Page 53 of Illusory

Of course, I didn’t, but I really fucking wanted to.

He shifted on his foot but didn’t move after that. “You were saying?”

“Right,” I started and then promptly dropped my eyes, feeling the lick of shame nipping at my heels again. “Well, like I said, Nikki wasn’t there, but I’m pretty sure the Roderick sisters knew I was coming and decided to leave me a parting gift for my efforts.” I glanced up at Dominic.

“Revenants?” he guessed.

“Three of them along with their pet Hellhounds.”

His jaw tensed into steel.

“Woah. Hellhounds?” rasped Caleb and then ran his hand through his already messed up hair like he was struggling to absorb the information.

“Are you sure that’s what you saw?” asked Gabriel, his eyebrows pinched as he dropped his arm to his lap and left itthere. “Could they have been regular dogs?”

“Sure…if you know of any dogs with hunched backs and glowing red eyes.” My eyes drifted to Dominic again. His expression remained indifferent, like we were discussing what to order for lunch tomorrow.

“And how many did you say there were?” asked Gabriel, drawing my attention back to him.

“Four.”

His perturbed expression deepened, like I’d just told him I’d just solved the theory of dark matter. Like the words that were coming out of my mouth were impossible.

“And you fought them all? Four Hellhounds and three Revenants?” he went on and then exchanged a look with Tessa before I could clarify anything. It was never a good sign when he did that.

Something was up.

“What aren’t you saying? Why are you acting like it’s impossible?” I asked, suddenly feeling offended, curious, and suspicious all at once. I mean, sure, technically I didn’t fight them all, and I certainly didn’t defeat them. I was as good as dead had it not been for, well, whatever the hell happened back there. Buthedidn’t know that yet.

My gaze slid to Dominic again, searching his eyes for some kind of reaction, some kind of recognition of the man I loved. But still, I got nothing.

“It’s just that Hellhounds have always been believed to be in another class altogether. Bestingoneof them is one thing, though there aren’t many records of it happening. But four of them.” Gabriel started to shake his head as though he couldn’t stand to have the absurd thought in his head for a second longer. “Rumor has it that once they’ve made you their mark, they don’t stop until the job is done, and if one gets taken out, another quickly replaces it.”

Ice-cold terror shot down my back. What in the name of Unsolved Mysteries happened back there? If what he was saying was true, then it was essentially impossible that some unknown person blipped in to save me and then disappeared before I could thank them. Which, now that I was out of danger and back in my right mind, sounded utterly ridiculous the more I thought about it.

But if some random person didn’t swoop in to save me, then that could only mean one thing.

The Hellhounds did. And then…they let me go.

But why? Why would a pack of Hellhounds go from mauling me one minute, to saving my life the next? Why would they let me walk away from that ambush when everything everyone knew about them said that wasn’t possible. That they never left unfinished business.

Something dark and disturbing slithered just below the surface of my awareness, making my heart race and my stomach twist with knots. Biting my swollen lip, I looked up and met Dominic’s eyes again. His own were slightly narrowed and trained on me as though he were hard at work decoding some puzzle hidden in my eyes.

“So, does that mean they’re going to come for her again?” asked Tessa, stealing my attention again.

I wanted to ease her mind and tell her that they weren’t coming. That they had seen something so dark and corroded in me that they decided I should instead be spared. But I couldn’t get my lips to move anymore. I couldn’t stomach the looks of fear and confusion and disgust that would inevitably come once I told them what really happened.

“It’s hard to say,” answered Gabriel, though his eyes were still trained on me. “How exactly did you vanquish them? I assume you used the sword on all four?” he asked, searching my face for clues. Digging deeper and deeper in his quest tounearth the truth.

I wanted to answer him; to tell him the lie he needed to hear to drop the whole thing, but it was as though my tongue had been glued to the roof of my mouth.

“Jemma?” he prompted.

“Of course she did,” answered Dominic, his voice reaching out across the room to caress me. “She doesn’t go anywhere without it. Isn’t that right, angel?” he said, nodding into it as if coaxing me to follow suit.

Unable to look away from him, I simply nodded.

“There you have it.” A small lopsided smile curled across his lips, making my heart dance in my chest again. Making me feel as though I could finally breathe again at just the sight of it.

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