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 Nightside 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
