Amanda’s bones were jumping, she needed to stretch her legs and she’d seen a soda machine by the front office when they checked in. She crept outside where a light rain drizzled down. Amanda kept under the canopy to keep dry and skulked the outer rim toward the flashing VACANCY sign. Sliding her coin purse open, Amanda took out five quarters and dispensed them into the soda machine one at a time. The cola button lit up. She bent over to retrieve the can of soda after it clinked to the bottom. She pulled back the tab with a snap and enjoyed the refreshing bubbles trickling down her throat. When someone behind her coughed, Amanda spun and nearly spat out her soda. It was the front clerk guy—unshaven and in a flannel shirt that stretched across his beer belly. Amanda choked down her soda. “Hello. Thirsty.” Nervous laughter flittered out as the carbonated bubbles tickled her nose. Amanda spun the can in her hand to show him. “Sure,” he twirled a toothpick in his mouth and Amanda’s heart panged as she thought of Duncan. “You can afford that soda, but not the rooms. Your credit card came back declined. So either you give me another form of payment, or you guys clear out tonight.” Tonight? Jessica needed sleep. They couldn’t clear out. They just couldn’t. “I…we’ll get you the money, okay? I promise. I never break a promise.” He shook his head with a snort and the heavy aroma of beer drifted off him. “Can’t take a promise to the bank, sweetheart. You’re out. Fifteen minutes or I call the cops.” “Please!” Amanda chased after him as he headed back to the office. “My sister really can’t go another night without sleep. Have a heart! I’ll send you the money. Even a little extra if you just—.” “That is my being generous, princess. You’re lucky the cops haven’t thrown you out on your asses yet.” He pushed the office door open and Amanda followed him inside. Sweetheart. Princess. Who did this guy think he was? Amanda grabbed his arm and tore the toothpick from his mouth. His eyes widened as she tossed it to the ground. “You’re going to let us stay the night. We’ll clear out first thing in the morning. I promise you.” “Who the hell do you think you are?” He gripped the front of her shirt and yanked her forward. Amanda yelped and thought to retort the queen of hell, but she really didn’t want to be the queen. She didn’t say anything, but her vision spun. Her own breath echoed in her ears as a vision of a little boy appeared in her mind. He was cowering in the corner and crying. A big man in a white beater shirt wielded a wide wooden plank against the boy’s hide. Despair and grief washed over Amanda and she let the man’s arm go. Everyone had their own pain. He backed away from her and slammed into the cluttered front desk. “You some sort of angel or something?” Amanda shrugged. “Let’s go with the ‘or something’.”
Lourdes has been slain and the new queen of the underworld has been chosen.
It was the day the Blood sisters had been striving for. The day where they would be free of Lourdes and could go back to living normal lives, but with the underworld’s throne empty, the Earth plunges into chaos.
Rivers turn black, demons run amok, with more chaos is about to be unleashed. All the while demon hunter, Duncan Jasper, is prisoner of the enemy. Jessica will stop at nothing to free him from Vain, a bounty hunter who trades in the lives of humans.
Getting into her stronghold won’t be easy, and Vain will be expecting a fight, but what she won’t be expecting is Jessica’s secret weapon. The newly crowned queen of the underworld, her very own sister.
Jessica hopes Amanda can resist the dark magic now surging through her veins long enough for a special artifact—The Ruby Heart—to be found, the one thing that can purify Amanda’s heart and break the awful curse.
But Amanda has other plans. If she sacrifices herself to the underworld, she hopes to do one better. Kill the demons from the inside and free the trapped souls being tormented for an eternity.
One way or another, it will surely come to sister vs sister in a full-scale war.
All in the name of Blood.
Blood Lust is FREE September 21 – 24
Blood Debt Book 2
Blood Sacrifice Book 3
About Jill Cooper –
I could write this in the third person. I could tell you what I like, where I was born, and what my favorite things are.
But instead, I’ll say I don’t want to write like everyone else. I don’t want to craft stories you’ve read a thousand times before. I want my novels to be a cinematic experience, blending themes, genres, and situations unlike any you’ve ever read.
I want to break the rules. I want you to break out in a cold sweat as you read my books out of fear, love, and excitement. I want my books to be an experience. When you finish, I want you to feel something. Good or bad.
If you do, then I’ll have succeeded. If not, I’ll keep trying.
She can be contacted at http://www.jillacooper.com and please like her to keep up to date: Facebook
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