Blood Sacrifice (The Blood Sisters Book 3) by Jill Cooper Read Free Book Online Page A

left
foot, and then on his right. The room was spinning and his forehead felt as if
it took a dip of lava. Duncan leaned on the spanking bench for a brief second
and gazed at Vain’s face.
    Her
lips were pursed together as if he were a tasty ice cream cone on a hot summer
day, but her face separated into many clones. They swirled in his vision like a
kaleidoscope. Duncan didn’t know what was happening to him, but his arms were
shaking.
    Something
had poisoned him. Her fingernails? Her kiss?
    “A
little of both actually,” Vain said as if he’d said it out loud, but had he?
Maybe he had said something.
    Duncan
tried to walk, but he tripped and fell at the foot of the bed. He clawed at the
mattress and pulled himself up. “I just need…. a minute…”
    “You
think I don’t know when a man is trying to play me, Jasper?” She approached and
in her hand, a riding crop, but this one had steel welts along the paddle. He
was pretty sure it had his name on it.
    Vain knew he was up to something and was going
to make him pay.
    Duncan’s
cheek rested against the bed’s black lace bedding. “Wait…let me…explain.” His
words slurred together. He knew what he needed to say, so why didn’t he say it?
The poison was playing games with his mind.
    Vain
stood over him with her legs spread wide. She grabbed his arm and rolled him
over until his head thumped to the floor. “Truth serum, partially. You’ll tell
me things you never would before and now you’ll be susceptible to suggestion,
dear boy. You’ll see and hear whatever I want.”
    She
knelt down on his torso, her fingers dancing down his naked pelvis. “Right now
what I want is you.” Vain blew against
his lips and Duncan shuddered as if a draft blew against him.
    “
Now things are going to get really fun,” Vain said. She grabbed a red wig from
the dresser and put it on. She was careful to tuck her dreads beneath it.
    When
she turned to him, for a second Duncan thought she looked like Jessica, but it
was a lie. A trick and it was never more obvious to him how childlike Vain
really was. Not in a sweet and innocent way, far from it, but Vain really
wanted love. His acceptance. She just went about it all wrong.
    Vain
ran her fingernails along his torso. “Whisper my name, lover. Tell me who you
see.”
    Duncan
chuckled, even as the pain of his broken rib burned beneath his skin. “You’ll
never be half the woman Jessica is,” he whispered.
    She
snarled and struck his cheek. “Clearly this is going to take more work than I
expected.” Vain rolled the tube of lip gloss in her hand. Inside the tube,
transparent gel glittered with gold specks. “But don’t worry, Jasper.” Bent
over, her hot lips touched his. Her breath was sweet as watermelon, but beneath
that was something much worse.
    “I
have time,” Vain snarled. “You’re not going anywhere.”
     

Chapter Six: Jessica
     
    The morning brought a feeling of
restfulness, something Jessica barely remembered, but as they gathered their
things and loaded up the car, Jessica noticed Amanda held herself more rigidly
than usual. She kept tucking her flowing locks behind her ears as if she
jittered with nerves. Something she hadn’t done since they were teens.
    Joseph was quiet during checkout
and at breakfast. Jessica couldn’t believe that the guy at the front desk was
going to let them go. There was no way that their credit card went through.
    Once safe behind the wheel of the
car, Jessica asked her about it. Amanda giggled nervously. “I guess luck is on
our side.”
    “Luck is never on our side,”
Jessica reminded her. “Is there a reason why you’re so giggly?”
    “Just ready to get this show on the
road. It’s put me in a good mood, okay?” Amanda’s voice rose in defense.
    “Hmm,” Jessica smirked. Maybe
that’s all it was. Maybe she was just nervous about this queen of the
underworld thing, but if that’s all it was, Jessica wished Amanda would say so.
None of that explained the