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

piece of cloth Amanda wore around the palm of her
hand.
    Since when did Amanda need a
bandage, one way or another?
    “You hurt your hand?” Jessica
asked.
    Amanda jumped as the car careened
over a speed bump. “Just…a little. I pierced my skin on the soda machine last
night.”
    “And you can’t heal it?” Jessica
raised an eyebrow.
    “Can you just leave it alone?”
Amanda’s voice was strained. “Please. Just for today.”
    “All right,” Jessica signaled to
turn left toward the homeless shelter they were bringing Joseph to. “I didn’t
mean to upset you.”
    “I’m not upset,” Amanda said, but
her high-pitched squeal of a voice meant
she was on the verge of panic.
    “I would just think if something
was wrong, you could tell me. You did bring me back from the underworld. I’m
here. You’re here. We’re in this together, Mandy.”
    Jessica threw a glance at her
sister, but couldn’t reach her. Amanda was staring out the window, her
expression was vacant. Almost as if she was thinking of something so scary, she
wanted to shut Jessica out.
    To say it scared Jessica was an
understatement. A rush of cold ran up her spine and Jessica shuttered, unable to control herself. “When you want to share, you
let me know,” Jessica said.
    Amanda bit her lip, and gazed out
the door at the rush of buildings as the car whizzed through the city streets.
“Maybe later.”
    Was she nervous about Sin Town? Was
she nervous about the underworld? It wasn’t like Amanda to under share—usually
her problem was the exact opposite.
    After a few more minutes they
arrived at the shelter. Pulling the car over to the curb, Jessica slid the
gearshift into park. She popped the trunk and took out a suitcase to give to
Joseph. He was eager to get out of the car, and, with the tone Amanda set that
morning, Jessica didn’t blame him.
    “You’re sure about this?” Joseph
asked once they stood at the rear of the car. Jessica fished luggage from the
trunk amid a clank of weapons and armory .
    Jessica placed the suitcase on the
pavement. “It’s for your own safety. I know you probably need a crash course in
current events, and I’m sorry we don’t have time to give it to you. But there’s
some money in there. Get a basic job, work your way up. My number is in there.
In a few weeks, call. If we’re not dead, we’ll help set you up somewhere
nicer.”
    “You’ve already done too much, but
I can help you. Repay my debt.” Joseph glanced around, leaned in close enough
so Jessica could smell the bacon on his breath. “Vaughn possessed me for a
thousand years. His knowledge has merged with mine. I can help you in Sin Town.
I know I can.”
    “You don’t know anything.”
Jessica’s voice edged like a razor. “And you know it. Get out of here before we
get you killed.”
    Joseph sighed and his shoulders
rounded. He wanted to belong somewhere, Jessica got that, but it wasn’t with
them. Couldn’t be. Look where it had landed Duncan.
    “She’s right.” Amanda’s voice rang
out strong as she crept behind him. “Our fight is dangerous and it’s only going
to get worse. So go, and in a few weeks, Jessica will come help you when she
can.”
    Jessica’s eyebrows furrowed
together. Why not, ‘we will come’? Was Amanda becoming fatalistic on her? They
weren’t giving up. Never had and never would.
    Amanda turned her back and headed
toward the car. She barely even said goodbye to Joe, someone she had been so desperate to help—to save. Everything had
changed once Lourdes was slain.
    Everything.
    “It’s a bad week for her, I guess.”
Jessica’s voice softened. “I’m sorry, Joe.” Jessica shook his hand. “Be safe
and… stick with the cover story. You’re thirty years old, down on your luck.
Lost your job in the recession. No one will bat an eye.”
    He smiled his thanks before he
picked up his suitcase. With a deep breath, Jessica watched him go. She waited
until he reached the front door before sliding back