Blood Lust (The Blood Sisters Book 1) (19 page)

There
was something Aunt Gwen wasn’t telling her. Secrets, they all had them. So what
were Gwen’s?

Jessica’s
room for the night was dark. The light wouldn’t turn on, only the moonlight
from the small window above the bed allowed her to see anything at all. The bed
was small, with a single sheet. Just enough to get her through the crappy night
that was sure to follow.

Too
much drink and too little food in her belly, Jessica stumbled into the room.
Her shotgun found a home on the end table by the bed. Hopping on one foot, she
tore her boot off and let it fall. Stumbling, Jessica leaned against the bed
post with a grimace, and kicked her last boot free.

The
small adjoining bathroom had a light bulb in the center. Yanking the string,
Jessica squinted as it turned on. White tiles by the tub were cracked and the
sink had a steady drip. The basin was rusted with a
watermark
circling the drain.

It
definitely wasn’t the Ritz, but let’s face it, Jessica was more comfortable
somewhere like this. She didn’t have money to tip a
bellboy
any more than she had money to buy gas for her car.

When
had things been this bad? So tight.

Jessica
turned the tap on and cupped her hand to collect some water. Refreshing as it
was cold, she craved more. She took a few more sips before turning off the tap
and greeted her reflection. Worry lines around her eyes and frown creases
around her lips, Jessica might have been young, but she didn’t feel it while
gazing at her face.

“I’ll
find you,
Amanda,
” Jessica whispered.
“Promise.”

It
was the only thing that gave her life meaning. It’d been that way since she was
ten years old and Amanda’s powers trickled in. It was then the demons really
came, drawn to that power.

What
came next? How long could she keep up this game? It had to end somewhere.
Jessica promised herself, hell she promised God, that if she got Amanda out of
this, she’d find a way to end it. A way out for her and Amanda.

But
where that would lead them, Jessica just didn’t know.

Jessica
pulled her hair back into a low
ponytail
.
Her tangled curls rested on her back as she pulled her flannel off and inspected
her back in the mirror. No blood or cuts, but damn it hurt from how Vaughn
yanked on her.

Getting
ready for bed, Jessica flung off her leather pants, leaning on the sink when
she thought she might fall over. Now only in her tank top and fuzzy purple
socks, Jessica stretched her arm overhead, bent her head down, and worked the
tight muscles out with her fingers. Hard as a rock, it moved under her skin and
with enough pressure, the pain increased enough so she winced.

“Need
some help with that?”

Jessica
gasped at the sight of Duncan’s silhouette in the entry way. “You should knock,
some of us aren’t descent.” She tugged on her tank top to cover up her perky
ass.

Duncan’s
face morphed into amusement. “Nothing I haven’t seen before. Right now it’s not
your body that I’m concerned about. The state of your mind is another story.”
He said the words, but still his eyes took in the full length of her body.
“Nice socks.”

Jessica
smirked and punched him in the gut, but she dared not bend over to pick up her
pants—that was just inviting trouble. “I’m doing as well as can be expected I
guess. I don’t know how I’ll sleep knowing she’s out there. Not alone, but with
demons?” Jessica sighed. “I just want to know she’s all right. That
we’re get
her back.”

“We
will. I’ve never doubted you’d do anything to get Amanda back. I’m more worried
about the rest. If we—if you—will come out alive.”

“I’ll
watch your back.” Jessica pushed her finger into his shoulder. “If you’ll watch
mine.”

Duncan
raised his eyebrows and Jessica started laughing. “That’s not what I meant and
you know it.”

He
raised his hand in mock surrender. “Sit in that chair back there and I’ll work
that
knot
out of your neck.”

“All
right.” Jessica smiled slyly. “Just move out of the way while I put my pants
back on.”

Duncan
fetched the chair while Jessica struggled with her pants. All zipped up, she
sat in it backward while Duncan sat in another chair behind her. His body
pressed close to hers and Jessica folded her arms over the back of her chair
and leaned her head. His fingers grazed against her skin, moving her hair out
of the way.

Goose
bumps rose up on her body and Jessica bit her lip as Duncan’s warm hands
pressed against her shoulders. It felt so good to have him touch her again, all
in the guise of a massage, that she let out a quiet ‘hmm’ and kept her eyes
closed.

“That’s
the spot?” Duncan asked as if he were completely innocent.

“That’s
the spot,” Jessica confirmed and rolled her head to the side so he could
massage her neck. “You know; I was wondering what Ronald meant. When he said
you came back. Where have you been, Duncan?”

He
was quiet for a few moments, the palms of his hands working against her neck.
Jessica had to admit she almost forgot she’d asked him a question. “I walked
away for a while. Had my own problems. Own things to do. I wanted to be done
with the demons. Done with you.”

Jessica’s
heart panged and she sat up straight to cast him a look.

“I
took an odd job here or there. I…could
n’t
help myself.” Duncan’s eyebrows furrowed. “Then word reached me about the
bounty. I knew you girls were in trouble. I knew you were in trouble.” His
voice dropped low. His eyes darkened with troubling thoughts.

“And
you couldn’t stay away.” Jessica lured him on. “You could’ve kept going with
whatever you had. Maybe it was a good thing. Maybe you were happy. You turned
your back on all of that?”

“What
can I say?” Duncan ran his hands down her arms and rested on her hips. “I love
your socks.”

Jessica
snorted a laugh. “Duncan—”

“Jess,”
he husked it against her neck and Jessica tensed to keep from falling into
bliss against him in the dark of the night. “I want to kiss you. Really kiss
you and this time, I don’t want you to bite me.”

“I
can’t make any promises,” Jessica murmured. She leaned her head back against
his shoulder and gazed up into his face.

His
hands rested on the tops of her thighs, her muscles flexed and Jessica closed
her eyes. His lips splayed open, Jessica’s played with his. Hot and cold,
searching and finding one another., Heat rose between them and set Jessica on a
path from simmer to boil. She took a shaking breath, her chest quivering
higher.

His
fingers danced across her chest and Jessica gripped his hair, pulling him
deeper into the kiss. Further. Until the throes of passion were so great, she
couldn’t stop her heart from slamming against the walls of her chest. Duncan
was as close to her as another human being could get. His breath was hot, salty
and traced with whiskey.

In
his arms, Jessica wanted for nothing. They tensed, his muscles flexing around
her body and Jessica thought she could stay like that all night. Touching,
kissing, groping. Maybe everything tomorrow would be fine, maybe, it would be
the end of everything, but for right now—for this night—she was content. For
the first time in a long while.

Jessica
turned in her chair and touched his arms. “I trust you, Duncan. Maybe more than
I ever did before,” she admitted it plainly and took in the surprise on his
face, but it was a happy surprise. “What you did tonight with your gang, how
you went to bat for us? I was wrong not to trust you. I’m sorry.”

His
brow furrowed. “You don’t need to apologize. I gave you plenty of reasons to
doubt me.” Duncan’s face relaxed, content as his fingertips traced her jaw and
brought her in for another kiss.

 
It was deep, searching, and Jessica’s heart
filled with all the things she’d never had. So it killed her to pull away from
the kiss, rolling her cheek against his. Jessica took a deep breath taking in
his scent. “So know it kills me when I say, tonight, we can’t do this.”

Duncan’s
eyes searched her face. His expression was dumbfounded.

“Don’t
fight me on this, okay? Tomorrow we ride to save my sister. I can’t have
distractions. I can’t have anyone else on my mind, only her. She always…”
Jessica’s eyes fell away and even though the words were true, Jessica couldn’t
bring herself to say them.

“…comes
first,
” Duncan said with a nod. He
struggled to take a deep breath. “Yeah, Amanda comes first.”

Did
he hate her? Were things over between them again, before they even started? She
wanted to
apologize,
but didn’t. She
wouldn’t apologize for who she was—for who Amanda was.

Neither
of them asked for what was given to them. She gripped his shoulders with the
tips of her fingers and hoped he’d be there when the dust cleared.

“But
when it’s over?” Duncan asked. “When Amanda’s safe?”

Jessica
bit her lip. “I hope you’ll be there. I hope you’ll tell me what trouble it is you
managed to find this time. I hope…I hope we can fix it together, Duncan.”

Duncan
struggled to answer. He cleared his throat and emotions, ranging from love to
fear, played out on his face. “I just… Yeah, Jess. Yeah, that’s what I want. No
running away. Okay?”

“Okay.”
The simplicity of his words ached in her chest. Tears rose in her eyes and
Jessica thought she might lose it.

They
had been together before but had they ever had that? Trust? Promise? It was all
so profound that she didn’t know how to say how full her heart was, so she
wrapped her arms around him and gave him a good-bye kiss for this night. Just
for right now.

Peeling
herself off of him was hard, and watching him stand was even worse. Jessica
ached to grab him, throw him against the wall, just so they could go at it. If
they did…if they did, she’d be so far off her game tomorrow, she might get them
killed.

“This
is just the beginning,” Duncan said and leaned in
towards
her cheek. “If I’ve ever made a promise to you, it’s this.”

“Keep
your word, Duncan.” Jessica regretted saying it before the words even left her
mouth, but she couldn’t stop herself.

His
eyes flashed with hurt, but he didn’t say anything. He let it linger between
them and Jessica’s heart was glad that he remained silent. No fight. Her heart
couldn’t handle that tonight. When the door clasped behind him, Jessica went to
the window.

She
leaned on the frame and studied the twinkling stars. “Amanda,” Jessica sighed.
Hang in there, girl, we’re coming for you.

We’re
coming.

Consciousness
gone
, Amanda’s mind was lost. It drifted
from one moment in time to another, until it fell squarely
on
one moment.
 
The day, the very first day, that Jessica sacrificed herself for Amanda.
She gave so much, so Amanda could be safe. So she could get far away from the
monsters that hunted them.

Until
that day, Amanda hadn’t known, had never understood the depths of her sister’s
love, but that day…everything became so clear.

The
room was sterile, and except for the metal table in the room, there was
nothing. Jessica wasn’t even eleven yet, but her eyes were haunted. Her face
was wet with tears and her once beautiful curls, so perfect they always
reminded Amanda of a sunset, were a tangled and a mess.

“Please,”
Amanda leaned forward and begged. “Just tell them the truth. They can help us.
Have them
get
the police? They can
protect us!”

“From
monsters? From demons?” Jessica leaned forward, her eyes wide. “Mandy, you
can’t stay here, okay? There’s a nice family that wants you. They’ll take you far
away. Put some distance between you and the demons. Maybe they won’t be able to
find you again.”

Exasperated,
Amanda sighed and she couldn’t keep the pounding of her heart from echoing in
her ears. “We need to stick together, Jessie! You can’t—I won’t let you give
up.”

The
door opened and two men all in white entered with slow shuffle steps. Amanda
stared at their shoes. They were white, so perfect, but Amanda was afraid.
Afraid to look into their faces. Something was happening to her and she could
feel it in her chest. In her bones. Everything tingled all over, in a way that
wasn’t natural.

Amanda
was scared. She wanted Mom and Dad. Couldn’t things just go back to the way
they used to be? Momma cooking in the kitchen, listening to the radio, and
dancing around barefooted, Daddy holed up in his study, awaiting the call to
dinner. That’s when the games would break out.

She’d
been so happy, but now Amanda was scared all the time. Every rustling in the
trees, every dark shadow that crept along the window in her room…

“I
know I have to stop
lying,
” Jessica said
to the two men. “There were no monsters. I just…I wanted to cut class.”

“You’re
lying!” Amanda stood up and knocked her chair backward. “She’s lying! You can’t
believe her. I saw it. I saw the monster too! I was there!”

Tears
fell from Jessica’s eyes. “She’ll say anything to protect me, but I’m sick. I
need help.”
Jessica's
eyes squeezed shut
and the tears ran like a stream over her freckles.

“What
about those?” Amanda laid her hand on Jessica’s arm where a thick bandage was.
Jessica winced under the pressure. “Did you do that to yourself too?”

Jessica
didn’t answer. She couldn’t. The men took Jessica by the shoulder and helped
her out of the chair. Listless, she went with them. Listless, there was no fight
left in her.

“Jessica!”
Amanda cried and stomped her feet. “Don’t do this. Don’t leave me, please.” Her
shoulders rocked in a sob.

“Your
social worker will be here soon, Mandy. I promise. They found a nice family for
you. Far away from here. Okay?” The orderly smiled. He was trying to be nice.

Trying.

Amanda
only wanted her sister. She let out a shaking breath, the tears took over and
everything in her felt broken. Afraid. Gazing down, Amanda was stunned to see
her fingers: one of them was glowing, a pulse of electricity surging out from
it to the rest of her hand.

It
was growing stronger. Someday soon maybe Amanda wouldn’t be able to stop it,
whatever “it” was.

Amanda
clenched her hand to make it go away. Just go away, go away. She wanted her
family back. Her mother. Sister. Who would she talk to about it, if not
Jessica?

“Jessie,
don’t leave me!” Amanda screamed, loud and powerful.

It
zapped her back to consciousness.

****

No.

Amanda
blinked her eyes and the words were still with her.
Don’t leave me, don’t leave me.
 
Jessica—where are you? She would come. Amanda was sure of it. Jessica
would come for her.

Her
vision whirled like a kaleidoscope and Amanda’s brow furrowed. She couldn’t
swallow; something dry in her mouth, like She gagged, her head bent over so
hair covered her face.

She
couldn’t see well. She could barely feel, except for the acid bite of bile
rising in her throat. Her muscles ached like she was covered in thousands of
little pincher bugs all desperate for a taste. So desperate for a part of her,
and they wouldn’t let go. The despair was the only thing greater than the pain.
Something inside of Amanda was disappearing, piece by piece, injection by
injection.

Amanda
was losing herself and if she didn’t get out of here soon…

“I
have something that will help you feel better.” It was the voice of Vaughn.
Amanda shuddered when he touched her.

Something
from him surged against her skin. He placed ice chips against her lips and
Amanda was thankful. So thankful for something to drink. It felt like heaven to
be able to swallow again.

He
traced the ice against her lips and Amanda licked the traces of water left
behind, swallowing as he did it again. For
minutes
it went
on
until Vaughn pushed the hair
from her face. “You’re glowing with beauty, but still, your eyes don’t shimmer
green. You’re not ready yet. Maybe four times the average dose is what you
need.”

Amanda
shook her head. “Please, no more. I don’t know how much more—”

“You
can take? A lot more, dear Amanda. A lot more.” Vaughn stood to retrieve more
drugs. Yes, that had to be what he was up to.

But
Amanda wouldn’t look. She would steel herself from looking at the needle.

She
turned her head. The war inside of her might have been a movie playing out in
real time. The energy she was used to, the healing vibe, was warm. It glowed as
it rushed through her muscle fibers, working overtime to rid her body of the
dark essence trying to take over her soul.

Meeting
head to head, the black haze of the demon essence colliding with the warmth
charge of goodness. Her spirit and mind were so tired from the constant
healing, the concentration, Amanda’s brow
was
covered in sweat. There would be no rest at all until the demon essence was
cleansed from her body and if Vaughn didn’t stop injecting her….

Amanda
gazed at the door. It felt as if it was moving further away and on the other
side, Amanda saw a set of wings. They must have belonged to whatever it was
that took her.

Angel.

 
An angel?

Amanda
gasped and her head reeled. It felt as if the angel had grabbed her hair and
tugged it back, as if she wanted to whisper something into Amanda’s ear. Images
flashed inside Amanda’s mind.

Darkness;
man and demon clashed, a war breaking out. Fires raged in all directions,
buildings were consumed and in the center, a pair of black torn wings. Like
those of a moth who had seen destruction. The pit of hell and in the center of
it all…

No.
God, no.

Jessica’s
face, but her eyes…Dear God, her eyes were red. In her hand wasn’t a gun but a
sword. A sword that dripped with blood and its hilt smoldered with ash from the
pit of hell.

“No,”
Amanda whispered with a trembling lip. “Help me.” She turned her head toward
the door, sure that whoever was showing her the images was there. Whatever this
angel was, no matter what she had done, she wasn’t all bad. Not yet.

Vaughn
gripped Amanda’s hair and the images faded. She
stared
into his twisted smile of hate and evil. “No one will help you now, Amanda. If
Jessica comes here, it’ll be suicide. Some people,” he held up the syringe,
“beg for this.”

Amanda
wouldn’t be one of them. She couldn’t be because all it brought was
pain
. All…she cringed as the needle slipped
beneath her skin. It didn’t take long this time for the ice to race through her
veins. Her thighs tensed, fingers clenched, and Amanda’s bones felt on the
verge of snapping.

But
still, she didn’t scream. She whimpered, biting her lip. Her head rolled to the
side, Amanda stared up at the light, her mouth falling open.

“Your
strength is admirable.” Vaughn stroked her hair with the back of his hand.
“Desirable, yet surprising for someone so…passive. On the day you beg me to
take you to bed; I will weep for what I’ve done.” He leaned forward and sniffed
her hair, sighing with petulant lust.

Amanda’s
chin quivered as she took a breath. Vaughn vanished from her vision as
something else took shape. It was darkness, and that darkness had shades of
gray and black, swirling together like a neutral
watercolor
. The black formed cliffs and in the rising darkness, in
the distance was screaming.

Crying.

Torture.

She
realized it was her own cries. Her own screams because Amanda’s body was
burning. It might have been in her mind, it might not have been real, but it
felt like her flesh was melting straight off her bones.

And
her eyes…stared straight into the pit of the underworld. The churning souls of
the lost and the damned surrounded her. And Amanda thought…maybe she was
rushing to join them.

The
warming feeling of her
power
felt so far away.
Like a blow of heat against her face during a blizzard. Her power would fail.

Amanda
was beginning to succumb.