Blood Debt (The Blood Sisters Book 2)

by Jill Cooper

  “I’m okay,” Amanda quickly said as Duncan and Mike rushed toward her. But she felt the air of their emotion. This with a bad sign. If the church mistook her for evil what did that mean about the quality of her soul and purity of her spirit? Would the plan ever come together?

  “You’re far from fine,” Mike said in a gruff voice, but on his sleeve, instead of anger he wore heartfelt concern.

  Duncan’s worry was spelled out in the crinkled lines around his eyes and the slight pinch of his lips. Hands on his hips, he watched silently as Amanda raised her hands and healed the burns on her cheeks.

  At least, that still worked, relief flooded her.

  “I can still do this”, Amanda tried sincerity to win them over. “I can avoid the windows. I can stand up by the altar. There're a million ways we could play this. We can't just give up.”

  Distrust. Disbelief. It festered between the two gentlemen and Amanda had to convince them to trust her. She just had to.

  Mike’s eyes narrowed. “You suspected this might happen. Guess the empath isn’t above keeping her own secrets. It’s just the rest of us who can’t have them.”

  That was a little harsh, wasn’t it? Amanda rubbed her burned fingertips together. Suddenly her heart ached for Jessica, more than ever.

  The father rubbed his forehead with his thumbs. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I’m worried about you. For what this means. Few people have ever come off demon drugs and put their normal lives back together. And you…your normal…”

  Was most people’s strange. She opened her mouth to say as much but was interrupted by a booming drum of an old woman’s voice.

  Scathing and judgmental. “There is evil in that one. The windows have confirmed it.” Amanda turned to see an elderly, cross looking nun standing behind them. Her lips angled down and her eyes cast condemnation, while her face was a sea of worn lines, gathering at a saggy chin. “The church will never allow you to stay.”

  “Then what would you have us do,” asked Mike.

  “Her soul must be clarified. If she survives the ritual of purity, then she can stay. If she cannot, the church will claim more than just her life. It’ll take her body.” The old woman turned and walked away toward the altar as if her word was law.

  If someone could help her, Amanda had to embrace it, but the idea of it circled anxiety in her stomach. What if she couldn’t survive such a ritual? She was never the strong one, but she had to be now.

  Had to.

  Anger swarmed from Duncan. “You won’t touch her,” he called out defensively, feeling protective of Amanda. “If there is to be ritual, we will perform it. You’ll keep your distance.”

  The nun raised her hand but didn’t turn back around. “So be it.”

  Duncan’s eyes flicked back and forth. “Who the hell are these people?”

  “Warriors.” Mike’s voice was a mumble. “Warriors of the cloth, the spirit, like all demon hunters. These just rely more on the spiritual side than you. I’ll get from her what we need. She might be crotchety, but she won’t be able to resist my charm.” He flashed them an awkward toothy smile and Amanda’s hopes dashed further.

  If Mike was forcing smiles, maybe it was hopeless.

  Duncan was studying her, and Amanda hadn’t noticed. Talk about off her game. She rubbed her arms as if she was cold and Duncan placed his hands on top of hers. He squeezed her fingers with compassion. “How you doing with all this?”

  “Scared. Feeling hopeless.” It was true and it was something she hadn’t felt in a long time. Sure, as a kid after her parents’ murder, that was all Amanda felt. But Jessica learned to carry it for her. Leaving Amanda the optimist; a great gift that she had taken for granted until now. The hole in her heart were Jessica used to be, was growing bigger.

  Maybe soon, Amanda would fall straight in.

  “Don’t.” Duncan shook his head. “I have no doubt that you’ll come through the other side. Your soul, it’s always been perfection, darling. So let’s have a go at putting you back together.”

  Maybe that was true, once. But after the demon drugs? Vaughn wrecked her in ways that weren’t easy to put back together. “Your words are inspiring. I can see why Jessica could never really let you go.”

  He flashed a somber smile that couldn’t mask his grief. “Ready to see her again?”

  “It won’t be easy. For either of us.” Amanda felt the conflict rising in him. “You’ll have to steel yourself too, Duncan. To save her, to get her downstairs, we might have to hurt her.”

  Something about what she said angered him. It clouded everything else that she had said. Everything else that he had felt. Duncan jolted with powerful emotion as an image in his mind flashed in Amanda’s.

  He was young, running toward a playground and beside him was a girl. Cute as a button with brown hair, done up in pigtails. “You can’t catch me!” Her voice giggled like a song across the grass, tickling the butterflies with her playfulness.

  Duncan wore ripped jeans and a muddy shirt, but his smile shone through his grimy appearance. “Meg Jasper, you get back here!”

  Amanda stuttered and her hand slipped away from Duncan. She felt faint and she gawked up at the look of surprise on Duncan’s face. “Why didn’t you ever tell me you had a sister?”

  His eyes bulged and he felt like a steel trap locked down tight. He didn’t want to talk about it. So what did that mean?

  Vain. Blood. Torture. Somehow Amanda felt like they were all connected. Everything intertwined and it was about to become part of the Bloods’ story. She had no doubt about that.

  “After this, we can talk about it. Get it all on the table.” Duncan pulled away and when he turned his back, it was like turning a page in a well-worn book. “Funny, I always thought that Jessica would be the one to piece it together,” he turned and gave her a mourning glance, “not you.”

  “She’s dead.” Amanda cringed at how matter-of-fact it came out of her mouth. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have…” her eyes widened as his pain swathed her into a cocoon, drawing her closer to him. “She’s the one…you found her body in the warehouse. She’s…. Vain did it? Is that why you—.”

  “Might as well have,” Duncan’s tongue clicked along his mouth. “Vain captures girls for Vaughn. Lures them with promises of money, luxury. The high life. Meg was one of Vaughn’s girls. Dancing…”

  Sex. Slavery. Forced into the trade.

  Duncan couldn’t say it. Couldn’t bring himself to, but inside he wept. Inside Amanda cried, not just for him, but for sweet as a button Meg who loved butter on her pancakes. Once, she had wanted to go to college.

  “I’m sorry doesn’t seem to cut it,” Amanda whispered.

  His voice was so quiet, somber that she almost couldn’t hear him, but she could feel his words, emitted all around them. They hung in the air, translucent gray, like a passage of morning. “The drugs got her. Did her in. I got the call from my granddad,” Duncan cleared his throat. “Granddad said she was lured away. I went to rescue her. Not find her body.”

  Amanda’s eyes widened. “That’s why you left? Duncan, we would have—.”

  Duncan held up his hand. “Put you on the radar of a demon like Vaughn? My sacrifice now seems like a pile of steaming shit; you know? Everything you’re going to say, I’ve said it a million times. I planned on hooking up with you guys after I rescued Meggie, but once she was dead… Revenge was all I could think of.” He flicked dirt from under his fingernail across the aisle.

  His soul sighed, not with relief, but like flowers had been laid across a tombstone.

  “Did you? Did you get your revenge?”

  “You’ve seen Vaughn. What do you think?”

  So bitter and angry, Amanda was sorry she asked. Now this Vain, whatever Duncan had done to her, hadn’t been enough. She was coming for him. She wanted her revenge, but Amanda wouldn’t let her. Once Jessica was back on their side, they’d take her down. Amanda was sure of it.

  “I made some bad, bad choices,” D
uncan shook his head, his eyes squeezed tight. The memories clattered on the door to escape, but somehow he kept them back. Maybe that’s why Amanda hadn’t felt them until now. “But I never wanted to bring it down on you.”

  “We’ll stop him. We’ll shut down his girl trade, the drugs. We’ll end it all.” Amanda took a deep breath. “When I make a promise, I keep it, Duncan.”

  His eyes were dark, but still he messed with her hair. “Just like a Disney Princess.”

  Amanda snorted. A princess? She didn’t really think so.

  “You remind me of her.” Duncan was solemn as he stared at her. “Her kindness, her sweetness. If I can save you, well I think Meg’ll smile, wherever she is.”

  It explained a lot about what he felt. Of why he did the things he did. Amanda was sorry he had had to go through that alone.

  Mike cleared his throat from up against the altar. “If you guys would finish making your bucket lists ‘till after we get through the ritual, we’re setup in the basement. Wait until you see it.” There was a giddy quality to his voice. Mike cleared his throat and scowled, trying to rein it in.

  The look on Mike’s face made Duncan give a short burst of rapid laughter and he took Amanda’s hand. “We’ll get you through, sugar cube.”

  She didn’t doubt he’d try.

  Time to face the music.

  14: Duncan Jasper

  Everything just came tumbling out.

  Duncan hadn’t meant to say everything he had, but when Amanda touched him… He didn’t know if she put some sort of whammy on him or not, but when he gazed into her eyes, Duncan felt a pull. Something deep inside her tugged on him. He wanted to turn his back and just tell her to forget it.

  Apparently he didn’t because his mouth opened and it all rushed to the surface, like a fish, darting to the top. Whatever was happening to her, Duncan felt better for having told someone. Hadn’t really told anyone about what happened to Meg and how he found her. Not since Duncan had called their grandfather.

  Apologizing. Promising to get the son-of-a-bitch—Duncan wished he was the type that always kept his promises, but hell he had tried. Amanda now, she kept her word. Always had. Duncan had hope, if they got her through what was about to happen, that maybe he could finally end Vaughn, once and for all.

  There was a nervous jitter in the way Amanda crept through the church. Duncan wrapped his jacket around her shoulders so she could duck her cheeks beneath the leather. It would keep her face safe from the windows. Her green eyes peered up just over the rim and despite her hair; it was like gazing at Jessica. Amanda resembled her sister more than Duncan ever noticed before.

  He opened the basement door and they peered down at the stairs together. A burgundy rug covered the steps, worn in a few places from the years of use. Down there, it smelt like mildew, the smell of all basements, but it was mixed with some sort of spice. Maybe a cleansing spell.

  “Candles,” Amanda said simply, reading his mind again, ever so briefly. She stared at his face. “Is it stupid to be scared?”

  “Never.” Duncan squeezed her hand. Truth was, he was scared too. He didn’t want to see her suffer, any more than he wanted harm to come to Jessica—Meg. “Follow close behind and I’ll go first, all right?” He pushed past her on the stairs, holding her hand behind his back. He took the stairs slow, hearing the steps behind creak as she stepped down. As he stepped on the bottom level, Duncan rounded the corner and saw it all.

  The walls were red brick, the type you’d expect to find in an old building, and the dirt floor was covered by a series of rugs. Intricate scroll designs against a background of gray, the lines were blue, gold, and red. Up against one side wall was a small cage, big enough for a crouching animal.

  Beneath the cage was a red seal and Duncan thought it might be the demon trap they were in search of.

  In the center of the room was a woven red rug and on top of it, a kneeling pad attached to a short podium. The kind you found in a pew, but this one was flanked on either side by freestanding bowls of holy water. If that’s where they expected Amanda to go…

  To the right, a giant crucifix hung on the wall and that’s where the nun stood. Her arms crossed and her puckered expression grim. She didn’t say anything as Duncan strolled over to Mike. Duncan’s eyes danced across the handcuffs secured to the bottom of the kneeling pad.

  No way. No way in hell.

  Mike held up a hand and Duncan considered batting it away. “What the hell, Mike—.”

  The priest’s eyes were soft and his tone implied he was handling Duncan, but Duncan refused to be handled about this. “It’s for her protection. For ours. What needs to be done here…”

  Duncan didn’t like it, not a bit. He threw a glare at the nun as Amanda approached. She regarded the rear wall. A large structure was covered by a giant purple blanket, but she didn’t seem surprised by any of it. Her fingertips traced the tip of the kneeling pad. “I’ve been here before.”

  The nun stepped out from the darkness. “Then you know what needs to be done. Your fractured soul needs healing. This place, of anywhere else on Earth, gives you the best chance. Otherwise, it’s only a matter of time before what’s left of you is pulled to the underworld.”

  Duncan didn’t like it. Not one bit. He took a shaking breath as Amanda began to kneel. He snatched her arm and pulled her to the corner of the room.

  Her eyes widened with surprise. “Duncan!”

  “We’ll find another way; you hear me? Another place, another trap.”

  “This is the place that Jessica picked,” Amanda said. “There isn’t another one like this.”

  Duncan crossed his arms and his brow lowered into a glower. “She didn’t know about you. What was done? What this place would do to you? I won’t have you hurt here. Some arbitrary building doesn’t get to decide who is good—and who isn’t.”

  Amanda’s fingers swept across the brick. “It isn’t arbitrary. It’s…holy.” She held up her smoldering fingers. Duncan snatched her hand and tilted it so he could see how her fingers burned. So what, he was supposed to just sit by and watch her burn?

  Meanwhile, do nothing?

  “If this place hurts you…” Duncan’s voice was husky. Angry. He’d level it to the ground. He would.

  “When it’s done she can heal herself,” Mike said from a great distance. “Duncan, I know you don’t want to watch her suffer, but if this is going to work, I need you, man. For everything that’s on the line, can you do it?”

  It shouldn’t have been so easy for Mike to face this. Shouldn’t have, and that knowledge made Duncan’s chest burn with anger. His arms twitched with a vengeance. Duncan tore his eyes between Mike and back at Amanda.

  Her sweetness was fully on display, from her wide expression to her slightly parted lips. “I want to be put back together. Everything inside of me feels wrong. Twisted. A giant knot, I can’t fix myself, Duncan. I need to go back to being who I was. My power, my mission, you have to help me.”

  Her hand coiled around his wrist and Duncan didn’t know if she was trying to influence his thoughts, but he yanked his hand away. “If I’m going to make this decision, I’m making it myself. You hear me?”

  Amanda nodded. “We’re together on this, then?”

  “As much as possible,” Duncan muttered and escorted her back over to the podium. When Amanda knelt down, the nun moved to secure the restraints, but Duncan swatted her away. Maybe the nun meant well, but as far as he was concerned, she could keep her distance. So he was the one who shackled Amanda’s ankles to the kneeling pad.

  He was the one who leaned forward and restrained her wrists so she couldn’t fight. Couldn’t escape.

  The nun’s lips pursed together tightly. “I’m not the enemy. Rein in your hostility. It has no place here.”

  Like she knew so much about him. Duncan knelt behind Amanda and placed his hands on her shoulders. “You sure you trust me for this?”

  Her head turned slightly, so he could see her profile. �
��I’ve only ever wished that Jessie could trust you like I do. That she could feel the quality of your heart, like I feel it now.” She turned front again, her answer complete, but Duncan wasn’t sure he trusted himself. How could Amanda know he’d do what was necessary?

  On the edge of the podium, a set of keys hung. Duncan glanced at the nun, who didn’t bother to look at him. “You will know when it is time. Only then, can you free her. Otherwise, her life will be forfeit. To survive, she must endure the entire ritual. Escape for her is not an option, do you understand?”

  Duncan’s mouth was dry as sand, but he nodded. He took a deep breath as Mike stepped up with a bible open in his hand. He made the sign of the cross in the air and glanced down at the words on the page, but not before his eyes swept across Amanda’s face.

  A slight hesitation, a flutter in his eyelid. Maybe he was afraid, maybe he didn’t want to move on.

  Whatever was going to happen here had to be bad. Was it too late for Duncan to change his mind?

  Mike spoke first to Duncan. “Use the holy water and bless her forehead. The sign of the cross.”

  Duncan sighed as he reached forward. There was a quiver in his hand as he dunked his finger into the pool of cool liquid. It’d burn her flesh, it’d cause her pain, but there was no choice. Still, his eyes closed as he dredged his fingertip across her forehead. Heat rose up against her flesh and in front of him, Duncan felt Amanda’s body shivering.

  Her breath sucked in, she didn’t say anything, but smoldering smoke wafted from her head. Duncan was glad he couldn’t see her face, damn glad, but the anger in the pit of his stomach was awake as he glanced up at Mike.

  There was horror on his face, even if it was masked with peace. Duncan saw the way the wrinkles around Mike’s eyes twitched. Amanda clasped her hands together, unable to do anything else, and her shoulders rocked with a sigh.

  The nun hurried and placed the lit candles around the kneeling pad, extending the circle out to wrap Duncan inside of itself. “Circle of protection for you both. Don’t break it.” The nun’s voice was stern as a school principal as she paraded past.