Page 15 of Illusory (The Marked Saga #8)

The setting sun dipped below the horizon, painting the late November sky with deep hues of amber and plum as I pulled out of my driveway and sped off toward Ben’s house. I’d been anxious to get this road trip started the second I’d hung up with Ben, hoping against all odds that we’d be able to track down Trace’s aunt or cousin and somehow convince one of them to help us.

And I’d truly had every intention of doing exactly that, evidenced by the plethora of road trip snacks in the backseat of my Audi—courtesy of my increasingly convenient chef. But then it happened again.

The sickness.

The irritating, unrelenting urge to go see Nikki assaulted me all over as my car grounded to a screeching halt in the middle of the road. It took me a few seconds to realize that there wasn’t anything wrong with my car other than the fact that I was pressing down on the brake pedal like my life depended on it.

And pressing.

And pressing.

And pressing still.

I groaned and then dropped my head forward, knocking my forehead against the steering wheel a few times, as though it might help knock some sense back into my head.

Why was this happening to me ?

Apparently, it didn’t matter that I despised Nikki Parker with every fiber of my being or that I actively looked forward to dancing on the bitch’s grave someday. It didn’t matter that I didn’t want to see her, or talk to her, or even know her for that matter. Something deeper than my hatred of her was keeping my foot pressed down on the brake pedal. Because this wasn’t about her at all.

It was about the baby.

For weeks, all I’d heard from everyone was that this baby was evil personified, that he was prophesized to be the harbinger of the end of days, and that it was my duty to make sure he never saw the light of day. And yet, I couldn’t seem to accept that script no matter how hard I had tried to make it fit. Because it didn’t fit.

In fact, it went against everything I stood for as a person.

Stabbing first and asking questions later? That had never been me. It just wasn’t part of my makeup. I’d always believed that we were all born with a blank slate. That none of us were inherently good or evil. That the monsters among us were created over time, through circumstance and environment, and most of all, through choices.

Because believing anything other than that meant that I’d have to believe that people were irredeemable. That we weren’t autonomous and empowered and free to carve out our own path in life. That we were merely puppets on a string that could never be severed. And that was something I would never accept.

Because it was a boldfaced lie, and I was living proof of that.

Once upon a time, the Order had spewed the same horror stories about me and had tried to end my life solely on the premise of what ifs and maybes . And I had no doubt they would’ve tried to eliminate me much sooner had my parents not did everything in their power to keep me hidden from this world.

Didn’t this baby deserve that same protection? That same benefit of the doubt? Didn’t he deserve a chance to grow up and decide what and who he wanted to be? Wasn’t he exactly the same as me, right down to our matching paternal bloodline?

And yeah, maybe one day he would turn dark and become all the things they said he would be, and I’d have no choice but to cross that bridge and face him, but right now, he was nothing more than an innocent baby who hadn’t even taken his first breath yet let alone done anything that could constitute as evil.

The more I ruminated on it, the more I allowed myself to openly think about all the things I’d been harboring deep down inside, the more everything clicked into place and the lesser the painful pressure in my chest began to feel.

Grasping the steering wheel, I made an abrupt U-turn and then veered onto the street that would take me to Nikki’s neighborhood. I was finally sure of what I was going to do—of what I needed to do.

I had absolutely no intention of harming a hair on that baby’s head and I knew that now. Screw the Council and the Horsemen and their prophecies of death. Screw their manipulations and puppeteering of every one of our lives. Screw their laws and their rules and their bloodshed. This wasn’t my war, and I refused to be complicit in any of it.

But I couldn’t just walk away from it all either. Not when I had information that could not only save the baby’s life, but maybe even change the entire course of it.

I had to warn Nikki about what Morgan saw in her vision—about what the Roderick sisters planned to do to her unborn child. About what the Order wanted done to him. Surely, she would get out of town and do everything in her power to protect the baby. She may have been a rotten witch to her core, but she was still his mother, and mothers were supposed to protect their children at all costs.

Pulling up to her house, I killed the engine and shot Ben a quick text letting him know I was making a pitstop and that I would be about fifteen minutes late. I figured that would give me plenty of time to say what I needed to say to her and then be done with the whole thing. Providing she didn’t throw me off her property the second I got there; in which case the visit would wind up being even shorter than anticipated.

A cold gust of wind slammed up against me as I stepped out of my car and started toward her walkway, the chill bleeding in through my clothes and snaking up my limbs like a serpent. Zipping up my coat, I buried my hands in the front pockets and shivered. But it wasn’t just the weather that was making me shake all over.

Nikki’s massive one-story glass mansion was hemorrhaging shadows and looked as though it had been abandoned for months even though I knew that it hadn’t. The lawn appeared unkept and overgrown and there were thick, prickly vines twisting over the white bricks that I was certain were not there that last time I’d been there. It all seemed very emblematic, like the house was being consumed by the same darkness that was currently feasting on Nikki.

Despite my apprehension, I forced my feet to keep moving, knowing that I couldn’t just walk away from this without saying my piece and at the very least trying to warn her. I kept that thought at the forefront of my mind until I finally reached the front door and then leaned forward to ring the doorbell.

The wind picked up its torrent, tossing strands of my hair around my face as the seconds ticked by with no sign of life inside. The longer I waited for her to answer, the higher my anxiety climbed.

What if I was too late? What if the sisters had already gotten to her? What if the baby had already been cursed with their ancient magic and everything that was prophesized was already set in motion? What if—

My spiraling thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the front door creaking open.

Finally , I thought as my lips parted to greet her, except there was no Nikki to be found. In fact, there was no one standing there at all.

Terrific . Just what I needed today. Hide-and-seek with my archnemesis.

“Hello?” I called out, still standing on the front porch as I unzipped my coat and reached inside to unsheathe the Sword of Angelus. I had no idea what was going on, but one thing I knew for sure, my nifty little dagger could vanquish just about anything, living or dead. “I’m just here to talk.”

No response. Because that wasn’t suspicious as all heck.

“Alright, I’ll take the bait,” I said as I tightened my grip around the hilt of my blade and then pushed the door open before stepping into the house. The front door slammed shut behind me so abruptly that it nearly took my arm off with it in the process. I stumbled forward a few steps before catching myself.

“Motherfu—” My curse died at the back of my mouth as three Revenants surrounded me in the foyer, including the one that had slammed the door shut behind me, flanked by four red-eyed, snarling beast-like creatures that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.

Hellhounds .

Fucking terrific.

Though I’d never actually seen one in real life, I’d read plenty about them when I first started training with Gabriel at Temple last year and I had no doubt that I was standing in their midst. They could almost pass for dogs—albeit demonic ones—if it weren’t for their coarse rippling fur and those sinewy hunches protruding from their spines that came up almost as high as their heads. They reeked of rot and malice, and it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on edge.

“So, I take it Nikki’s not home?” My gaze flicked between the beastly creatures and the three Revenants, noting the latter’s voracious pitch-black eyes and elongated fangs. They were obviously starving and had probably been left here in this state on purpose. A parting gift from the Roderick sisters, no doubt.

“Did she happen to say when she’d be back?” I asked conversationally as I canvassed all available exits, trying to gauge the quickest way out of this obvious trap.

Unfortunately, I was completely locked in with all possible escape routes blocked by the advancing Revenants and their pack of hellhounds.

There was only one way out of here and I really didn’t like my odds.

“Anyone?” I pressed when neither of the Revenants responded to me other than nodding at each other as they continued their calculated advance. It was obvious then that these weren’t feral Revenants. They had control of themselves, and they had a plan. All of which was very bad news for me.

Clasping the sword with one hand, I threw my other hand up in front of me to call up my magic in the hopes of stopping them in their tracks. Unfortunately, that plan went straight to hell when I failed to produce even a flicker of energy. I hadn’t recharged my magic, and I could practically hear Caleb telling me ‘I told you so’.

I needed a new plan, and I needed it fast.

“Well, that was embarrassing,” I said with a coquettish smile and then pounced on the female vampire closing in on me to my right, grabbing her long mahogany hair and using it to yank her in front of me. “How about we give a girl some breathing room, huh? You wouldn’t want me getting all stabby on your lady friend here, would you?” I said, holding the Revenant in front of me like a human shield—or rather a non -human shield—as I pressed the glowing blade against her throat.

If the girl valued her life at all, she certainly wasn’t acting like it with the way she thrashed against my hold. Even as the sharp blade bobbed dangerously close to her jugular. Either she had a serious death wish or she was completely ignorant to what the Sword of Angelus could do. Neither of which were working in my favor.

Frankly, I’d kind of hoped that just the threat of the blade would be enough to scare them off, leaving me with ample space and opportunity to slip through the door and run while I still had a working pulse.

Obviously, that wasn’t going to be happening.

Think, Jemma. Think!

Maybe what they needed was a live demonstration of the sword in action. Surely that would send them running for the hills. Then again, it could also backfire on me in the worst way possible. What if I use the blade on the female and instead of running, the rest of them charge me? I wasn’t sure I was quick enough or strong enough to take them on all at once. I swallowed nervously as my options dwindled down to a steaming hot pile of manure.

It appeared to be a risk I was going to have to take whether I liked it or not.

“Last chance to back out of this,” I warned as I tightened my hold on the writhing Revenant, my closed fist yanking at the roots of her hair. Despite feeling nervous and outmatched, my skin was practically buzzing at the prospect of carving into her with my blade.

Before I could follow through on the threat and make an example out of her, the jacked, younger blond Revenant standing across from us kicked off the ground and body slammed himself into me and my shield like he was trying to sack the fucking quarterback.

A guttural groan ripped out of me as the three of us went flying backwards, scrambling to stay upright before landing in a heap of limbs on the floor—with me headlining as the pyramid base.

Shooting pain shot up from my ass to my spine, but I had no time to wallow in it. Both Revenants were on me already with the female straddling my waist while she and the Linebacker pinned both my arms down to my sides.

This had just gone from bad to worse, but I knew I couldn’t panic. Not yet. I still had the blade clasped tightly in my hand. All I needed to do was coax them into going for the sword, knowing it would spark a primal response in me. That I would protect the sword at all costs, even if I didn’t want to.

“I’m really…flattered…that you feel so comfortable around me…so soon,” I grunted choppily as I tried to shift my wrist enough to wiggle the blade and catch their attention. “But you guys are really not my type.”

Neither one moved to disarm me which either meant they already knew they had the upper hand one me, or they did know about the sword after all. Instead, they went for my coat, grabbing at the lapels and then the sleeves before all but ripping the thing off of me.

“I mean, if we’re being completely honest with each other, threesomes really aren’t my thing.”

A fist hammered down against my jaw and then another one as I stamped my mouth shut and swallowed down the pain. The taste of dirty pennies filled my mouth, and I swallowed that down too.

With my upper body all but nailed to the ground, I used the only thing I had left and kicked my legs up, ramming my knee into the female Revenant’s back as hard as I could muster from that angle. Bone-crunching pain immediately exploded from my ankle as something grabbed a hold of my leg and stopped me from getting another hit in. I didn’t need to look to know that one of the hellhounds had just taken a bite out of me.

Another blow crashed against the apple of my cheek and my vision strained.

Don’t you dare blackout right now , I screamed inwardly, commanding myself not to lose consciousness. I needed to stay awake—to suffer through the pain at all costs—or I was as good as dead.

Another closed fist hammered down into my face and my head whipped to the side as a mouthful of blood sputtered out across the floor. Growls erupted all around me as the ambrosia of my blood filled the air, spurring the bloodsuckers into an all-out frenzy.

Panic coiled in my chest as the reality of my situation crashed down on me like an anvil falling out of the sky. I was literally going to be eaten alive by the seven of them if I didn’t figure out a way to fight back. If I could just get my arm free, I could…

I kicked my free foot out at the hellhound, pounding into its head as it snarled and yowled until it finally let go of my ankle. Planting both my feet on the ground, I anchored myself down and then bucked my hips up with all my might, making Miss Mahagony bounce around on me like she was riding a mechanical bull.

Another closed fist punch landed mercilessly against my cheek, courtesy of the asshole Linebacker, but this time, I used the opening to rip my arm free from their grasp.

And then I struck.

A blur of glowing blue zipped by my face as I swung the sword up between us and then buried the blade into Mahogany Hair’s chest. A shrieking wail ripped from her lungs as she arched her back and then froze midair, the life instantly pouring out from her eyes and her face and then from her body before she slumped forward and collapsed onto my chest.

One down. Six to go.

With my adrenaline still surging from the win, I tossed the dead Revenant off me and then quickly tried to swing the blade up at the Linebacker, but the other Revenant caught my wrist before I could land the hit.

“You’re going to pay handsomely for that.”

His deep, smokey voice sent a slab of ice down the entirety of my back. This one was much taller and leaner than Linebacker. Calmer, yet somehow scarier.

His sharp, chiseled features and fluid movements were almost elegant, and something told me he was the one in charge here. Not just because he was the only one that had actually spoken, but something about his unhurried demeanor and cool confidence separated him from the others.

My gaze fixed on the strange neck tattoo spidering out from under his fitted black shirt. It looked familiar, like some kind of emblem or family crest I’d seen somewhere before. Before I could place it, the familiar sting of something cutting through my skin jolted me out of my thoughts. No. Not something .

Fangs.

I sucked in a breath and then whipped my head around, gasping at the sight of the Linebacker’s mouth pressed against my upper arm—the one still pinned down by my side— feeding on me .

A scream that could wake the dead tore through my lungs as I maniacally tried to jerk my arm free from his hold, but it was futile. Panic and fear coalesced into raw terror as he bit down harder, his nails digging into my flesh as he held my arm like a manacle. I knew that at any second, his venom would be overtaking me, subduing me into a pliant, defenseless corpse if I didn’t find a way to stop him.

I had to do something.

I had to…fight.

To somehow just…keep…fighting…

His poisonous kiss of death filled my veins, lessening my scrimmage to free my arm as Neck Tattoo Guy bit down into my other arm, slicing through my skin as easy as cutting through warm butter. Whatever little remained of my will to fight had left me completely then like a weightless feather caught in a windstorm.

It was over. It had probably been over the second I stepped foot into Nikki’s house. Their coordinated attack had been too fast, their venom too much to stave off.

A fuzzy feeling filled my insides and then skewed my vision as my head swayed from one side to the other, looking helplessly around the room as each Revenant gorged on my blood like it was the sacred route to eternal life.

My lids grew weighty and heavy all at once, the darkness creeping in faster than I could fight it off. This couldn’t be it , I thought. But I knew that it was over. I knew they weren’t going to stop until they had lapped up every last drop of my blood, and I knew that this time, there was no one here to stop them.

Because no one even knew where the hell I was. And even if they did, it was still daylight out.

I’d really gone and fucked it up this time, and worse, I couldn’t even be bothered to be sad, too placated by the Revenants bite to even cry about it.

The black tunnel thickened, crowding out my vision as my breathing grew labored and shallow. I couldn’t remember ever feeling this way before with Dominic. So far away from myself. So empty. So very weak so quickly. I really didn’t like it. Not that it mattered. Judging by the long pause between my lagging heartbeats and the way they were double tagging me, I wouldn’t be feeling this way for long anyway.

Soon, I would be fully drained of my blood, and breath, and life.

A sob locked in my throat as I thought of Trace and Dominic finding me like this. Splayed out. Ruined. Finished. What would they think? Would they hate me for being so reckless with my life? Would they find a way to blame themselves for this? God, I never even got a chance to make things right with them. To tell them how much I loved them with the whole of my heart. To say goodbye to them.

My lids slammed shut as a small, shallow breath sputtered from my lungs as the cavernous darkness rose up to greet me. I’m so close now . I could feel it; feel myself drifting dangerously close to the end, to the edge of nothing and nowhere, though oddly enough, I didn’t feel afraid. Maybe it was because I wasn’t hurting anymore. Because I knew I’d never hurt again. Not them, or myself, or anyone else. It was almost nice to not feel anything at all.

Well, nothing except that tiny little prickle of heat at my back.

How strange …

It would have been a mere fleeting thought, except the prickle of heat grew stronger and hotter until it was almost unbearable before finally exploding into an inferno blazing against my back, searing me as though my skin was being flayed open, breaking me as though my bones were being cracked and ripped apart.

If this was what dying felt like, I had to say, it really sucked the big one.

Suffocating silence befell the room, making me question whether I was even still alive and breathing anymore. The quiet seemed to go on forever before everything around me detonated into undiscernible chaos.

Unable to tear my eyes open, it took me a few seconds to make sense of the noise. The growling and snarling, the screaming and pleading for mercy, the sound of clothes and flesh and muscle ripping. Bone crunching. Bodies crashing. Blood spraying and gurgling. It sounded like carnage at every turn, yet somehow, none of it mine.

I realized then that the two Revenants and their pet hellhounds were no longer pinning me down, draining me, and instead seemed to be fighting for their own lives. But against who? Who had stepped in to save my life? Nobody that cared about me even knew I was here.

If only I could lift my head and look. Unfortunately, the faint flicker of my waning pulse made the feat impossible. Maybe if I just rest for a small second…

A nudge against the bottom of my shoe stirred my consciousness back to life. I wasn’t sure how much time had gone by before the commotion of crashing bodies and pained whimpers finally tapered off, but I knew I wasn’t alone. Someone was still here with me—the someone that had saved me.

I needed to know who had done this.

I needed to thank them for saving my life.

Muscling up every morsel of strength I could muster, I rolled my head to the side and forced my eyes open. My vision blurred at the edges, making me squint and blink until the room finally came into focus.

Lavish satiny blackness filled my sightline, and I blinked a few more times before realizing that I was looking at my wings. It seemed they’d finally decided to make another appearance, though through the mess of fog in my mind, I couldn’t pinpoint exactly when it had happened.

I might have taken a few moments to work out the timeline if my attention hadn’t been quickly diverted elsewhere. More specifically, to the four hellhounds that were waiting at my feet.

They were sitting on their hind legs with their blazing ruby red eyes fixed on me, but for reasons unknown to me, I didn’t feel threatened by them. There was no malice in their gaze anymore, no snarling or baring of teeth. If I didn’t know any better, I’d even go as far as to say they looked almost submissive.

Maybe they thought I was dead? Yes. That had to be it.

Shit . Lay still and keep playing dead!

Except they’d been standing right there when I stirred awake ten seconds ago. Obviously, they knew I wasn’t dead. Holding my breath, I stared back up at them once again, too weak to move a muscle and terrified that if I so much as breathed wrong, whatever miracle had stopped their attack on me would cease to exist and they’d decide to finish what they’d started after all.

My heart nearly jumped out of my chest when one of the hellhounds shuffled forward and then extended both forelimbs as though he were stretching out his muscles or getting ready to lay down. The other three hastened forward and did the same thing, when suddenly, as if operating in unison, the four of them dropped their heads at me in a bizarre gesture that looked a lot like bowing but obviously wasn’t because that would just be absurd.

What in the Devil’s workshop is going on here ?

My gaze skirted to the shredded pieces of Revenant body parts scattered all over the foyer, searching for the person responsible for it. The one who had saved me. But there was no one there but me and the hellhounds. Had they just disappeared into thin air? They must have. That must’ve been why I couldn’t recall hearing anyone come in or leave.

But why? Why would they save me and then disappear?

I looked back at the hellhounds as though they might somehow be able to magically produce answers for me, but they just continued to sit there and stare at me, as though waiting for some kind of command. Unless…had it been them? The hellhounds? Had they saved me?

Jesus, get a fucking grip, Jemma. I practically laughed out loud at myself and probably would have done it had it not been for the vomit-inducing drumbeat rattling on inside my head.

But if not them, then who? And how?

The more I tried to fit the puzzle pieces together, the worse the banging in my head became until the only escape from the pain was to shut my eyes and give in to the exhaustion.