Page 48 of Illusory

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 usingit 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 anon-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 meandmy 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 beeaten aliveby 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.

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