Blood Debt (The Blood Sisters Book 2) Read Free Page B

took up the approach. Even though she was tired and her legs
wobbled, Amanda outstretched her hand and
continued.
    The
angel, who was once Vaughn’s prisoner, stood tall, elegant, and grand. Her
hands clasped, perfect posture and her hair glowed like a flowing river behind
her. Her white robe was cinched with a golden rope and her white feathered
wings, like those of an eagle, folded simply behind her as if an elegant train.
    What
would others think of the angel if they saw her?   Amanda only felt spellbound.
    “Others
cannot see me as the three of you see me. For they don’t believe. You may call
me Mariam,” The angel extended her hand to Amanda. Her perfect fingers splayed, with smooth round nails and Amanda was
mystified as she touched them.
    So soft,
gentle and smooth. Like they had never known hardship, but Amanda knew the
truth. She knew what cracks splintered Mariam inside.
    “For what
you did back there for Amanda, and just now for us, thank you.” Father Mike’s
voice softened and for a brief moment, Amanda felt his absolute awe. Like he’d go down on bended knee if the alley
wasn’t so filthy.
    “I did
what I could, but the fight is coming.” She gazed past Amanda at Duncan. “You
will carry the biggest burden of all. Carrying Amanda and rescuing Jessica from
the underworld, won’t be easy. She’s on the move and Lourdes will make sure she
doesn’t sit still. That would make Jessica vulnerable. To find her, you will
need to anticipate her next step.”
    Duncan
shifted his weight from one foot to the other, his eyes cast down. There was so
much sorrow in the alley, that Amanda felt stifled. Thick and heavy like a
blanket, it weighed them all down.
    Mariam
stiffened as she seemed to even stand taller. “Jessica fought against the
underworld’s wishes and for that, she
will be punished. You can’t expect her to continue to resist. She is only human
and it cannot be held against her. Make sure that is not part of your plan, or
surely you will die.”
    A slight
hissing noise came from Duncan as he swallowed back hard. “Well, you’re all
sunlight and roses.”
    “A
realist. An angel stuck on Earth this long, I don’t have a choice to be
anything else.”
    “What
happened back there?” Mike asked. “What Lourdes did, those fissures? The Earth ravaged with the underworld’s flame?
There are supposed to be limits to her
power.”
    “ Indeed, there are, Michael Mortensen,” Miriam
glided across the surface. “but those rules, those limits, have now changed.
Lourdes has taken a human as the commander of her army. That human created a
rip in the veil between the underworld and Earth. Lourdes’ power is growing.
Things are changing. Soon, the Earth might not be protected any longer from the
flames of hell.
    “And
Lourdes will use those powers of hell to her advantage. To get Amanda. Her
blood has the power to throw those doors wide open. Lourdes, I fear, wants
domain over it all. Hell. Earth. Maybe even Heaven.”
    Amanda
bristled as a wave of intense fear washed over her. She knew that the
underworld was filled with torture and lower level demons, but hell, that’s
where the real beasts dwelt. It was there Satan roamed, with monsters the size
of buildings. She had dreamt of such a place before and she had no desire to
ever see it in person.
    “We’ll do
what we can, but we’re three humans. Three.” Duncan held up his fingers. “What
can we do that the angels of heaven can’t? We’re going to need some help down
here.”
    “Duncan.”
Mike’s eyes narrowed and he grew cross. Very cross. Amanda hadn’t felt such a
strong surge of negative emotion from a human since she last saw Jessica—before
she was taken to Lourdes.
    Miriam
held up her hand. “You must understand, I’m a fallen angel.” She said the words
as if she loathed them, and for the first time broke eye contact. “Vaughn, the
demon, charmed me. I knew he was a demon and still, I fell from heaven for him.
His dark beauty