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
