Blood Lust (The Blood Sisters Book 1) (18 page)

Duncan’s
laugh was throaty and deep. “We all make our own choices, don’t we? With the
hand
we’ve been dealt. Some of these girls’
hands were pretty shitty and they’re doing the best they can. We wouldn’t hurt
them.”

Jessica
gazed up at him and at his lips. His sweet, plump lips, just begging her to
take them. She tore her eyes away and back to Aunt Gwen. Her fingers were
tracing the map and it lit up like a magical trail to Hogwarts. Gwen gasped,
her head threw back—her eyes like shining marbles
shot
with electricity.

“I’ve
never seen her so in control.” Duncan grabbed a bottle from behind the bar and
twisted the cap off.

Jessica
hadn’t either, but it had been awhile since they had been together. Maybe she
had been practicing and that was why she was gone for so long. Maybe after all
this time, some good luck was going to get thrown their way.

“You
trust her?” Duncan asked after a sip of the whiskey.

After
his eyes undressed her, searching for the answer for long enough, Jessica
pulled the bottle from his hand and took a sip.
“There're
only two people in this room I trust and she’s one of them.”

“Even
though she didn’t come when you called? Even though you threatened to shoot
her?” Duncan
pried
, his darkened eyes all
over her.

Jessica
never felt so naked before. She tried not to glance up at him. Aware of how
close he suddenly was standing, able to feel the heat radiating off his body.
“I threaten to shoot a lot of people when I’m angry.”

Duncan
snorted. “And who’s the second person?” Duncan asked quietly. “Yourself?”

Like
Jessica was going to go around telling him that. She slammed the bottle on the
bar and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “So what’s this thing with
Vaughn? He seemed pretty intent on hurting you. Maybe for more than just
information?”

Why
hadn’t he mentioned it? Jessica just wanted him to be upfront, but maybe he
wasn’t keeping secrets. Maybe he just hadn’t had time to tell her.

Maybe.

Duncan
stiffened and flicked dirt out from under his fingernail. “Long story, as they
usually are, Jess. The gist, he’s a demon who wants to destroy humanity and once,
long ago, I went out of my way to stop him. Thwart his plans.”

“Did
it work?” Jessica slid closer to him and gazed into his eyes if for no other
reason than to get a read on him.

His
lips drew into a thin line, and his eyes fell away. The skin crinkled around
his lips, as if he felt something private. “For a little
while
it did. Wish I could say I put him
in
the ground when I had the chance, but things
were tight. Things—”

Jessica
touched the side of his face and Duncan
startled
.
He gazed up and their eyes locked. Her heart skipped a little beat at the
warmth in his eyes. “We all do what we can to survive. But we’ll get him now.
Whatever horrible thing he was up to when you came up against him, we’ll get
him now.”

Duncan
nodded and that draw between them was back. Had it ever left?

“I’ve
found her!” Gwen’s scream drew Jessica to the table like a moth to a
flame
. Aunt Gwen gasped for air, her fingertips
splayed on the table. “That electrical trail I put on them did the job. Wow,
did it ever! It led me right to them. The trail is starting to fade, but as
long as they don’t move her, we should be able to get to her in time.”

“Where
is she?” Jessica demanded. Her soul felt empty, depleted without Amanda. Parts
of her ached to be with her sister that Jessica couldn’t voice, couldn’t even
understand, but when they were apart, Jessica could feel it in her bones. A
cold drifting through her, a breeze she couldn’t hide from. She needed Amanda
maybe even more than Amanda needed her.

Gwen
pointed to an area on the map. It was surrounded by mountains and appeared to
be in a valley. It would be hard to
attack
and offered no good vantage points, but with some planning and
some time
…

The
crowd around them shifted, and Jessica felt the air of change. Bart pulled his
hat off as Ronald and a few others left for the back of the room. “What?”
Jessica asked him. She huffed, her nostrils flared. “Someone want to tell me
what we’re headed into before we storm the castle?”

“We’ve
been trying to get into that place for months.” Bart shook his head. His lips
turned down with grief and there was heavy sorrow in his eyes. “It’s heavily
fortified. We should have guessed a demon of Vaughn’s power was in control.
Legions of demons and active
curses
to
keep men like us out. We just—”

Jessica
pushed her finger into his chest. “Don’t say can’t, Bart. Don’t you dare.”

“It’ll
be suicide,” Ronald said.

“For
you, maybe.” Jessica’s chest burned with anger, contempt for the cowards who
surrounded her. “But that was before I got here. Duncan. My aunt.” Jessica
nodded toward Gwen with her head. “We can find a way in.”

“That
doesn’t trigger that fallen angel you were talking about? If she has full
access to her power,” Ronald shook his head, “none of us want to see Amanda
lost to the other side, Jessica. But we’re not stupid enough to risk
ourselves.”

Jessica
opened her mouth wide, ready to launch a tirade of insults toward these ‘men’,
but Duncan stepped away from the bar. His hands were in his pockets in an
unassuming way, but he spoke with a deep power in his voice. “Amanda saved me.
She brought you back, Bart, from death’s door. Ron, she healed your broken leg
even though she inflicted pain on herself.
A
long
time ago sure, but Amanda never stops to think about herself before
helping people.”

Duncan
sighed and his eyes locked with Jessica’s. She almost couldn’t take the intense
love held in them, not for her, but for Amanda. Out of anyone Jessica had ever
met, Duncan felt what Jessica did for Amanda. Not passion, not lust, just unbidden
love for someone so pure.

It
just cemented how Jessica felt. She loved Duncan Jasper whether she wanted to
or not. Maybe it was time to accept it, or maybe she would just keep on
fighting it. She didn’t know, but now wasn’t the time for personal life
decisions.

“Now
she has what? A future of torment and pain until Vaughn does what he does.
Corrupts the incorruptible. He did it with that angel, how long can Amanda
survive?”

Pain
tore at Jessica’s heart, so hard and fast she bent over to lean on the table
without meaning to. Her eyes met Aunt Gwen’s and the sorrow in Gwen’s eyes was
matched by the anger flushing her cheeks. They gripped hands tight and
Jessica’s mind flashed back to Amanda’s smile. To a time when they were just
children.

Perfect.
Sweet.

Amanda
couldn’t lose that to a demon. Jessica wouldn’t allow it. Hell, she wasn’t even
sure she’d survive. It was her job to protect Amanda and by God, Jessica wasn’t
going to fail.

She
wasn’t.

Jessica
clenched her teeth and stood up straight. She gazed out at the men. “There must
be a way in. Something we’re missing. Something one of you hasn’t said.” Her
eyes fell on each of their faces until someone darted his eyes away. Jessica
pointed her finger at him. “What?”

He
sighed with a shake of his head. “It’ll never work. We were going to try, but
we didn’t have the manpower.”

“You
have it now,” Gwen said as she stood from her chair. “I can provide more cover
than you know. Tell us your plan.”

The
man hesitated and Gwen stepped forward. “Do you want to know what a demon gang
with a healer on their side is like? Amanda isn’t the only ones we need to
worry about. We need to worry about what the world will be like with Amanda
under Vaughn’s direct control. I for one don’t want to live in a world where
demons can’t be killed.”

Gwen’s
nostrils flared. “Do you?”

Jessica
stayed silent to keep the churning anger and fear in her chest at bay, but
already her breathing was rushed. Aunt Gwen was just trying to motivate the
crew. She got that, but Jessica had never felt such fear.

Not
in a long time.

She
pulled into herself, tried to steady the rush of adrenaline coming over her.
Already she felt hot. Already she felt the pull to fight something. Anything
was better than feeling this way.

Bart
sighed and poked his finger on the map. “There’s a freight train coming not far
from here. Has more of the demon essence drug that’s flowing through the
Midwest. He has city and towns everywhere hooked on it. And with more
low-level
demons than ever in each town…”

He
shrugged. “Humans are falling like dominos. We wanted to cut off his supply.
Save as many people as we could.”

“This
stuff eats away at your
soul,
” Ronald
said. “Bad news. People should go back to marijuana.”

Bart’s
finger was pointed at a spot on the map less than a few hours’ drive away.
“It’ll be protected. Guarded. We won’t know what we’re facing.”

“We
have a witch, let’s find out what they
have,
”
Duncan said.

Jessica
felt hope, real hope, that they could pull this off. “What time will it come
through? Where is the best spot to take it?” Jessica asked.

Bart
traced his fingers across the tracks on the map to an overlooking cliff. “It’ll
come through here tomorrow around two in the afternoon. The hills will probably
be swarming with demons on patrol. If they see us before the train gets too
close, they’ll warn them to back off. Turn around. Something.”

Two
in the afternoon. That was over twelve hours from now. That meant that Amanda…
Jessica couldn’t take even thinking about it. She clenched her fists and just
felt sorry. So sorry that she couldn’t rush in to save Amanda right then.

Aunt
Gwen grinned. “Then we will get them before they get us. C’mon boys, what do
you say? Isn’t it about time we take back the Midwest from these demons? Stop
them killing our children, and drying up our jobs? It’s time to stop them
before there’s nothing left of us but slaves.”

Jessica
took a deep breath and shook her head. “Girls being kidnapped, forced to dance.
Forced to have sex with these monsters only to wither away and die? We can get
Amanda and we can stop this from getting any worse. Barter and exchange and
once we have Amanda, boom. Bye bye, drugs.”

“He’ll
see this
coming,
” Duncan said.

“Then
we get him
first,
” Jessica said, edging
her nose toward his.

Duncan
chuckled and didn’t pull back.
His
eyes
twinkled with a smile. Jessica really wanted to kiss him right
then,
but steadied herself.

 
“I know a Blood plan when I hear one,” Duncan
said.

“You
mean a Blood suicide?” Ronald asked with a shake of his head. “Damn it, we’re
screwed if we do this.”

Jessica
raised an eyebrow. “So you’re in?”

Ronald
laughed with a shake of his fists. “Hell, yeah, I’m in! We’re all in!”

The
crowd cheered and arms were thrust into the air. The bartender went back to
tending bar and the waitresses went back to serving drinks. Jessica gladly took
the beer that was offered to her. She offered a toast and bottles clanked in
the air.

“For
Amanda.”

“For
Amanda!”

“For
Jessica Blood, and her damn good aim,” Aunt Gwen said with a twinkle in her
eye.

Jessica
drank to that. “Thanks, Aunt Gwen. And I’m sorry I almost shot you with my
shotgun.”

Gwen
laughed. “Oh please, child. Your bullet
never
would
’ve reached me.” She finished what was left of her beer, returned
the bottle to the counter and headed for the door.

Jessica
caught up
with
her. “Where are you going?
We haven’t hashed it all out yet.”

“There’s
time for that tomorrow at breakfast. For now, I need to sleep. Recharge.” Gwen
kissed her cheek. “Rest up and don’t drink all night, yes? You’re going to need
everything you have tomorrow.”

Jessica
didn’t agree, but she didn’t disagree either as the door swung open, and Gwen
stepped out. Her aunt was an enigma. Jessica would never understand her. She
scowled and thought to race outside after her as Duncan strolled up.

He
sipped his beer. “She knows
there're
bedrooms upstairs, right? Warded against evil?”

“She
prefers her own company,” Jessica said with a shudder. How many times had Aunt Gwen
told her that over the years? She took the Blood girls in, so maybe that
should’ve been enough, but nurture?

Jessica
never got from Aunt Gwen what she was really missing. Craving. Best not to
think of that at all.

“Well,
c’mon. They’re throwing burgers on and I rather not have my dinner burned.”
Duncan walked away and Jessica knew she was supposed to follow, but she had
trouble tearing her eyes away from the window.