“What are you doing?” she shouts at them.
“Get down!” Lily shouts behind me, and I hear the strain of a crossbow pulling back.
I throw myself to the pavement, determined to keep up the helpless girl image.
A bolt flies, missing Addie by inches, and she cusses, turns, and bolts down the street in a blur. The bolt thuds against a building as Lily cocks her weapon to fire again.
This time, the bolt thunks into flesh, and one of the Truebloods hisses just feet away from me. I push myself off the pavement to see the second guy, the one my first victim punched, pulling at a bolt in his shoulder. Dark, scentless blood bubbles around the wound, and I press myself against the abandoned store like a helpless girl. I'm still homeless. Wandering. Lost. And harmless.
I seize the other guy and make him stand. He rises, eyes widening in confusion and fangs bared at Lily, who now runs down the alley towards us. Riley has stayed back.
“What the—” the Trueblood man starts.
A third bolt flies, lodging itself into his heart.
The Trueblood grasps his chest, eyes widening before going blank.
I let him go.
He drops to the ground with a thud as his companion continues to hiss and claw at his wound. I peel myself from the wall now that Addie's gone, and I march to the guy and place my boot on his neck.
He looks up at me, eyes widening.
I press down without remorse. These Truebloods were going to drag an innocent victim back to their lair and slowly drain them to death.
Snap.
The Trueblood man goes as still as his companion. We've got two bodies on the ground, and Addie is running away to alert the rest of the coven, wherever they are.
Two bodies in seconds, and I’m not even shaken.
Lily bolts up to me, lowering her small crossbow. Where the heck did she stash that thing the whole time?
I take a breath and look at her. “The coven. They're here. Hunting. Killing the people of this town.” I take my foot off the Trueblood’s neck.
Riley runs around the corner, eyes shining with guilt. “Shit. They're ambushing their prey. If we hadn't been here, that one guy would have died.”
I take my foot off the body. “We have to throw these into the ocean. And Lily? Thanks. You took the attention off me.” I could have handled these two guys easily, but I would have alerted Addie that a Nightside is in the house. And she might have gotten away.
I glance down at the body.
This should terrify me. I’ve killed again.
But I feel nothing but relief.
“I stayed back so we wouldn't blow our cover, but Addie saw Lily,” Riley says. “The Beaumonts could move soon if they think the hunters have found them. Olivia, I should have fought, but—”
I hold up my hand as he reaches me. “It's better they think the hunters are onto them instead of you. Trust me. You did the right thing by staying back. The Beaumonts are close. That means we're on the verge of finding Dominic and meeting one of our goals. Now, help me move these bodies. The ocean it is.”
CHAPTER TEN
It's just like old times, carrying Trueblood bodies and throwing them into the water. Except this time, I help, and without a shred of guilt over killing the one guy.
I’m still not the same person I was before all this started.
And I’m wondering if that’s a bad thing.
This was self defense, and defense of that guy who never asked for trouble. It would have been worse to stand aside and let the Beaumonts kill the retail worker.
I carry one of the Trueblood men over my shoulder, rushing. No one else is on the side street. The beach and the ocean are less than a hundred feet away, and the beach is empty of everyone, human or Trueblood. Addie’s long gone. Lily walks behind us, crossbow out as Riley and I throw the bodies into the ocean. We can't guarantee that the cops won't find this, but we have no other choice. Wandering too far will give the Beaumonts a chance to launch a revenge attack, and the longer we're out, the more likely that will be to happen.
As soon as the Trueblood bodies float away, Lily draws close to Riley and I. “Olivia, keep up your disguise. They don't know a Nightside is here, or that Riley is here. And that's good. And we have to get back to the hotel.”
The three of us scramble back up the rocky sand, following some concrete steps back up to downtown. Sadly, this is a spot where people come to watch the ocean and where seagulls ambush anyone with food. I can tell from the human and bird prints. There's no keeping this kill secret. I'm glad that Addie is a coward, though.
Lily has left her huge laptop bag at the corner, hidden behind a trash can. Now I know why the bag is so big. She’s hiding weapons in it. After she retrieves it and puts away her crossbow, which zips into a hidden compartment, we get to the hotel. The Oceanside Hotel is quiet and we get back to our room without issues. Riley locks the doors behind us and sighs.
“Hey, we're closer to making sure we stay alive through the Convening,” I say.
“For all I know, Dominic could have already sent them a message,” he says.
“But the coven has bad standing, so he'd have to find someone else to do it,” I say, hating the look of hopelessness on Riley's face. This isn’t him. He’s hiding how much he’s suffering and trying to be the powerful leader he shouldn’t have to be.
He lifts his gaze from the floor. “Maybe. It's possible that we have a chance. And by the way, where's my Olivia?”
I let the disguise drop and Riley blinks. “That's better. I feel a bit woozy when I look at you and you're doing that.”
“The
