by Jill Cooper
Gwen gave Jessica a questioning look. Jessica shrugged with a grin said, “I broke his nose.”
“She broke my damn nose!” Ronald held up a finger. “If it wasn’t the respect I had for you and that sister of hers, I would have her head on a platter.”
Her sister. Even the scum at the bottom of the barrel loved Amanda.
“A damn platter, Duncan, so get her the hell out of here!”
Another man, this one tall like a rail with a hook nose, sat on the bar counter with a toothpick in his mouth. Jessica thought his name might be Bartlett—Bart for short. “If what we’ve been hearing is true, she has a damn bounty on her head the size of Texas.” Bart sneered. “The size of the planet.”
Ronald scowled in Jessica’s direction in a way that made her feel dirty. “Maybe it’s time we collect ourselves a little reward. She owes us for what she did to the place.”
Here they went. The reason why Jessica didn’t want to come here? It was playing out just like she thought it would.
She backed up, ready to make her escape, but Duncan grabbed Ronald by the arms before he could move. “You said your piece, now let it go. I gave my word that as demon hunters, we’d help Jessica out. I’m not a liar now, am I?” He cast a glance around the room, not just asking Ronald, but everyone.
Ronald licked his lips, pushing his chest into Duncan’s. “You’ve been gone a long time now, brother. Who says the Black Scorpions still answer your call?”
Jessica shifted her weight, positioning her hand beneath the barrel of her shotgun. Beside her, Gwen tensed too. If it was a fight these men wanted, it was a fight they were going to get, but Jessica hoped it wouldn’t go there. She wasn’t ready to see where Duncan’s loyalties really lay.
Duncan’s jaw went rigid and he made a fist. “I say. Everyone knows you’re nothing but a two-bit punk, Ronald. After everything we’ve been through, you’d really cast me out into the cold?” He glanced at the crew, some couldn’t meet his eyes.
But Bart spoke. “You come and go, Duncan. We need a leader who will stand with us. Instead you’re what, caught up with the Blood sisters again?” He sighed and shook his head. “She’s like a bad penny, that one. Just better looking.”
Jessica took a shaking breath. This wasn’t working and they were wasting time—
Duncan circled back toward her and when their eyes locked, he shook his hand at her. He wanted more time, but Jessica didn’t have any more time. Any second or minute that Amanda was in the hands of Vaughn was too many as far as she was concerned.
“Look, the bounty on the Blood’s head goes beyond just a personal vendetta. It’s world destruction, opening the gates of hell to flood the Earth with demons. If we’re demon hunters, if we’re really doing this to help people, then we help Jessica get her sister back. If we’re just a gang,” Duncan shook his head, “a gang who wants to destroy and do violence, well, maybe I’ve been a fool all this time.”
Silence fell over the crowd, but Duncan stood with Jessica, and his finger grazed the tips of hers. She gazed up at him and thought maybe for the first time ever, Duncan picked her over the gang.
Or he was really good at putting on a show—which Jessica knew was right as rain.
Ronald finally broke the silence. “Amanda’s in trouble?” His voice was slight, but Jessica saw the worry in his eye. Amanda had a way of softening even the toughest badass in town.
Jessica nodded, but couldn’t find her voice to answer. If she did, it would warble and be unsteady, so her Aunt Gwen answered. “A demon named Vaughn attacked and brought his fallen angel with him. She used her power warp—snared Amanda before anyone had a chance to do anything.”
“Vaughn?” Ronald said with a laugh and laughter went through the club.
It made Jessica tense like she was being teased. She didn’t like feeling that way and took a step forward to deck the son-of-a-bitch, but Duncan grabbed her wrist.
“Well, why the hell didn’t you say so when you first got here? Vaughn has it coming to him, doesn’t he boys?” Ronald smashed his fist into his open hand repeatedly. “He’s got one of these coming to him. It’s about time Vaughn dies and takes his drug trade with him.”
Jessica’s brow furrowed together with a question. How’d these jokers know a high level like Vaughn?
Bart saw her confused look and spat. “He’s run the New York City drug trade for a long time. All of the east coast’s problems stem from him.”
Jessica hadn’t known that the Black Scorpions had ever made it that far east. What else had Duncan not told her? “So what’s he doing all the way out here then?” Jessica crossed her arms.
“You, sugar.” Ronald sneered. “Or, I guess I should say, your sister. He’s been spreading his demon essence drug as he goes. The problems we’ve all been seeing here in the Midwest are his doing.”
“He loves women.” Bart stepped forward. “Simple, kind, innocent women. Pumps them full of drugs until they beg for it. Beg for him.”
His simple sentence made her heart plummet. If Vaughn was elite—and now, he had Amanda who was pure as snow. Her heart was like gold and if she was alone with Vaughn too long—Jessica’s heart clenched as stress took hold of her body. She gripped her gun tighter, and tried not to think about it.
Tried, but each breath was harder than the last.
Duncan held up his hand, his worried eyes gazing on Jessica’s crumbled features, but Jessica saw that it was hard on him too. Amanda was like everyone’s kid sister. “Okay, okay. We get the picture you’re painting, Bart. Let’s not make this harder than it has to be.”
“Does anyone know where Vaughn’s holed up, or where he’s holding Amanda?” Ronald asked.
“Not yet.” Gwen stepped forward with a corner of her mouth twitching up in a smile. “But I can find her, with some assistance.”
*****
Everything was moved from the center of the room and four tables were pushed together. Chairs were cleared except one for Aunt Gwen, and the gang members gave her distance. Gwen’s ability to accidentally electrocute someone when distracted was legendary. Jessica also didn’t want to be too close, just in case something went wrong. Her crazy old aunt was powerful, but that power didn’t always work the way she wanted it to.
All that power, Jessica couldn’t help but think, if that power had been around when she was a kid, the night her parents died—well, it was futile to think about such things, wasn’t it?
Didn’t stop her from blaming Aunt Gwen for the murders. About the stints in juvenile detention centers, and the foster families?
No, Jessica could blame her until the pigs came home and it wouldn’t change anything. Not really.
So she leaned her back against the bar as Aunt Gwen unrolled an ancient looking map on the table. Her aunt smiled with a twinkle in her eye. “Better move back, gentlemen—for lack of a better word.”
Ron shrugged. “It’s better than calling us pigs!”
But less accurate. Jessica shook her head as a waitress offered her a drink. She took it without saying anything and gave it a sniff. It was aged whiskey, if she didn’t miss her guess. Slamming the drink back, it felt as if lava raced down her throat, laced with a strong dose of spice.
Her body warmed almost instantly and Jessica smiled her thanks. She placed the empty glass back on the waitress’s tray. “Go put on some more clothes,” Jessica offered to the woman as she shimmied away, her ass swaying as much as the Titanic, after it hit that damn iceberg.
“You haven’t lost any of your charm.” Duncan leaned against the bar and crossed his arms, gazing down at her.
Jessica shrugged. Her eyes weren’t on him, but watched Aunt Gwen throw her arms back. Her hands lit up with electrical power like someone flicked the on switch. “Right now my energy is better served somewhere else. Like I’m wrong? Like these girls couldn’t be doing something better with their lives?”
Duncan’s laugh was throaty and deep. “We all make our own choices, don’t we? With th
e 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.