by Holly Hook
And I let the rage—my rage—fly.
A tiny hole of distraction has opened in Li's shield, and I pierce it, going straight to the impulses in Li's twisted, power-hungry mind. I stab with all my might, and she stiffens, taking her fangs from Lily's neck, and straightening enough for Mike Rivera to strike her in the face with the chair.
“Take me, you bitch,” he growls as she falls back.
I don't let go. The hole opens further, and Lily rolls away, cradling her neck. I keep Li still, seizing her, keeping her there as Lily's father wraps his hands around her throat. But the foreign rage returns, and I turn away, facing Stella. She's doing nothing. Neither are the men on the lower podiums. They need to be eliminated—
Arms wrap around me from behind, and I go down to the floor, meeting concrete. My vision flashes yellow and then dims, making everything dark and distant. The sounds of the fight fade into the background. Riley punches another Trueblood. Walton keeps holding his own. And Lily seethes from pain.
Zaza appears above me, holding a long, wicked kitchen knife stolen from a worker.
“You're not getting out of here alive,” she hisses, lowering the knife to the back of my neck.
I can’t get up. I blink, and colors keep exploding. Cold sharpness slides against my neck—
The lounge door bursts open.
The curtain of filmy darkness retreats as more people burst through, joining the fray.
Dominic Beaumont, holding a long, ornate sword. Addie Beaumont. Other members of the exiled coven. They pour in, fanning out behind the High Council.
Zaza removes the knife. She straightens in shock.
Stella gasps and Enrico whirls.
Mike pauses, still on top of Li.
Riley and Walton stop fighting and whirl, and everyone else goes still.
And Dad, wearing a bulletproof vest and a snarl so severe it could melt steel, bursts through the door last.
They're storming the Convening.
I throw Zaza off with panic, confusion, and a flood of anger.
“Stop!” Dad shouts, lifting a pistol in one hand. “All of you. Stop! We know who the first Nightside is, and we're here to stop the overthrow of the High Council!”
Li rises, shoving Mike back, and yanks the knife from her back, not wincing from the pain. “Kill them,” she orders, eyes widening in panic.
Huh?
What the hell is going on?
I push myself up so I’m standing. Around me, the fighting slows and stops as everyone stands there, stunned.
“Duke Carrington, the first Nightside, is in this room, and he planned to use us all to overthrow the High Council,” Dad shouts. “Any anonymous notes came from him. And he's disguised as a woman.” He points to Trish. “Why don't you stop being a coward and hiding behind everyone else, and fight like a real man?”
CHAPTER TWENTY
I whirl to face Trish.
Trish stands there, holding a chair like a shield, her eyes widening as every gaze in the room falls on her. Riley blinks at her as he backs away from the Trueblood man he's been fighting. He has a scratch down the side of his face, and blood stains his suit cuff, but he's otherwise unhurt. Riley is still alive.
And in the background, Mike lifts Lily, wrapping his arms around her. She gasps, weak, but she's alive, too.
But I have no time for relief.
“Why don't you show yourself?” Dad shouts, still standing beside Dominic.
They're working together.
They've joined forces against a common enemy.
How the hell?
“Yes, Carrington,” Dominic says, emerging from behind Ursala's podium. He faces Trish head on. “That's probably your best disguise, I have to admit. You fooled even me. But hiding behind a young Nightside girl to meet your ends didn’t work in the end. My former servant saw the truth, so you were never that powerful, were you?” He smiles at her, all calm and infuriating.
“I don't know what you mean?” Trish asks with a shrug.
Or he. Or whoever Trish really is.
“What the hell?” I burst.
Li shakes her head, gets her bearings, and snarls at Dominic. “He's a traitor,” she snarls at Dominic. “If anyone is here for an overthrow, it's him!”
Shouts ring out. But Dominic calmly turns to Li, as if he's accepted his fate. “Why me? Most of us know of your corruption and your power grabs. Don't you know Carrington will stab you in the back? Oh, I see you already got stabbed twice tonight. Three is a magic number.”
More shouts ring out, and Truebloods talk to each other in confusion. The High Council draws together, leaving Li out of the huddle.
A hand clamps onto my shoulder, and I turn.
It's Dad.
He's back. What the hell is happening?
And Riley.
He’s got his fangs bared, and his eyes are red with fury. He hovers over me, running his finger down the front of my throat. But the wounds have closed and no more blood seeps out. “Olivia. She hurt you. And you.” He glares at my father, whose hand shakes on my shoulder. “How dare you show your face again!”
“I cut a deal with Dominic. He hates Carrington more than me.” Dad releases my shoulder. “And yes, I screwed up. I'll take care of this, Olivia.”
Dad sold the identity of the Originator to Dominic, in exchange for his help to storm the Convening and save my life. And part of that deal was not to help Riley.
That's why he didn't come back.
And why he couldn't help Riley at the cabin.
I swallow over a lump in my throat. I have no words.
“Go,” Dad orders.
Then I whirl. “No. This is my fight.”
“Get away from Olivia. You’ve hurt her enough,” Riley orders.
“...Dominic Beaumont broke Trueblood law,” Li snarls, pacing around him like a cat, showing no fear of the sword he holds. “He deserved exile. And he must die for this.”
Dad pushes me aside. “Get out of here. I'll do this.”
“...this woman is the first Nightside. She is the real enemy,” Dominic shouts at the crowd who keep chattering with confusion. “Trust me. My enemy sold me her identity. Trish was controlling Dominic’s former servant for some time and probably convinced him to lead the charge on the Beaumont mansion!”
“Then it was justified!” someone yells in the crowd.
“You almost blew our cover! Your coven is disgraced.”
The Truebloods close in on the Beaumonts. They won’t listen to a thing they say, or to a thing Dad says.
The Trueblood crowd slowly closes on Dominic, and Trish backs away to stand beside the hunters, who have also approached to watch the horror. Li merely stands back, ready to let her army do the work. Trish whirls, turquoise jewelry swinging, looking for a way out.
“Get back!” Addie shouts, clawing at another Trueblood. “Listen! The Duke framed us. We were all framed!”
“Listen to her,” Riley shouts, approaching the fray and waving his arms. “Let's interrogate the Nightsides, one by one, and see who the enemy is!”
“It’s Trish,” Dad shouts, pushing in front of me. “Just make her speak.”
“Nothing the disgraced says holds up in court,” Li shouts.
No one listens to Dad. The thick half-circle of Truebloods closes in on the dozen Beaumonts, who close ranks, and Enrico and Stella close in on us from behind. They’ll slaughter Dominic. And us. Stella turns her stern gaze on Dad and I, and then on Lily and Mike Rivera, who huddle near the shortest podium.
Zaza eyes Riley. She’ll murder Riley in front of Dominic. She thinks that'll bother him. Riley steps up beside his former father, waving his arms, begging everyone to listen, and he faces me as Trish backs into the podium, looking small.
I step forward, shoving my way around Dad.
“Olivia!”
I'm glad for Dad's backup, but I don't need him anymore. And now is not the time to fear my power.
Trish stares at me, and the woozy feeling
socks me, only to give way to rage. I can end these idiots for not listening. Stella. Enrico. They're distracted, with tiny holes in their mental armor, and approaching Dominic. I wrap the mental pressure around them, impaling their brains, and I make them face each other, leaping, clawing. And Ursala and the other men. I make him step back from the Beaumonts—
No.
This isn't me.
I pull away from Dad, who grabs at me again. I know what to look for now. A volcano of anger erupts, and I'm shaking, ready to erupt.
I am not a puppet.
I'll make my anger useful. It has a place.
Stella and Enrico stop fighting, and I whirl on Trish, who remains stuck against Ursala's podium.
“Duke Carrington,” I shout over everyone else. With all the focus I can muster, and as if I'm hammering down a wall, I glare at Trish, knowing that I'm facing a mirage.
And mirages dissolve when you get close to them.
Trish's image wavers, and I catch the hint not of a woman in a black dress and turquoise jewelry, but a tall, well-built man with a goatee. His neatly trimmed hair screams nobility, much like Dominic, and it's enough for me to push through completely. “Let everyone see who you are!” I stab into his mind, into his focused, hyper-aware brain, feeling the trained impulses.
I seize them as the pressure in my head threatens to burst. I've never felt this powerful before.
I'll have no mercy.
This Duke will get the brunt of my anger and frustration.
Heads turn. Dominic. Riley. Dad gasps behind me and Mike Rivera mutters something. The Beaumonts pull away from each other and Dominic lowers his sword.
“Let everyone see!” I shout.
This Duke made Dad leave again and put me and Riley in this mess. He almost made me kill Lily. He attacked Riley. Yes, he wanted Riley gone from the start. “Trish” was at the carnival, too, when the attack happened.
It all makes sense now.
And then, Trish's image melts away, first turning to a mental fog, and then dissolving completely, revealing the first Nightside, dressed to the nines in a fine suit with diamonds on his cuffs. He looks like a dashing devil. Even in modern times, Duke Carrington hasn't given up luxury.
Gasps fill the Convening. Hunters, Truebloods, human servers, and Nightsides all still and stare. All eyes land on the Duke, who worked among us this entire time, who planned to have me kill the High Council for him.
“You coward!” I shout, increasing the pressure. My head pounds. “Step forward!” I seize his limbs and I jerk him away from the podium to stand before everyone. “Let everyone see you. This is the first Nightside who is trying to make a power grab using the rest of us.”
More gasps ring out and a couple Truebloods back away, including Zaza. The ring around the huddled Beaumonts widens and focuses on the newcomer.
“What the hell?” Stanley shouts, leaping back in disgust.
I've got to feel for him, as I'm assuming he doesn't like guys. But that's not my concern.
“I am the leader of the High Council,” Li shouts, whirling to face everyone. She still has Lily's blood on her lip. “I will handle this.”
“Step back, bitch,” I shout. “And don't talk about laws when you broke one. You didn't even let the other Truebloods vote yes or no for our new coven.”
More gasps ring out, along with a few ohhs and ahhs. I'm beyond caring. There's a reason for Li's rage and her disregard for tradition, and I'm going to find out what it is. I turn back to the Duke. “Tell us all the truth.” Tell the truth. Reveal everything. I worm into his mind, lashing and seizing, and his eyes glass over. And my anger kills any guilt I have. “Did you and Li work together to overthrow the rest of the High Council? Tell us all, right now! There must be a reason you tried to have me attack Stella and Enrico here, and ignore Li. And there must be a reason she skipped the vote.”
“Is this for real?” a gray-haired Trueblood asks.
“With everything that's happened tonight, it could be,” Riley says, joining me again. “New covens always get a vote. It's a right. And Li, you violated it.”
We're going to sort this out together. But I renew my anger by thinking about the hell the two of us have gone through, thanks to the Duke.
“Don't listen to him,” Li snarls, which only digs her deeper into her hole.
No one rushes to her aid. She might be a powerful Trueblood, but she's outnumbered. Stella and Enrico lift their eyebrows at her. Ursala joins them, as do two other High Council men.
“Riley is correct,” Ursala says. “We do not skip votes. I believe we should listen to what this Duke has to say.”
Li whirls. “No! He's a Nightside and only wants to tear our society apart.”
“Speak!” I order Carrington, renewing my rage.
Silence falls and the crowd stills. Stella and Enrico pull away from each other, and away from the Duke, eyes widening in recognition.
“I told you it was him,” Dominic growls, approaching with his sword.
“Hold on a minute,” I say to Dominic. I'm controlling this. I can determine the outcome of this situation for all of us. “Let's hear what he has to say. Then you can have him.”
Carrington tightens his muscles and tries to move his lips, but I stop him. I've lost a bit of focus. I seize his throat and keep his voice box still. I can hear his heartbeat quickening in dread, and I savor it.
“Did you and Li conspire to overthrow the rest of the High Council?” I ask.
Beside me, Riley smiles, and I know that Dad is behind me, doing the same thing.
The Duke's eyes cloud. “Yes. It was…it was our plan to eliminate the High Council and take control of vampire society.” He's resisting. I can see his shoulders rising, his muscles tensing, his suit ruffling. There's more.
“Holy shit,” Riley shouts, as others yell and push closer to the Duke.
“Back!” Ursala orders. “We need to hear the rest of this confession.” He nods at me, encouraging me to continue.
“How did you plan to do that, exactly?” I advance, focusing full mental pressure on the Duke. He sways. I'm more powerful than he is. Double dominant. And he knows. That's why he planned to use me as a cover. “Tell us! Speak loud enough so we can all hear.”
“At first, I only wanted to eliminate Dominic, so I joined your father's resistance against the Beaumont coven,” the Duke says. “There is a history between us.”
“This monster,” Dominic growls, barely able to hold back, “injected my bride with Nightside blood centuries ago, in order to make her go crazy and attack children. He knew what the results would be as some of my friends tried to experiment with his blood before. That got her killed, and I wasn't strong enough at the time to save her! I know it was him!” His words stretch out, ready to burst from agony.
Another hammer of silence falls. Riley and I look to each other. That's not the official story.
“Is this true?” I ask the Duke, determined to get justice. If Hazel wasn't really guilty like the hunters said, then that needs to clear up, too. “Is it true?”
Carrington nods. “Yes. I made her into a ruthless killer, because I wanted what the Truebloods had. She was Dominic’s heir. I wanted to be the heir. And I knew they would fear me and try to kill me. And that came to pass.”
“I wonder why?” I ask as everyone goes into uproar, cursing and gasping. Dominic was right to go after the Originator. I wait until the chaos calms down to continue. The more the Duke speaks, the madder I get, but I know Dominic will need no pushing to take his revenge. “You've made all Nightsides look bad. And because of you, we've lived as servants and outcasts for centuries. Now, how did you plan to overthrow the High Council, exactly? They deserve the truth.” I will come out of this on their side, and I will make sure that the Duke doesn't blurt that I'm dangerous. My mind snaps to a clear state, as if my anger has cleansed all else, and I plant a lie in the Duke's head, using the razor of my rage.
“I might have come up with the Nightsi
de Prophecy, but my ability to see the future is fabricated. There is no Nightside due to overthrow the High Council and enslave the Truebloods. I created the Prophecy and made Dominic think I could see the future. I wanted to be the one in the Prophecy,” the Duke lies.
Gasps fill the room.
“There's no Prophecy?” Enrico asks.
Dominic shakes his head, eyes wide. “That's impossible. He saw the future with the loss of Hazel!”
I make the Duke shake his head and spill the truth. “I told him about the future to take that suspicion off me and to make Dominic think I was helping him.”
More gasps sound in the Convening. Everyone's still and entranced by the words that spill from the Duke's mouth. He could fight me, but he doesn't. Even if he breaks free of my control, his fate’s sealed.
Carrington just wants it to be over at this point.
I ball my fists, holding onto my anger.
“I knew a Nightside would come along who would be stronger than me, someday. Time is long. And I waited, because I did not want to risk my own life. Olivia was strong, and after the battle on the Beaumonts, I knew I had to use her. I had to get her alone and mold her into someone who could help me rise to power. I worked with Li to make this night perfect. We would eliminate the other High Council members, together, and start a new order. I told her that Nightsides and Truebloods should be equal, but I planned to have Olivia eliminate her, too. Also, I had to make the fight look genuine.”
Li whirls on the Duke, eyes widening, but Stella and Enrico seize her arms, pulling her back.
Uproar follows, and everyone's shouting so loud that I can't make out any words. Dominic lifts his sword, but Ursala steps in front of him, making him lower it with his glare.
“I think we've heard enough,” Ursala says. “Shall we hold a vote on Li's fate, or is it even necessary at this point? There is a law about dispatching traitors quickly should they pose such a dire threat to our order. And I invoke that law.”
I hold on to the Duke's body and mind, not daring to back down, and then I nod to Dominic. “This is my gift to you and the High Council. Take it as a sign of my goodwill.” And I seize control of Carrington's blood and force him to kneel in front of Dominic Beaumont, the first person he betrayed, and the High Council, who closes in on him as his head hangs.