I leave her cruel mind untouched and take her arm.
I lift the dagger.
Addie screams as the other Truebloods leap, determined to save her.
And I make her plunge the knife towards her heart.
“Let her go!”
A figure in a green coat—Dad—charges into the fray, seizes Addie, and flicks the knife from her grasp. It lands on the ground, where another Trueblood picks it up and turns on Riley, who whirls.
Dad just helped Addie.
He is helping the Beaumonts.
My shock dispels the pressure in my chest and head, and I'm powerless as I slump in my captor's grip. I let out the last of my oxygen. I'm about to pass out because of this.
Dad is betraying us.
I look away, and at Riley, who is kicking another Trueblood as Dad releases Addie.
Oh, I'll never forgive Dad for this.
Ever.
Darkness forms on the borders of my vision, closing in. Veins of black spread across everything as a Trueblood man seizes Riley's wrist and twists.
Snap.
Riley winces at his broken wrist, but he pulls away. And that's enough for one last burst of power to rise.
The dark veins retreat, and I sweep over the entire crowd at once. The Truebloods. Addie, who is picking up her dagger. The ring has thickened, and I know we're outnumbered twenty to one. We're surrounded.
We have to retreat.
I'll leave Dad with his new crowd. He can stay with them. I'm better off without his ass.
I seize my captor and force his arm off my throat. I suck in a breath, focusing, and I pan out, feeling the borders of each Trueblood's body. And Dad's. He faces me, unreadable, as I force him to back away from Riley with the others.
Mentally pushing out the ring, I shout, “Riley!”
A Trueblood woman trips, pulling her companion down. The time to leave is now.
He nods to me.
And we run down the now-open trail, away from the cabin.
“Don't chase them,” Dad shouts.
Oh, now he cares? I look back one final time, and I find him standing in front of the scattered Truebloods, holding out his arms to keep them back. Addie stands just behind him, watching, her reddened eyes wishing nothing but death. And Dad does nothing to stop her as Riley and I reach the beach and bolt down the gravel, back towards town.
CHAPTER TWELVE
We run back up the beach for a long time, and finally bump into Lily, who is making her way towards us.
In the fray, I forgot that we texted her to follow us.
And now I'm glad she didn't get far as she runs up the gravel. Lily could have died, and then I would have had to watch.
Dad wouldn't have saved her, either.
He couldn't tell us who the killer is, and worse, he's gone to the Beaumonts.
He helped Addie.
I take a heaving breath, focusing on the pain of the air going into my lungs. That's better than focusing on Dad.
He's just committed the ultimate betrayal.
“Riley. Olivia,” Lily says, stopping and panting.
We stop on the beach, and I look back to make sure no one's followed us. How far have Riley and I run? A mile? Two? The cabin is back there, and that's where the Beaumonts are hiding. The Beaumonts and Dad. They must have come out here first, and then Dad joined them last week, right after he left the mansion.
“I...” I start, a sob working its way out of my throat. But I can't finish.
Riley wraps his arm around me and pulls me close. “We need to get back to the hotel room, pack up, and get back to Moon's Peak immediately. No questions, Lily. We need to go.”
“But the first Nightside—” Lily starts.
“No questions. Now,” Riley says.
He's paler than normal. I look at him through my blurry vision, aware that Lily is studying me. We're alone on the beach, but for how long?
The Beaumonts all know about Riley's theft.
That means Dominic has found them. And he's with them.
And so is—
Lily gulps. “Okay. We're still a couple miles away from the hotel. Let’s go.”
How could our day have gone from bliss to terror so quick? I lean against Riley as we hurry along the beach. Each time I look behind us, I check for that slight woozy feeling that comes with mind manipulation. For all I know, Dad could make us think no one is behind us, returning the favor.
Riley's my rock now.
He always has been.
Do I even need Dad anymore?
No. I'm going on without him and I'm going to stand on my own. The thought sends a new cascade of tears down my cheeks and my chest aches with each breath.
As we hurry along the sand and gravel, the ocean kicks up, with taller and taller waves beating at the shore. It matches my mood. The clouds darken and spit rain. My neck hurts as my muscles tighten, and by the time we reach those concrete stairs that lead up to the hotel, no one's on the beach except for a pair of seagulls. I smell their gross blood, pumping with old food and garbage, and hold back a gag.
No one says a word as we hurry back into our hotel room and start packing our bags. Lily closes her still-open laptop and shoves it into the bag lying open with several daggers and stakes inside. They're daggers lined with silver, designed to be extra deadly against vampires. And they're just like the one Addie tried to use on Riley.
Oh, I wanted to kill her. And I would have, if Dad hadn't intervened.
I take a breath as Riley releases me and rubs his wrist.
“Shit,” I say, heart leaping. “I should have asked you how that's doing.”
“Cameron broke it, but it's better now. I'm healing faster than I ever have,” Riley says like it's no big deal. “Olivia,
