Blood Sacrifice (The Blood Sisters Book 3) (7 page)

Vain’s
hands were covered in blood, but it was worth it to watch Duncan Jasper squirm.
He fell apart at her feet and in a few more days, he would be eating out of her
hand and begging for the chance to kill Jessica Blood.

She
spent the next several hours giving Duncan lessons with her crystal ball.
Magic, drugs, and false visions would soon have his head so messed up; he would
see her as Jessica, one way or another. And then, when Jessica arrived, Vain
would sit back and watch him kill her.

Then,
whether Duncan knew it or not, he’d be hers forever. Marriage might have been
out of the question, but that was for the weak. The ordinary. Vain wanted a
prize and a servant—not an equal.

 In
her master suite’s bathroom, she rinsed the congealing blood from her hands. In
the corner, her Jacuzzi tub was filled with warm water and radiant bubbles
danced beneath the faucet. Someone walking across the carpet grabbed her
attention. Wiping her hands on a black towel, Vain sauntered toward the
threshold of the bedroom.

“Michelle,”
Vain smiled at her favorite girl, “what brings you by? Clientele let you have a
break?”

The
petite women rarely ever spoke out of turn, but her eyes were wide and moist.
“Was it really necessary to kill Beatrice for your little stage show?” Michelle
struggled with a deep breath. “She was one of us, Vain.”

Once,
maybe. “Don’t bore me by making me explain myself. Beatrice wasn’t performing
well. The life and magic were getting to her.” Vain stroked Michelle’s hair and
planted a tender kiss against her supple cleavage. “She’s not like you and
Alexis. Or should I say, wasn’t?”
Vain
smirked.

Michelle
closed her eyes. “You know I can’t resist you, Mistress, when you kiss me like
that—I just—to see what you did. To watch?”

“I’m
sorry you had to see that. Truly, I am. If I knew you were in the hall, I
would’ve found a way to shoo you away. I’m drawing a bath for us.” Vain kissed
Michelle’s cheek and watched the woman’s cheek redden. “Why don’t you go see if
Kevin is done with the new girl? We can celebrate. Just the three of us. You,
me, and new baby girl.”

Michelle
bit her lip. “Okay. I’d love that. She’s such a sweet girl.” Michelle hurried
along, her ass jiggling side to side beneath her mini-skirt.

Hannah
was sweet. Vain hoped she stayed that way awhile longer.

She
went back and turned off the tub’s faucet. Adding a few drops of magic to the
water, she swirled it with a small paddle. It would make both women open to
suggestion, allow Hannah to relax and do what necessary to get more of Kevin
Loust’s money. Because what Vain wanted, was expensive.

Power
often was.

Vain
turned on some soft music in the bedroom and fluffed a few of the pillows. As
she was satisfied that everything looked right, a scream somewhere in the
brothel grabbed her attention. Charging through her bedroom, Vain grabbed her
dagger from the nightstand and hurried into the hall. Girls were standing with
their backs against the wall.

Had
someone gotten past her hexes and spells?

“Back
to your clients,” Vain ordered and followed the next scream—a woman’s scream—to
a closed door room. Forcing her way in, Vain held herself defensively at the
sight of Michelle standing over a bed, a broken beer bottle on her hand.

Her
expression was frozen in shock. Vain grabbed her arm and shook it, “Michelle?
Michelle!”

Hannah
was in the bed, clutching her breasts and crying. There was blood seeping
between her fingers.

“Did
you do this to her?” Vain demanded to know, but she knew Michelle wouldn’t hurt
a woman, especially one as sweet and young as Hannah.

Michelle
shook her head with a quiver in her lip. “He wouldn’t get off her. She was
screaming at him to stop.”

Kevin?
The target? When had her girls’ become so weak? “That’s our business. We trade
in sexual satisfaction, girls.”

Hannah
pulled at her hair, as if she couldn’t stand being in her own skin. “You said I
wouldn’t have to. You said….”

“Spare
me.” Vain gritted her teeth. “Where is Kevin now? Michelle?”

Michelle
backed up and pointed to the side of the bed. Vain approached and peered over
the mattress. The first thing she saw was a pool of blood. The next was Kevin’s
lifeless eyes staring up at her. His hand clutching the fatal slash along his
throat.

Kevin
Loust, the high roller of Vegas, was dead.

Dead.

Vain’s
heart skipped a beat and for the first time, in a long time, she felt fear—and
also real opportunity. “Get Hannah cleaned up and for goodness sakes, get her
to stop crying. Michelle?”
Vain
stared at
Michelle’s vacant expression. “Did you hear me? Snap out of it.”

Vain
clapped her hands beneath Michelle’s nose. Michelle’s eyes blinked. “Sure.” She
dropped the shattered beer bottle from her hand. “I didn’t mean to kill him.
She was crying so hard and I couldn’t get him off of her.”

Vain’s
temper rolled into a slow boil. “That’s a conversation for later. For now, get
Hannah cleaned up and changed. Get her to stop her blubbering.” Vain did an
about face and exited the suite. She shut the door tight and spoke to Alexis
who was leaning up against the wall. Alexis’s eyes were dull and she stifled a
yawn.

She
was always bored out of the bedroom.

“We
need a cleaner here. Make sure no one goes in here without my permission. Do
you understand?”

Alexis
nodded. “Whatever you say, Mistress. It will be done.”

“Good.”
Vain said. “A few phone calls and we’ll be ready to move.”

“Move?”
Alexis asked with a tilt of her head.

“We’re
hitting Vegas. Hard and fast before word of this gets out.” Vain swung her arms
around Alexis’s hips and pulled her in for a sweet kiss. “More specifically the
Wild Aces Casino. With Kevin dead, we’ll only have so long to break into his
penthouse and grab the Ruby Heart.”

The
Bloods were on the move. Vain’s crystal ball told her that much, and, just as
in the past, Vain would use the information it gave her to seize the upper
hand.

“How
are you going to manage that? It’s not as if they’re going to let us just walk
in, Mistress.”

Vain’s
rage smoldered. “Leave that to me, darling. I know my strengths and weaknesses.
And your weaknesses.” Vain flirted.

“Clear
the brothel and allow only our best customers.” Vain voice boomed with the
order, as she headed toward her bedroom. “Guards, everyone out that isn’t on
the VIP list, but not without first taking their money.”

Money
came first. Well, second beneath sexual satisfaction, and, speaking of being
satisfied, Vain opened the door to her private bedroom. Inside, Duncan was tied
to the bed and gagged with a leather strap. He was asleep or unconscious, not
that it really mattered which it was, but Vain had a decision to make.

Take
him or leave him here. Could she risk moving him?

No.
He wasn’t under her spell enough to go willingly. Vain hated to leave him here
unguarded and ripe for the taking, but if the Ruby Heart remained unclaimed for
too long, someone else might get to it first. Its power was more important than
any one person.

A
hands-on person, Vain didn’t know which task really deserved her attention.
Duncan was a matter of personal revenge, but the Ruby Heart could be the secret
to just about everything Vain’s heart desired. Not only could it be used
against the underworld, but possession of it had brought infinite luck to
Kevin.

Maybe
it could bring the same to Vain.

She
studied Duncan’s bruised cheek and his swollen black eye with a pout. Vain
fished her fingers through his hair and pulled until his head rounded back.
“Dear sweet, Duncan Jasper.” She spun the dagger in her hand and placed the tip
against his neck.

“It’s
a pity it has to end this way. I wish at least to see your eyes as I end your
life.”

As
if to get her wish, Duncan’s eyelids struggled to open. The dull blue eyes
gazed at her with sleep in them and Vain’s heart banged. Briefly, he smiled
like a drunken man on his sixth beer. “If you’re gonna do it, Jess…do it.”

So
Duncan saw her as Jessica. Vain didn’t know if that made it worse or better.
He’d forever think his beloved Jessica killed him? She would get none of the
credit? None of it mattered, as it turned out, Vain couldn’t stomach killing
him. Hurting him was one thing, but murdering Duncan was another.

The
game couldn’t continue if he were dead. Vain didn’t have the power to raise the
dead—at least not yet.

She
removed her knee from the bed and stepped away, twirling the dagger in her
hand. Vain retreated from the room as Alexis hurried by. Vain grabbed the sweet
underside of her arm and when Alexis turned, she smelled of honey. “Bring me
Hannah, would you? I need someone to take care of Jasper while we’re gone.”

Sweet
little naïve Hannah was the woman for the job…under the right conditions. Lucky
for Vain, she was a master of getting people to do what she wanted. She grabbed
a bottle of scotch from the corner bar and when she heard a sniveling cry, Vain
poured a glass.

Hannah’s
hair was still a tangled mess and her face was streaked black with mascara.
Instead of a tight corset, she wore a baggy gray shirt. Unkempt, unclean—what
would the clientele say about Vain if they saw Hannah in such a mess?

“Drink
this.” Vain shoved it into Hannah’s hands, but the girl was shaking. The glass
rattled against her trembling fingers. Vain helped the glass to her mouth until
Hannah took a sip. “It’ll calm your nerves.”

She
coughed and sputtered, her hand clamped over her mouth. “It burns, oh God.
That’s disgusting.”

“You’ll
get used to it.”
Vain
poured Hannah
another drink, this one she mixed with ice to take the edge off.

This
time Hannah took a smaller sip through her dainty pursed lips. She wasn’t
crying as hard now. Vain stroked her hair back. Beneath the bird’s nest of hair,
Hannah was as beautiful as ever, but to lose Kevin like that…the girl was going
to have to earn her keep. One way or another.

Vain
kissed Hannah’s cheek and allowed her lips to linger, taking in the young
girl’s sweet scent. “I have a special perfume for you. It’ll make you feel much
better.” She retrieved a small glass bottle from the bar. “Smells of roses.”
Roses mixed with a powerful magic. Just the kind that Vain liked to keep on
hand for just these situations.

A
drop on Hannah’s wrists and a smidge behind her ears.

“Kevin
is dead because of you. A pig of a man, maybe, but an important pig.” Vain
stroked Hannah’s quivering chin. The young lady’s eyes cast down to the floor.
“Had I known how much trouble you would be, it’s possible I would’ve let you rot
with Vaughn.”

Hannah’s
eyes widened with fear. Good, that was exactly what Vain needed to see.

“But
with his death, I see opportunity. A way to seize what is mine, without having
to barter with the devil,” Vain said. “So, since you opened the door for this,
I’ll give you one more chance to show me your worth. Show me you’re not dead
weight. I won’t tolerate those who don’t help themselves, Hannah.”

She
nodded and her eyes lowered to avoid Vain’s gaze. “I’m sorry…I didn’t mean to
cause trouble, but I’ll do anything I can to help you. Anything.”

Good,
so far Hannah was playing her part. “If word got out that clients died here,
what do you think that’d do to business? We have to show our clients that we
won’t tolerate girls who lash out. Don’t we?” She gripped Hannah’s chin and
pulled her dagger free with her other hand.

Hannah
quivered and shook, but it was Duncan who spoke up. “Leave her alone, Jessica.
Leave Meg alone.” Hannah’s face
flashed
with confusion and Vain could only assume what she was thinking.

Vain
smiled. “You see, you can be useful. He
thinks you’re his dead sister, and, while I’m going to Vegas, you’re going to
stay here and play the part. Take care of him. Dose him with magic and cement
in his brain his hatred from Jessica Blood. Do I make myself clear?”

Hannah
nodded. “Anything. I’ll do anything.” Her arms hugged around her body as if to
protect herself. “Just tell me what to do.”

But
from Vain, there would be no protection. Hannah was as vulnerable as a newborn
lamb. “Good, girl.” Vain slipped a tube of lip gloss from the inside of her
glove. The contents were translucent, but shimmered like glitter. “Every ten
minutes apply this to him. Make him believe you’re Meg. Her ghost. Make him
believe Jessica Blood killed him. You want revenge, child. Lay it on thick.”

The
thicker the better because Jessica was coming. Soon, she would reach her end
and once Vain stole the curse of Lourdes from Amanda, they’d finally get to
meet.

In
the underworld.