by Jill Cooper
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.
18: Amanda
The bag over Amanda’s head smelled of onions, and her eyes burned with tears. Her insides felt like something had gone sour. The pulse of her heart was erratic, and her chest was too tight when she tried to take a deep breath.
She struggled for the shallowest of breaths and her head spun with waves of dizziness. Even though the bag was dark, Amanda saw flashes of color floating through her mind.
Angry purple and haunting black. Eerie as the bottom of the sea.
She heard laughter and talking. Roughly, they grabbed her and forced her to her feet. The pace was brisk and she heard doors open and then latch shut behind her.
The claws on her arms dug into her skin and Amanda cried out from a jolt of pain when she was forced into an old chair, as if she was nothing but a rag doll. Her arms were pulled behind her back and bound so tight she had no choice but to hunch over.
These guys meant business, serious business, and something with them was so evil that Amanda couldn’t stand its stench. She couldn’t draw a sharp breath as her heart raced. If she could pinpoint what it was…maybe she could block it out.
Could she find Amanda again? She begged and prayed she could.
“Leave us.”
The man’s voice caused Amanda’s heart to skip a beat. Footsteps shuffled out and a door slammed. It was then that he grabbed the bag over her head and removed it.
Amanda squinted, the lights were too bright and half her hair covered her face, the room dank and damp. Mostly empty except for her, the room had three doors leading into it, all sealed tight.
Her captor wore a long cape and on his face was the mask made out of a human skull, but that wasn’t all she saw.
Deep in his gut, Amanda saw the demon churning away like a green smoke invading his host’s very being. It had long roots extending all through the body, which meant it had been at home in whomever this was for a long time.
Exorcising him would take longer than most and be much more painful, weakening. Not that Amanda was in any place to heal this man, but the sooner she started gathering her strength…
Jessica would come just as she always did. Henchmen would be slaughtered and Amanda would free this human being and restore his soul. Maybe Amanda should focus on herself first, like Jessica always told her, but this was what she did.
Amanda saved people.
The man bent down to study her face. “You are like an angel. The rumors of your beauty are true. There’s a sweetness to you that your sister doesn’t have.” He pushed the hair back and in the face of such evil, Amanda shuddered.
He stroked her cheek with the back of his hand, the long black fingernails on the tips of his fingers just grazing her. Amanda trembled under his touch and didn’t want to gaze at him, but felt compelled to.
“But I’ve had an angel and even she wasn’t beyond corruption.” Vaughn laughed. “You, but you, will be my finest work yet.”
An angel? Amanda closed her eyes and felt something against her skin that wasn’t flesh, but an essence Vaughn had touched. The essence wasn’t pure, but vengeful and filled with anger.
Determination and the spirit of a fighter. A warrior.
Amanda would recognize that feeling anywhere. While most feelings of rage frightened her, these feelings led her straight home to warmth and comfort.
Jessica. This demon had touched Jessica, yet he still lived.
“What have you done with my sister?” Amanda asked with a quiet strength, ignoring the fever chilling her bones.
“Your sister…” Vaughn bent over, his hand massaging the back of her neck, his mouth so close to Amanda’s she smelled the death in his breath. She cringed, her eyebrows squeezing together tight with the rise of vomit in her mouth.
“Do I sicken you?”
Then something else; Amanda heard a whisper. It came from deep within, mingled with Vaughn’s words, but they were not his own. The words were tinged with torment and confusion, but the smell was light—like lavender.
Help. Please.
They weren’t words from the demon, but the human host. He wanted help. Amanda needed to help him. Behind her back, her hands crackled with power. She didn’t know how she would help this man, free him of Vaughn, but she would. Amanda’s lips drew together in a thin line. Jessica wasn’t the only one who was a Blood. She wasn’t the only one who could fight.
Vaughn’s eye slid to the side. With a curl of his lip, he grabbed a fistful of her hair and yanked her head back. Amanda gasped for breath, a pounding in her chest.
“Please. You think she’ll show up in time to save you?”
Amanda did, but then again, Jessica always did.
Vaughn bared his teeth at her. “Not this time.”
Amanda caught sight of something in his free hand, but what was it? What— Her eyes widened as something was plunged into the side of her neck. Sharp, with a pinch, and something flowed into her that was—tingly.
Warm, it made her limbs prickle. Vaughn pushed her back and Amanda smacked backward in her chair. She didn’t know… What was that?
Breathing labored, chest tight, Amanda gazed around the room, her fever was worsening and the surroundings, even the walls were shimmering. Everywhere she looked, Amanda saw ghosts, and spirits fluttering about that couldn’t be there. Shouldn’t have been there.
“What did you do to me?” Amanda’s voice cracked and croaked, but she knew the answer. Demon drugs were coursing through her veins, and unlike others, she could feel it eating at her soul.
“It’ll take more to break you than most. I’ve given you what for almost anyone else would be a lethal dose.” Vaughn backed up to take in the sight of her. A hateful sneer upon his face. “If your regenerative powers are true, it’ll take a lot to crack you. Careful watch. Careful consideration, but don’t worry. I have all the time in the world for a prize such as Amanda Blood.”
Her eyes rolled back into her head, Amanda lifted her head to the ceiling. The lights were splitting and were as hot as the sun. Her forehead was burning up and it was dripping wet with sweat. Her inner eye saw a vision of a car, a beautiful landscape just beyond the crescent moon and all she could do was whisper.
“Jessica…”
19: Jessica
Jessica pulled her car into the dirt lot and let the engine idle. The lights coming from the small box-shaped building were dim, but pulled her eye. The building was simple, with no real fanfare except for the red Harleys parked along its side. The two small windows on the front were filled with a smoky haze.
She sighed and felt the swirl of depression. Didn’t she say she’d never come back here?
Better get the party started. There was a sister to save.
Jessica kicked her door open. Shotgun in hand, she gazed up at the twinkling stars and took a deep breath. Out here it should’ve smelled clean and fresh, but not two steps away was the biking hangout of Duncan’s friends, for lack of a better word. So the air was heavy with exhaust and cigarette ash.
Duncan dismounted his bike and Aunt Gwent stepped out of her jeep. The building vibrated with music—the banging of drums and guitar strings being plucked. Lights shone around the door frame, and in the center of the wooden door, a crescent moon was cut.
She approached, traced her finger around the moon’s outline, and remembered the last time she saw it. Jessica wouldn’t be welcomed back, would she? Trashing the place in a drunken rage because Duncan Jasper left her; didn’t make her any friends.
Jessica’s stomach rolled. What would have happened if Amanda hadn’t found her and dragged her away? Now such a thing wasn’t possible.
Maybe it was wrong to come back here. What was she going to do, crawl and beg for their help?
Duncan stepped beside Jessica and gazed down at her. “You ready for this?”
He probably knew what she did, right? His friends, his gang, they would’ve told him. Still, his eyes were kind enough, so Jessica nodded. For her sister, Jessica would crawl and beg. She’d get help from anyone that would listen. Duncan’s gang had motorcycles, guns. They were just the help Jessica needed to storm Vaughn’s stronghold and get her sister back.
Duncan opened the door and behind them came hurried footsteps as Gwen caught up. Inside, a hazy fog of cigarette smoke filled the air. Tables and chairs were empty except for bowls of peanuts as most of the gang members were hunched over the bar. Women in short jean cutoffs and tight halter tops served drinks while most of the men couldn’t keep their hands to themselves.
They’d slap an ass. Take a grab at any flesh available. Was it any wonder why Jessica hated coming to this place? Hated Duncan’s ‘friends’?
For their part, the waitresses just smiled. Jessica saw a few well-placed kisses. Those women weren’t exactly loathing the job. It set her temper blazing. She hated the women even more than the men. Jessica would never let herself be treated that way, not even for a few minutes. Not even for Duncan.
“We shouldn’t be here,” Gwen whispe
red and Jessica inwardly agreed, but didn’t allow the emotion to play out on her face. They were on Duncan’s turf, so for now, Jessica would let him lead. See how it played out.
But if things went bad, Jessica wouldn’t say I told you so. She’d just high-tail it out of there, and well, later she’d say I told you so.
From the bar someone called out in a loud, grumbling voice. “Jasper, it’s about time you dragged yourself back this way!” A large, portly man, whose stomach was only outdone by his shining bald head, made his way over. Jessica recognized Ronald Wax right away from his laugh, and the way he sauntered, throwing his hips.
She held her breath. Ronald probably wanted to see her again as much as she wanted to see him.
Duncan grinned, dimples showing on either side of his face and met Ronald halfway. They shook hands and slapped each other on the back. It was what Jessica always called the male mating ritual. Before long, other members of the gang were slapping Duncan on the back and someone yelled out, “drinks are on me, ol’ Jasper’s back!”
Back. They talked about him like they hadn’t seen him in eons. So where had he been? If he wasn’t running with his gang, what had Duncan been up to for the last year?
“You got tired of the good ol’ life, eh Duncan?” Ronald slapped Duncan on the cheeks. “I knew you couldn’t settle—” His gaze shifted to the rear and fell on Jessica and Gwen.
Jessica shifted from one foot to another and gave Ron a paltry princess wave. “Miss me?” She blew him a kiss because she couldn’t help herself, as the color drained from Ronald’s face, Jessica grinned.
Aunt Gwen slapped her shoulder. “We want their help, don’t we? Behave yourself, Jessica.”
She was behaving herself, which was the problem. She hadn’t fired a gun, or swung a punch, or launched a table over in a fit of rage. Amanda was missing, and the clock was ticking.
“Hell, no!” Ron pointed at Jessica. “Get her the hell out of here, Duncan! She’s not welcome here. You know what happened the last time she just strolled in this place?”