Blood Lust (The Blood Sisters Book 1) (23 page)

Burning
right on his soul. One you never forgot no matter how long you lived.

The
Bloods were special. The best. Didn’t deserve their hellish life. “Will you be
there, Father?” Duncan asked, his hands clenched together. “Will you ride with
us?”

Mike
edged the door open and turned so Duncan could see his profile; at how strongly
his jaw was set. He didn’t respond, didn’t need to. He was ready. He’d be
there.

Duncan
couldn’t think of a more powerful ally to face a legion of angry demons. It was
time to set things in motion, time to get Amanda back.

Jessica had been
fifteen-years-old when Aunt Gwen finally revealed herself. She came to get them
out of the system, barely in time to save their lives. It had been three weeks,
but still the bruises on Jessica’s face hadn’t finished healing. Her spirit so
worn that even the bounce in her curls had faded.

In the bathroom, the
water ran from the tap and Jessica gripped the sink. The mirror reflected the
hot tears stinging her eyes. A sob that hurt so bad was stuck in her
chest,
though she was desperate for it to be
free.

A knock at the door
interrupted her sorrow. “Jessica, it’s time to move.” It was Aunt Gwen’s voice,
someone Jessica was supposed to trust, but didn’t yet.

Jessica wiped her face,
but it was red and splotchy. Gwen opened the door and studied her. Embarrassed,
Jessica edged away to hide.

“What’s the matter? It’s
time to go, didn’t you hear me?”

“Those people,” Jessica
scrunched up her face. “All those people at school, they think I’m a…murderer.
They think I killed my parents. That I like doing…” Jessica slapped her jeans
and wasn’t sure how to put her rap sheet into words. “…what I do.”

Aunt Gwen sighed and took
in the sight of her. “I see. So the words of these strangers, you take them to
heart?” She sucked on her bottom lip. “As I see it, you’ve been keeping your
sister safe for two years. You’ve done what you needed to do, and that is nothing
to cry about. There’s no shame in that, Jessica Blood. They can’t know what we
know. It keeps them safe, but it also means we’ll never have their respect.”

Jessica nodded, her heart
sinking even further.

“You’ll always be different,
hmm? Is that it?” Gwen pushed Jessica’s hair off her
shoulders,
but stopped short of wiping her tears, of hugging her.
“You’re young, I know. I’m sorry this life came at you so early, but I’ll teach
you the one thing I failed teaching my brother.”

Her father. Dad. Jessica
almost cried on the spot, but she had a feeling Aunt Gwen wouldn’t like that
very much. So she sucked it back; she had to learn to be tough. “What’s that,
Aunt Gwen?”

Her lip twitched in a
half smile. “How to fight. Now let’s go.
There're
lives we have to save and we have to keep on the move if we’re to protect
Amanda, don’t we? Let’s not waste time shedding tears for the dead.”

Jessica nodded and
followed her out of the bathroom. “Where is she anyway?”

Gwen snorted. “Probably
off healing a puppy. That sister of yours…”

The
memory faded and all that of Aunt Gwen with it. Jessica had been betrayed by
the woman who had taken her under her wing, taught her everything she needed to
know. Now she was trapped in the mouth of hell and without help, she might
never escape its vengeful wrath.

Jessica
swayed to the side as her leather jacket was ripped off her arms. The demons
threw her to the ground and she landed in a puddle of water, which had formed
by
drops from the rocks. The pain traveled up
her face and took her mind off her aching back and ribs. The demons assaulted
her, beat her, but she wasn’t going to give them the satisfaction of a moan.

Or
a groan.

 
It was as if her flesh was being torn from her
body. Weak, tired, Jessica didn’t have much fight left in her. The only thing
keeping her sane was the thought of Amanda. If she didn’t get out of here, if
she didn’t manage to stay alive long enough to figure this thing out, Amanda
would be dead

.

Her
sister dead? Never. Jessica wouldn’t allow it, still her bones ached for
comfort. Her limbs shook under the muscle strain of merely surviving.

The
demons wouldn’t leave her alone. They pawed at her like she was a piece of
meat, cuffing her to chains anchored to the stone wall. Jessica bit her lip and
drew blood to keep from calling out in pain, for mercy, something. Collapsed on
the ground with her arms stretched above her head, she didn’t say or do
anything.

One
of the demons headed to the rear of the cavern, toward a spoke wheel rigged up to
her chains. Jessica laid her head against her shoulder, ignoring the racing
pain in her arms as the demon spun the wheel. Slowly, the chains started to
retreat further up the stone wall, Bringing Jessica up to her feet.

 
No matter how her legs called out in pain, she
had no choice but to stand, no choice but to go up on
tiptoe
. It was that or her limbs would be torn from their sockets;
that was a pain Jessica knew she couldn’t tolerate.

She
winced as the wheel turned one more time, the chains clanking together, the
tips of her boots lifting just off the cavern floor. Jessica leaned her head
against the cool chain, trying to block out how the room spun. The tension on
her arms made them tingle and she couldn’t draw a deep enough breath to sustain
herself.

Not
while she was strung up like laundry. Her lungs were on fire begging for a full
dose of oxygen, in order to get one, Jessica needed to pull herself up. Already
her arms were tired.

It
was impossible. Jessica couldn’t get free from this. Who was she, Wonder Woman?

I’m sorry, Amanda. I’m so
sorry.

All
she had promised, empty. All their secret whispers and hushed talks for
nothing. Everything they had survived, Jessica couldn’t grasp how it had come to
this. Amanda deserved to go free, didn’t she? She didn’t deserve to suffer.

 
To think, Jessica had thought she might get
the happiness she craved. To go off with Duncan, even if it was for only a
little while—when had Jessica become a fool?

The
demons picked something up and Jessica was too terrified to look. Her chin
wobbled and her heart pounded with fury in her ears. Temperature up, the
suspense was almost too much, but there it was.

A
strike from a wooden plank against her bare exposed back. Jessica sucked in her
breath,
and hung onto her chains as she
swayed back and forth. Count sheep, count something. Anything to keep her mind
off of the pain—

Flogged
from the front, a whack on her stomach and it sent her soaring
backward
.
The
air
was forced from her lungs and Jessica’s vision spun, images of
Amanda flashed in her mind; young, perfect, and naïve in a sweet floral dress.

How
could Jessica give up on her?

Jessica’s
breath caught in her throat as the demon behind her caught her by the waist
band of her jeans. He shoved her forward and her body swung toward the demon at
the front who like a coward, clocked her across the jaw.

Her
nose scrunched and her head snapped
backward
.
Blood sprayed and filled her mouth, warm, salty. Jessica spat it out at the
demon because there was nowhere else for it to go. Still, covering him in her
blood brought her slight satisfaction.

He
grunted, as if she acted in defiance, grabbing her by the waist, yanking her
close. Pain raced up her arms, her fingers tingled and Jessica’s gasp echoed in
the chamber. “Want to beg for your life? “the demon demanded.

Jessica’s
lip curled, with as much
hate
as she
could muster, she answered. “Go to hell.”

But
her energy was waning. Her spirit wanted to give up, Jessica was hanging on by her
fingernails.

“We’re
already there, sweetheart.” The demon laughed and let her body go.

Thankful
for the relief, Jessica took a deep breath, able to freely breathe again. A
small reprieve was better than no reprieve. “Why don’t you unhook me and we’ll
see what you can do in a fair fight?”

The
demons glanced at each other then laughed. Jessica’s temper fumed and she
struggled to keep her composure. “Cowards,” she hissed, grabbing the chains and
pulling herself up. Her shoulders were in agony, but it made her arms sing,
thankful for the small break.

Jessica’s
ears picked up a noise from behind. She turned her head towards it, as a whip
crackled through the air and landed on her back. The skin split open and it
burned, it burned so badly, Jessica dropped her chains. Another lash split her
back open and she groaned without meaning to.

“Did
we say you could pull yourself up like that?”

The
whip flew again. Flashes of bright color filled her vision and Jessica wasn’t
sure she was still conscious. Her body was floating, almost as if she wasn’t in
her body at all anymore. A vibration, a knocking?

Something
pinched her face and Jessica’s eyes snapped back open. Her heart was racing and
she gasped for breath. A woman smiled at her, with dark, pure black eyes. Her skin
was olive colored, like a cup of coffee with cream, her hair a spiral mess;
resembling thorns. Horns grew through the jumbled thicket, green and pointy at
the top.

But
somehow she was beautiful. Her skin was perfect and smooth, her cheekbones high
and elegant. There was something regal about her that dared you to defy her.
Like a hologram card that changed as you tilted it, she was between beauty and
evil.

This
was Lourdes. The woman Jessica had been waiting to see, but now she shook in
her presence. This could be the end of her, the end everything the Bloods stood
for, and there was no way out.

Mom’s
dying face flashed in Jessica’s mind. “Keep her safe, Jessie. Protect Amanda.”

She
tried,
oh God, how Jessica tried.

“That’s
better.” Lourdes’s head tilted to the side with a smile. Her hand stroked
Jessica’s face; the touch chilled Jessica with a shiver. “It’s been a long time
coming, Jessica Blood.” Her posture was rigid, a like royalty, as she walked
behind Jessica, the train of her black dress flowing along the ground behind
her.

 
Tormented, screaming faces were engraved in
the fabric. They changed and shifted. Jessica saw many faces and it stilled her
heart. Was that her fate? Was that what was in store for her if she didn’t find
a way out of this mess?

Duncan….
Jessica tilted her head up to the cavern’s ceiling. If only he could find her,
maybe together they could—could what? Overthrow the
underworld
? Jessica was kidding herself. Her hope, no, there was no
more hope. There was only….

Lourdes
ripped the back of Jessica’s shirt. She gasped at the sight of Jessica’s back,
taking in her bruises and
age-old
scars.
“Suffering. You’ve suffered so much, Jessica. And for what, to protect your
sister
?” She dragged the words out like
they were vile.

Jessica
steeled herself, and biting her lip, refused to let Lourdes’s words sway her.
They would be lies. All of them, nothing she said would be the truth. She
shuddered as Lourdes’s sharp fingernails traced down her back. They raked
across sensitive skin, thanks to the lashes she received, and she trembled. The
strain of staying in control caused Jessica’s limbs to quake under the
pressure.

Lourdes
let out a deep long breath. “So many tattoos. So many of my fallen soldiers
represented here. The different clans, different warriors, and for what? So
your sister could be free? She has been destined since the dawn of time to set
me free?”

Jessica’s
anger vexed inside of her. “Never.” She sneered, as Lourdes made her way to the
front again. She shouldn’t have engaged her, but she couldn’t keep quiet any
longer. “My sister is right and is all that is pure. You’ll never have her.”

“Oh,
I will, Jessica. In fact, you’re going to go get her for me. You’re going to
fetch your sister and bring her straight here.”

Jessica
snorted and laughed. It was a good, solid laugh. Really, the best laugh she’d
had in days, maybe even weeks. “The idea that I would betray my sister for
anyone is ridiculous, but to do so for you? Please.”

Lourdes
smirked. “There are rewards I can give you.”

“There’s
nothing you have that I want. You’re attempt to sway me is pitiful. Just kill
me. Torture me for eternity if that’s what you want, but I’ll never give you my
sister.” Jessica whispered the words for effect; she just hoped it would work.
She hoped to anger Lourdes enough that the queen would kill her outright.

Lourdes’s
smile fell into a straight line. Her pinched nose turned up like a pig’s. “The
underworld is a big place. There are people here,
trapped,
like you are. Some of them could be…made to suffer less if
you…cooperate. Any interest in seeing Mother again? What about Father?”

Jessica’s
face fell slack. Sweat dripped from her brow and if it was possible to feel
your heart slow down, she just did. It was a lie. A manipulation. It wasn’t
possible, her parents were good people, why would they be here?

“All
that pain, all that time you’ve been saving your sister, did you ever stop to
think that your parents would pay the ultimate price for saving you that night?
Why was it we couldn’t find you or Amanda, even though my demons were already
in the house?”