Blood Debt (The Blood Sisters Book 2)

by Jill Cooper

  Mike finished reading from his Bible and flipped a few chapters ahead. He bit his lip and glowered at the nun. She rushed to the rear of the room and gripped the edge of the purple curtain. She was ready to yank it free on his word. Dread built in layers inside of Duncan. He shifted his weight from one knee to the next.

  “Hold onto her tight, son,” Mike’s voice was laced with something Duncan never heard from him before. Fear. Terror. Maybe even a little reluctance. “Grip her, hold her. Don’t let her go. As if your life depended on it.”

  “Because hers does,” the nun said with great urgency.

  Duncan wished she wasn’t here. Wished it were allowed, that this be a private moment, between friends. A team. Family. That’s what was she was. Duncan was a fool to have ever turned his back on her.

  He reached up and gripped her shoulders. His posture improved so he’d have a better handle on her.

  “Duncan,” Amanda whispered, a quake in her voice that swam with fear.

  “I’ve got you,” he did his best to keep the fear out of his voice. She didn’t need any more worry than she already had. “We’ll get you through to the other side, and then, I’m going to do my best to get you the best blueberry cobbler this side of the Mississippi.”

  The sound of tears echoed in her voice. “That might be the best thing I’ve ever heard.”

  “Through the darkest of times, through the lightest of times, you have been always been our guide.” Mike flipped the page in his book, several post-it notes seemed to be placed on the key passages he needed, but instead of reading more, he nodded his head at the nun.

  She gripped the curtain hard and tugged it down. It rippled like a falling bird toward the floor, revealing a shining brilliant light. On the wall was a stain-glass blue window depicting a picture of the savior and his angels. This window was taller than those in the main sanctuary and its brilliant prism of light was aimed directly at Amanda.

  Her head craned backward and her skin sizzled. Her legs quaked, her arms yanked back involuntarily to get away. Duncan steeled himself and wrapped his arm around her. He held her arms against her chest, just to keep the kneeling podium from falling over. He pushed himself against her, drove himself close to support her.

  Mike was reading out of the book fast, flipping pages, but could he smell what Duncan could? Her burning flesh? Did he hear her harrowed screams of intense pain, right against his ear? Duncan gripped her hard as he could and when she tilted her head back to scream, mouth wide open, he saw the searing flesh and how it spread across her cheeks toward her ears.

  Soon there’d be nothing left to heal. To save.

  “Damn it, Mike!” Duncan screamed with tears in his eyes. One hand held her close while the other searched for the keys on the podium, but the nun swatted his hand away. When the hell had she gotten so close?

  “Don’t you let her go! This suffering will be for nothing if you just let her out! Nothing will be fixed, nothing!”

  A pulse rocketed out from Amanda’s core. Her back was arched painfully and her blackened fingers were outstretched in the air. The pulse traveled the full length of the room, flapping Mike’s hair and the lapels of his jacket. He held firm, his jaw tense and his voice curt.

  “Then through the bowels of hell, you revealed yourself, your true nature.”

  Amanda gasped with a shaking scream. “Burning…it’s coming!”

  “Let it out, child!” The nun bent over and screamed right into her face. “Don’t hold onto it. Let it go so your soul can find its way back home.”

  Amanda groaned and fell forward onto the podium. Duncan pulled her hair off her neck in an effort to sooth her and saw her neck too was blackened. Soon, she’d just be a pile of ash. “Do it, Amanda!” Duncan gritted his teeth. “Prove to it you’re the stronger one.”

  “You saw it in the underworld, didn’t you? You saw its eyes, girl, and since then it’s been holding parts of you hostage. Now you have to let it out. The only way out is through. You must ride through the evil, through the pain. Own it,” the nun gritted her teeth, “own it or you’ll smolder to dust!”

  “I…don’t…” Amanda struggled to breathe. She was dying. Dying and Duncan was privy to it.

  “This is over!” Duncan pushed the nun back. Her body slammed into the wall with a gasp.

  Mike’s eyes widened. “Jasper! No!”

  His hands fished for the keys, but a blast came out of Amanda that threw Duncan across the room. He never felt such a surge of power, a torrent of wind like a hurricane. Like a rag doll, his body bounced against the bricks and Duncan fell to the floor. He saw stars when his head collided with the stone.

  The area was clear. Mike was tossed to the side, but in the center of the room was a demon. A giant hulking demon, from the belly of torment, from the underworld. Like a giant troll, with a naked green abdomen with rows of fat rolls. Its pig nose snorting its marble eyes rolling red then black. Its claws outstretched for Amanda.

  It had touched her in the underworld and now it wanted a piece of her. Needed a piece of her.

  But Amanda…. she stood on her own two feet. The kneeling pad was gone and from one wrist the manacles still dangled. Half her face was still burnt, but like time lapse photography, her flesh was putting itself back together. Duncan never saw her look so determined, nor so put together.

  Amanda raised one hand, standing in the colored prism from the window. It didn’t seem to affect her now that this demon was free. Now she stood like a holy warrior with her hand outstretched, face resolute. A ball of swirling light grew between her fingers. The faster it rolled, the larger it grew; its light was so bright, Duncan shielded his eyes.

  Like staring into the sun, Duncan was unable to see what happened next.

  15: Amanda Blood

  Her body evicted the demon as if it was a plague.

  Amanda experienced clarity for the first time since being kidnapped by Vaughn. With quick fingers, she unlocked her handcuffs and stood upon the abyss to stare down the demon who claimed parts of her soul.

  Fractured and reeling, but now Amanda knew what to do.

  The battlefield was clear; her friends were far enough way that Amanda could navigate and fend off the demon beast. Destroy it and reclaim the parts of her soul that it had captured. In a lot of ways, this was a battle she had been building toward all her life. Amanda Blood didn’t battle, she couldn’t take the pain, the suffering it caused her body. So she relied on Jessica.

  Jessica lived in torture and pain. She used her own pain to soldier through. Amanda always thought that was Jessica’s power, but Amanda now realized it wasn’t just Jessica’s. It could be hers too, if she was brave enough. Strong enough.

  Was she?

  To free Jessica, she just might be.

  Amanda held up her hand, allowing her power to grow. The demon stumbled toward her with outstretched limbs, its claws ready to snatch her up, but when it saw the power manifesting between her fingers, it paused. Hesitation. Bewilderment, Amanda could even feel the beast’s confusion, but it was its lust for humanity, its hunger for blood that Amanda couldn’t stomach.

  “Stand back,” Amanda ordered and held her open palm higher. The glow of power had rolled itself like a giant snowball, larger than she had ever commanded before. It strained her concentration and her heart, just to keep it building, just to keep it under control. When she aimed it, Amanda had to hit her target.

  She didn’t know if she was strong enough to do it again without rest.

  Sweat on her brow, Amanda cemented her legs wide and aimed her hand at the beast. The light was too bright for such a creature of darkness and already it was covering its eyes with its arms. It stumbled back and forth, trying to figure out where she was, then Amanda twitched her fingers. A simple little twitch was all it took.

  The light shot out like a cannonball in a wait never had before. It circled around the beast, spinning as if on its axis, but continuing in an outward orbit until the demon was covered in a golde
n glow.

  Pain, coming in waves. Amanda teetered, feeling the beast’s pain. It’s confusion. The death of the beast, despite the evil of its ways, would hit her hard. Amanda gritted her jaw and flicked her hand over, driving the beast back against the wall. She glanced at the cage with the demon trap, and with a snort of air, the cage unlocked.

  The door opened.

  Amanda’s eyes widened as her strength depleted, with the power of her mind, both hands up high in the air, she drove the beast into the small cage. It shouldn’t have fit, but the ball of light had shrunk it. Sending it against the metal bars, the door closed and Amanda latched the lock shut with her mind.

  Crashing down to her knees, Amanda crawled over to the cage to finish her work. The beast howled, its claws rattled the cage, a look of fear on its face. Amanda’s head hurt so badly, she wanted to hide from it. The thumping behind her eyes, the sour feeling spreading up from her stomach, but Amanda grit her teeth and grabbed the edge of the cage.

  She had to embrace it. Fall in love with the pain.

  Her open palm slammed against the cage and just as she would have exorcised a demon from a host, this demon began to fade. Its skin tearing apart from its body, turning into withering, wispy pieces of smoke.

  The demon cried in pain, its features shrinking into itself; tears fell from Amanda’s eyes, as she felt what it felt. To see what it saw. To know it would never be any better than a stinking hulking demon who craved nothing but destruction. Its hate was in her heart, in a way Amanda had never felt before.

  Amanda faltered; but her hand was firm against the bars of the cage, until the light was all that was left. The demon was gone, its dust faded from the room until the only thing in the cage were the pieces of golden, shining light. They flew into Amanda and she gasped, hands up in the air, she fell backward onto the floor.

  Pieces of her lost, now they stitched themselves together. Her soul mended itself and Amanda thought maybe now she’d be ready. Maybe she’d be stronger than ever, and maybe all of this was happening just in the nick of time.

  Someone scooped her up into his arms and from his scent, Amanda knew it was Duncan. He held her close. “Damn it, wake up, Amanda. Wake up.”

  “She’ll be okay, boy.” The nun said. “Her soul has a lot of work to do, but did you see what she did?” The nun laughed. “Never in all my years did I think I would witness this with my own eyes.”

  “She embraced her power more than I thought she ever could,” Mike said. “I knew what she could do, heal. Feel. But that? That’s a true warrior. Jessica would be proud.”

  Duncan didn’t care about any of that right now. Amanda felt his worry, how responsible he felt, but all the voices sounded so far away. Gingerly, he held her limp body and she fought back to the surface. She needed to see him, show him she’d be all right. Her strength would return in time, Amanda knew that, so she smiled as if in a deep slumber and fought to open her eyes.

  His mouth fell open as she saw him for the first time. “Mandy? You know how to give a guy a scare, you know that?”

  Amanda licked her dry lips. “You promised me cobbler?”

  Duncan shook his head with a laugh and Mike joined in, his hands resting on his hips. “I think,” Mike said, “we can arrange some cobbler. You need to regain your strength, young lady.”

  Didn’t she know it? The nun and Mike left the room, so it was Duncan who carried Amanda to the stairs. Along the way, Amanda stared at the colored prism, cast along the rug that led to the towering window.

  This place. All of it. It was what was going to save Jessica. Amanda was sure of it.

  Duncan studied the worry lines on her face. “What is it?”

  Amanda sighed. “It’s almost time.” She closed her eyes and saw a menacing scowl. “She’s getting closer. And she’s bringing friends.”

  *****

  Blueberry cobbler was eaten and Amanda washed it down with milk. The warm sweetness mingled just perfectly with the crispy sweet crust. Reminded her of childhood swims at the cabin, sitting on her mother’s lap.

  For a brief moment, Amanda thought of the long braids she once wore. How lovingly Mom had spun them together. She had forgotten, but eating with the cobbler, reminded her. Food was a powerful reminder, a force of magic all its own.

  She felt stronger than she had felt in a long time. She washed her dirty plate and cup in the kitchen off of the rectory. It was small but functional. Homey wasn’t how she’d describe it either, but Amanda was grateful to have somewhere to setup. Being a Blood, at least for now, meant living on the road, but with Jessica gone everything felt strange. Weird.

  Amanda needed Jessica in order to feel at home. It didn’t matter where they were, but Amanda needed her, corny as it was.

  Sighing, Amanda trudged through the halls of the church until she was in the back office. Mike wasn’t there, but Duncan had his shotguns and pistols laid out on Father Thomas’s desk. He turned his head at the sound of Amanda, but didn’t stop loading shotgun shells into a gun. “All cleaned up?”

  Amanda nodded as she stood beside him. Her fingers traced the edge of the desk. Thanks for the cobbler seemed a hollow thing to say. “It’s going to happen soon. She’ll be here and it’ll be time for me…” Amanda searched his face for inspiration—desperate to find her own courage. The softness of his eyes gave her the will to go on. “What if I can’t do what’s necessary to stop her? What if I can’t get her downstairs?”

  Duncan lay his shotgun down and rested his hands on her shoulders. “We do what we have to, right? Get her inside the cage so you can save her; take that mark off of her soul for good. Get us our girl back. Move on from this awful place.”

  His words made her feel better, but still, Amanda felt a deep churning anxiety. “If I can’t? Even if we get her down there, what if I can’t save her? What if I can’t take that kind of pain? What if I simply don’t have that kind of power?”

  Duncan smirked. “Darling, after what you just did, I wouldn’t be surprised if you could exorcise the whole planet. Believe in yourself. You can do it; I know you can.”

  Amanda wished she could be so sure. She needed rest to gather strength. Time to get that underway so when it was time for the show to start, she’d be ready. “Where’s Mike?”

  “Checking out the perimeter. If Jessica doesn’t come alone, we have to be ready to stand our ground. We won’t leave Jessica, or you, behind. We stay here until this thing is done. One way or another.”

  A final stand. Amanda licked her lips with anxiety, her own fear blocking out Duncan’s emotions. “But what comes next? If—when we save Jessica, what do we do then?”

  Duncan took Amanda’s hand, his eyes dark, but his heart was even darker. Like a howling cavern, part of his soul grew cold. “We figure this thing out for good. Free you and Jess from Lourdes, once and for all.”

  And if it wasn’t possible? If this was just their life forever? Amanda would never wish her life away, but as she crept off to find a quiet place to nap, the hollowness of her life hung over her head like a rain cloud.

  Outside, thunder snapped and lightening illuminated the parish through the windows. A storm was brewing.

  She settled against a pillow and a thinning plaid afghan. It didn’t bring her comfort, but half way to sleep, her inner eye saw the smiling face of Mom and felt the light kisses she once planted against her cheeks. “She’s going to need your kindness, more than most.”

  Could Amanda still use her kindness even if pain was the answer to free Jessica’s soul?

  16: Jessica Blood

  The air above ground was cool against Jessica’s skin. Something she had forgotten about during her time in the underworld. The veil of twilight fell upon the Earth as Jessica advanced toward Amanda. In the back of her mind, an old conversation played on repeat. It was her own voice to her sister Amanda, telling her where to go. Where to hide.

  But why would Amanda listen? She didn’t want to get caught, did she?

  Jessica
was determined to fetch Lourdes’s prize. Her skin burned hotter the closer she got to Amanda’s location. The tattoos on her neck and back lighting up, as if a match was lit beneath her skin. Carved like an old jack lantern, her skin glowed against the dark sky as she started up a hill. On either side of her were two of Lourdes’s best demons. For insurance, and also to ensure Jessica didn’t fail.

  Her red eyes swept along the landscape until they fell upon the church. With its giant steeple scraping against the sky, it was like a beacon and a warning at the same time. This place, Jessica was sure, was where Amanda was, but there was something about this place, wasn’t there? A secret harbored from her past. Jessica couldn’t recall what it was, but the church seemed to glow golden light around the edges.

  Holy ground, but not something unique to this church, was it?

  “Move slowly,” Jessica ordered the demons flanking her. They were tall and non-descript, each in their own leather jacket, billowing brown hair and holstered guns. From a distance, they appeared human. It was only if you got closer that the illusion faded. Instead of shifting eyes, there were maggots of decay churning in their sockets.

  Making her way down the hill, Jessica watched the street for traffic and anyone that might ambush her. There was no sign of people, no sign that Amanda had backup watching the street. It wasn’t like a Blood to get themselves trapped inside.

  Did Amanda travel alone? What happened to Jasper?

  Duncan. Jessica’s heart flattened inside her chest to think just his name, but when she envisioned his face—the curve of his jaw and that quirky smile—Jessica stopped dead in her tracks.

  Keep going, Lourdes’s voice urged her to continue on. Don’t stop when my prize is so close and the information you are so desperate to have.