirt and in that
dirt,
she saw a light. A reason for hope and in
the distance, a motor humming.

“You’ll
be dead,” Jessica said.

The
sound grew closer and Vaughn lifted the sword off her neck, ready to strike.
Jessica closed her eyes and her lips trembled. Was she at peace with death? No,
not by a long shot. She wasn’t ready, never would be. But to see her parents
again in the afterlife? To find out if she did a good job in their eyes, to run
into her mother’s arms….

“Wait,”
Duncan’s voice rushed on and intruded
into
her private space. “Vaughn, kill me. You can’t—”

Vaughn
didn’t
answer,
but prepared for the final
strike. The mighty blow.

Jessica
opened her eyes as a bright light shined forward in the distance, bringing the
roar of the engine closer. It was driving through the open fields, coming
straight for them.

Vaughn
turned his head, distracted and Jessica knew this was her chance. She hoped
Duncan had been paying attention, she hoped he was ready as Jessica heaved her
shoulders and broke free of the demons holding her down.

She
sprang up and found her footing on one boot and charged Vaughn. Her palms, open
and splayed, crashed into his center chest. “Argg!” Vaughn screamed as he was
flung backward.

Demons,
demons, everywhere, but Jessica didn’t have time to kill them all. She wouldn’t
need to. The jeep coming stopped just short of hitting Duncan who was up and
swinging. The driver’s side door was kicked open by a pair of fiery red boots
and a woman emerged.

She
had taken her sweet time, but Aunt Gwen was finally here. With her short red
hair covered up in a tan bandana, she wore an old WWII leather trench coat. Her
face held small, delicate features like Amanda, except for wrinkles along her
lips and eyes.

“
Sorry
I’m late to the party. Do forgive me for
being tardy.” She splayed her hands out from her side. Her leather trench coat
was cinched at her waist, the brown leather caught in the breeze as her boots
stomped into the dirt.

Jessica
backed up to make room. When Aunt Gwen released her magic, it never cared if
you were friend or foe. Caught right in the crosshairs, Jessica didn’t move
fast enough as power lightning struck out from Gwen’s hands. Everyone was
propelled backward, as if hit with an electrical shield.

Caught
in the
windstorm
that kicked up like a
tornado, Jessica was thrown backward. She shielded her eyes as lightning
flashed right in front of her and blinded her. Demons screamed and ran, but it
was Jessica who slammed her head against a jagged rock.

Her
vision blurred and everything was doubled. Through the
haze,
she made out a pair of legs rushing over to her. They
squatted, and Jessica saw it was Duncan. Kindness and worry
were
etched on his face while he stroked her
head.

The
sound of motorcycle engines roaring to
life
and
tires
throwing
gravel
filled the air—either that or her ears
were roaring from hitting her head.

His
lips moved and she was sure he asked if she was all right.

The
demons were fleeing. No, they couldn’t leave. Jessica needed them to find
Amanda.

She
struggled to her knees and then to her feet when her legs went wobbly. Duncan
caught her arm, but Jessica pulled free and ran
to
the bikes. She snatched her shotgun from the grass and fired off the last
rounds at their tail lights.

Her
shots went wide. Not a single demon slowed down. Jessica’s legs stopped moving
and she stared after them, her last hope of finding Amanda that night
diminished like fog on a sunny day.

Behind
her, the crackle of lightning from her aunt’s hands gathered up enough power to
send a bolt across the fields. It traveled with a sonic boom down the road and
followed the trail of biking demons blazing out of dodge.

It
smelled warm, the discharge of energy reminded her of marshmallows roasting
over a fire. S’mores. Amanda loved those things and all Jessica ever told her
was how it’d rot her teeth.

Stupid.
Juvenile. Jessica’s heart pounded. What if she never saw Amanda again? What if
she was gone forever?

 
“Don’t worry, Jessica.” Aunt Gwen always spoke
with authority, confidence,
and this time,
it was no different. “We’ll find Amanda. I give my word on this.”

“Your
word?” Jessica was breathless.

Duncan
stepped forward. “Jess, your head’s bleeding.” But his own fingers were
tattered, bloody and missing parts of their nails. All because of her.

All
because the powerhouse of Aunt Gwen hadn’t been here.

Jessica’s
vision
grew
red with anger and it saw
only one target. With a tilt of her
head
she lifted her shotgun and aimed it right at her aunt. “Tell me again what your
word is even worth!”

“Whoa!”
Duncan put his hands up. “Jess—”

Aunt
Gwen was barely phased. She smiled, those golden apple cheeks rising up toward
her eyes just like Amanda’s always did. Amanda…just thinking her name put tears
into Jessica’s eyes. “You’re angry, I get that. I know I have a lot to explain,
but I can, if you’ll let me.”

Jessica
ignored Duncan and her aunt. She shifted weight from one foot to another and
re-aimed the shotgun for emphasis. “Like
hell
I’m going to let you do anything! Four days! You were supposed to join us four
days ago. You didn’t take my calls. It’s been all ‘I’m on my way. I’ll meet
you,’ but you never came! And now—”

She
didn’t want to finish or say out loud what the truth was. Amanda was lost.
Jessica had failed and that was all on her, but if her aunt had been there with
her crazy lightning bolts and gusts of wind, maybe Amanda could’ve been saved.

Aunt
Gwen, who had crazy magic, but kept it a secret for years. Aunt Gwen, who might
be the source of Amanda’s gifts. If she had been honest, opened up years ago,
maybe Jessica’s parents would still be alive.

Everything
was her fault. Everything traced back to her. But what? Jessica wasn’t supposed
to be angry? Wasn’t supposed to hate her?

Because
they were family. Because they were blood?

Aunt
Gwen regarded her with her own frown and a quivering chin. “Things are in
motion that I couldn’t sidestep, Jessica. For that I am sorry. You have to know
what you mean to me. What Amanda does?” Aunt Gwen’s voice was small, haunted.
“She’s the last I have of my brother and maybe I got here too late to raise you
girls, but I’ll see to it we save her. I’ll see to it that Amanda doesn’t
fall.”

To
evil? Jessica’s skin shuddered. “The sanctity of her soul comes first! Her
purity. Above me, above you, above all. How dare you just leave us to twist in
the wind?”

Aunt
Gwen stared down at the ground. “If you give me a minute to explain, I will,
but don’t think on it too long or we’ll lose their trail. If you’re going to
kill me, you’re going to have to do it soon. Or else your baby sister might be
lost forever.”

Jessica
gritted her teeth and felt the desire to do nothing but kill her aunt. She
didn’t want to listen, didn’t want to be reasoned with. Her heart skipped an
angry beat. “Why give you the chance? After you left us? Amanda is gone because
of you.”

“She’s
been gone before. You always get her back, don’t you?” Duncan asked softly and
he let that sink in. He let Jessica think and her mind whirled out of control.
She didn’t want to think or be calmed down. She just wanted to act.

Amanda
was gone and someone needed to pay. Someone had to.

“
This time,
though you’re not alone. I’ll help
you get her back, and your aunt will. You just got to let go of some of that
rage, for now, and let Gwen do the talking.”

Let
go of her rage? That was the last thing Jessica wanted to do.

Duncan
stepped closer and gazed down at her. “Look,” his tone was soft, like a gentle
hug. “Save the anger for when we need it. Right now we need to work together.”
He cast a look at Aunt Gwen. “Regroup, for Amanda, if for nothing else.”

“It’s
the first time you’ve ever made sense, Jasper,” Gwen said.

“You
don’t get to insult him. Not now.” Jessica lowered her shotgun and her arms
trembled, but she held onto her heartbreak. Her tears were desperate to be
freed, clamoring at the door, but Jessica kept them in check. “If I don’t like
what she has to say, I’m going to shoot her.” She headed toward the house and
stepped through the shattered window.

Aunt
Gwen stifled her laughter to the side of her mouth. “Let it never be said, Mr.
Jasper, that us Blood women are ever easy to deal with.”

“No,”
Duncan said dryly, “I’d never say that.”

Good
thing bullet-hole chic was in. What was briefly a sanctuary had been desecrated
and the only thing Jessica could think was, how many times would this happen?

How
many times could Jessica feel like she’d finally be given a reprieve only to
have it ripped away?

Never
one to waste time, except when she was ducking calls, Gwen rounded up drinks in
the shattered kitchen. Jessica grabbed a first aid kit from what was left of
the
second-floor
bathroom, trying her
hardest not to look at the bedroom where Amanda was taken.

Don’t
look. Don’t feel.

Downstairs
she ordered Duncan with a
glower
. “Sit.”

He
sighed. “Jess—”

She
tilted her head, imploring silently and Duncan sat on the edge of the sofa
without any words. His fingers were bleeding, but the wounds were starting to
clot. Still, it
panged
her to see what he
had endured for her.

“It’s
not as bad as it looks darlin’.” Duncan drawled, but Jessica doubted him as she
wrapped his fingers in bandages, making sure to apply enough ointment.

“Nothing
seems to need stitches.”

“See?”
Duncan grinned. “I told you it was nothing.”

“You
shouldn’t have,” Jessica said quietly. She took a deep breath of air as her
eyes met his. The restriction of pain
present
in her chest. “Shouldn’t
have
let them
torture you for me.”

“Well,
if I could have found a way out, I would have taken it. I’m not into torture.”
Duncan’s eyes sparkled with mischief. “At least not that kind.”

She
didn’t know how he could joke around at a time like this. “You should have told
them what they wanted to know.”

“I
didn’t know what they wanted to know. For all I knew, you got Amanda out.
Someone needed to buy you time.” Duncan’s eyes crinkled and sadness pooled
behind his eyes. “I’m just sorry you didn’t get her out.”

So
was Jessica. Sorry for a lot of things.

 
“I thought this place was safe. I thought…”
His eyes cast down around the floor. “Now look what happened.”

Jessica
touched his hand gingerly. “You couldn’t have known. You’re just as lucky to be
alive as I am. I think they found us because of that
harpy
. That creature was unlike anything I’ve ever seen.”

“It’s
not a
harpy
,” Gwen said as she handed
Jessica and Duncan a beer each. Jessica twisted the top of hers off. “It’s an
angel.”

Jessica’s
mouth fell open. She knew angels existed, sure everyone did, but to have one
working for that demon Vaughn? “Goes against the angel code, doesn’t it? To
work with a demon?”

“She
fell.” Gwen brushed off the sofa before she sat. “A long time ago, she fell for
the allure of Vaughn and she tumbled to earth. Captivity and lots of drugs
later, she’s been under Vaughn’s control. He calls her seer, but what her real
name once was, no one knows. He’s kept her, used her, for decades now. He’s
never dared bring her out of hiding before. She’s almost as coveted a prize as
Amanda.”

Jessica’s
stomach cramped to hear her name. “So this angel, that’s why she could see the
house. Because it’s not warded against her.”

Gwen
smirked
though her eyes were haunted.
“Precisely. And no one, not even me, could have guessed what Vaughn would do to
get his hands on Amanda, but in a way we’re lucky.”

“Lucky?”
Jessica spat out and gazed at Duncan, unable to believe what she was hearing.
“We were shot up, overrun and Amanda
was
captured. How does that—”

“Because
Vaughn has her and while he has her, she’s safe from the underworld. Lourdes is
really the one who wants her.”

Duncan
whistled. “The queen herself.”

Gwen
nodded. “And while Vaughn has her, Amanda is safe from her, at least for now.
Not even the queen of the underworld wants to tangle with a demon army that has
a fallen angel on their side.”

Jessica
tried to process all that information, but it simply wasn’t working. She rubbed
her forehead. “You’re going to help me further along here.” She tapped her
finger on her shotgun.

Gwen
glanced at it and swallowed. “Vaughn’s never had motives to destroy the world
like the other clans. He wants what we all want. To live, make money, shag now
and then. True, he’s evil and he corrupts. That’s his biggest power. He
corrupts absolutely, dear child, and not even Amanda…” Gwen turned her head
away and swallowed hard, tears shining in her eyes.

“You’re
not making me feel any better,” Jessica whispered with her teeth clenched.

“Vaughn
just wants to keep her, make her his next pet. But, the other clans want to
turn Amanda over to the queen to obtain the bounty. The queen wants to bleed
her dry. Destroy her power, sacrifice her on the altar and…”

“And?”
Jessica raised her eyebrow.

“Open
the
floodgates
of hell, right onto Earth.
Here, where we are sitting. Everywhere. Once the gates of hell open, Gwen shook
her head, there will be no closing them. The funnel of the underworld from hell
to Earth will no longer pass through the protective barrier. We’ll be overrun,
instead of dealing with only a few small factions of demons at a time. For
hunters like us, there will be no winning.”

Jessica
stared at her clenched fists. To hear what she just heard, sent her head
spinning. Duncan, seated beside her, shifted and answered for her. “Why
Amanda’s blood? Why not Jessica?”

Gwen
smirked out of one side of her mouth. “Amanda has always been unique in her
power and the quality of her soul. The purity of her blood and her soul, her
untouched spirit is clean in a way few others are. Jessica and I can stop it. I
know we can. We’re the trinity and
we
—”

Oh, not again.
“Aunt Gwen,” Jessica said with no patience, “let’s not do this again. Please.”
Jessica begged in a way she hadn’t in a long time, but her heart couldn’t take
anymore.

Duncan
glanced at her while Gwen went on. “But we are. Amanda is the healer of body
and spirit. I am nature, and you, dear Jessica, are the might. You always have
been, so don’t look at me that way.”

Jessica
sighed and stood up from the coffee table. She rubbed her legs and
paced
, crossing her arms. Aunt Gwen’s words
wouldn’t sink into her head. Jessica would never believe she was special. All she
did was point the gun and shoot. It was pretty easy and with the life she had
lived, Jessica was sure given the same circumstances, anyone could do it.

Anyone.

But
Amanda…now she was special. Really special.

“It’s
true.” Gwen stood and approached.

But
Jessica wouldn’t have it. She just shook her head. “I’m not special. I’m not
magically gifted.”

“No?”
Gwen’s nostril flared. “All those times you have saved Amanda, fired at demons
and made impossible shots? Putting your life in danger time and time again, with
no regard for yourself? Where does that all come from? Your ability to see a
battlefield and almost always come out on top?”

“Almost
always.” Jessica shook her finger at her aunt. “But not tonight. Tonight I lost
her.” Jessica’s chin quivered and she turned away and gazed at the fireplace.
“We ate dinner, we joked around
like
family
and then I lost her because I
wasn’t ready. I wasn’t on guard. I was down here with him.” Jessica slapped her
thighs. “If I was up there with her—”

The
tears were close. So close. Jessica sucked them back as the panic quickened in
her chest. Now Amanda was gone and alone with demons. The very ones that wanted
to control her.

“You’re
only human, Jessica. Only human no matter how gifted you are, just like Amanda.
Just like me.” Gwen put a hand on her chest and her own lip trembled. “The
discovery and information, I know I focus on it too much when I should be here
with you girls.”

She
reached out for Jessica’s hair, but Jessica batted her hand away. “I don’t want
to talk about this anymore, Aunt Gwen. I really don’t.”

“Your
parents knew; don’t you see?” Gwen side-stepped to block Jessica’s exit. “They
saw your strength, dear child. They saw how protective you were of Amanda from
the day she was born. Your mother’s dying wish was for you to protect her. Why
do you think that was?”

The
answer was gut-wrenching. “Because I’m her older sister! Mom was bleeding out.
She was dying. It doesn’t make me— We will save her just as we always have, but
that doesn’t—just, shut up, Aunt Gwen. Shut up.” Jessica covered her face with
her hand. Her shoulders trembled and the sob came. It hurt so bad to cry and to
give in.

But
it hurt worse to feel Duncan’s hand on her shoulder. That love and comfort she
could never have. It ached in her heart and Jessica took a trembling breath.

“If
we’re going to go after Vaughn, we have to do it soon. My gang’s not far. If
given the word, they’ll ride with us. We just need to send for them,” Duncan
said.

“No,”
Gwen said too fast for Jessica’s liking. “It is bad enough, Mr. Jasper that you
are here, but your gang?”

“I
said no before.” Jessica lowered her quivering hand. “But maybe that was a
mistake.”

Gwen’s
eyes widened. “Jessica!”

“You’re
not in charge here. Far as I’m concerned this would’ve been avoided if you came
to us four days ago. If you had told us some of this over the phone. I’m not
going to shoot you, but I sure as hell don’t forgive you.” Jessica said calmly.
Way too calmly for the rage was mounting in her chest.

“We
cannot trust them.” Gwen’s words were spoken with final authority, her eyes
wide.

They
implored Jessica, but she wouldn’t listen. “But I trust him. He’s earned it.
We’re going.”

“I
guess there’s nothing to add then.” Gwen’s tongue clicked inside her mouth. “But
I will be watching them, Duncan. All of them. And you.” She waved her finger at
him and then pulled open the front door even though the window was smashed.

Jessica
gripped her arms for strength. She should’ve asked Gwen for more answers on
where she was, why all the delays, but for tonight—Jessica simply had had
enough. “Thanks, Duncan. Just thanks. I’m going to grab some guns, ammo. Stow
my car and then we can hit the road.”

Duncan
nodded. “For the record, magic or no magic, I’ve always known you were
special.” Gingerly he touched her cheek.

A
tear fell from Jessica’s eye when his lips warmed her skin. It was everything
it should’ve been, but that just meant it was wrong. Comfort and solace, those
weren’t things for a Blood. It didn’t stop her from craving it, but she
couldn’t accept it. “Let’s just move out. There’s a lot to do if we’re going to
find Amanda and assemble your gang in one night.” Jessica pushed past him and
headed upstairs to collect more weapons.

If
she was born to kill, born to protect, that was what Jessica was going to do.
Everything else had to take a backseat. There were no other choices.