Blood Sacrifice (The Blood Sisters Book 3) (21 page)

Regal
gowns, ballrooms of gold where lava flowed and demons of such s danced.
Delicate pastries and sweet flowing wines lined the tables and amidst it all,
there she was. Jessica Blood dressed all in black. except for a red veil that
covered her face.

Hand
in hand she strolled with Lucifer—the Devil’s bride.

No,
just no.

Jessica’s
mind snapped back into place. Lucifer was escaping, using his lure to keep her
docile—Make his exit.

Drawing
on a reserve of energy she never knew she had, Jessica
leaped
to her feet, took hold of the poker lying by the fireplace
with both hands and ran it through his back, pinning him to the floor.

Lucifer
hollered and his wings gave a fruitless flap.

“You
think this alone will stop me?” He laughed and turned his head to look at her.
His eyes turned from red to blue and Jessica resisted the brown specks floating
in them. She backed up and shook her head.

Images
were in her head that hadn’t been there before. She wanted to be with him. Give
herself over to him. Just let him go…Just…

Jessica
covered her eyes and refused to look. She wouldn’t become a slave to another
evil. She let that happen once. Jessica would die a horrible death before she
let that happen again.

A
strong hand grabbed her by the throat and lifted her into the air. Jessica
kicked her legs frantically as Lucifer squeezed. The poker was still through
his torso, but didn’t seem to cause him any discomfort. Blood trickled from
around the edges of the wound and out of his mouth, but all Lucifer did was
smile at her.

“Damn
you,” Jessica gagged and tried to loosen his grip on her neck.

“That
is kind of the idea.” He brought Jessica down close to him and gave her a
tender kiss.

Her
mind swirled and went hazy as he put her down. “She’ll stop you,” Jessica’s
vision spun. Grabbing her head, she fell to her knees. “You’re going back to
hell where you belong.”

“If
she was going to, she would have done so already. And if she hasn’t,” Lucifer
pointed his sword at her. “She must be dead and that means I can take you as my
queen….”

Like
hell he would, but Jessica’s mind filled with images of black wedding dresses.
Tender kisses, while the Earth burned. His eyes and his spell were working
their magic on her. Part of her wanted it and that was the part of herself she
had to resist and deny.

It
would never happen.

Never
give up. Never stop fighting.

Jessica
rose up to her feet, bellowed a scream, and grabbed Lucifer’s wrist—forced him
back against the wall. His face was marred by surprise as he screamed. “What is
this power you have? No creature can stand up to me!”

She
wasn’t just a creature. She was a Blood.

The
holy trinity of the sister’s blood, their aunt. Maybe there was some truth in
it, after all.

She
balled her hand into a fist, and felt a surge of energy travel through it she
hadn’t experienced before. Her hair blew and her mind spun. Jessica swung her
fist into Lucifer’s face so hard his head snapped against the wall and the
force cracked it.

Lucifer
grabbed her shoulders and with a scream, spun her around and into the
fireplace. Jessica grabbed him with a
well-placed
hand on the back of his robe, sent him flying.

Game
was on. Jessica wasn’t even tired anymore. For better or worse, they were
locked in this battle.

Possibly
forever.

The
old Blood home was in view and Gwen’s heart was constricted with pain. Jacob
left it to her in his will to raise the girls in, but she couldn’t. Never could
set foot in it again. Didn’t want to raise his girls so she resisted it for six
long years. The abuse Jessica went through in foster care system and in mental
hospitals, all of it was Gwen’s fault.

Now
she had to do something. She had to find a way to stop what was happening to
them. She had the tools, but somehow Gwen had to find a way to put them
together. The Ruby Heart and blood. Somehow Gwen had to get it all to work.

Quickly.
The place looked like a battlefield.

War
waged between the golden shadows, like eagles, swooped down from the clouds,
and the demons, who were unlike any Gwen had ever seen. They were in regal
robes with black wings. These were no lowly beasts.

They
were straight from the high court. The doors to hell were open and the demons
were flooding the Earth.

Mike
parked the Chrysler on the grass. They’d have to make a run for it. There was
nothing they could say, but as their eyes locked, their gaze spoke volumes. For
a brief moment, Gwen saw him as the strapping, youthful man that she fell in
love with. His passion and resolve had made that easy, but his service to the
church, well, it had made it
downright
impossible.

“We
have to help the angels.” Gwen exited the car and marched across the field.
“Crazy as that sounds. Maybe a wind storm.”

“Won’t
that hurt the angels as much as the demons?” Mike asked. He struggled to keep
up. Instead he made the sign of the cross in the air and Gwen tried not to
notice.

How
could he not have lost his faith after everything they had been through? Gwen
wished to know, wanted to ask, but as they came to an open crater in the
ground, she stopped. There was a staircase running straight to the middle of
the Earth.

“Here
I always thought it was a Stairway to Heaven,” Mike muttered.

Gwen
raised her eyebrows and saw Amanda running toward them. Or someone who used to
be Amanda. Gwen unwrapped the cloth around the shard of the Ruby Heart. She
held it tight in one hand and in the other, the sword tainted with demon blood.
In it, the last of Lourdes’s magic surged up the hilt of the sword into her
hand.

Gwen
wanted to drop it, but couldn’t. She let the magic fester in her hand, waiting
for the Ruby Heart to activate.

It
didn’t.

What
would it take! What!

Sacrifice.
Was that what Lanon had said?

It
started to make sense as Gwen
sidestepped
to block Amanda. “Now wait a second,” Mike grabbed her arm. “Gwen!”

But
she shrugged him off. Gwen had an idea and it was one he’d never go along with.
“Stay back, Mike.”

Amanda
trotted over to them in a full on run. Her cheeks were flushed. “I have to go!”

“No!”
Gwen screamed, eyes wide. “We can’t lose you!”

“Lucifer
is in there! He’s here, Aunt Gwen. If I don’t sacrifice myself we’re all dead.
Jessica is dead. Everyone! Someone has to do this and that’s me, all right? It’s
my duty as a Blood!”

Blood.
The Ruby Heart needed a blood sacrifice, but maybe what Lanon had meant was…it
needed a Blood sacrifice.

Somehow
it was perfect. Like a symphonic harmony. How could Gwen never have seen before
that she was the answer? Her son had started this and now it was up to her to
finish it. The race was over. It would be a gamble, but one Gwen had to take.

Amanda
scowled. “What are you thinking? You can’t save me, Aunt Gwen!”

Gwen
glanced back at Mike, at the handsome lines of his face. The way he looked at
her like she was the only woman in the room. Oh, the bittersweet of what might
have been. She turned and stroked his cheek.

Mike
licked his lips. “Whatever it is you’re about to do, don’t do it, Gwenivere.”

She
smiled at him and leaned in to give him a kiss. Not hello, not a promise, but a
painful good-bye. The one she could never truly give him, no matter how much
time transpired, or the distance between them. He was always in her heart. No
matter where life took her.

What
would have been, if things were different? A different time, a different place.
Maybe, in another universe things would’ve worked out. Happily ever after.

Maybe
her nieces could have that happily ever after for her.

“So
much I want to tell him. You tell him for me,” Gwen said with a nod. “All
right?”

Amanda
shook her head. “This isn’t the way.”

Gwen
didn’t know about that. She thought it just might be and if it wasn’t the
answer, at least Gwen would be able to say she had tried. For once, she had
tried to put someone other than herself first.

“I
might never have said it, but I love you. You and your sister.” Gwen turned the
sword around and impaled herself.

****

Wasn’t
fair.

Wasn’t
right.

He
knew Gwen was up to something, but this? “Gwen!” Mike lunged for Gwen, but was
an arm’s breadth away as the sword plunged through Gwen’s abdomen. She leaned
forward, falling on the hilt to drive the sword through her body farther.

He
was too late…again. Mike couldn’t save her. Couldn’t think of what to say, what
to do. Instead he shrieked. “Genevieve!”

She
collapsed into a heap beside the crater. Her weak and trembling fingers painted
in blood grasped the Ruby Heart.

Mike
thought his heart might have seized up, to witness such a thing. He had always
been weak. Never able to give of himself what he should, to save the world,
save his son. Not if it meant losing Gwen.

He’d
lost her anyway, didn’t he? Nothing he could have done.

Instead
he’d lost her anyway, Mike wanted to pull her away from the crater, but the
shard of the Ruby Heart glowed and it kept him back like an electrical prison.
Gwen’s body lit up, the halo of white surrounded Amanda too.

The
power of that cocoon threw Mike back. Amanda was lifted into the air and her
body arched. The black ink of Lourdes was being drawn from her like, spider
venom through a bite. Her hair, once black through and through, grew red at the
tips. The color traveled through her body until she was restored.

Her
dress. Her toes. Even her radiant skin.

That
black corruption and power flowed straight through the shard of the Ruby Heart,
up Gwen’s hands and straight into her heart.

No,
no. Mike struggled back to his feet. Not Gwen, Not her. He had to get to her.
Had to save her. Gwen couldn’t be the one they lost in all this. He’d go. Him!
What good was he anyway? Poor excuse for a warrior and an even poorer excuse
for a priest.

As
a man, he was worthless.

Mike
ran toward the crater. Amanda’s body hit the ground with a thud and she barely
missed the hole. Gwen glanced at Mike, but her green eyes were gone. They shone
white as pearls and her short red hair was now a mass of thorns.

“I’m
going to set things right.” Her voice was a booming echo.

“Gwen!”
Mike screamed and extended his arm to reach her as she
leaped
into the crater, missing all the stairs and dropping
straight into the abyss.

No!
Mike would follow after her. He would, but the crater had started to seal up.
The ground shook and Amanda, barely conscious, couldn’t pull herself away from
the hole.

She
was going to fall right in.

Damn
Gwen and what she did. Damn her for making him choose.

Mike
scurried over to Amanda and pulled her away from the maw. as it finished
closing up. She took a deep breath. “What happened?”

He
couldn’t answer. Didn’t have the heart to as the sky lit up in a brilliant
flame. Golden streaks of heaven lighting up the night sky. The black forms
streaking to the Earth, hit like bombs meeting their target, their bodies
passing through the ground, straight into Hell.

The
door was latched. The key had been returned.

Gwen
had taken the throne of the underworld. Eternity might have been saved, but for
eternity Mike would grieve for what was lost. What might have been. And all of
that in between.

Amanda
was gone. Jessica hadn’t gotten to hug her. Embrace her. There was nothing
except another fight, and this one, Jessica might very well loose. She had
never waltzed with a devil up close before, but this one she had kissed. This
one had fooled her.

He
was strong, pushing her back against Dad’s old bookcase. Jessica gasped for
breath as Lucifer swung at her head. Barely in time, Jessica ducked. His fist
missed and shattered the wooden shelves that once she had climbed on. Once,
they had been a toy. Playing in Dad’s den while he worked. Let’s pretend it’s a
playhouse.

Jessica
scurried under Lucifer’s legs, but he grabbed her by the hair and yanked her
back, the force cracking her body like a whip… She shrieked in pain as her body
slammed into the wall.

Lucifer
snarled at her as he let her go and she fell to her ass. “Pretty as you are,
you’re in my way. I need your sister, not you, but I’ll be back for another
taste.” Lucifer smiled and it chilled Jessica to the bone. In the presence of
such evil, Jessica’s skin raised goose bumps.

His
wings unfurled and he picked up his blade. He was nearly at the door when
someone jumped on his back.

“I’ve
got him!”

It
was Duncan.

Jessica’s
heart lit up to see him on top of Lucifer. Duncan’s arms tightened against the
King of Hell’s broad shoulders and his legs kicked wildly as Lucifer spun
around. Duncan was thrown clear, crashing into Jessica.

“Duncan!”
Jessica screamed and tightened her arm through his as Lucifer’s broadsword came
swiftly toward them.

They
barely got out of the way in time. Duncan and Jessica rolled, their bodies
entangled. Lucifer whipped around with a snarled lip. His eyes gleamed red, and
he was upon them again.

Something
in his face changed and those red eyes widened in alarm. He gave a single
scream, and it was as though he exploded into the ground. Gone. The only thing
remaining was his sword, which fell to the hardwood with a clang and its tip
glowed red.

Jessica
stared at the red circle left in his wake. It meant only one thing, but she
couldn’t bring herself to say, or even think it. Instead she closed her eyes as
Duncan’s hands came against her face. He kissed her so deeply and fully it
pushed every bad thought, every bad feeling from her mind.

But
the image of a smiling, carefree Amanda wouldn’t leave her and Jessica’s heart
was shattered. She’d never see that girl again. Never….The world was saved,
Jessica’s body was whole, but she’d never be the same. She lost a piece of
herself that she’d never get back.

If
Duncan needed it explained to him, he didn’t say. His face was crestfallen and
his eyes were dark. “I’m sorry, Jess. Sorry I wasn’t here. Sorry he took you.
I’m sorry…Amanda….” His chest heaved with a deep sob as tears streamed from his
eyes.

Jessica
shook her head, but couldn’t breathe. She buried her head against Duncan’s
chest and thought she might never be whole again. She would lie in his arms and
never move. Never do anything again.

His
tight arms around her should’ve been comforting, but weren’t.

And
suddenly that voice…that familiar voice rang out.

“Jess?”

Jessica’s
head whipped around. She couldn’t believe it.

As
though in a dream, Jessica rose to her feet. In the doorway were Mike
and…Amanda? But not a dark queen. Instead it was the real her. Pale skin,
perfect complexion and a tiny pixie nose that on anyone else would appear
diminutive.

“Mandy?”
Jessica didn’t even finish saying her name before the two sisters were in each
other’s arms. Jessica didn’t know how she was here and what had brought them
together once more. She didn’t really care. To hear the truth of what happened
might ruin it all, so Jessica didn’t ask. She just hugged her sister with all
her might and kissed her forehead. She’d never let her go again. Jessica didn’t
care what the circumstances. She wouldn’t.

“She
sacrificed herself for me. I tried to stop her…. Aunt Gwen is gone.” Amanda
clung to Jessica tightly, holding onto her arms as if her life depended on it.
The sobs in her voice shook them both. “I wanted the underworld to take me, not
her.”

Jessica
squeezed her eyes tight against the wave of grief. Things had never been right
between her and Aunt Gwen. She’d never gotten what she wanted. Never was able
to express how much she’d loved her dear aunt. So many things she would’ve done
over, but Amanda was alive. That was the greatest gift Aunt Gwen could’ve ever
given her.

Still,
Jessica was so sorry. She’d always be grateful. She’d be in Gwen’s debt, and,
if somehow they ever managed to see each other again…would Aunt Gwen remain the
same? Would she remember life, or would the evil of Lourdes corrupt her?

“It’s
all gone,” Amanda choked on her words. “The extra power. The euphoria. What I
did…can you forgive me? Please.” She pulled away to look Jessica in her eye,
her own green eyes desperate. Almost manic. “I didn’t mean to hurt you or
anyone. Please, Jessie.”

“I
forgive you. It was never you. It was borrowed dark magic.” Jessica gazed past
her, at the broken priest.

Mike,
could barely stand but clung to the door frame and gazing around, but his eyes
were murky. As if he couldn’t see anything at all.

 “Mike,
I’m sorry.”

“We’ve
all lost something. Someone.” His voice was a haunted whisper. “You two lost
most of all. It’s about time you get your happy ending. Duncan too.”

Duncan
gazed at him. “You’re one of us now, Mike. You’re not alone.”

The
priest’s face twitched with a smile. A slight one, but for tonight, Jessica
considered it a gift.

“I
can feel your feelings again.” Amanda said with tears in her eyes. “I can’t
read your thoughts, but I can feel what you feel and it’s…nice to be back. Nice
to be loved, Jessie.”

“I’ve
always loved you.” Jessica hugged her tight and smelled her hair. It smelled
like fire, but she realized it wasn’t Amanda’s hair at all. A sudden fire came
to life in the fireplace.

Jessica
backed up as the house rocked side to side. Everyone gathered around as a face
flickered in the flame.

What
now?

But
the flames came together. Like a spark, it flew onto the hardwood floor and it
grew until the orbs of light took shape of a man. First it was a circle
jointed
at his elbow joint and then his
shoulders until a ghostly face came into view.

A
smile. A scruff of a beard.

Jessica
about died as she croaked out. “Daddy?” Her voice trembled with awe.

A
tear clung to his eye, but he smiled and it was love wrapped in a bow. He
opened his arms and that was all it took for both Jessica and Amanda to crash
into him so hard that if he wasn’t corporeal, they would have slammed into the
wall.

“My
girls, my beautiful girls.” Jacob gazed into each of their faces. His own eyes
lit with happiness. “You’ve grown so big. You’ve done everything I hoped you
would. Everything.” When his eyes fell to Jessica, she thought a piece of her
returned that she lost so long ago. She wanted to beg him for acceptance.

Did
I do okay? Are you proud of me, Papa?

“There’s
so much I want to say,” Jessica said and gripped his jacket in her hand tight.
She didn’t want to let him go.

There
was deep understanding in his eyes as he stroked her hair. “I don’t have much
time. Gwen, the queen of the underworld, freed me from my curse. I get to go
now. To heaven, to be with your mom.”

Amanda’s
face fell and she crumbled against him. “I don’t want you to go.”

The
youngest. The littlest of them, she was allowed to say such things, but Jessica
didn’t give herself permission to fall apart. She still needed to be strong,
but the tears in her eyes were thick. The hollowness of her heart was replaced
with the knowledge that Jacob Blood was okay. He was going to be at peace and
he’d be with their mother. One day, they’d all be reunited, but Jessica wasn’t
ready for that yet.

She
had a life to live.

Jacob
stroked Amanda’s back and her hair, but his eyes were on Jessica. “You’ve done
good, girl. Wasn’t easy, I know. Gwen showed it all to me. What you’ve done.
You’ve made me proud, but now you walk away, you understand? Live a good life.
Amanda’s safe. Now it’s time you both go live your lives. Be happy. Do what we
never could.”

Jessica
didn’t know if such a thing was possible, but she nodded. “Tell Momma we love
her.” Jessica gave Dad a parting hug. It was tense and bitter, but also filled
with love. She had finally received everything she ever wanted to hear and
because of that, Jessica was grateful. So grateful.

Every day
she’d do her best to make him proud.
Every day.

“It’s
not enough time. We don’t want you to go.” Amanda snuggled in and refused to
let Jacob go.

Oh,
Amanda. Jessica’s heart broke for her sister almost more than it broke for
herself.

“In
a perfect world, we wouldn’t have left you. In a perfect world, I would’ve
gotten to watch you grow up, but you did it. The both of you. Love my girls.”
Jacob’s smile was both happy and filled with longing as his body turned to
light and shot straight up through the ceiling.

Amanda
sobbed, chin to her chest, and Jessica placed a hand on her sister’s shoulder
as Duncan placed his on hers. Jessica gazed at Duncan, open with all the
possibilities now available to them. Time to be happy. Do something fun.

What
they had wanted, to save Dad and free his soul, had come to pass. Now whatever
happened next was up to them.