Free Blood Sacrifice (The Blood Sisters Book 3) by Jill Cooper

kiss me like
that—I just—to see what you did. To watch?”
    “I’m
sorry you had to see that. Truly, I am. If I knew you were in the hall, I
would’ve found a way to shoo you away. I’m drawing a bath for us.” Vain kissed
Michelle’s cheek and watched the woman’s cheek redden. “Why don’t you go see if
Kevin is done with the new girl? We can celebrate. Just the three of us. You,
me, and new baby girl.”
    Michelle
bit her lip. “Okay. I’d love that. She’s such a sweet girl.” Michelle hurried
along, her ass jiggling side to side beneath her mini-skirt.
    Hannah
was sweet. Vain hoped she stayed that way awhile longer.
    She
went back and turned off the tub’s faucet. Adding a few drops of magic to the
water, she swirled it with a small paddle. It would make both women open to
suggestion, allow Hannah to relax and do what necessary to get more of Kevin
Loust’s money. Because what Vain wanted, was expensive.
    Power
often was.
    Vain
turned on some soft music in the bedroom and fluffed a few of the pillows. As
she was satisfied that everything looked right, a scream somewhere in the
brothel grabbed her attention. Charging through her bedroom, Vain grabbed her
dagger from the nightstand and hurried into the hall. Girls were standing with
their backs against the wall.
    Had
someone gotten past her hexes and spells?
    “Back
to your clients,” Vain ordered and followed the next scream—a woman’s scream—to
a closed door room. Forcing her way in, Vain held herself defensively at the
sight of Michelle standing over a bed, a broken beer bottle on her hand.
    Her
expression was frozen in shock. Vain grabbed her arm and shook it, “Michelle?
Michelle!”
    Hannah
was in the bed, clutching her breasts and crying. There was blood seeping
between her fingers.
    “Did
you do this to her?” Vain demanded to know, but she knew Michelle wouldn’t hurt
a woman, especially one as sweet and young as Hannah.
    Michelle
shook her head with a quiver in her lip. “He wouldn’t get off her. She was
screaming at him to stop.”
    Kevin?
The target? When had her girls’ become so weak? “That’s our business. We trade
in sexual satisfaction, girls.”
    Hannah
pulled at her hair, as if she couldn’t stand being in her own skin. “You said I
wouldn’t have to. You said….”
    “Spare
me.” Vain gritted her teeth. “Where is Kevin now? Michelle?”
    Michelle
backed up and pointed to the side of the bed. Vain approached and peered over
the mattress. The first thing she saw was a pool of blood. The next was Kevin’s
lifeless eyes staring up at her. His hand clutching the fatal slash along his
throat.
    Kevin
Loust, the high roller of Vegas, was dead.

Chapter Ten: Vain
     
    Dead.
    Vain’s
heart skipped a beat and for the first time, in a long time, she felt fear—and
also real opportunity. “Get Hannah cleaned up and for goodness sakes, get her
to stop crying. Michelle?” Vain stared at
Michelle’s vacant expression. “Did you hear me? Snap out of it.”
    Vain
clapped her hands beneath Michelle’s nose. Michelle’s eyes blinked. “Sure.” She
dropped the shattered beer bottle from her hand. “I didn’t mean to kill him.
She was crying so hard and I couldn’t get him off of her.”
    Vain’s
temper rolled into a slow boil. “That’s a conversation for later. For now, get
Hannah cleaned up and changed. Get her to stop her blubbering.” Vain did an
about face and exited the suite. She shut the door tight and spoke to Alexis
who was leaning up against the wall. Alexis’s eyes were dull and she stifled a
yawn.
    She
was always bored out of the bedroom.
    “We
need a cleaner here. Make sure no one goes in here without my permission. Do
you understand?”
    Alexis
nodded. “Whatever you say, Mistress. It will be done.”
    “Good.”
Vain said. “A few phone calls and we’ll be ready to move.”
    “Move?”
Alexis asked with a tilt of her head.
    “We’re
hitting Vegas. Hard and fast before word of this gets