by Holly Hook
The other members force Li down to her knees, to sit in shame next her conspirator. And I back away, keeping just enough control over the Duke to stop him from blabbing that the Prophecy is real after all, and that I'm double dominant and dangerous.
The High Council motions for Dominic to step forward and take his revenge. He slowly lifts his sword, relishing the moment.
And he and the Council make it quick, but not too quick.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
I back into Riley, and he wraps his arms around me and holds me there as I allow the control to slip away. As the Duke continues to scream, and then gurgle, the stench of his acrid blood meets my nostrils.
Li takes her execution like the ancient Trueblood she is, hardly making a sound, but Riley turns me away and marches me towards the edge of the Convening.
Li takes it like the ancient Trueblood she is, hardly making a sound, but Riley turns me away and marches me towards the edge of the Convening.
The world is a blur. Everyone else fades away.
Riley stands there, embracing me, breathing in my ear, one breath at a time. He shuts out the sounds of cutting and ripping and breaking bones, and of the High Council pouncing on the Duke and on Li to finish the job.
I focus all on Riley, who rests his head on my shoulder. Our surroundings fade into the background.
And as the sounds of killing fade into the background and finally stop, leaving an iron silence over the convention center, he whispers, “You did the right thing. You just saved the Truebloods and the Nightsides.”
I breathe out, not realizing that my ears have been ringing from the terror.
“I did,” I gasp.
I just stopped not only an overthrow, but myself from becoming a monster.
I can use my powers for evil and for good.
“Olivia,” Dad says, appearing at my side as Riley loosens his grip. He's pale, with bags hanging under his eyes from days of planning his own attack. “I don't have words, and I understand if you don't forgive me for this. The Duke was controlling me, turning me away from you. I wanted to tell you, but I couldn't. I had to ally with Dominic to help you.” Then he turns to Riley. “The deal was that I could not help you at all. If you want to punch me—”
“You saved us,” I say. Then my heart rises. “Dominic. He can still tell everyone you took, well, you know.” It’s clear he doesn’t care about Riley’s life.
Riley stiffens beside me, and I'm glad he's here. How should I feel about this at all?
“We have to do damage control,” Dad says. “I’ll help keep the Beaumonts from saying anything. They’re disgraced and their words won’t stand up, but we want no suspicion.”
Riley glares at him. “Good. You can start making up for what you did now.”
I whirl and look past Dad. I look past Lily, who is still in the arms of her father and now her mother. She's clutching her neck while another hunter brings a bandage and a bottle of disinfectant closer, probably raided from a first aid kit the center has lying around. The High Council, now without Li, huddles around something on the floor, just inside the half-circle of podiums. They're speaking in low voices while the rest of the Convening stands, waiting, in their rows of chairs. The Beaumont coven hangs off the side, close to where the human servants stand and wait. Even Addie doesn't look at the scene, but waits with her head hanging.
And there are other bodies.
Two of the Nightsides from the kitchen lie face-down in pools of their blood. I only see them because they're close to the edge of the crowd, but I know there must be more who didn't make it. Three other bodies, probably Truebloods, lie near the front.
I spot our coven, all waiting at the front with their arms crossed or by their sides. Becky has a gash down her neck, and she's holding her arm like it's broken. Stanley just hangs back, trying to disappear from his horror. I'm glad to see that Daeshawn has survived, though the front of his dress shirt is bloody, but Walton kneels, cradling his leg and trying to pull out a knife plunged deep into his thigh. One of our younger guys is missing, and I suspect it’s Cameron.
“Shit,” I say.
“I'll help him and keep the Beaumonts quiet. You focus on Dominic,” Dad says. “It is my job, and you've had to do more than you should have ever had to do, Olivia.” He pushes past me and Riley to go lend his aid.
“Your father's back for good,” Riley hisses in my ear.
But I'm past that now. “I think we did okay on our own.”
“We have to rejoin the Convening,” Riley says. “We still have a chance.”
Or do we? I gulp, coming back to reality. It's rough on the edges, bleak and bloody. People died tonight because of Li and the Duke. Both were too power hungry for their own good.
“Attention!” Stella shouts, turning to the Convening as Riley and I push our way to the middle of the front row. “We need volunteers to clear and burn the bodies, and quickly.” She snaps her fingers at the human servants on the sidelines, and several men step forward as if they've done this job before. “Remove them to Area 6B on the west side of town. We'll provide you the map. Dispose of them before daybreak and use the service truck we have ready in the back.”
I look to Riley, feeling my eyes widen. We could be in the back of that truck in no time. But he just smiles and nods as Dad kneels down beside Walton. He keeps one eye on the dozen Beaumonts who joined the fight.
Riley and I rejoin our row and stand in the center. The High Council continues to deliberate over the two lumps on the floor, just inside the semicircle of podiums.
I have to listen.
Focusing on my hunger, which has grown since I controlled the Duke, I allow my senses to expand.
“...I worried about Li for the past two centuries,” Stella is saying. “She wasn't valuing our input. It was as if she was only tolerating us.”
“I agree,” Ursala says. “It was there in her mannerisms. Every time I had an idea, she would pick at her fingernails.”
“Were these two a couple?” Enrico asks, stepping aside and letting me see a torn and bloody pant leg. I gulp at the sight, because just that alone tells me of the brutality Li and the Duke endured before they finally died.
But the rest of the High Council feared Li. That's good for us. Yes. We have to make it.
Finally, after the human men move all the bodies and everyone looks away, Stella clears her throat and takes control of the Convening.
“Attention, everyone,” she shouts with her strange accent. “The Convening must continue for a short time before I dismiss us, for painfully obvious reasons. We have not lost a High Council member in four centuries, and we will follow protocol to elect a new leader. As the senior assistant leader, I will preside over the rest of the Convening.”
Doors slam somewhere as the bodies get cleared from the building. The acrid smell of Nightside blood vanishes, and I realize that despite the brutal killings, the High Council members are clean, with only Enrico having a drop of blood on the front of his suit. They are expert killers with loads of experience.
I'm not sure if I'll have the strength to fight again if they decide to attack.
“We will elect a new leader in a special session in one weeks' time. Until then, I am the head of the High Council. It appears as though Li was plotting to take complete control along with Duke Carrington, and the two may have been planning to betray one another. This is sad, considering that Li has ruled for over eight hundred years,” Stella says, shaking her head. “But we have one vital piece of business before we leave, and that is our new coven.”
I tense, and Dad and Walton rise. Walton's had his knife removed, and he cradles his thigh to hold in the blood. But no one offers sympathy other than Dad. Walton looks to him, eyes full of questions.
“We must decide the fate of several other people here as well,” Stella says, folding her hands before her and panning her gaze around the room. Everyone stiffens. Dad puffs out his chest, determined to take this like a man. He glances at me,
and his look tells me everything. He'll die for me.
Emotion wells into my chest. Dad never abandoned us after all. He was doing his best. But I'm over it now. I'm a powerful Nightside and able to stand on my own.
I look at Dominic, who still holds the sword he used to kill the Duke. He waits, dark features expressionless, and he doesn't even look at Riley. What's his plan now?
“I have broken Trueblood law,” Dominic says simply. “But I am at peace now. If you wish to end my life, I understand. But know that I acted alone when I broke the law, and the rest of my coven was not even aware of my actions.”
That's a lie, because I know Addie and some others have hunted humans at the carnival. That was after tensions with the hunters rose, and they stopped caring about following the law.
Stella cracks what must be a rare smile. “Do you think that we would want to kill you after we cleared out the bodies? Do you think that we want to order another truck unnecessarily, or make an additional mess?”
Dominic's eyes widen as some laughter rises from the rows behind us.
Are we seriously going to live?
“I broke the law, Ma'am,” Dominic says, bowing his head. He lifts an eyebrow, though. Dominic might have met his goal of revenge, but he will not become a law-abiding Trueblood unless forced.
“But you also revealed our true enemy. I would say that we should reinstate you as a coven, but you will live under the direct control of the High Council for the next three centuries.” Stella looks to the other members of the Council, and they nod to her one by one. “You will be on probation, and someone from the High Council will check in on you frequently. We will determine where you live, what you do for business, and how much money you make.”
Dominic's cheeks flush. He is not liking this, but that brings a tingle of satisfaction to my spine as I scoot closer to Riley.
Now is the time he’ll try to deliver a stab.
I let the pressure form in my chest and rise into my head, helped by my hunger, and I direct it to Dominic. His wall is still there, but he's so focused on his humiliation that I can penetrate the hole there.
Yes. I've grown.
Dominic is now child's play compared to the High Council.
His eyes glass over slightly, just enough to let me know I've got control, and then I plant the thought in his head.
“Thank you,” he says through grit teeth. “My son Riley will lead his coven better than I have led mine. He has no thirst for revenge. He earned my blood.”
If Dominic knows I've manipulated him, he doesn't know. He inclines his head again before the High Council. None of the other Beaumonts speak, and I know Dad has a hand in that. Any accusations on Riley will now just drop as dead weight. Right?
Riley doesn't dare grin at me, but he brushes my hand and shifts a bit closer.
We're going to survive.
But in what state?
“And for the new coven,” Stella says, “it is unusual for a Trueblood to lead several Nightsides. It is even more unusual for one to alter her looks so young, but it is not unheard of.” Stella nods to me, and I can't read her expression. It's a power play, and Stella wants Riley to know that what I've done deserves no award. She wants to hide her real thoughts and keep us in suspense. I've come in here and changed my looks before the entire High Council, and Riley says they don't like being lied to.
“Yes. It is unusual, I'll admit,” Riley says. “But should we agree that these were unusual circumstances?”
I have to keep my attention split on Dominic and Stella, which is hard because they're both powerful. Dominic has to keep Riley's secret.
“Yes. Very strange.” Stella nods to the spot where Li and the Duke met their agonizing ends. “But even stranger was Li's involvement with the feared Originator. Tell me how all of you ousted him before he could do so much damage.”
We're still in the danger zone. But I don't dare speak. Riley must tell the story.
And he does, very carefully, while I plant the thoughts in the High Council that the tale is plausible. My part isn’t easy, but Stella and the others are so focused on Riley that they seem to forget about me. Riley tells of how he got disgruntled with the Beaumonts for bringing him into the coven without permission and without warning, of how he didn't want to attract human attention, of how his father wasn't careful and started suspecting a Nightside of being in town (me.) Then he speaks of how I met my father, who wanted to overthrow the Beaumonts before they disrupted the order.
And meanwhile, I keep Dominic silent.
It's a story spun to make Riley look good, and he says every word without hesitation or any flaw.
And Riley does not speak of our relationship.
No. We're not supposed to be in love here. That's our business.
“Thank you,” Stella says. She turns to Dad. “And you?”
Then Dad steps forward from the end of the row to back up Riley's story.
Then he speaks of Trish.
“I didn't know one Nightside I recruited was the Originator. I only wanted to oust the Beaumonts for their actions,” Dad begins.
Stella narrows her eyes at him. “You are a Nightside that Dominic failed to control.”
Danger. Danger! But before I can try to control anyone, to get past Stella's now reformed wall, Dad speaks.
“Yes. I am. But my fighting days are over and I will follow the High Council,” Dad says. “My former enemy is now under control.”
Stella and the rest of the High Council stay silent, and then she nods, ordering him to continue speaking.
“Anyway, I said that just after we took the mansion, I found out that Trish wasn't who she said. I accidentally walked in on her when she was changing her clothes, and let's say that she didn't bother to disguise herself well while alone,” Dad continues.
More laughter rises through the Convening. Dad is so relaxed. He's got this, and he's here to make things up to me. Maybe he's resigned to his fate.
No. I don't want to watch him die.
I can't, not after all of this. I might not need him anymore, but he's still Dad.
“I was shocked, and she noticed,” Dad said. “And then the control started. The Duke drove me away from the others, forcing me to look aside while he attacked Riley and tried to drive everyone away from my daughter. Soon, I had to go to the Duke's old enemy. I had to go to Dominic and give him the revenge he always wanted. We would take out the Originator together and save the High Council from whatever he had planned. And Dominic was right that the Duke wanted to overthrow the High Council.”
Mutters start again, and I hear a Trueblood man asking if he's landed in a movie.
“Very interesting. Is that all?” Stella asks.
Dad nods. “Yes. That is all.”
“And you were going to run a coven?” Stella asks Dad. “That is against Trueblood law, for a Nightside to run a coven.”
“That's why I kept Dominic's heir,” Dad says without missing a beat. Clearly he's prepared for this question. “He was to be of age very soon.”
Stella just turns to the High Council and nods. “A Trueblood has taken over the coven and runs it now. But they still broke laws.”
I gulp. Is this why Dad left again?
“We should hold a true vote,” Ursala says to everyone, stepping in front of the other High Council members. “And that vote should be for the coven that exists now. They have helped to out the Originator after all these centuries. However, they still have some powerful members who are Nightsides, and only one Trueblood running the coven. This is the case, laid simple and bare. All sit.”
Rage fills my chest, and the pressure threatens to explode from my skull again. We've gone through so much only to go through the judgment again, and we could die after all. But I swallow. If I show that I'm losing control, I'll doom us all.
We all sit as a unit.
Breathe, Olivia. You can control yourself. You don't have to fulfill any stupid Prophecy.
And behind us, the ot
her covens sit as well.
The world stops as Ursala takes charge of the vote, and we wait. One by one, he calls out the head of each coven.
And I hold my breath.
Twenty-one ayes.
And nine nays.
Stella steps forward, and my ears are ringing from not breathing.
“The Johnson Coven is now official,” she says, frowning at Riley. “You are hereby expected to obey Trueblood law, and the High Council, and to be a better coven head than your father, Riley Johnson. Know that we can take your status at the first offense.”
* * * * *
Riley and I keep the shades down during the train ride home, but reality is no less bright.
For the first time in weeks, we can truly sit together and be together. I'm no longer Miranda, and we've got a private compartment on the train, a different model than the one we took to our fates.
Riley sits back on the red velvet seat, hands behind his head, and it takes everything I have not to jump on him and start making out right there. I close the door of our space behind me with a gentle click.
We look at each other for a long time. Riley's stunning in his suit, and I'm still wearing the blue dress, only now as Olivia. We're going home without the Originator, and with Dad.
It couldn't get better.
“We have a lot of catching up to do once we get home,” Riley says. “Poor Stanley, though. I think we hurt his pride.”
“Yeah, I almost feel sorry for the guy,” I say, knowing he's retreated to his own compartment near the front of the train to stew. Dad is up there somewhere, too, drowned out by the sound of the tracks under us. And so are the other Nightsides, who have gathered around him to confirm why he left a couple of kids in charge.
And, I imagine, he's got to call Mom and tell him we're both okay. Dad has a lot of explaining to do to her as well.
But now I'm confident that he'll work things out. That's his responsibility, and I've got to leave that to him.