Blood Debt (The Blood Sisters Book 2) Read online

  Contents

  The Black Scorpion’s Bar

  1: Duncan Jasper

  2: Amanda Blood

  3: Jessica Blood

  4: Vaughn

  5: Amanda Blood

  6: Amanda Blood

  7: Duncan Jasper

  8: Amanda Blood

  9: Amanda Blood

  10: Vain

  11: Jessica Blood

  12: Vaughn

  13: Amanda Blood

  14: Duncan Jasper

  15: Amanda Blood

  16: Jessica Blood

  17: Duncan Jasper

  18: Father Mike

  19: Jessica Blood

  20: Amanda Blood

  21: Father Mike

  22: Jessica Blood

  23: Jessica Blood

  24: Duncan Jasper

  25: Gwen Blood

  Lourdes

  26: Jessica Blood

  27: Amanda Blood

  Lourdes

  28: Jessica Blood

  29: Amanda Blood

  Epilogue

  Free Download

  About the Author

  Other Books by Jill Cooper

  Copyright © 2016, Jill Cooper

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced without permission by the author. This is a work of fiction and any resemblance to a person living or dead is purely coincidental.

  Cover Art: KPGS Design

  Edited by: Brenda Tippin Deliantoni

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  The Black Scorpion’s Bar

  Blood. There was so much blood.

  Thick and sopping, it surrounded Ronald Wax as he regained consciousness on the bar room floor. Like an oil slick, it covered his shirt and leather vest. Even his bald head was smeared with the thick, wet substance.

  But where had it come from? Was it his?

  Ron’s calloused hands were painted red. It was abundant around his knuckles and beneath his jagged torn fingernails. He was always a biter. Always stressed out about something, maybe it was hunting the demons and the fighting for the innocence left in the world. Innocence? Ron wasn’t innocent, but this blood?

  He had no memory of it.

  Sitting up, Ron blinked and took in the sights that surrounded him. It was his friends who were like brothers. The gang members of the Black Scorpions now lay all around him with dull and vacant eyes.

  Dead.

  The bar was a tomb and the stench from the corpses made him gag. Gutted like fish, blood poured out of their chests and stomachs, while their eyes were transfixed on the ceiling, frozen open in horror.

  And in Ron’s left hand was a blade. A sharp dagger dripping with blood.

  Had he done this?

  The blade fell from his hand. Sure enough, Ron recognized the leather hilt where his initials were carved. His Dad had given it to him years ago, passing on the legacy from one demon hunter to another. Ron was happy to take up the torch, but didn’t think it would lead to this.

  Slaughter.

  The last thing he remembered? Why it was Jessica Blood. She was supposed to be lost to the underworld or some craziness like that. Gwen had told them as much after being possessed by a demon—Gwen was gone, that’s right, Gwen was gone!

  He had gone to get her food, but she had escaped, and in her place?

  Jessica whispered something in his ear. It seared his soul with pain to remember her voice, not hers at all, but something twisted. Dark. Like something gnawing on flesh in the middle of the night. It hadn’t been her—not really.

  Ron had wanted to warn Duncan, but the world faded to black. It twisted in the wind and his mind had been replaced by…. Something dark, menacing.

  A hollow grave and a twisted cloak, like madness circling from below.

  What did that bitch do to him?

  Ron had seen its face hidden inside the façade of Jessica’s face. A red angry scowl in the darkness, and as it had grown closer to his mind’s eye, he had seen it was a woman. A glorious, beautiful woman in a long billowing black dress. The swirling pattern on her dress held the screaming cries of tormented souls and upon her head, a set of green horns, sprouting from a tangled mess of hair. Her skin was a rich caramel color and when she smiled, her eyes shifted to resemble those of a cat.

  This was Lourdes.

  And now her face was burned into his mind…. Burned.

  Ron had to warn Duncan, but what he had done here was horrific. How could he just leave his brothers in arms lying on the ground? If he could get to his phone, at least, that would be something.

  Struggling to his feet, Ron’s legs shook. Pain tore at his chest. Ron grunted and gripped it, seeing fresh blood flow between his fingers. He had been injured in the attack after all. It didn’t look life threatening, but it hurt like hell. Ron started over to the bar and collapsed onto a bar stool, barely catching himself with splayed fingers.

  A gasp of air from the ground caught his attention. Bart, his oldest and dearest friend, blinked his eyes. Pale and staring off in a trance, but he was alive. Thank Christ, Ron thought maybe he should count his lucky stars. Now if he could only find a phone…

  “Hold it right there!”

  “Arms up! Turn around slow!”

  The police? How had Ron missed their flashlights flashing in through the windows? They came at him from all sides. There was nothing he could do, so he raised his hands. He stumbled, unable to hold himself steady, but an officer grabbed his arms and forced him down to his knees.

  Ron needed to say something. He licked his lips.

  “We got a live one here!” An officer bent down beside Bart. “Sir, hang on, an ambulance is on its way.”

  “My God, have you seen anything like this before?”

  Ron cleared his throat. He wanted to protest how he didn’t do this, or if he did, he had no memory. No reason. He wanted a lawyer, a phone call; he needed to speak to Duncan Jasper, that’s what he needed!

  But that wasn’t what he said at all.

  “I’m coming for her. I’m not going to stop. Duncan needs to stop me.”

  Ron blinked his eyes. Why the hell had he said that? That’s not what he meant. That’s not what he wanted to say.

  They pulled Ron up to his feet. “Sir, you better stop talking.”

  “Read him his rights already so we can use whatever he says, will you?”

  “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say…”

  Ron stared up at the bright lights shining down from the ceiling with tears streaming down his face. Why had he said that? Why? He wasn’t coming for anyone that wasn’t a demon. Why couldn’t he say what he really wanted to say!

  His mind flashed back to the moment Jessica had slammed him against the wall. Her eyes shone a deep red that had matched the red curls flowing down her back. Her lip snarled in the way it always had, but the way her head snapped back and forth wasn’t natural. Wasn’t her.

  Jessica had squeezed his throat, a red curl falling in front of her vision. “Listen and remember….”

  Ron had shaken his head and grabbed at her hands. “Jessica…” His voice wheezed and gasped for breath.

  “I’m coming for her,” Jessica snarled with a glint in her eye. Was that a tear? “I’m not going to stop. Duncan needs to stop me. Do you get that, Ron? Can you remember?”

  Ron had nodded with a quick blink. “I’m coming for her…”

  “Yes,” Jessica smiled with satisfaction and let Ron go.

  His legs hadn’t worked and he had fallen into a heap. Jessica had strolled over to the door and Ron had wanted to call out to her. Ask her to stay, say he wanted to help her, but it had
n’t come out the way he wanted.

  “I’m coming for her. I’m not going to stop….”

  1: Duncan Jasper

  No one ever said fighting the forces of evil would be easy, but it had never been this hard.

  Duncan Jasper could find a way out of any situation. His charm and good looks often meant he could talk his way out, but when things turned physical, he did okay then too. But now things were falling apart. Jessica Blood was a servant of evil and Duncan could barely stay ahead of the angry pack of demons.

  They hungered for Amanda. The only thing between her and those vengeful demons was Duncan and the 1966 Chrysler he drove. It had belonged to Daddy Blood, the girl’s father, before he was murdered. Before evil followed their scent every waking moment of every day.

  Duncan Jasper was no man’s hero. No knight, but here he was becoming one, whether he wanted to or not. Amanda needed protection. Had to be saved. He hadn’t been able to protect his own kid sister, but he had to protect this one.

  “Amanda, there’s something we need to tell you. About the demon we have? We have to talk about your Aunt Gwen.”

  Amanda jerked her head toward him. She had been through a rough time, being held prisoner by demons would do that to you, but her face still held beauty. Pixie-like features, from her small lips to her button nose; her face framed with golden red soft curls. The kind that needed to be on the cover of some girly romance novel.

  But her pupils were dilated. Her words slurred together, like she had been on something. The only thing Vaughn would have given her was demon essence drugs. For an empath like Amanda, coming down would be tricky. “Is she alive? Did she find you?” Amanda asked.

  Gunfire from the pursuing vehicles drowned out Duncan’s voice and the ground began to shudder. The earth groaned and a crater opened up in the desert. Duncan’s whole body tensed as he jerked the wheel to avoid falling into it.

  Just when he thought things couldn’t get any worse.

  Heat and flame rose up from the void that blocked their way. Duncan slammed on the gas and the car fishtailed as he drove parallel along the expanding crack. There had to be an ending. There had to be a way around.

  Amanda’s breath labored in a manic rhythm and she gripped her armrest. “She doesn’t want to let us go. We’re never going to get out of here, Duncan.”

  She? Duncan’s heart told him it was Lourdes. The queen of the underworld didn’t like to lose.

  Amanda turned her head and placed her hand on the window. The flames were so high that Duncan felt his own cheeks burning, as if he stood too close to a campfire. He just gritted his teeth as he circled back toward the charging demons.

  “What are we going to do? Duncan!” Amanda’s voice cracked and she shielded her eyes as they raced toward a caravan of demons intent on killing them.

  “Brace yourselves, kids!” From the backseat, Father Mike bent his head, gripped the headrest as the car jarred and muttered an inspired prayer.

  Demons to the front. Flames of the underworld behind them.

  Who said only the good die young?

  Duncan gripped the steering wheel and slid further into the seat. It was time to do this thing. It was time to win. His eyes spied a flat, large rock off in the distance. If he could get to it before the charging demons did, well it was a big risk, like a wing and a prayer. Risks, were what he took. Every day. Duncan Jasper didn’t play by the rules; he hadn’t set out that morning to die.

  He set out to win. No matter the cost. Save Amanda, that’s what he said he would do. No matter what.

  “You’re going to want to hold onto something,” Duncan grabbed a fresh toothpick from his pocket and slid it over his tongue. Here went nothing.

  Jerking the wheel, he took a hard left and hoped the charging demons wouldn’t be able to course correct in time. Spinning, nearly out of control, Duncan gritted his teeth so tight his jaw ached, as every muscle in his body taught and straining as he fought to maintain control of the car.

  “C’mon, C’mon!” He muttered more to himself than anything, but his friends were counting on him. Duncan had let people down enough in his life—starting right from the very beginning. He had to get this right.

  They caught the rock right at the angle he’d planned. Boom—the car sailed through the air and over the roaring flames that were so desperate to encircle them. Box them in, but nothing that day would box in the six-hundred horsepower of raw Detroit power this day.

  With a thud, they landed and bounced hard. Beside him he saw Amanda slam her head into the roof and Father Mike said something very un-priest-like in the back seat. The car slewed across the desert sand like a cat on ice; when Duncan finally regained control he found himself driving right into a demon gang on bikes.

  “You’re going to want to take out those demons, Mike!” Duncan said out the side of his mouth.

  Mike rolled down his window and lodged his AK-47 through the open space. “I’m on it.”

  It was only a couple dozen demons, but enough to make your day go from bad to worse. As the thunder of the approaching Harleys reached a crescendo the clouds above parted.

  And it was all punctuated by Mike’s gunfire.

  A bright light passed overhead, like sun cutting through a foggy day, but this light was harnessed, intense; a spotlight being channeled through a magnifying glass, it glinted brightly off the charging bikes.

  “Hit it, Duncan!” Father Mike gripped the headrest in front of him.

  Duncan licked his lips, wrapped his fingers around the gear shift and put the pedal to the metal. The tires cut loose and like a bat out of hell, the Blood family car charged forward, dust and exhaust trailing in an angry cloud.

  Amanda gripped the armrest of her door and turned, peering out the window. Duncan didn’t have such luxury. He examined ahead and kept the wheel steady as the car bounced over the uneven terrain. He just hoped the old girl could hold it together. She wasn’t built for this and now, with Jessica gone, it was his responsibility, right?

  Take care of Amanda. Take care of the family car. Had responsibility ever weighed so heavily on his heart? “It’s not over,” Amanda swallowed hard. “Duncan—.”

  The sound behind them drowned her out. The earth hollowed out and collapsed on itself, a crater had grown and it charged—right behind the car, it pursued as if it had a mind of its own and it probably did.

  Sent by Lourdes to send them crashing into the underworld.

  Father Mike made the sign of the cross and Duncan glanced back at him. “Is that all you have?” So much for priests having an open line direct to God. Open 24/7 a day, right?

  “No weapon can stop what is happening back there. Can you get this thing to go any faster?”

  “Without melting the engine?” Duncan shook his head. “Not damn likely!”

  The ground disappeared beneath one of the rear tires and the car buckled. Amanda flinched and grabbed onto the dashboard. A terrified sob escaped her lips. There was pure terror on her pale face and Duncan’s own heart matched that in speed. She had been in tough situations before; most of her life had been one fight after another. But this?

  This was on a whole new scale of crazy.

  Jessica was gone. Damn no, Duncan couldn’t think about it yet. Had to remain in control. Objective. Couldn’t they catch a break?

  He wasn’t going without a fight. The tachometer approached eight-thousand RPM and he slipped the shifter into third gear. The tires broke free and the car fishtailed, slipping out of the trailing crevasse. The engine fell deep into its power band and the speedometer buried at a hundred and fifty miles per-hour.

  “That’s more like it,” Mike called from the back seat as they pulled away from the pursuing hellfire.

  Judging by the tach Duncan guessed he was nearing two-hundred miles per-hour. At these speeds the old ’66 felt like it was floating over the desert. It felt like a rocket, but he knew at these speeds on the loose desert floor he was one errant rut or rock from killing them all.
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  Even so, it was working, they were pulling away from their pursuers. Still, Amanda struggled with tears, or maybe all the emotion was just too much for her. Duncan wasn’t sure, but she gulped for air. Her face turned a pale blue.

  “Mandy,” Duncan called out in alarm, but couldn’t take his eyes off the road.

  Her fingernails dug into the dashboard. “There’s something new here. It wasn’t here before.” Amanda shook her head, the sound of gurgling vomit rising in her throat.

  Could it be the drugs? Or something even worse than that?

  A motorcycle approached from the right; it tried to force them around into the crater. It buzzed like a chainsaw and the rider lay low against the bike, gripping her handlebars. All decked out in silver leather, it was a woman with dreadlocks running along the back of her head.

  Her face would be decorated with a red spiral tattoo. Duncan didn’t need to see it to know. He only knew one human woman with a fondness for silver leather and dreads. She called herself Vain and if he said her name out loud, he might choke on it.

  Time was catching up with him.

  Vain and her fondness for demons. Vain and her hatred for Duncan, but he couldn’t die today. Not until he could get Amanda to safety, so Duncan fought back, swerving his car toward Vain’s bike. She moved away, but turned her head with a coy smile so he could see it.

  So he would know she had found him, but she would have to wait another day to collect her retribution. Duncan couldn’t let this be the end.

  They were racing toward the city limits. With the Earth crumbling all around them, with demons charging after them, entering wouldn’t just be suicide; it’d be the murder of innocent civilians. He gripped the wheel harder, held his breath, his mind spinning. Looking for a solution.

  A way out.

  He gazed at Amanda and the fear she had on her face. “I’m sorry,” Duncan whispered. Already he had failed. He had to protect her, but he couldn’t risk the lives of everyone in that city.

  “Slow the car,” Amanda said and when Duncan didn’t immediately respond, she said it with more force. “I said to slow the car, Duncan!”