Blood Sacrifice (The Blood Sisters Book 3) (11 page)

C’mon,
c’mon. The damn thing had to snap off.

On
the floor, Jessica had her back against the wall and her feet propped against
the table leg. She pushed until her strained face turned red, but except for a
sore wrist, she had nothing to show for it. Not like she expected it to work,
but she needed a miracle.

For
once, Jessica would like something to go their way for more than two seconds.
Just once.

The
door banged against the wall as it opened and Jessica glanced up with surprise.
The security officer who gloated to her stepped inside and Amanda was with him.
She had the palm of her hand flat against his head.

My
God. “What did you do to him?” Jessica snarled with disgust and the judgments
flew, but his face…it just wasn’t his face, was it? She fought the urge to
throw up at the sight of her corrupted sister.

Mercy.
Amanda’s face. The black veins of Lourdes had swept over Amanda’s shoulder,
creeping up her neck and over her cheek. Her sister’s beautiful face. Once she
was as sweet and humble as a fairy. And now Jessica’s heart smashed into a
thousand pieces. She could barely bring herself to even look at her sister. It
just hurt too much.

Amanda’s
chest rose and fell. “What I had to do. Come on, we have to get out of here
before the police arrive.”

Jessica’s
mouth opened to tell Amanda she was handcuffed to the table, but Amanda waved
her hand in the air. Jessica felt an electrical pulse blow through like a storm
and her chains clicked. The handcuffs fell away from Jessica’s irritated, red
wrists. She rubbed the itch away, as she stood and approached her sister.

“What’s
the plan?” Jessica asked, but tension rose in her chest. There was so much she
wanted to say. So much she had to say, but now wasn’t the time. She knew that,
but her sister…had Jessica already lost her?

“He
can get us out.” Amanda’s eyes flicked to the security officer.

Jessica
shook her head. Over her dead body. “You shouldn’t be using your power like
this. It just makes what is happening to you worse.”

Amanda
pursed her lips. “We don’t have a choice, Jess. We have to get to Duncan. We
have…” Tears welled in her eyes and Jessica got it. She understood that Amanda
owed him, but this was beyond what Duncan would want to accept.

“He’d
never want you to do this to yourself. And this guy? If he helps us, he’ll be
in the line of fire if the police get here first. We can do this on our own.”
No more human deaths. It was Jessica’s new mantra. She had seen and caused
enough.

Amanda’s
arm slowly lowered to her side. “Fine.”

As
she said it, the security officer slumped to the ground. Chin to chest, blood
leaked out his ears. Jessica’s heart
pattered
as she checked him for a heartbeat. Luckily, for them, he was still alive. “You
could’ve killed him.” Her eyes cast condemnation.

“He’ll
recover. What I did to him was temporary.” Amanda stepped over his body to get
back into the hall. “And yes, I can hear your thoughts, so if you would stop
with the judgment, maybe we could actually do what we came to do.”

Jessica
gripped Amanda’s arm and spun her around. “Listen to yourself. This isn’t you.
It’s her. Lourdes. Her corruption. This isn’t you.”

“And
I have to stop?” Amanda took a deep breath and shook her head. Jessica hated to
see so much grief on her face. Hated it. “You think I don’t know? But if I stop
now you’ll never get to rescue Duncan. It’s consuming me, Jessica. I don’t have
long.”

She
talked like she was dying and maybe she was on some level, but Jessica couldn’t
stand for that. All the years she’d kept Amanda alive weren’t going to be for
nothing. They defeated the queen herself and now Jessica would lose her sister?
Now?

Maybe
Amanda was already too far gone to save. Bile rose in Jessica’s mouth at the
mere thought.

“Then
we go upstairs to get the Ruby Heart. We get it, we use it, and we save you.”

Amanda
sighed. “You don’t even know how to use it.” She sounded so tired and
exasperated. It wasn’t like her at all. Where was the optimistic champion for
good? Where was it? Jessica needed that to keep her going. Not this hollow
excuse for her sister.

It
all snapped into place.

“You
never intended for me to save you, did you?” Jessica narrowed her eyes. “All
this time you’ve resigned yourself to being the new queen of the underworld,
haven’t you?”

Her
eyes flickered with grief. “I just wanted to see Duncan safe before I go.
Before everything that I am…” Amanda’s lip quivered and she tried to hide it by
biting them, but Jessica saw the emotion. The tears.

She
was going to fix it.

Jessica
took her hand and held it tight. “This is it. The last hurdle, the last yard,
some damn sport metaphor we don’t understand because we’ve never had time to
relax and do normal things. But this is it, Amanda. After this one last push,
we’ll be done. You’ll be safe. We don’t have to keep fighting, but I need you
to believe in me. Can you do that?”

“I’ve
always believed in you, Jess.” Amanda’s voice cracked. “But it’s moving too
fast. The only reason it hasn’t consumed me completely yet is because of my
healing power. But even that can’t keep up. Not much longer. I couldn’t heal a
dead flower if I tried.”

“Enough
talking.” Jessica forced the words back and swallowed all her negative emotions
back. “And more walking.” She yanked on Amanda’s hand until she followed her
down the hall.

They
dumped into the casino’s main floor. It was eerie the way there was no one at
the slot machines or blackjack tables. Weren’t there always people there?
Unless the building had been cleared, just in case their little arrest went
bad.

Yeah,
Jessica figured that was probably the score, which meant they were running out
of time. They had to get moving before they were pinned down. One option was
the elevator leading up to the penthouse suite. The other was toward the front
entrance. Jessica knew which way she wanted to go. Lucky for her, there was no
time for an argument, as police rushed in from the outside.

“Quick!”
Jessica hissed.

“Freeze,
Ms. Blood!”

Jessica
held her hands up as the police drew their weapons. “Hey, there’s no need for
that. I haven’t resisted. I haven’t drawn any weapons.”

Amanda
stepped forward. Jessica grabbed for her hand and hissed a warning at her. The
police trained their guns, but Amanda waved her hand through the air. It threw
the officers
backward
and they gave a
guttural scream.

She
hadn’t even said anything. Jessica’s heart skipped a beat as Amanda turned back
to her. “Let’s get moving.”

That
sounded like a good idea to Jessica. She hurried along, but between the slot
machines, a woman emerged with a sick smirk on her face. Dressed in a silver
bodysuit with weapons holstered at her hips, it was clear, whoever this was,
she wasn’t your average, run of the mill gambler.

No,
she was something more.

Amanda
tilted her head to the side and laughed. “Hello, Vain.”

Vain,
so this was she? The one who had Duncan? Jessica thought to rip her face off,
but Vain bowed at the waist in greeting. “I know you two also, by reputation.
Amanda,” Vain nodded her head at Jessica, “Jessica. I’ll propose a truce, for
now. I have something you want, yes? And you…” Vain strolled up to Amanda and
took in the sight of her. A look of lust danced across Vain’s face. “You have
something I’m desperate for.”

Amanda
scowled with a headshake. “What?”

“Power.
Real power.” Vain licked her lips. “I want what Lourdes cursed you with when
she died. In return, I’ll give you Duncan. Anything you want.”

Amanda
snarled. “You can’t just take it.”

“Upstairs
I have the Ruby Heart. I even know how it works. I just need to touch it and
you…Why don’t the both of you come upstairs? I’ll release Duncan to you both
and let you go on with your lives. Once I’m in the underworld, you won’t have
any more demons to worry about as long as I’m the one with the power.”

Jessica
breathed a sigh of relief. This was good. Real good! She couldn’t have asked
for anything more. It was like Christmas morning and nothing was ever that
easy, so what was the catch?

Amanda
shook her head. “No.”

No?
What was she thinking?

Vain’s
eyes widened and narrowed quickly with anger, surprised as Jessica was at
Amanda’s answer. She lunged for Amanda, but Amanda raised her hand and it was
as if Vain was held in stasis. She couldn’t move forward, and her face twisted
with rage. When the police advanced, Vain yelled an order. “Stay back! No one
moves on her until I say! We can still work through this, Amanda. I give you my
word.”

“Listen
to her,” Jessica grabbed Amanda’s free arm. “This is what we want. This is
everything---.”

“No.”
Amanda’s face flashed toward Jessica, the creep of black ink covered half her
face, like entangled veins. “She’s conditioning Duncan to kill you. She hates
you. She’s jealous of you. She’s a liar and she’ll never let you go.”

Jessica
read the horror on Vain’s face as truth, but there were other truths weren’t
there? “So what, we deal one step at a time. I can talk Duncan down. I can
break through whatever crap Vain’s done to him. I promise, Mandy…You have to
let her go.” Jessica’s chin quivered as more of Amanda’s face was lost in
Lourdes’s dark magic. “Amanda, we don’t have a lot of time. I’m…losing you,
baby.”

Tears
rose up in Amanda’s eyes and her teeth clattered together uncontrollably. “I
know. That’s why you need to go save Duncan on your own. I’m sorry, Jessica. So
sorry.”

Jessica’s
face twisted with confusion. “I don’t understand…”

“If
Vain becomes queen of the underworld, it’s trading one evil for another. Don’t
you see that? But I can make a difference. I can put things right.”

Exasperated,
Jessica rolled her eyes. “You can’t fix Hell from the inside out. I won’t let
you. Mandy, this is crazy!”

But
Amanda wouldn’t be swayed. “Dad’s there. I can save him. I can let him go. So
his spirit can finally rest, Jessica.”

Pure
lunacy, but she understood why Amanda wanted to do it. Why she wanted to free
Dad. “You think I don’t want him free? But your plan will never work.”

“Listen
to your sister,” Vain finally said. “Let me go and let’s come to a deal.
Everyone has a price, Amanda. We just have to find yours.”

Tilting
her head to the side, Amanda spoke. “The plan’s already fully formed in your
head. You’ll take the power and then kill me. Expand the drug trade you stole
from Vaughn. And Jessica and Duncan? You’ll pit them against each other and….”

Vain
held her arms out in the stasis field. “And to the victor goes the spoils. So
what? I’ve worked hard for this and for him. I deserve this and it’ll be mine,
one way or another, it’ll be mine. I don’t lose and the faster you realize
that...”

“Enough
talking. You’ll never have this power.” Amanda dropped the stasis field and
with a thrust of her fingers, Vain’s neck was broken. Like a twig, it snapped
audibly and Jessica screamed as Vain’s body fell to the ground, like a rag
doll.

Jessica
couldn’t believe what she’d seen. She covered her mouth in horror. The police
rushed toward them. “Amanda,” Jessica’s pain crashed through Amanda in waves.
“She was our only answer. She was---.”

Amanda
had killed a human, dislikable as Vain was her heart and blood still pumped
human. Her sister took a life. That wasn’t her. That wasn’t what her sister was
about.

“There
is no other answer.” Amanda placed her palm against Jessica’s forehead. “Bye,
big sister. Make us all proud. You get Duncan. You go off and live a happy
life, like you always should’ve. I can’t hold you back anymore.”

A
surge of power crashed through Jessica’s skin. She didn’t know what was
happening to her, but her vision brightened as if she was looking at the sun.
Her boots crashed into the earth and Jessica fell over onto some freshly
churned soil.

The
sky was
gray
, and rain fell in a steady
stream. Jessica stood and spied the
gray
,
lifeless souls ambling toward her. Some drug limbs behind them and all of their
eyes were dull, lifeless.

Sin
Town. Amanda sent her there to save Duncan and now Jessica didn’t have a
choice. She had to go on alone. Nothing was worth doing without Amanda.

Nothing.

At
her feet was a shotgun and Jessica made out her initials on the grip. At least
Amanda didn’t send her empty handed. Picking it up, Jessica checked for
ammunition and saw it was loaded. She wouldn’t use it on the humans here.

Not
even the demons.

Jessica
pushed past the
gray
people who grabbed
at her arms and legs. A woman in rags, missing all of her teeth, touched
Jessica’s face. Her fingers were like leather strips mashing against Jessica’s
skin. “You’re so beautiful,” her words all ran together. “I remember being as
beautiful as you, once.”