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.
